CHAPTER 214

"It's Toothless."

"Minghui, don't go out."

As soon as Dongfang Minghui heard Toothless's dragon roar, she rushed outside without a second thought.

Little Fatty followed right behind her, even faster than Mu Sheng.

Boom—

Lian and Mu Sheng, who were chasing after her, didn't make it out through the gap in time.

A powerful force slammed them into the wall.

Lian shielded his head with his right hand, but he was still left dizzy and disoriented.

"Witch."

When they tried to go out again, Dongfang Minghui was nowhere to be seen.

Even the footprints in the snow were already covered by the falling snow, making it impossible to track her.

Snowballs rolled toward them in layers, and Mu Sheng grabbed Lian, pulling him back into the narrow crevice.

The ground shook violently, as if the entire Ice Lotus Mountain was about to collapse.

Pebbles kept rolling down from the crevice, landing at their feet.

Qian Yiling barely managed to steady herself.

"Don't panic.

The mountain is shaking so much probably because of that dragon roar just now."

Lian was still worried.

"But, the witch—"

"Minghui must have gone to find Toothless."

"If you two go out now, everyone will be scattered outside, and we won't be able to look after each other." Qian Yiling looked anxiously at the eight people lying on the ground.

"Besides, they suddenly passed out.

When they wake up, they'll definitely cause trouble."

Mu Sheng slapped his own head, realizing he had acted rashly.

After thinking it through, he admitted he was being reckless.

He looked at Lian and said, "Minghui has Little Colour with her, she won't just fall off Ice Lotus Mountain.

Plus, she has Little Fatty with her too."

At that moment, Dongfang Minghui was dangling from the side of Ice Lotus Mountain.

Luckily, Little Colour's vines had caught her in time, or she would have been rolled down the mountain by a giant snowball.

Both of them were hanging from a single vine.

"Put some effort into it, will you?" Little Colour was exasperated.

Little Fatty wanted to help, but one hand was busy holding Little Bean Sprout.

Dongfang Minghui couldn't get a grip.

The stone wall was covered in thick ice and was extremely slippery.

Every time she tried to grab on or use her feet, she just slid further down, making it even more dangerous.

Little Colour rolled her eyes in frustration, using all her strength to slowly pull the two of them up.

Dongfang Minghui looked down at the steep, bottomless white below, her heart still pounding.

She patted her chest, but another sudden jolt almost scared her out of her wits.

Little Fatty copied her, patting his own little chest, still shaken.

"Little Fatty, you spend a lot of time with Toothless.

You must be able to find her, right?"

"Toothless must have chased someone to the top of the mountain.

That dragon roar just now wasn't circling overhead.

You should look at the summit." Little Colour sounded a bit disapproving.

"Even if you force Toothless to show her true form, it won't help if you go up there."

Dongfang Minghui knew she was overestimating herself, but she just couldn't let it go.

"Ah."

Little Fatty started climbing up the mountain first.

Whenever a snowball rolled down, he pressed close to the wall and carefully moved past it.

The two of them struggled against the wind and snow.

The higher they climbed, the harder it was for Dongfang Minghui to resist the cold.

Her clothes were soaked, and she felt frozen stiff.

——

Qian Wanyu and Qian Ziyan had chased a shadow down the mountain, only to realize too late that it was a diversion.

Then, like the others, they heard the dragon roar and saw the snowballs rolling down.

They barely avoided triggering another avalanche.

They hurried back to the mountain crevice to check on everyone.

After learning that Dongfang Minghui had gone to look for Toothless, Qian Wanyu rushed alone to the summit.

Annoyed, she scooped up the person who had turned into a snowman and held her in her arms.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

Dongfang Minghui shivered, her lips purple from the cold, teeth chattering so much she couldn't speak for a while.

Qian Wanyu sounded pretty annoyed.

While warming her up, she used her spiritual power to dry the water from Minghui's clothes.

Finally, she sighed helplessly.

"If you don't take care of yourself, have you thought about how that makes me feel?"

"Seventh sister." Dongfang Minghui finally managed to speak without her tongue and teeth getting in the way.

