Sorry it's been awhile since an update this has been on the back burner for awhile while we work on Novel Translator and other Projects like Suki Translate – IOS Manga Translator …. anyway this was brought up to
on the discord so here's a fresh one!
“Ahem, Seventh Sister, do you really think this will work?”
Roasting them in a sealed pill furnace… wouldn’t they all suffocate to death before anything else happened?
Qian Wanyu’s cool gaze swept over her.
“You don’t trust ?”
Dongfang Minghui swallowed hard. She kept feeling that if she denied it to this woman’s face, sothing very strange would happen. She shook her head at once.
“I’ll try it first.”
She skillfully set up a makeshift boiler. When she couldn’t find a wooden rack, she had Little Miao cooperate instead. She took the at Little Colour had picked out earlier from that water beast and cut it into several chunks. Each person held one end of a white silk thread; several slices of at dangled from it. The whole eerie string of at hung right in the flas Little Miao was controlling and started roasting.
The fragrance of grilled at and smoky scent burst out together, luring everyone who had only been watching the fight to wander over.
Lian kept glancing their way, and no one knew whether he was watching the people roasting or the at giving off that intoxicating aroma.
“What are you doing?” Qian Yiling asked in confusion.
“Mother, you’ll know in a bit.”
Qian Wanyu sold it as a mystery.
“Mmm, this at actually slls pretty good.”
She’d originally planned to use it to lure that foodie Little Fatty over, and if she could conveniently hook the little artifact spirit too, that would be even better. But once the at was grilled, Dongfang Minghui unexpectedly discovered that this water beast’s at was excellent. Once cooked, it carried a soul-stealing aroma all on its own.
Even people who hadn’t wanted to eat, once they slled it, had their deepest cravings stirred.
Her sense of sll was very keen. She gritted her teeth and held back the urge to eat.
“You’re using my rations to flatter them again!!!”
Little Colour exploded in her soul sea, smacking her around in fury. If it weren’t still afraid of that bit of fire, it would have already jumped out and fought her for the sea beast at.
Dongfang Minghui couldn’t help rubbing her forehead. She hurried to coax it.
“Don’t, don’t. Our priority is getting out of here first. Once we’re out, I’ll find heavenly herbs and earthly treasures to compensate you, all right?”
Pig Immortal Grass was lazily playing with its own grass tail. Seeing all this, it drawled,
“Heavenly treasures versus this Shui i Beast? You’re totally coming out ahead.”
Shui i Beast?
A shiver ran down her back. What a waste of such a nice-sounding na. Besides, she’d stored this “grain reserve” in her space for ages. Every ti she checked, she only ever saw Little Colour go soak in that blue liquid. Who knew what it was even for?
Leaving it there was a waste. Better to put it to use.
“Shaman.”
Qian Wanyu, sitting beside her, arched a brow and looked at the man standing awkwardly in front of Ninth Sister. He was no longer Lian as they had known him. Once his seal was undone, even his aura had changed.
Only Ninth Sister was still too silly to notice.
Back when she’d fallen from above, Lian had wanted to catch her—but Qian Wanyu had beaten him to it. He’d wanted to approach and talk to her for a long ti, but she’d been monopolized by Qian Wanyu. So he waited for this small opening, called out once, then took the initiative to sit down on her left and quietly help string at on the white silk.
Since resources in her space were limited, Dongfang Minghui had recalled how they’d cured bacon in the past, usually threading ropes through the at and hanging it in the sun to dry. That reminded her of the white silk spat out by the man??eating grass—invulnerable to blades, impervious to water and fire. So she quite shalessly made Qian Wanyu help her thread the at.
Now with another free laborer, she was all the happier to slack off.
Lian, however, was constantly paying attention to the wind. He secretly used a bit of trickery to nudge the wind in another direction.
Little Fatty compressed the fireball in her hand, squeezing it into a tiny fire marble even as her nose twitched. Her soul was practically being dragged away by the sll of barbecue. The little artifact spirit used her constant distraction to bounce each little fire marble back at her one by one.
