Chapter 4: A Slip of the Tongue

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Chapter 4: A Slip of the Tongue

Everyone in the ward trembled three times at the parrot’s angry shout.

In truth, the parrot’s voice wasn’t particularly loud. It was just that what he had said was so shocking that the entire ward fell into dead silence. And even quieter than the ward itself was Lin You’s heart.

Lin You stared at his own gray-blue wings as though he had seen a ghost, then looked at his bird claws that resembled chicken feet. Finally, he simply covered his head with one wing and collapsed into the cage.

“Ah! Brother! He-he died?!”

The Mu Family’s Second Young Master jumped when he saw the parrot lying there like a corpse. This was the pet his grandfather had ordered Brother to raise, and he had volunteered… Well, fine, he had volunteered because he wanted to make Grandpa happy and get a little more pocket money. If something happened to this little thing, forget about getting more pocket money—his current allowance might even be confiscated!

Second Young Master Mu immediately placed the large, exquisitely crafted birdcage on the tea table beside Mu Yanxiao’s hospital bed, then coughed dryly. “Brother, that’s all. Take good care of yourself, and take good care of this parrot too. I’m leaving now.”

Mu Yanxiao didn’t even have the energy to laugh anymore. He would simply treat this person not as his younger brother, but as some ridiculous, brainless animal. Anyway, judging from the conversation just now, that Congo Grey seemed to have a higher IQ than his younger brother.

“Ah, I forgot to say this. Brother, I believe that your eyes will definitely get better. You must take care of yourself.”

Mu Yanxiao raised an eyebrow at those words. For his brother to actually say something so kind? It must be his misconception.

“Without you, how can I continue to live so freely? I still want to race cars, flirt, and go bar-hopping!”

Mu Yanxiao’s lips twitched. “Mu One.”

Mu One immediately straightened up, grabbed Mu Yanming by the collar, and carried him out. The Second Young Master was a truly stunning example of a brazen and fearless fool.

As Mu One carried Mu Yanming out, Mu Three also quickly followed. Very quickly, the only ones left in the room were Mu Yanxiao and Lin You, who had taken over the body of a bird.

Lin You lay in the birdcage, staring blankly at the ceiling. No matter how he thought about it, he simply couldn’t accept that he had suddenly possessed this parrot.

If being a wandering soul meant that he could easily possess animals, then he had had countless chances to become a sparrow, rat, cockroach, ant, or something else during the past several hours. So why hadn’t he possessed any of them? Why had it happened with this Congo Grey of all things? He had practically been yanked into his body!

Damn it, what a rip-off.

Could it be because this was the Congo Grey that Yanxiao was supposed to raise?

Lin You let out a long, gloomy sigh. Fine. No matter what the reason was, at least he had gone from being a wandering soul back to having a physical body, right? He had gone from only being able to see to being able to see, talk, smell, eat, and even fly!

This was truly something worth celebrating…

Like hell it was!

Going from a human to a parrot couldn’t possibly be more tragic! Should he be grateful that he hadn’t turned into a husky or a Persian cat? At least a parrot could talk!

Mu Yanxiao listened to the repeated fluttering and rolling sounds in the quiet hospital room and couldn’t help frowning. Once someone lost their eyesight, their other senses naturally became more sensitive. The only thing in the room now was the Congo Grey that Mu Yanming had just brought over. What was he making all that noise for? Was he hungry? Thirsty?

At the thought, Mu Yanxiao clicked his tongue. Normally, he barely even took care of himself. Now he had suddenly acquired another thing to take care of. He had a strong urge to shoot him dead or simply strangle him. How annoying.

“What are you making a racket for? It’s noisy.”

Lin You, who had been rolling around in the birdcage, went rigid. It was not his misperception—he felt a killing intent just now!

Lin You flapped his wings in fear at that sudden spike of killing intent, then knocked himself into the top of the iron cage and fell back down. …Truly, everything is hard at the beginning. Lin You silently criticized in his mind.

However, he did not say anything at all. The scene from before was just because he was too startled and let slip a curse. Now that he had come around, he clearly knew that if he said something else that “exceeded a normal parrot’s capabilities,” he might just end up being sent to a research institute and dissected.

“…Tch.”

Mu Yanxiao did not get the reply he expected, so his mood worsened. Even more unfortunately for him, that parrot started making an even louder racket by fluttering around in the cage. As such, he pushed himself up from the bed with some effort, his eyes staring sightlessly in the direction of Lin You’s birdcage.

“You have two choices…”

As Lin You stared at Mu Yanxiao with his body stretched taut, Mu Yanxiao had already started to speak coldly.

“Either I open the cage and let you go free. Or you stay and listen to me.”

Lin You waved his wings at him. You think this lord doesn’t want to leave?! This lord can’t leave!! That fifty-meter limitation is practically the most torturous distance in the world!

Mu Yanxiao had not become stupid enough to believe Lin You could understand him, so after he finished speaking, he slowly felt around and got off the bed. Then, he headed for the table where the parrot’s cage was placed.

Mu Yanxiao was certain that a wild parrot would definitely fly away the moment the cage door was opened. Which wild animal would be willing to be caught by humans and raised? Freedom was the most treasured thing of all. It was just that the simple process of opening the cage door was entirely too tragic.

Mu Yanxiao had lost his sight, so naturally he could not see the cupboard, chair, or that unfortunately placed lounge chair right between the bed and the table. Mu Yanxiao did not see any of it, so he knocked right into it.

Bang!

Lin You looked at Mu Yanxiao half-kneeling on the ground and couldn’t help but use his wing to cover his bird eyes. That must have hurt. There was no way it didn’t bruise.

