Chapter 1175

Yang Yuan said: "You're really stupid!" He then snatched the spear from Hu Xiaotian's hand, went to the iron cage, and struck the cage with the spear.

The roc arrogantly lifted its head, completely ignoring his provocation; after these days of skirmishing, this roc already knew their intent. Yang Yuan cursed: "Call!" He thrust his spear at the roc inside the cage.

Although the iron cage was not small, for the roc's huge body it was still cramped; it could not avoid being pierced by Yang Yuan's spear, yet it made no sound, its angry eyes fixed firmly on Yang Yuan.

Hu Xiaotian saw Yang Yuan retract the spear, its tip bloody, apparently having pierced the roc's hide; he couldn't help feeling surprised, recalling that when he fought the roc in the air, its skin was rough and thick, even his Profound Ice Yin Wind Claws couldn't tear its skin, so why could the spear he was holding pierce the roc's hide? He deliberately said: "Eh! Its skin is so thin, so fragile!"

Yang Yuan said: "It's not that its skin is thin, but the tip of this spear is specially made, forged from Iron Heroic Crystal Mother, very precious; you must not lose it." He then returned the spear to Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian gripped the spear and tapped the iron cage; the roc glared at him ferociously, obviously regarding him as an enemy as well.

Hu Xiaotian saw the corpse in the cage still unmoving, and whispered: "Big Brother Yang, it doesn't eat corpses, does it?"

Yang Yuan said: "This creature has a terrible temper; after being captured it started fasting, and Fifth Lord said it won't last many more days before it runs out of strength..." Just as he finished speaking, shrill cries came from outside; Yang Yuan stopped talking, his face showing alarm. He told Hu Xiaotian: "You deal with it first, I'll go check." Having said that, he hurried out.

Luo Qianfu had already rushed out to the fish cave entrance. Yet he saw the ground outside littered with four corpses in disarray—some had their chests torn open, some had their heads twisted off—and the bird‑catching net set up in the dark had been destroyed. It was the roc that, taking advantage of their absence, suddenly swooped down and killed several pirates who had been standing guard outside, preparing to capture it.

The roc was extremely cunning; after killing the ambushers it swiftly flew up high. By the time Luo Qianfu went out, it was already too late; he pointed at the sky and shouted angrily: "Wicked creature, dare you come down for a face‑to‑face battle!"

Yuan and the others rushed over upon hearing the news; seeing the horrific scene, they were all frightened out of their wits. Luo Qianfu fumed: "Trash, you're all trash!" All his anger was redirected onto the servants.

Hu Xiaotian gazed at the roc in the cage and sighed involuntarily; being imprisoned in the first place was already extremely tragic, let alone for a roc so proud. He said to the roc: "Be obedient and listen; I'll let you out right now, but you must not be my enemy."

The roc looked at Hu Xiaotian, as if understanding his words. After a moment, its head suddenly drooped down, slipping between its legs into the iron chain. Seeing this, Hu Xiaotian felt something was wrong and hurriedly warned: "Don't. Absolutely not!"

The roc exerted force with its talons, jerking its head up. With a crack, the sound of breaking bones was heard, and then its massive body slowly collapsed to the ground.

Hu Xiaotian stared at the roc as it crashed to the ground, frozen in place. Only a moment later, the roc actually killed itself; he leaned in to listen and indeed heard no sound from it, secretly lamenting: Could this roc truly have committed suicide?

Behind him came hurried footsteps, and Luo Qianfu's angry voice rang out: "Damn it, why didn't it call?" When he saw the scene before him, he too froze; after reacting, he was overcome with grief and rage, shouting: "How could this happen? How could it die?"

He snatched the spear from Hu Xiaotian's hand and stabbed the roc's corpse three times in succession; the roc showed no reaction. Luo Qianfu concluded the roc was undoubtedly dead, had the iron cage opened, and, fearing the roc might be feigning death, did not enter first himself but had Yang Yuan go into the cage.

Yuan approached the roc's body trembling with fear, examined it carefully, and then said: "It's dead, indeed dead!"

Everyone turned their gaze to Hu Xiaotian, who wore an innocent expression and said: "It's not my fault; it committed suicide. It shoved its head into the iron chain and twisted hard—I heard the bones break. I never expected it to kill itself."

Luo Qianfu, furious, burst into hysterical laughter: "Good that it's dead, good that it's dead—you few, drag its corpse out for me; I want to see whether this roc has any filial piety."

It took eight sturdy men to drag the roc's corpse out of the cage, and from inside the Fish Cave to outside it took a full half‑hour—of course, Hu Xiaotian's lack of effort contributed. Witnessing the roc's suicide, Hu Xiaotian hated Luo Qianfu and his gang's methods, secretly vowing to kill these cold‑blooded brutes to avenge the roc. Yet he knew that rashness spoils great plans; he had not forgotten his main purpose for coming to Python Flood Island. If he struck now and killed Luo Qianfu, it would alert the whole island, prematurely spook the snake, and be highly detrimental to his rescue mission.