Clink, clank, clink—
A series of crisp sounds rang out. Everyone turned to see that at so point Little Fatty had turned into the Tianyin Helt, which absorbed all those tiny red fire marbles without missing a single one. When it finished, it simply stood there on its own again.
Dongfang Minghui stared, dumbfounded.
So that works too…
Those two artifact spirits fought like they were trying to kill each other, but in reality, it was more like two kids having a snowball fight—one hit for another hit, neither side gaining anything. When the little artifact spirit saw the other turn into its original shape and hop toward Dongfang Minghui, it curiously chased after.
A dark shadow flashed past, rushing at the Tianyin Helt first.
“Little Bean Sprout.”
Just as Little Bean Sprout rushed up to the Tianyin Helt, Little Fatty abruptly changed back into a tall, slender woman. Little Bean Sprout slamd on an ergency brake and instantly turned into a perfectly straight bean sprout.
Little Fatty unhurriedly pulled on her clothes, scooped Little Bean Sprout together with the obsidian soil into her arms, and poked its flower bud with a finger. Strangely, Little Bean Sprout didn’t react at all, still a perfectly straight sprout.
Dongfang Minghui had the vague feeling Little Bean Sprout was looking for its flowerpot. But that flowerpot probably couldn’t hold it anymore. She snuck a glance at Qian Wanyu and Lian. Seeing that neither of their expressions changed, she quietly sighed in relief and made up her mind: once they got out of here, she had to talk to Little Fatty about a woman’s basic decency when changing clothes.
She couldn’t keep stripping and dressing so openly, without sha, every ti…
Even though her vision had gone a bit blurry while the other woman had been calmly changing just now—as if Little Fatty had been pixelated in her sight—that explosive figure was more than enough to set so people’s imaginations running wild.
“Eat.” Little Fatty said bluntly.
“Here, here.”
Little Fatty took two bites, then stopped. She frowned, hugged Little Bean Sprout, and sat off to the side to play with it. Unfortunately, Little Bean Sprout was in a bad mood too.
Dongfang Minghui was surprised. She sniffed at the at. She’d been missing a lot of tools, but she’d used all the ingredients she should. The at was tender, with golden oil dripping down. For a foodie like Little Fatty, there was no reason to quit after just a couple of bites. Sothing was definitely off.
“Did the at go bad?”
The only reason she could think of was that this Shui i Beast had been stored in her space for too long. She’d just finished speaking when the troublemaker Little Colour jumped out to nitpick.
“Nonsense. As long as its blood is there, it won’t spoil even after a year or two.” Little Colour muttered. “It’s clearly the difference in awakened attributes. This Shui i Beast is a water??elental magical beast.”
“So that’s it.”
Dongfang Minghui suddenly understood. After a brief hesitation, she handed a piece of at to the little artifact spirit who’d been quietly serving as a background prop.
“Do you… want to take a few bites?”
“What is it?”
“Roast at.”
After a long pause, she added,
“It’s edible.”
The little artifact spirit reluctantly tried a bite—and then imdiately demolished every last piece of grilled at she had.
Hic—
“…”
Dongfang Minghui had been ntally prepared to fail. She hadn’t expected Little Fatty not to eat, yet this artifact spirit had gobbled down the lot.
“Little artifact spirit, are you full?”
It wriggled a bit, then leaned closer to her.
“No. More.”
Just as Dongfang Minghui reached into her space, ready to carve up more of the Shui i Beast, Qian Wanyu smoothly pulled her into her arms and pressed her hand down.
“Ninth Sister, don’t you think it’s a bit too stuffy in here?”
“Y??yeah, yeah.”
She’d almost forgotten the main issue. She was sitting down when a lungful of smoke suddenly hit and made her cough several tis.
“Little artifact spirit, the air in here is too stuffy. It’s not suitable for grilling. Why don’t you open the Changsheng Cauldron, and we’ll continue grilling outside. How about it?”
The little artifact spirit squird, then jumped into Dongfang Minghui’s arms, found a spot, and settled there quietly.
