Luya's popularity on the internet lasted for several more days. Duan Jiaze even saw someone dig up the screen recording of Bai He's livestream from before.

In that video, Duan Jiaze had Luya perched on his shoulder, and even held it down to show everyone, jokingly saying it was super fierce, and then that the bird was adorable. Luya, on the other hand, offered no resistance the entire time (it was stunned), and finally flew away.

At the time, many of the bullet comments in the livestream were laughing out loud. Some people genuinely thought that although the bird was large and had sharp claws, its personality had become soft and cute from being raised by humans.

Now that it was dug up, comparing it with the various bullet comments was quite interesting.

Details from a much older video were also screenshotted. It was the one where the students of Tongxin Elementary School waved goodbye to their bird companions as the birds returned to their nests together, with Luya leading the flock, which clearly showed his status.

"...Now I think the Zoo Director is the super fierce one."

"Adorable my ass! Director, look at the thug who was pecked until he looked like he was covered in ketchup and say your bird is adorable one more time!"

"The Director is a real man. I'm traumatized just looking at that bird, but he handles it like he's grabbing one of his own hens, prying its wings open with one hand..."

"What the heck is with the 'old hen' comment (lol), it belongs to the Director in the first place!"

"After all, the Director was the one who saved it. This is true love."

"This bird is seriously amazing, a true leader. No wonder it gets its own private room."

"This is like the Director having a personal bodyguard. Excellent."

"You really can't judge a book by its cover. the Director is so young and looks so fair and clean-cut, yet he plays with such a ferocious bird."

"Excuse me, how can I marry the Zoo Director? I think I've fallen in love."

......

Luya's ferocity had become widely known, and Duan Jiaze had to seriously consider getting him a new office.

None of the existing enclosures were suitable. Duan Jiaze decided to choose one of the newly constructed enclosures to be its exclusive office. However, that area wouldn't be completed for some time, and during this period, the public's demand was already very high.

Duan Jiaze temporarily moved Luya to the reptile house, which housed Bai Suzhen, Xiao Qing, and Jinzi, and was also considered a rather gloomy and scary type of place.

This just put even more pressure on Jinzi. Living with Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing was already more than it could handle...

The label outside Luya's cage was usually blank. Now, although it still lacked a species name, a line of introduction had been added: This is a bird of prey. Please do not tease.

Luya was still chattering endlessly, "My new office must be large, and the pillars must be covered in gold foil..."

Gold foil?? Why don't I just build you the Palace of Heavenly Purity?

Duan Jiaze bowed to Luya. "Bro, this is a small business. Are you forcing me to sell my blood?"

Luya glanced at him unhappily. "Hurry up and make money."

"I want to..." Duan Jiaze sighed deeply and took out the list of Class II state-protected animals to study again. He couldn't just casually bring in dozens of them. The money spent had to be worth it; there had to be people willing to visit to form a virtuous cycle. This required careful planning.

After Luya, as a super bird of prey, was moved to another enclosure with rumors that it would get its own standalone enclosure in the future, everyone became even more curious about it.

No one could ever figure out Luya's species, but there were countless speculations about how Duan Jiaze trained birds, with everyone speaking as if they were an expert.

Visitors to Lingyou Zoo even strongly requested for the Zoo Director to perform a bird training show for them to see.

Although many zoos now have animal performances, Duan Jiaze had no intention of starting such a program. The animals at his Lingyou Zoo were far more intelligent than others of their kind; they didn't need to be brought out to perform at all for there to be a good show.

Seeing that these visitors were both afraid of Luya and wanted to see a performance, a contradiction in itself, Duan Jiaze politely declined.

Huang Qi, who was nearby, said to Duan Jiaze, "You can refuse to do animal performances, but this bird—right, what's its name again?—is a marketing point, just like the arctic fox. I suggest you privately film some short videos of you two and post them on the official blog and Weibo."

"Filming short videos is fine," Duan Jiaze glanced at Luya and said, "Its name is..."

Luya stared coldly at Duan Jiaze.

Duan Jiaze: "..."

Being stared at like that by Luya, Duan Jiaze felt a bit guilty and didn't dare to spout nonsense.

But Huang Qi was still looking at Duan Jiaze earnestly with an inquisitive gaze, "Hm? What's it called?"

Duan Jiaze: "It's called Luya..."

Huang Qi let out a sound of surprise. "Isn't that Brother Lu's name?"

