This live poultry wholesale shop was quite famous in the East District because all the chickens, ducks, and geese it sold were raised on its very own farm.

The farm was located right behind the shop. A short detour around to the back revealed several massive pens, where countless chickens, ducks, and geese were leisurely eating.

There wasn’t enough space for something like this in the city proper. A business model with a storefront and a farm out back could only be run in the city’s Edge Zone.

Lin Li went to the part of the shop designated for processing live poultry. Several employees were there, helping customers process the birds they had just purchased.

After surveying the scene, Lin Li walked up to an older woman with graying temples who was plucking a large duck. "Hello," he said.

The older woman processing the duck for another customer looked up at Lin Li. Her gaze fell on the black plastic bag in his hand, and she immediately understood his reason for being there.

"Young man, just wait a few minutes. As soon as I’m done with this gentleman’s duck, I’ll help you..."

Lin Li nodded. He glanced at the young man standing nearby, who wore sunglasses and had a cigarette dangling from his lips, then turned back to the older woman with graying temples. "Ma’am, where do I pay?"

"The payment code is over there... Just leave your bag with me." Hearing his question, the older woman with graying temples pointed behind herself. Lin Li followed her finger and saw a small counter nearby. A QR code for payment was posted on the wall behind it.

After setting the black plastic bag containing the Luhua Chicken Beast on the ground, Lin Li walked around the older woman and went to scan the QR code to pay.

A young female employee, the cashier, was standing behind the counter.

The processing fee was fifteen yuan per bird. Lin Li took his phone out of his pocket and scanned the QR code in front of him.

After paying the fee, the cashier handed Lin Li a small, red plastic tag, about the size of a one-yuan coin.

He took the red plastic tag back to the older woman with graying temples and dropped it into a plastic bucket beside her.

Lin Li glanced into the plastic bucket and saw more than a dozen small tags inside. It looked like the older woman with graying temples had already processed over ten birds that morning.

Soon, the older woman finished processing the bird for the young man in sunglasses who was waiting nearby. She then opened Lin Li’s black plastic bag, ready to start on his.

"Huh?" When the older woman opened Lin Li’s black plastic bag, she saw a dead Luhua chicken inside, and a surprised expression immediately appeared on her face.

"Young man, this Luhua chicken of yours isn’t an ordinary one! Looking at it, I’d guess it’s a Mutant Beast."

Lin Li was getting hungry. He was thinking, ’I should get a sausage from the Mysterious Small Island to tide me over,’ when he suddenly heard the old woman’s words and a look of surprise crossed his face.

Although this Luhua Chicken Beast was a size larger than a normal Luhua chicken, it was still very difficult for an ordinary person to identify it as a Mutant Beast.

’Yet this ordinary-looking old woman can identify it as a Mutant Beast with a single glance. She’s no simple character!’

"Ma’am, how could you tell it was a Mutant Beast?" Lin Li asked, his curiosity piqued.

Hearing Lin Li’s question, the older woman chuckled and said, "You might think I’m just an ordinary person, but I’ll have you know, I’ve processed ten or twenty thousand live birds over the last forty-plus years.

"Compared to a regular Luhua chicken, the most obvious difference with a Luhua Chicken Beast from the wilds is its size. The next biggest tells are the comb and the beak.

"Look at the comb on your Luhua chicken—it’s red, but with a streak of purple running through it. And its beak curves downward a bit. You have to observe those two areas.

"If you pay close attention, you can tell whether your Luhua chicken is a Mutant Beast from the wilds."

Lin Li felt like it was an eye-opening experience after listening to the old woman’s explanation.

He took a closer look at the Luhua Chicken Beast he had hunted and saw that its comb and beak were indeed slightly different, just as the old woman had said.

’I’ve killed a lot of Luhua Chicken Beasts, but I never noticed those two things...’ Lin Li thought for a moment before smiling at the old woman. "Ma’am, you’re truly incredible!"

"It all comes down to experience. If I couldn’t tell that your Luhua chicken was a Mutant Beast after killing so many, then I’d have wasted all these years.

"Besides, our shop is on Chenghua Avenue, so we often have Exotic Beast Hunters driving by.

"Every now and then, they bring in some avian Mutant Beasts for us to process, with the Luhua Chicken Beast being the most common.

"Year after year, I’ve processed quite a few Luhua Chicken Beasts, so with all that experience, it’s become much easier to tell whether a Luhua chicken is a Mutant Beast or not."

The older woman began to process Lin Li’s Luhua Chicken Beast, chatting with him as she worked.

She had guessed from Lin Li’s clothes that he was an Exotic Beast Hunter, but when he confirmed it, she couldn’t help but show a look of surprise.

"How old are you, young man? From the looks of you, you must have just graduated from college!"

"Yes, I just graduated this year."

"Becoming an Exotic Beast Hunter so young... that’s really impressive!" the older woman praised.

"It’s nothing special. I only just became an Exotic Beast Hunter, so I’m a rookie. There are still a lot of things I don’t do very well," Lin Li said humbly.

"Sigh. When my son was young, he wanted to become an Exotic Beast Hunter, too. What a pity! His cultivation talent wasn’t good, so he couldn’t go to the Exotic Beast Hunter Guild to take the qualification exam," the older woman said.

’Just over a month ago, I was in the same situation as your son, with poor cultivation talent...’ Lin Li thought to himself upon hearing the older woman mention her son’s cultivation talent.

When people get older, they can’t help but enjoy chattering on to young people about this and that.

Looking at this young man, who was about the same age as her granddaughter, the older woman with graying temples couldn’t help but open the floodgates of conversation.

Lin Li had been thinking about taking a sausage from the Mysterious Small Island to eat and tide over his hungry stomach.

But now, with the older woman chatting away nonstop, he couldn’t very well eat in front of her.

So, he could only wait for her to finish processing his Luhua Chicken Beast and eat when he got back to his car.

"Mom, didn’t I tell you to rest? Why are you doing this kind of work yourself again?" A tall, middle-aged man came to Lin Li’s side and spoke to the older woman who was processing Lin Li’s Luhua Chicken Beast.

"Huh?!!" Lin Li was greatly surprised when he heard the tall, middle-aged man call the older woman "Mom."

He had previously seen employees call this tall, middle-aged man "Boss."

"I saw you were a little shorthanded, so I decided to help out! I was just idle anyway..." the older woman said with a smile.

"Ugh... I’ll hire a few more people. Mom, stop, I’ll get someone else to help this customer," the shop owner said to his mother.

"No need. I’ll finish this one myself. I’ll stop after it’s done." The older woman shook her head. Seeing his mother’s persistence, the shop owner could only let her be.

Just then, an employee in his early twenties came running over, covered in sweat. "Boss, something’s wrong! We’ve got a situation at the farm." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"What happened?" the shop owner asked.

"There’s a big goose in the goose pen that’s gone mad. Whenever any of our staff get close, it attacks them like crazy..." the employee said.

"It’s just one troublemaking goose. Just find a stick and teach it a lesson. Look how panicked you are, are you good for anything?" the shop owner said with a frown.

The words had barely left his mouth when the phone in his pocket began to ring.

"RING RING RING..."

"Hello?"

"Boss, it’s bad, really bad! A Mutant Beast! The mad goose in the goose pen seems to have become a Mutant Beast—no, it definitely became a Mutant Beast! I just saw its eyes glow with a faint golden light!"

"What? You’re saying the troublemaking goose turned into a Mutant Beast?!!" The shop owner, still on the phone, was stunned by his employee’s report.

Lin Li, who was standing nearby, also had a look of surprise on his face when he heard what the shop owner said.

...