Out of habit, Dongfang Minghui reached out to pet it. She only realized after a few strokes that its body was cool and pleasantly comfortable.
“Why don’t you co out and travel with us? Whenever there’s sothing tasty, you’ll get a share.”
She was really getting addicted to raising ‘kids.’
Just as she was scheming how to properly abduct the artifact spirit—
Toothless, who had been lying down cultivating, suddenly opened her eyes. Twin black pupils were flickering with fla??shaped patterns. The fiery red diamond on her forehead flashed for a mont, then its glow quickly faded.
She stood up, gave her whole body a shake, glanced around, then strode step by steady step toward the group gathered around Dongfang Minghui.
Her tall, imposing figure appeared like a small mountain, casting a shadow over them.
“Toothless?”
Using her size advantage, Toothless shouldered Lian out of the way and shoved her big head under Dongfang Minghui’s hand, rubbing and rubbing, clearly begging to be petted. The obedient act nearly lted Dongfang Minghui’s heart.
She couldn’t help rembering the scene she’d seen as a spirit body, when Toothless had been covered in wounds. She gently cupped Toothless’s large head and rubbed her cheek against it.
“Toothless.”
Under Qian Wanyu’s icy gaze, Toothless still stuck out her tongue and gave Dongfang Minghui a quick lick, just as affectionate as in the past.
Dongfang Minghui’s fingers froze. She quickly moved Toothless’s head away and seriously stared into those deep black eyes.
Could it be that once Toothless returned to her beast form, she rembered her?
Before she could think it through, Toothless noticed the lump in her arms. With one swipe of a paw, she smacked the artifact spirit far into the distance.
Sizzle sizzle—
A sound like flesh being scorched.
The little artifact spirit rolled down from the wall, then whooshed straight back into her arms again, this ti clinging to her clothes with two tiny claws.
Toothless reached to swat it again, but Dongfang Minghui blocked her.
“Toothless, no.”
“Awoo.”
Toothless really didn’t like the sll on that artifact spirit, but because of Dongfang Minghui, she decided to settle accounts with it slowly in the future.
The artifact spirit, anwhile, was very interested in Toothless’s aura. When it saw Dongfang Minghui scold the other, it said primly,
“Taking you all outside isn’t impossible. But you have to be nice to . If you’re not, I’ll lock you up all alone.”
A chill ran down Dongfang Minghui’s spine. Damn it, had she really picked up a little ancestor to serve?
Daily worship, three als a day, on ti and generous.
Qian Wanyu’s cold aura was leaking out in waves. Afraid that Seventh Sister would lose patience and offend the artifact spirit, Dongfang Minghui quickly agreed,
“We’ll be good to you. But if you make so unreasonable demands, I’ll at least have to think about it.”
The artifact spirit didn’t care about principles or anything of the sort.
The mont it heard her agree, it zipped up to Toothless’s head and sat there, back straight, posturing like a big boss. Unlike Toothless, who loathed it, the artifact spirit adored Toothless’s aura because of that cluster of fla.
“Rooaar—”
Toothless roared, trying to hook the lump off her head with her front claws. But after pawing at it for ages, she couldn’t get it off. She started jumping and spinning like crazy inside the Changsheng Cauldron, the fiercest move being when she recklessly ramd her big head into the cauldron wall.
“Don’t, Toothless.”
Each ti she was about to hit the wall, the previously solid bronze softened. Not only did it fail to smash the artifact spirit to paste, it even let the little thing stretch out its hands and feet and stomp all over Toothless’s nose.
Toothless, furious, spat out fireballs one after another. Her dragon roar reverberated inside the Changsheng Cauldron, making everyone’s eardrums ache.
Dongfang Minghui’s heart was on a roller coaster, up and down, leaving her soaked in cold sweat.
Seeing those two eyesores “getting along so well,” Qian Wanyu’s mood actually improved.
“Excellent.”
Lian helpfully added from the side,
“Shaman, you’d better clean this place up.”