The roc's corpse was thrown outside the Fish Cave; Luo Qianfu then had people reset the large net. Since the roc is a spiritual creature, if the one in the sky learns of its companion's death it will surely come seeking revenge at any cost—thus the chance to capture it has arrived.

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed Luo Qianfu's shamelessness, having already grasped that this roc's nature was hard to tame—why then harm a second one?

Luo Qianfu cupped his hands and began to imitate the roc's cry.

Hu Xiaotian calmly observed the surroundings; he wanted to help that roc take revenge and wipe out those cold‑blooded scoundrels. At that moment, he saw the supposedly dead roc's body twitch, then spring up from the ground. No one expected the roc to be playing dead—not even Hu Xiaotian, who considered his perception top‑notch, had sensed no breath or heartbeat just before; the roc's feigned death was so convincing it could pass for real.

In the blink of an eye, the roc flapped its wings with astonishing speed, striking the two pirates nearest to it. The pirates couldn't dodge; the roc's wing blows sent them flying like broken kites. One slammed into the rock wall, his brains bursting, dying on the spot. The other was hurled more than ten zhang away, crashing heavily to the ground, his bones shattered and tendons torn, blood gushing from his mouth—clearly he could not survive.

The roc raised its beak and struck the face of a pirate ahead; its hard beak, capable of splitting mountains and shattering stone, pierced the pirate's skull, creating a bloody hole, with the tip protruding from the back of his head—a gruesome, horrifying sight.

Luo Qianfu silently cursed his misfortune and shouted loudly: "Grab the iron chain!" The remaining sturdy men rushed to seize the chain; one man had just grabbed it when he felt a chill in his back and then collapsed limp. It was Hu Xiaotian striking from the shadows, drawing his dagger and plunging it into that man's back heart in one move.

Although the roc was fierce and brave, it had been weakened by days of fasting; its talons were bound together by the iron chain, losing a deadly weapon, and its wings were badly injured. The two iron chains restraining its wings were each held by men—on one side three pirates, on the other only Hu Xiaotian. The roc flapped its wings trying to shake them off; Hu Xiaotian went along with the ruse, pretending to be lifted by the roc, he launched himself sideways into the three pirates on the other side. They couldn't dodge and collided with him in a tangle. Hu Xiaotian channeled his inner force; the impact was formidable—two were broken‑boned and tendon‑torn, dying instantly, while the third, though not killed outright, was slammed to the ground. Hu Xiaotian showed no mercy, driving his dagger straight into the man's vitals.

That pirate died without realizing he had been slain by his own comrade; Hu Xiaotian achieved a double kill, eliminating three pirates and freeing the roc from its bonds.

The roc flapped its wings and rose about a zhang from the ground, but it could not gain further altitude and instead crashed heavily back to the earth.

Luo Qianfu's attention was wholly fixed on the roc, failing to notice his own men being assassinated by Hu Xiaotian's hidden hand; he bellowed: "Quick! Spread the net, spread the net!"

The six pirates lying in ambush around the area hurriedly cast their net; the huge net spread from above like a canopy, descending upon the roc. The roc strained its left wing, generating a strong wind that blew against the net's approach, altering its direction and preventing the net from successfully ensnaring the roc.

Hu Xiaotian ran toward those pirates in ambush; outwardly he pretended to help, but in truth he intended to aid the roc by removing this nuisance.

Luo Qianfu leveled the spear forged from Iron Heroic Crystal Mother in his hand, aimed at the roc, and hurled it with force. The roc lifted its right wing to bat the spear away, but failed to deflect it; the spear pierced its membranous wing, went through the bone of the right wing, and the roc cried out in pain, straining its wings—this time it actually managed to lift off the ground.

At this moment Hu Xiaotian also reached the pirates' side; seeing the roc climb higher and higher, already reaching five zhang, he felt a surge of joy—it seemed the days of torment had not erased the roc's instinct to fly, and he hoped the roc could now escape danger and find freedom.

At that moment an angry cry rang out from the high sky—another roc had come to its rescue. The escaping roc, seeing its companion arrive, instantly filled with courage, strained upward—when suddenly a loud bang! rang out; a massive arrow shot from the right‑hand cliff, aimed at the desperately fleeing roc. The arrow was about seven chi long, its head as big as a grown man's fist, and it struck the roc's body with tremendous force, the tip piercing its skin and driving deep into its chest. The roc's huge frame halted in mid‑air for an instant, then plunged straight down, crashing heavily into the mire. (To be continued~^~)