Duan Jiaze gave a dry laugh. "Yeah, don't you think the two of them are very similar?"

Huang Qi gave Duan Jiaze a strange look, not knowing what kind of weird taste this was. However, there was indeed something to it. He couldn't help but nod. "Alright, Luya bird."

......

At noon, it was time for lunch.

Seeing the food gave Huang Qi a bit of inspiration. He said to Duan Jiaze, "Zoo Director, how about you film a short video of you personally feeding Luya later?"

Duan Jiaze: "Okay."

As soon as the two of them finished speaking, they realized everyone else was looking at them strangely.

Huang Qi: "..."

Duan Jiaze: "..."

Especially Xiao Su, who was chewing on her chopsticks, already lost in a trance.

Liu Bin couldn't help but say, "Director, has Brother Lu gone this far? Bringing all his relatives to your workplace to freeload, making you wear his old clothes, demanding you personally cook for him, and now he even needs you to feed him?"

Duan Jiaze: "Pfft!!"

"Cough, cough, cough! Cough!" Duan Jiaze wiped the spewed rice grains from the edge of the table while coughing, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

Liu Bin looked around and said weakly, "Did I say something wrong?"

—Judging from the looks in everyone else's eyes, they also agreed with what Liu Bin said.

Huang Qi actually also agreed with Liu Bin's point about Luya bringing all his relatives to freeload, but the Luya he was talking about earlier really wasn't this Luya. "Wrong, we were talking about that bird of prey. The Director gave it a name, also called Luya."

Only then did Liu Bin lower his head in embarrassment. "Sorry, my mistake."

Xiao Su: "Ah... so they have the same name..."

Duan Jiaze: "..."

Xu Chenggong, however, patted Duan Jiaze on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Director, although there was a misunderstanding, what Liu Bin said is also right. Sometimes you have to refuse when you should. You can't just indulge him because you have a good relationship. Look, you're sometimes so busy your feet don't touch the ground, yet Little Lu still insists on you cooking for him. That's indeed a bit inconsiderate. It's best if you talk to him about it."

Duan Jiaze: "............"

Duan Jiaze said awkwardly, "Thank you all for your concern, I'll consider it. But please, whatever you do, don't say this in front of Luya."

The other employees quickly shook their heads. How would they dare say it to his face? Brother Lu looked too cold and aloof. They only strongly agreed in private. Although it was a consensual arrangement, the Director was spoiling Brother Lu too much. It was fine for the Director to be good to Brother Lu because of their close relationship, but Brother Lu should also be a little more considerate.

This was a problem exposed as people came one after another and the zoo became busier. In the eyes of others, Luya had actually developed such an image. It seemed that in the future, he could no longer say that the dispatched animals were Luya's relatives.

......

A day later, the official blog and Weibo accounts did indeed release a short video, with the title: One Hundred Ways to Feed a Bird of Prey:

The person recording the video seemed to be sitting at the entrance of the cage, holding out a hand with some rice in the palm, summoning the internet-famous bird of prey to eat. "Luya, come."

The Luya bird actually flew over, lowered its head and sniffed, but not only did it not eat, it even swept all the rice from the palm with a flap of its wing.

The camera tilted, and the screen went black for a moment.

Then came the second segment. This time, there were breadcrumbs in the palm. "Little Lu, wanna eat?"

Luya approached again. This time it didn't even bother to sniff, directly sweeping it away and even hitting the person recording with its wings several times.

So the scene switched to the third feeding: This time, a piece of cooked lean meat, suspected to be beef, was placed in the palm.

"Brother Lu, want some meat."

Only then did Luya fold its wings, stand before the palm, and lower its head to eat the meat.

Comments:

"66666666 is that the Director feeding it? Not scared of getting his hand pecked at all!"

"So the bird of prey is called Luya? The name fits its face perfectly! The keeper is also so cute, even calling it Brother Lu (lol)"

"It's not a keeper, it's the Director, right? The voice sounds a lot like the one in the news. Would a regular keeper dare to feed it?"

"Luya (braised duck)?"

"Misheard lyrics LMAO!"

"Hahahahaha, it even throws a tantrum and hits people with its wings. You could say it has quite a temper!"

......

......

For several days in a row, Duan Jiaze was quite busy, taking notes and planning how to use the money and which animals to introduce. The zoo was also crowded with visitors, so he started taking naps at noon, otherwise he couldn't keep up.