“Clean… right.”
Even so, Dongfang Minghui’s heart was still on Toothless and the artifact spirit. The little spirit sitting stubbornly on Toothless’s head made her head throb.
“What do we do now?”
Toothless hated having people or things climbing all over her. Last ti, Little Fatty had only managed to sit on her for a while by sheer luck, when she’d entered the Dragon Clan’s hidden land.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry, Ninth Sister. You should be worrying about yourself first.”
“Huh?”
When she turned her head, she t Seventh Sister’s deep gaze. That naked look, like she wanted to skin and debone her, made it hard to withstand.
Had Seventh Sister gotten so hungry and thirsty she planned to demand “at compensation” the mont they left the Changsheng Cauldron?
After throwing a little tantrum, Toothless flopped down on the ground.
The artifact spirit was full of pride and accomplishnt. Who knew that in the very next second, Toothless would swipe with both paws, knock it off her head, and brutally roll it around.
“Toothless.”
“Awoo.”
Toothless kneaded the artifact spirit into a ball, then flattened it again, her paw planted firmly on top of it.
Dongfang Minghui was torn. Siding with either felt unfair. She stroked Toothless’s head and hugged her.
“Toothless, we have to get out first. Let
take care of the little artifact spirit, okay?”
Toothless gave it another good rub for good asure.
Dongfang Minghui scooped up the artifact spirit, now squashed into a paper??thin sheet.
“Artifact spirit, are you okay?”
It straightened its body again. A miniature Toothless suddenly appeared in her palm. Dongfang Minghui was stunned—and then her head started to ache.
“You—”
As soon as Toothless saw it, she spat two fireballs aside and growled nacingly at the knockoff in her hand, pacing back and forth in agitation. If not for Dongfang Minghui’s presence, she’d have rushed over and torn the artifact spirit into pieces.
The artifact spirit puffed out its own tiny fla at Toothless. It wasn’t even a tenth the size of Toothless’s fireballs, but every move was a blatant imitation.
Her headache worsened. With this little ancestor around, the journey to the Dragon Clan’s land was guaranteed not to be boring.
The artifact spirit teased Toothless for a while. When Toothless refused to play anymore, it hopped down from Dongfang Minghui and said,
“Let’s go. Keep up.”
The difference between it and Toothless was imdiate—Toothless couldn’t speak at all in beast form.
Everyone followed behind the little artifact spirit, watching its small body wiggle as it walked. One big and one small Toothless, nearly identical. Mu Sheng muttered,
“That’s Toothless’s copy. We should call it Little Toothless from now on.”
Toothless, furious, blew a wisp of fire at him. Luckily, Little Miao diverted the fla onto himself; otherwise Mu Sheng would’ve gotten to personally experience what “playing with fire” really ant.
Dongfang Minghui dropped back a few steps to walk beside Toothless and patted her flank.
“Toothless, the artifact spirit is just teasing you.”
Just like Little Fatty—when she’d first t Toothless, she’d loved tugging Toothless around to play. The change probably ca after Toothless took on human form and started bullying Little Bean Sprout all the ti. Then Little Fatty quit chasing her.
Toothless let out a low rumble and half??crouched on the ground, staring up at Dongfang Minghui with wide, innocent eyes.
Now Dongfang Minghui was sure: the Toothless she’d raised from a baby was back. She hugged that big head and rubbed against it.
“Toothless, it’s so good you rember .”
Guiltily, Toothless looked away toward the top of the Changsheng Cauldron, debating whether to reel that cluster of fire back in.
Following her gaze, Dongfang Minghui murmured,
“It must be because that fla cos from you that the artifact spirit is so familiar with you.”
The little artifact spirit twisted its tiny butt as it looked over the crowd. Its gaze, sharp as fire, swept around but didn’t find Dongfang Minghui or Toothless. It automatically threaded through the group to the very back and urged them in its milky voice,
“Hurry.”
“All right.”