“Boss?!”

Mu Two, who was guarding outside the door, called out anxiously as he stuck close to the door.

Mu Yanxiao clenched his teeth as he clutched his knee, his voice remaining surprisingly steady, without much difference from his normal tone, as he answered back, “It’s nothing. There’s no need to come in.”

“…Yes.”

After more than a minute had passed, Mu Yanxiao finally stood up and, after remaining silent for another beat, spoke. “Flap your wings a bit. I can’t find your exact position.”

Lin You was a bit dumbfounded by this calm and collected man who should have been in a lot of pain, but once he came back to his senses, he flapped his wings. He watched as Mu Yanxiao followed the sound and slowly headed toward him, his steps careful and quiet.

After three steps, Mu Yanxiao stopped in front of the tea table. At this moment, both Lin You and Mu Yanxiao heaved a sigh of relief. Mu Yanxiao’s foot had touched the table, but with his experience with the chair last time, he did not hit it hard and remained uninjured.

“Flap one more time.”

Lin You rolled his eyes and flapped his wings several times. If it weren’t for him feeling pity for this guy being blind, he would not be so obedient.

Mu Yanxiao accurately reached the top of the cage and quietly breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time, he realized that even walking could become such a difficult task when he couldn’t see. Then he suddenly thought about how eating, sleeping, using the bathroom, taking a bath, and all those other things that had once been so simple would now become difficult as well. His face instantly turned ashen.

This blow was even harder to bear than learning that he was blind.

For many things, the outcome itself was not necessarily the most frightening part. What was truly frightening were all the consequences that followed, consequences that could be even harder to endure. Knowing that he was blind was one thing. But once all the miserable consequences brought about by his blindness began to unfold, Mu Yanxiao truly felt shaken.

The result of his fear was that he overturned the fruit plate on the table. Because of the carpet, it did not cause a loud disturbance when it fell, but Mu Two still heard it. Since he did not hear his Boss summon him, he bore with it and did not ask about it. However, that feeling of helplessness for his Boss made him very sad.

If this had happened to an ordinary person, realizing all of this would have been enough to send them into hysterics or leave them utterly depressed. But Mu Yanxiao was definitely not an ordinary person.

At just thirty years old, he had already made the Mu Corporation one of the top-tier wealthy enterprises in the country. At the same time, when his mother’s family fell into internal turmoil, he had swiftly suppressed the chaos, gathered his own forces, and established absolute control.

Calling him a legendary figure would not have been an exaggeration. Yet even a legendary figure could encounter things he had never anticipated, and there would always be subordinates he could not control. Mu Seven’s betrayal had resulted in him being drugged, and the final outcome had been his loss of sight. Although Mu Seven had already been dealt with, what had happened could not be undone.

He slowly took a breath. Under Lin You’s somewhat amazed and appreciative gaze, Mu Yanxiao picked up the birdcage and started to walk toward the window with an unworried expression.

One step, two steps.

When Mu Yanxiao raised his foot to take the third step, Lin You’s parrot eyes immediately caught sight of the sharp fruit knife lying directly in his path.

At this point, he couldn’t care less about whether a normal parrot should have this much intelligence. He immediately shouted in his hoarse voice, “Holy crap, stop! There’s a knifeeeeeee!!”

Mu Yanxiao was startled by the somewhat hoarse voice, which was neither particularly clear nor particularly pleasant. His body instinctively obeyed the warning, and his raised foot slowly lowered back down. For a moment, one man and one bird stood locked in place.

After Lin You shouted out, he realized he seemed to have added more IQ to this parrot. Was this savage man going to chop him into soup now? However, Mu Yanxiao’s next action made all the feathers on Lin You’s bird body stand on end. He looked into the eyes that were almost within reach and very cowardly covered his own eyes with his wing.

“…I’ve never raised a pet before.” Mu Yanxiao began with a statement that left Lin You completely baffled. “I also don’t know exactly how intelligent a pet parrot is.”

“I originally planned to put you by the window and let you choose whether to leave. But since you were given to me by my grandfather, and he specifically told me that I must raise you, I’ll listen to him.”

Lin You gasped. “…” You think this lord is blind too?! Who was the one just now who looked down on this lord and was even planning to throw this lord out?!

“Since I’ve decided to keep you, I’ll be responsible for your food and drink, as well as your daily needs,” Mu Yanxiao continued calmly. “I won’t shirk my responsibility, and I’m easy to deal with. So if you want some extra snacks, or if you take a liking to some diamond bird necklace, I’ll buy it for you.”

Lin You’s bird eyes widened before he gave a disdainful snort. “…” One who is inexplicably attentive must have ulterior motives! And who wants a diamond bird necklace?! This lord isn’t even female!

“But since you’re being raised by me, you have to do something useful to prove that you aren’t useless.”

Sure enough, after Lin You’s disdainful snort, Mu Yanxiao continued in a completely matter-of-fact tone.

“You have to stay by my side at all times and help me eat, drink, walk, and so on. Since you can even warn me that there’s a knife on the ground, you should be able to help with everything else too, right?”

Lin You, who had been forced into becoming his murderer’s personal attendant, “!!”

What had he done just now?!

Why had he opened his beak?!

And man, had the shock made you stupid? Making a Congo Grey your personal attendant—just how desperate were you?! However, Mu Yanxiao’s mood had improved considerably. With a bird like this beside him to give him warnings, he no longer needed to trouble himself with finding someone else to do the same thing.

Who knew what kind of person Grandpa would find to help him later? Compared with someone whose background he didn’t know, yet who would have to enter his personal sphere, a parrot that could speak human language was simply much better.

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