Halfway through his nap, Xiao Su came to wake him up. "Zoo Director, someone is here to see you."

Duan Jiaze groggily opened the door. "Who is it?"

Xiao Su: "I don't know. A big brother, he talks in a very archaic way, all 'thees' and 'thous'. He's in the reception room now, Huang Qi is chatting with him."

Thees and thous? Duan Jiaze felt something was off. He took out his phone and looked—the app had actually dispatched an animal!

Duan Jiaze slapped his head. He had been so busy he was about to take off, and hadn't even noticed. Looking at the logistics progress now, a dispatched animal should have arrived.

As they went downstairs, Xiao Su muttered, "Could it be another one of Brother Lu's relatives?"

Duan Jiaze: "...Probably not."

While still in the hallway, Duan Jiaze heard someone singing opera from the reception room: "Hearing this, my hair stands on end in fury, three thousand zhang high, flames of rage burn above my head. Alas, my thirty-six generals, flee east and west, scattered to all corners..."

That was quite a loud voice. Duan Jiaze wondered wildly in his head, 'Who is it? Which deity or demon sings opera?'

Duan Jiaze pushed the door open in bewilderment—

Inside sat a completely bewildered Huang Qi. A burly man at least 1.9 meters tall, wearing traditional Chinese men's clothing, was standing in the middle with his side to the door, singing with a raised hand, "...All he wanted was to be emperor, Princess Heyang died by his sword."

The burly man took a step, pointed to the side, his brows furrowed in anger: "You are a man—with the heart of a beast!"

Duan Jiaze, who was being pointed at: "..."

Huang Qi quickly stood up. "The Director is here, so I'll be leaving."

It was a mystery how Huang Qi had been chatting with the person to the point that he started singing. What was worse was that Huang Qi had been scared off by the singing.

Duan Jiaze watched Huang Qi close the door behind him, then turned and asked, "I am Duan Jiaze, the director of Lingyou Zoo. And you are?"

The burly man sized up Duan Jiaze for a moment, then gracefully straightened his clothes—incidentally, Duan Jiaze really thought his clothes didn't fit; his muscles stretched the fabric taut.

"I am Xiong Siqian, and I am imposing on you at your residence, Director," the burly Xiong Siqian even cupped his fists in a salute. "If I have caused any offense, I hope the Director will be magnanimous and forgive me."

Although Xiong Siqian was big and brawny, he spoke in a very scholarly manner, the most archaic of all the dispatched animals so far. Duan Jiaze wasn't particularly fond of it. "Um... you're too kind, too kind. May I ask what your... origins are?"

From the name, he might be a bear, but it was impossible to know what kind of bear.

Xiong Siqian's bell-like eyes widened as he said in astonishment, "Ah, Director, your words... can it be that you have never heard of my name?"

Duan Jiaze: "...I haven't."

Xiong Siqian straightened his back, seeming to grow even taller. His head was almost in front of Duan Jiaze's face as he roared, "I am the Mountain-Guarding Great Deity of Mount Luojia, and you fucking haven't heard of me?!"

Duan Jiaze: "............"

'Holy crap, you, with your thick brows and big eyes, are actually two-faced?'

Xiong Siqian intimidated Duan Jiaze, forcing him back onto the sofa. He opened his big mouth, looking fierce and malevolent, ready to teach this pretty-boy director a lesson and assert his dominance.

At that very moment, despite the doors and windows being tightly shut, a gust of hot wind blew from somewhere inside the room. A figure appeared behind Xiong Siqian, sent him face-planting with a single kick, and then stepped on his back.

Xiong Siqian's muscles tensed, stretching his clothes to the point of tearing. Veins bulged as he propped himself up with his hands on the floor, but no matter how he struggled, he couldn't escape from under that foot.

"Just one of Guanyin's lackeys, and you fucking want to bully my esteemed self's person?" Luya stomped down, directly embedding half of Xiong Siqian's face into the floor tiles.

Duan Jiaze: ".................."

'Wait, be clear, it should be 'your keeper'...'

The reversal came so quickly that Duan Jiaze had no time to process it.

After his outburst, Luya hauled Xiong Siqian up and tossed him to the ground. "Apologize."

Xiong Siqian scrambled up nimbly, kowtowed to Duan Jiaze, smashing another shallow pit into the floor. "I'm sorry!!"