"Toothless, Toothless is up there."

There was no more dragon roar, but she couldn't help worrying.

Toothless was still young and lacked the experience of the older dragons.

She never considered that one day Toothless would be able to handle things on her own.

In her heart, Toothless was still that little spirit beast she always worried about.

Qian Wanyu was annoyed, almost blurting out, "Between Toothless and me, who's more important to you?" but she held back.

She took off her robe and wrapped it around Minghui, pulling her along.

"If you're going to walk, then hurry up.

At your pace, it'll be morning before we get anywhere."

Dongfang Minghui wanted to take off the robe and give it back, but when she saw Seventh sister's tense, serious face, she lost her nerve.

She could tell Seventh sister was angry—really angry.

Several times, Dongfang Minghui almost tripped from being pulled along.

The person in front never looked back, clearly furious.

"You all went out.

I was worried." Worried about Toothless, and worried about you.

Qian Wanyu pressed her lips together, forcing herself to listen without responding.

By the end, Dongfang Minghui's voice grew weaker, and she stopped talking, feeling even more uneasy.

From experience, she knew that once Seventh sister was truly angry, it was hard to make up.

She glanced at Little Fatty behind them, trying to signal for help, but Little Fatty just made faces back at her.

Probably didn't get it.

She comforted herself with that and gave up on asking Little Fatty to help.

The three of them reached the summit of Ice Lotus Mountain.

The wind howled and snow flew everywhere, but there was no one in sight.

"If Toothless isn't here, where else could she go?"

Qian Wanyu led her around the summit, crouching down to examine the broken ice and the messy, snow-covered footprints.

Looking closely, she found two faint footprints on the mountain wall, one deep and one shallow, different sizes.

"Toothless was here, but she must have left."

"But we didn't run into her."

"Not surprising."

The path down the mountain looked like there was only one way, but who knew if there were hidden passages or cracks leading elsewhere.

Then Dongfang Minghui remembered Toothless was a dragon and could fly.

"Could Toothless have already gone down the mountain?"

"Maybe."

"Seventh sister, then let's go down now."

Qian Wanyu shook her head and didn't take her down right away.

Instead, she led her back to the cave Lian had entered twice.

Everything inside was the same, except there seemed to be more icicles than before.

"See anything?"

Dongfang Minghui was completely lost, not sure what Seventh sister was asking.

She looked around and said, "This is a good place to hide from the wind and snow.

Hey, Seventh sister, look, there are even fruits here."

The colorful fruits looked like works of art, bright and almost unreal.

It was hard to tell if they were real or fake at first glance.

They were completely frozen in ice on a high platform, adding a bit of liveliness to the otherwise dull cave.

When Little Fatty saw this, he first placed the Tianyin Helmet on the high platform, then crawled up with both hands and feet.

He stared at the fruit, drooling, and pressed his palm next to them.

The thick layer of ice started to mist up, and in no time, there was a Little Fatty–shaped handprint on the platform.

Dongfang Minghui couldn’t help but cover her face.

Little Fatty was great at everything, except he drooled over anything he saw.

But at least he knew which things were edible and which weren’t when faced with temptation.

“Little Fatty, be careful.”

“There are actually fruits on Ice Lotus Mountain? Lien searched for ages before and never found anything to eat.” Dongfang Minghui was amazed.

She let go of Qian Wanyu’s hand out of curiosity and walked a bit deeper, where she saw the ice coffin.

“Seventh sister.”

After calling out, she suddenly remembered the dream Lien had mentioned before.

She got excited.

“Seventh sister, is this the ice coffin Lien talked about?”

Qian Wanyu followed behind her at a steady pace.

Stepping into the ice cave again felt completely different from the first time.

She had a nagging feeling she’d missed something, so she started paying even more attention to the little details.

“Seventh sister, can this ice coffin be opened?”

“No.” Qian Wanyu was about to say that Ninth Sister probably didn’t have the strength to open the lid, but as she looked over, she saw a figure lying inside the previously empty ice coffin.

If you didn’t look closely, you wouldn’t notice.