They followed the artifact spirit forward until darkness swallowed them. It was pitch black on all sides. At Dongfang Minghui’s side was a warm, furry body—probably Toothless. When she reached out, her hand brushed another soft, gentle form. No sooner had she touched it than her wrist was seized. That domineering grip could only belong to Seventh Sister.
With a light tug, the other pulled her back against sothing soft.
Qian Wanyu clapped a hand over her mouth and leaned down to breathe in her scent. Her other hand slid from Minghui’s waist, little by little, upward. The touch alone scared Dongfang Minghui so stiff she didn’t dare move. Even if she wanted to speak, her mouth was firmly covered.
Instinctively, she ran her tongue over that hand. The hand retreated at once. She quickly caught the other restless hand instead, then turned and took the initiative to hug her. Her fingers traced along the other’s features, one by one. She could even hear slightly ragged breathing.
Rising on her toes, she kissed everywhere her hands had just mapped.
Qian Wanyu, who could see clearly in the dark, watched her with eyes closed, expression devout, and the desire she’d been holding back snapped free.
So when a ray of light finally fell across their faces, the two of them were still wrapped in each other’s arms, kissing.
“Ahhh, I didn’t see anything!”
Mu Sheng shouted and clapped his hands over his eyes, stumbling a few steps forward and nearly rolling down Ice Lotus Mountain.
Everyone turned their heads away. Even Qian Yiling and Qian Ziyan looked awkward, their old faces flushed red.
Lian quickly looked aside too and took stock of the surroundings. Though it was all snow, an endless field of white, sothing about it felt familiar. He walked down a few steps and said quietly,
“I’ve been here before.”
“Looks like we’re still on Ice Lotus Mountain.”
“Mm.”
Qian Wanyu gave Minghui’s lips a hard suck at the corner, and seeing Ninth Sister’s red mouth covered with her marks, she was very satisfied.
Dongfang Minghui wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and jump in to die. To do that kind of thing with Seventh Sister, in front of so many people—and family, at that—was mortifying.
“Ninth Sister, you looked a bit weak in the knees just now. Do you want
to carry you down the mountain?”
“Seventh Sister!”
She glared at Qian Wanyu and only then noticed the wicked curve at the other’s lips. Too late, she realized she’d fallen for Seventh Sister’s ploy. She might not see in the dark, but Seventh Sister certainly could.
Grinding her teeth inside, Dongfang Minghui wondered how she’d never realized Seventh Sister had such a nasty streak.
“Hey.”
She spotted Toothless crouched nearby, with a little Toothless perched on her head. The mini??Toothless wore a tall hat, like a magician’s top hat, which made it look ridiculously funny. She reached out to poke the little artifact spirit.
“Artifact spirit, do you want to keep staying with Toothless?”
The artifact spirit nodded. The “hat” didn’t move at all with the motion, as if firmly embedded.
Dongfang Minghui nearly burst out laughing.
“Artifact spirit, your hat is really pretty. I just wonder if there’s a larger size. I think if Toothless wore one, she’d look just as good as you.”
“There is.”
As soon as it spoke, the hat on its head began to enlarge, growing to a size fit for Toothless. The little artifact spirit hopped off Toothless’s head in a flash, and that so??called “hat” embedded itself into Toothless’s skull.
Only then did Dongfang Minghui see the patterns engraved around its edge and realize it wasn’t a hat at all—it was a miniature Changsheng Cauldron.
“Rooaaar—”
Toothless’s temper shot through the roof. A ball of fire soared into the sky and fell again, vanishing who knew where.
“If the Changsheng Cauldron is pulled out, then—”
Rumble—
The earth shook violently. The ground vanished under Dongfang Minghui’s feet and she toppled backward.
“Ahhh—”
Toothless flapped her wings hard and, with a jerk, bounced the little artifact spirit away from her. With the giant, hideous cauldron on her head, she dove straight down and caught the falling girl.
“Oh my god.”
It was like bungee jumping without a rope. She scread herself hoarse. Looking back, she saw the entire mountain tilting forward, snow cascading down in an avalanche.
“Toothless, where’s Seventh Sister?”