"..." Duan Jiaze's hands were still spread out on the sofa, his whole body slumped into it, a look of utter confusion on his face. "It's, it's fine...?"

Only then did Xiong Siqian look at Luya and say sheepishly, "I didn't know the Daoist Lord was here... I was just joking with the Director just now."

If he had known earlier that this famously short-tempered figure from the Three Realms was here, how would he have dared to try and assert his dominance? He would've tucked his tail between his legs and behaved long ago.

Luya snorted coldly and said nothing, but anyone with eyes could see that he didn't believe Xiong Siqian's words.

Xiong Siqian reverted to his previous scholarly demeanor, now with an added ingratiating smile. He said to Duan Jiaze, "I was originally a small black bear from Heifeng Mountain, and later served as a gatekeeper at the Great Master Guanyin's sanctuary. The Director can just call me Little Xiong from now on."

"You're too kind, too kind." Duan Jiaze looked at Xiong Siqian, whose attitude had improved considerably in an instant, and felt a little relieved. Although these dispatched animals couldn't harm him, if they were all as reckless as Xiong Siqian was before, someone with a weak heart would be scared to death.

Moreover, one could imagine how he would manage at work if Luya wasn't there to keep things in order. Looking at this reckless fellow, he probably wouldn't care about a bad review or a poor evaluation; he'd lost his freedom hundreds of years ago anyway.

He used to complain about the Daoist Lord all the time, but now it seemed the Daoist Lord was pretty great. By handling him alone, he indirectly suppressed the entire zoo. It was a great deal. Thinking this, Duan Jiaze shot Luya a grateful glance.

Seeing Duan Jiaze's heartfelt admiration (a misunderstanding), Luya also felt very pleased with himself.

......

When Xiao Su came in with a pot of tea, she saw the Director and the guest sitting opposite each other in a very pleasant atmosphere. It was just that, for some reason, there were now two pits on the floor, one small and shallow, the other larger and deeper. She exclaimed in shock, "What happened here?"

Duan Jiaze glanced over. "...Smashed by accident."

"What could have been smashed to make a dent like that? That one's as big as a watermelon," Xiao Su muttered, but at least she didn't press the issue. "Should I get someone to come and patch it up?"

"For what? No need," Duan Jiaze waved his hand. "Save some money. This building is going to be demolished sooner or later anyway."

"That's true," Xiao Su said.

Duan Jiaze then introduced him to her. "This is Xiong Siqian, a friend of a friend. He works nearby and will be staying here from now on."

'As long as it's not another one of Brother Lu's relatives, it's fine.' Of course, this one didn't look like Brother Lu's relative either. Xiao Su smiled at Xiong Siqian and greeted him.

Xiong Siqian also cupped his fists. "Greetings, young lady."

Xiao Su was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing with a "pfft". "Brother Xiong, you're so refined."

Singing opera and performing ancient rites—but there were many people like that nowadays. Xiao Su even occasionally saw people wearing ancient costumes on the street; it was just their hobby. At most, it was just that Xiong Siqian was too muscular, making the clothes look a bit awkward on him.

Before, he didn't know Xiong Siqian's identity. Knowing it now and looking at his style, Duan Jiaze had only one thought: this Great King of Heifeng really hadn't changed his ways, dead set on being a cultured man.

After Xiao Su left with the tea, Duan Jiaze asked a question that had been on his mind, "How did you get sent down here?"

Xiong Siqian said with embarrassment, "I usually enjoy collecting some wild fruits. I didn't expect that after being stored for a long time, the wild fruits would turn into wine. I carelessly ate them, got drunk, and damaged the environment of Mount Luojia a bit. So, the Great Master sent me to the Heavenly Court to support the Ling Xiao Hope Project, and then I was dispatched here."

Duan Jiaze: "...Oh."

Who are you kidding! He could believe that wild fruits turned into wine, but how could you "carelessly" eat them, and even get drunk?

Duan Jiaze didn't believe it at all. He then recalled that this Xiong Siqian was sent down for destroying the environment. He had asked the others before: Yousu (self-proclaimed) had beaten up a minor god. Bai Suzhen had supposedly gotten into a conflict with a certain arhat—after all, she hadn't had a good impression of bald people since Fa Hai. Xiao Qing hadn't made any mistake at all; she just blindly followed Bai Suzhen down.

Only this Luya stubbornly refused to say what mistake he had made to be sent down.