Everyone finally saw what happened clearly. The eagle hadn't just slipped and crashed by accident—it had been yanked down hard by Xiao Dou, slamming straight into the ground.
The craziest part? The eagle got injured from that brutal impact, but Xiao Dou looked perfectly fine. (Her skin was basically as thick as a city wall.) Then came the real shocker: when the eagle tried to flap back into the air, Xiao Dou grabbed its claw with her beak, copied its move, and smashed the eagle back into the ground.
They could only watch as that massive bird got slammed again and again.
"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!" someone shouted. The whole arena went nuts. Was this seriously something a chicken could do? How strong was this thing?
No one was surprised that an eagle could carry a hen into the sky. But a hen tossing an eagle into the dirt? That just broke Newton's laws. Where the hell was Newton when you needed him?
Xiao Dou:The sky might be your domain, but down here, I'm the queen.
After just a few brutal smashes, the eagle stopped moving. Xiao Dou lowered her head and went for the eyes and the brain. Soon, next to the bloody hyena corpse lay another one—the eagle.
Jing Shu opened the cage, chopped off the eagle's head, and tucked the body under her arm. "We'll roast this for dinner," she said casually.
It was the same kind of "kindness" parents showed when they took their kid's New Year money, saying it was "for your future marriage fund." And just like those kids, Xiao Dou didn't protest. She just bobbed her head like a chick pecking rice, already dreaming about roast eagle tonight.
Only then did the crowd finally react, and they erupted into chaos. The referee rushed in to verify the fight and confirmed it: the chicken really had killed the eagle. The eagle's owner lost it and charged at Jing Shu, but she calmly swung a leg and kicked him flying, the eagle's corpse still in her hand. The entire arena fell silent.
Everyone realized it at once—this chicken wasn't ordinary.
The host was breathing hard. He'd only bet one black market coin, but if Xiao Dou kept winning, that one coin would turn into two thousand! Staring at the ugly, patchy-feathered chicken with barely any recognizable chicken traits besides her claws, he struggled to contain his excitement.
"My god, this might really be today's dark horse! Let's move on to the third match!"
The third fight was against a jaguar. Not as powerful as the hyena, but faster and far more agile. Even Jing Shu broke a sweat watching. But Xiao Dou had been drinking the same Spirit Spring water as her every day, and that meant enormous strength and ridiculously tough flesh. A knife could barely cut through her.
The jaguar bit down and drew a little blood, but before it could even blink, Xiao Dou pecked its head full of holes. Instant kill.
Still, it was the first opponent to actually injure Xiao Dou—a worthy foe, at least.
The fourth match was against a wolf. No suspense there. The audience was getting numb by now, though some still muttered that this time, the chicken couldn't possibly win.
Then came the fifth round—a wild boar.
A massive, flame-red beast ranked tenth among the arena's battle pets. It didn't belong to commoners but to one of the nobles. Before the apocalypse, that noble had used the boar to win countless matches. It was fierce and terrifying, and because it never lacked food, it had grown huge and strong.
It took four men to haul the boar into the arena. The iron cage rattled as it slammed itself against the bars, making the whole structure tremble. The crowd's hope reignited—this thing was the real deal.
"This thing's gotta be at least 250 kilos, right?" Jing Shu asked. It was enormous.
After Xiao Hei translated, the host nodded. "A 350-kilo wild boar. It usually ends fights by simply bulldozing its opponents."
"Hey, I'm betting on the boar. No way it loses."
"Same. If this chicken beats that, I'll twist my own head off and use it as a football. Look at it, that hen's like one-tenth its size. How could it win?"
Jing Shu swallowed, eyeing the boar. Bringing something like that home meant pig trotters, pig ears, braised pig head—all perfect side dishes! Sliced pig head meat before dinner... oh man, wild boar meat was supposed to be even tastier!
The host thought she looked scared and tried to comfort her. "Hey, making it to round five already means you've won a lot of black market coins. Your chicken's going down in our record books no matter what. But wild boars have thick hide and muscle. Even if your chicken's got a sharp beak, it won't pierce that."
Jing Shu asked again, "Sir, just to confirm—equipment and weapons are allowed, right?"
"Of course. As long as your pet knows how to use them."
"Then why don't the others wear any gear?"
The host gave her a look like she was an idiot. "These beasts are wild and dumb. Their bodies are their weapons, and aggression is their defense. The most you'll see is some leather armor."
The fight began.
The boar was furious, smashing around the arena the moment it was let out. The iron cage shook so hard it almost came apart. Then it spotted Xiao Dou, and without hesitation, it charged.
That mountain-sized beast was terrifying. Next to it, Xiao Dou looked like an ant. One careless move, and she'd be flattened.
"Crush it! Smash it! Oh shit, I'm finally gonna win!" someone yelled.
Xiao Dou freaked out. She was a chicken, damn it! That huge boar charging at her was a nightmare come true. And then, to everyone's shock, she flapped her wings—hard—and actually flew.
The chicken flew.
That alone stunned the audience. Then she did what she always did—copied what worked. Imitating the eagle, she dove from the air. Well, more like dropped, since she was too heavy to glide. She crashed right onto the boar's head and started pecking at its eyes.
The boar went wild, squealing and thrashing like a maddened bull, trying to shake her off. It slammed itself into the ground over and over, but Xiao Dou clung on like glue, pecking relentlessly. Soon, the boar's eyes were shredded into bloody messes. Even blind, she kept pecking deeper.
It was, without question, the most brutal slaughter Jing Shu had ever seen.
"What a waste," she sighed.
Xiao Hei, who was beside himself with excitement, froze. "A waste? What do you mean, a waste?"
"It's a pity, all that pig blood gone to waste."
"...What?"
"Think about it. Spicy pig blood stew, blood curd hotpot—delicious!"
Xiao Hei stared at her like she was the devil incarnate.
The crowd, meanwhile, wasn't nearly as calm as Jing Shu. They jumped to their feet, shouting, cursing, and demanding to see the chicken up close. They called it rigged, impossible, fake.
Was Xiao Dou strong? Sure. Stronger than the boar? Not really. But she was clever.
Humans were at the top of the food chain for a reason—because of intelligence.