Toothless rolled her eyes. She had no intention of worrying about that woman’s life.
Originally, the Changsheng Cauldron had been wedged into the massive pill furnace inside Ice Lotus Mountain. Once it was pulled out, the core of the mountain was hollowed. Add Toothless’s earlier roar, and another avalanche crashed down. The mountain couldn’t take the strain and collapsed.
It was an overwhelming sight—giant snowballs rolling down from the heights, growing bigger and bigger. This ti, she got to witness an avalanche up close.
“Seventh Sister.”
“Mother, Uncle.”
Toothless huffed. If she kept yelling, another glacier would probably slide down too. She beat her wings and dodged the flying snowballs one after another. Her large eyes swept the mountain in a flash. With the white ice as a backdrop and their brightly colored clothes, they weren’t too hard to spot—if only the weight on her head weren’t so heavy.
“There, Toothless, over there.”
Dongfang Minghui saw Lian first. He was trying to use wind spiritual power to push away the falling snow around him, one hand clamped to a jagged rock that looked like it could break off and tumble down at any second.
Lian saw that enormous figure and tensed, thinking it was a beast coming to attack. He saw the ridiculous “hat” first, then Dongfang Minghui on Toothless’s back.
“Shaman.”
Toothless hooked him up with one claw, then quickly scooped up Mu Sheng and Zhilan as well. The other five were nowhere to be seen, as though swallowed by the snow. Toothless circled in the air for a long ti and still didn’t find them.
Dongfang Minghui’s worry only grew, and Mu Sheng and Zhilan were still dangling in mid??air.
“Toothless, let’s go there.”
She pointed at the intact neighboring peak, slightly lower than the first. Toothless flew there and found a smooth patch to dump Mu Sheng, Zhilan, and Lian onto.
“You three stay here for a bit. I’ll go find Seventh Sister and Mother.”
Qian Wanyu was racing the collapsing mountain. She’d jumped after Dongfang Minghui, but once she saw Toothless catch Ninth Sister, she imdiately gave up on jumping. Three cracks of her Water??Thunder Whip later, she’d found a spot to leverage off, then sped down the mountain via the quickest routes she could find.
“Rooaar—”
With a snap of her whip, she struck sothing pretending to be Toothless—the little artifact spirit. The little thing projected a pair of wings, massive ones, and flapped toward her with its milky voice chiming,
“Co sit on ~”
Toothless had earlier knocked it into the snow with one wing, wedging it between the peaks. It had barely gotten free when it lost track of Toothless and Dongfang Minghui, then happened to bump into Qian Wanyu.
Qian Wanyu flicked a glance at its tiny body, half worried that if she sat on it, she’d squash it flat. After this, though, her opinion of the artifact spirit did rise a bit.
“No need. Just keep up.”
“Okay.”
As it flew, it chattered endlessly in her ear.
“Where are they? You’ll take
to find them, right?”
Qian Wanyu imdiately regretted bringing along such an oblivious thing. Her grip on the Water??Thunder Whip tightened.
A snowball rolled toward them from ahead. Qian Wanyu dodged it easily. The artifact spirit, not watching where it was going and still babbling, got smacked head??on. It pierced straight through the snowball.
“Ugh—”
It smacked its lips, then turned back into a hundred??thousand??questions baby.
“What was that just now? Not tasty.”
Qian Wanyu vaulted over a chunk of falling ice. This ti, the artifact spirit actually learned. Watching how she dodged, it dodged too. When it was over, it muttered with relief,
“Also not tasty.”
No flavor at all.
Out of the corner of her eye, Qian Wanyu spotted a flash of red. The surrounding ice was lting away quickly.
“Little Fatty, what are you doing?”
“Sprout.”
Little Fatty was so anxious she’d shifted into her fire??red human form. But every ti she hooked at it, Little Bean Sprout slipped further down.
“Move aside a bit, I’ll do it.”
