HLM – Chapter 158 Earth-Shaking

For the ranch, selling pasture grass was also a potential source of income. However, this channel was mainly managed by farms—many farms in New Zealand grew pasture grass for sale.

Wang Bo scratched his head and said, “Honestly, buddy, I also think the quality of my beef and mutton has something to do with the pasture grass. But if you want that much, it’s too hard for me.”

He didn’t want to do this business because he knew exactly what affected the quality of the chicken, duck, beef, and mutton. Sure, pasture grass played a role, but the key factor was the Heart of the Ranch and its improvements to the livestock.

At present, he could still explain it away with the use of high-quality grass and free-range practices. But if someone bought his grass and used it to raise their cattle and sheep, only to find the meat quality didn’t improve—then how would he explain that?

Still, since Motak had helped him a lot before, it wasn’t easy to outright refuse him. He could only look for another way to decline. “You’ve seen it yourself, Motak. My ranch is all free-range—the animals are everywhere. It’s impossible to harvest pasture on a large scale.”

Motak looked at him pleadingly. “Then could you maybe drive them to one side and harvest from the other?”

Wang Bo spread his hands with a helpless look. “That would affect the herd too much, especially with the current bad weather. How about this—let’s wait until spring and then figure something out?”

He really couldn’t turn Motak down directly, so he resorted to a classic delay tactic.

After seeing Motak off, Wang Bo returned to the castle. As soon as he stepped into the hall, Little Bartier rushed over and made a “shh” gesture, signaling him to stay quiet.

Wang Bo saw the boy’s flushed and excited face and was puzzled. “What’s the good news?”

Little Bartier pointed to the corridor near the central staircase and whispered, “Look, look—the cranes are about to hatch!”

Not long after the auction, the crane couple had flown back to the Heart of the Nest with their eggs. Considering the colder weather, Wang Bo decided not to drive them away.

Juan had even built a large bird’s nest for the cranes—to protect the carpet, since he was worried they might ruin it with their droppings.

Right now, the crane couple had stepped aside, watching the two eggs with anxious eyes. One of the eggs was gently wobbling; the other was also twitching slightly from time to time. Clearly, the chicks inside were getting ready to hatch and moving about.

Wang Bo knew that soon, the chicks would start pecking from the inside, cracking the shell open just like baby chicks do—hatching on their own.

Soon, Charlie, Bowen, Kobe, Bartier, and the others were drawn over by the hatching scene. There were no cranes in New Zealand, so this was the first time any of them had witnessed something like this. The news that crane chicks were about to hatch brought everyone running.

Zhuang Ding, the Queen, and the young princes came bounding in to join the excitement. Zhuang Ding raised his head and barked wildly at Wang Bo, who quickly grabbed him and said, “Quiet! Don’t scare the chicks!”

The Queen also let out a muffled growl, but when Wang Bo shouted, she immediately closed her mouth—though she paced back and forth in agitation.

No one noticed the dogs’ unusual behavior. Everyone was focused on the nest. One of the crane eggs was shaking more and more, and Wang Bo heard faint cracking sounds and whispered, “It must be the chick pecking at the shell…”

“Shh! This is the moment of witnessing a miracle!”

One egg wobbled, then the other followed. And then… the castle itself started to shake.

Wang Bo thought it was an illusion. But when he looked around, the castle’s solid walls really were trembling ever so slightly. Dust and debris began to drift down from the ceiling.

Bowen sucked in a sharp breath. “Shit… this bird hatching is insane—it’s even causing the castle to resonate!”

Charlie said seriously, “No, no. As far as I know, white-naped cranes are a very legendary species in China. When a divine bird is born, there’s always something unusual—”

“Unusual my ass! Son, run! It’s an earthquake!!” Bartier suddenly snapped out of it, shivered, then yanked Little Bartier and bolted toward the exit.

Zhuang Ding and the Queen instantly started barking in unison. Their fur stood on end, and they stared at Wang Bo, barking frantically: “Woof woof woof! Woof woof woof!”

Hearing Bartier’s shout, cold sweat broke out on Wang Bo’s back. He suddenly understood the dogs’ earlier behavior—they had sensed the earthquake beforehand and were trying to warn him!

No time to think. He turned and bolted for the exit. But then the Queen let out a shrill howl. Wang Bo looked back—several of the young princes were still happily rolling around on the carpet, completely unaware.

Three were near him. He quickly scooped them into his arms. The Queen and Zhuang Ding each grabbed one with their mouths. But the smallest, Sixth Prince, was several meters away…

Commander flapped out with a burst of wings. Just as he opened his beak to squawk, he saw that Wang Bo was already carrying puppies and one more was still on the ground. Without hesitation, Commander swooped down, grabbed the scruff of Sixth Prince’s neck with his claws, and flapped with all his might toward the door!

“Good job, Commander!” Wang Bo shouted praises while running.

African grey parrots are not very strong, but Commander had been enhanced by the Heart of the Soul, giving him rare strength. Still, even carrying one puppy was exhausting—he was flying barely above ground level.

Wang Bo sprinted out of the castle in a few strides and shouted at everyone, “To the outer yard! Head to the outer yard—it’s open!”

Charlie grabbed him and said, “It’s fine! Don’t worry! We’re okay here. New Zealand doesn’t have major earthquakes—the castle won’t collapse!”

Wang Bo stole a glance back amid the chaos. It was true. Though the castle was trembling, it was very slight—nowhere near collapse.

Bartier understood too. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, “Thank God the engineers who built this castle were geniuses. Building on a mountain may be hard, but it really does reduce earthquake impact.”

The castle was still shaking slightly. Wang Bo put the puppies down. They weren’t scared at all. As soon as they touched the ground, the six brothers immediately resumed roughhousing.

Poor Commander, though—his wings were about to give out from carrying the Sixth Prince. He crash-landed on the ground, and the little pups surrounded him, trying to gang up on him.

Commander was furious, running around while cursing, “You heartless brats!”

Thankfully, the Queen was nearby. With her mature mind, she saw her children bullying the parrot and immediately stepped in—swinging her paws and smacking them each. Then she roared with authority, “Woof! Woof! Woof!”

The princes cowered under their mother’s wrath, tails tucked in obediently. But it didn’t last long. As soon as they saw the Queen ignoring them again, they went back to their playful chaos.

Another stronger tremor followed, but it still didn’t do much to the castle. Even so, Wang Bo was a little shaken—if the castle were ever to be destroyed, that would be a real disaster.