Qian Wanyu instantly understood. She saw Little Bean Sprout wedged between two sharp rocks, an extrely awkward position—one wrong move and it would fall and be buried by the mountain. She put away the Water??Thunder Whip and was about to climb down to fetch Little Bean Sprout herself.
The artifact spirit peered curiously from a safer angle and finally saw Little Bean Sprout desperately clinging to both rocks. It recognized her and flew over to scoop her into its arms. Just as it looked up, a huge snowball crashed down from above.
Right in Qian Wanyu’s ear, it said in that soft little voice,
“That not??tasty thing is back again.”
Boom—
Dongfang Minghui only heard the thunderous roar and watched the entire mountain crumble. Even the neighboring peaks quaked with aftershocks. Toothless flew higher, but from up there the mountain shrank to a re dot. Snow poured down in a blur; they couldn’t see anything else.
“It’s over. Did Seventh Sister get buried?”
“Awoo.”
Toothless wanted to comfort her, so she flew around in circles, searching. Only when the dust settled and the world went still did she finally land and half??crouch.
Dongfang Minghui jumped down. The wind was bitterly cold, all white before her eyes.
“Seventh Sister.”
“Mother.”
“Uncle.”
…
She didn’t even dare shout too loudly for fear of triggering another avalanche. Instead, she sent out gentle spiritual power, lifting the snow piece by piece. She dug for a long ti without finding a single person and nearly exhausted her spiritual power.
Toothless bit onto her clothes and dragged her back from the field of ruins.
She’d wanted Toothless to go look for Lian and the others, but just then she saw a tiny black dot whizzing back and forth across the sky, holding sothing equally black in its arms.
“That’s—”
Toothless recognized the artifact spirit at a glance and growled low, completely ignoring the Little Bean Sprout in its arms. With that thing’s creation sitting on her head, she was in no mood.
“Over here, over here.”
As soon as the artifact spirit spotted Dongfang Minghui, it let go. Little Bean Sprout dropped straight into Minghui’s arms.
The artifact spirit, tired of flying, climbed back onto Toothless’s head, shrank down, and sprawled atop the Changsheng Cauldron, stoking Toothless’s temper again. It pretended not to notice.
Seeing Little Bean Sprout covered in frost, Dongfang Minghui hurried to wipe her off and threw her into her space.
“Artifact spirit, where did you find Little Bean Sprout? Did you see my Seventh Sister and the others?”
“I saw, I saw.”
It floated up, pointed in a certain direction, and said,
“Over there. They’ll be out soon.”
They’d been buried by that not??tasty stuff, then rolled all the way down in it. The artifact spirit had only escaped the snowball because Little Fatty lted a hole through it with fire.
No sooner had it finished speaking than there was a muffled boom. A giant snowball exploded into chunks, and two figures scrambled out from the pile of snow.
Dongfang Minghui’s heart leapt. She almost called out but rembered that silence was safer here than sound.
“Sigh, it’s only Seventh Sister and Little Fatty. Where’s Mother? Uncle? And Little Miao?”
The artifact spirit gave her a completely blank look, its big eyes—so much like Toothless’s—blinking innocently.
“Seventh Sister, Mother, Uncle, and Little Miao are all buried. I sent everyone else to the other mountain.”
Dongfang Minghui’s face was tight with worry. “What do we do now?”
Qian Wanyu glanced at the endless snow.
“The mountain’s buried them. Their auras are faint and difficult to track. But not impossible.”
“What can we do?”
Qian Wanyu took out a clay flute from her space. The palm??sized thing was sothing she’d traded for with a dwarf in the market long ago. She placed it to her lips and used gentle wind spiritual power to send the notes drifting out.
After the ti of one incense stick, a faint, broken reply sounded from sowhere ahead. The two lodies rged, then scattered.
Ninth Sister was honestly stunned by Seventh Sister’s beautiful move.
Qian Wanyu lowered the flute and looked ahead.
“Mother and Uncle should be there. I don’t know if Little Miao is with them. You stay here. I’ll go get them.”
“Wait, Seventh Sister—”
But Qian Wanyu had already leapt away. With the Water??Thunder Whip’s help, she was at the source of the sound in a few blinks.
Little Fatty was frantically searching for any trace of Little Bean Sprout and nearly started a new fight with the artifact spirit. Dongfang Minghui hurriedly pulled Little Bean Sprout out of her space and returned her.
She stroked the flower bud.
“I’ll have to find you a new flowerpot soti. Otherwise your obsidian soil is going to leak out like this.”
Little Bean Sprout shivered once, then snuggled into Little Fatty’s arms before she gradually began to perk up again.
Dongfang Minghui turned to Toothless and saw her venting her frustrations by spitting one huge fireball after another, fur full of resentnt.
Don’t ask how she could tell Toothless was resentful through all that fur. Just the fact that the artifact spirit had slamd the Changsheng Cauldron onto her head and she had nowhere to vent that anger was enough.
She couldn’t help scooping the artifact spirit down from the cauldron and trying to remove it. She soon realized it wouldn’t budge.
“Artifact spirit, take this hat off Toothless. She doesn’t like it.”
“Why?”
The artifact spirit looked genuinely puzzled. This was its main body. Plenty of people wanted it and couldn’t get it.
“Because the Changsheng Cauldron is a treasure. If people see it, they’ll try to steal you.”
She didn’t sugar??coat it. “You don’t understand the outside world. From now on, no matter who you et, don’t tell them you’re an artifact spirit.”
If it ran into soone with evil intentions, they’d probably swallow it whole, or at least use it to forge so terrifying weapon.
The artifact spirit’s confusion only deepened. With those dazed eyes on top, it was ridiculously cute.
“All right.”
The Changsheng Cauldron flew off Toothless’s head and shrank down to sit on the artifact spirit’s own, becoming delicate and tiny—so small you wouldn’t see it without looking closely. Dongfang Minghui poked it curiously. The little spirit toppled backward and landed on Toothless’s furry back.
“Mmm. That should keep anyone from noticing.”
She nodded in satisfaction.
By this ti, Qian Wanyu had already hauled Qian Yiling and Qian Ziyan out of a snowball. There was no sign of Little Miao behind them.
Seeing Minghui’s furrowed brow, Qian Wanyu said,
“Don’t worry. Little Miao might be missing, but he’s definitely fine.”
As a child of fla on Ice Lotus Mountain, as long as he didn’t run into so vicious beast, nothing would happen to him.
Thinking of Little Miao’s own fire, Dongfang Minghui relaxed slightly. She looked over their surroundings.
“We can’t stay here. It’ll take days to reach the other peak on foot. Better to have Toothless carry you there first.”
Toothless let out an indignant awoo.
The original path was blocked, but it was much easier with Toothless flying overhead. Still, she hated people sitting on her back, so everyone hung off her like gourds on a vine, clutching dangling whiskers and letting her haul them through the sky.
They kept an eye on the ground the whole way, but saw no trace of fire, and no trace of Little Miao.
“Milady.”
Zhilan only really relaxed once she saw Qian Yiling was safe and sound. But as she counted heads, she found one still missing.
“Seventh Sister, I’m still not at ease.”
“Mm.”
Qian Wanyu found a crack in the second ice mountain, just like the first one. The space inside was smaller, just big enough for five people—no more, no less. She checked the interior carefully. The floor was dry, with nothing extra.
“Mother, you should rest here for the night. We’ll be back in at most three days.”
“Yu’er, Xiao Jiu, be careful. If you can’t find him, co back first. We’ll make another plan.”
“Okay.”
The two of them left the crevice and headed downward. Toothless followed behind, her steps powerful and steady. Halfway down, she suddenly stopped, then turned back and growled at the empty mountain.
“Toothless, what is it?”
“Rooaar—”
The artifact spirit imitated her, but the sound it produced was more like a hungry puppy whining—soft and babyish.
“Ninth Sister.”
Qian Wanyu seized the person who’d been about to walk forward, pulling her behind. At the sa ti, she slowly drew out the Water?? Thunder Whip.
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