Could it be Lien?

Dongfang Minghui clearly hadn’t noticed.

She tried pushing the ice coffin, but it didn’t budge at all.

“Don’t open it—”

Just as Qian Wanyu warned her, the lid of the ice coffin suddenly moved on its own.

Dongfang Minghui, who had been pushing too hard, froze for a second, and inertia sent her tumbling straight into the coffin, landing face-to-face with the person inside.

The man in the coffin, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, suddenly slapped the bottom of the coffin and leapt up.

The lid spun three times in the air, and with a kick, he sent it flying straight at Qian Wanyu.

Dongfang Minghui’s hand scraped the edge of the coffin.

She was still a bit dazed, scared stiff.

The icy touch jolted her awake.

As she sat up, she noticed a smaller coffin hidden next to the big one.

Whatever was inside, after that scare, she’d lost all interest.

Qian Wanyu’s Water Thunder Whip lashed out with a crack, and the two started fighting in midair without a word.

“Ah.”

Little Fatty was still trying to dig out the fruit.

When he looked up, he saw two figures flash by, knocking icicles from the cave ceiling, which started falling down in a shower.

The cave shook, and Dongfang Minghui landed on her butt.

A sharp icicle sliced past just a centimeter above her head.

Still in shock, she looked up to see the once-solid icicles now falling one by one, thick and long, stabbing into the ground as they landed.

“Little Fatty, get out of here!”

“Ah.” I didn’t even get to eat.

Little Fatty looked back longingly, but before the cave could shake any harder, he grabbed the Tianyin Helmet and leapt out, rolling down the mountain and landing in a pile of snow.

Dongfang Minghui saw the two fighting, but it looked like the man was holding back, as if he didn’t want to damage anything inside the cave.

She remembered he’d just been lying in the ice coffin—could he be the owner of the coffin?

There was no time to think.

Seventh sister’s whip lashed past her, so she quickly rolled out of the cave, copying Little Fatty by sticking to the edge, and finally leapt back up to the mountaintop.

Once Qian Wanyu saw Ninth Sister had left, she focused all her attention on the man in front of her.

“Who are you?”

“And who are you?”

Wherever the whip struck, it damaged some of the things stored in the cave.

The man glanced around and suggested, “This cave is too cramped.

Why don’t we take this outside?”

“Fine.”

Qian Wanyu agreed without hesitation and was the first to step out.

As soon as she landed, she saw the man give her a calm smile, then leap down from the narrow ledge at the cave entrance.

“Ah—Seventh sister, he, he—”

Dongfang Minghui stared in shock, running to the edge of the cliff.

All around was a vast expanse of white.

Even if you threw a rock down, you might not hear a thing, let alone a person—there was no reaction at all after he jumped.

Qian Wanyu gripped the handle of her Water Thunder Whip tightly, her face dark.

“Seventh sister, why did he jump?”

“He didn’t jump.

He escaped.”

Dongfang Minghui thought she heard Seventh sister grinding her teeth.

She glanced back and saw that, aside from looking a bit pale, Seventh sister was otherwise fine.

Qian Wanyu stood silently for the time it takes half an incense stick to burn, then quickly composed herself and said quietly, “Let’s go.”

Dongfang Minghui was stunned.

She still had so many questions, but now wasn’t the time to ask.

“Little Fatty, let’s go.”

“Ah.”

Little Fatty stared longingly at the cave, looking so reluctant that Dongfang Minghui was speechless.

“This place is covered in snow and ice all year round.

Who knows what kind of rare treasures might be hidden here.”

“There definitely are, but you guys are always in a hurry, so it’s hard to find them.” As soon as Little Colour heard about rare treasures, he perked up.

“If you really want to look, Seventh sister won’t stop you.” Always complaining about the cold, but still making excuses.

After Dongfang Minghui’s space was sealed, she was a bit uncomfortable at first, but now she actually missed Pig Immortal Grass and the others.

“There’s nothing alive on Ice Lotus Mountain.

I haven’t seen a single living tree.

You’d better stay put, or you’ll freeze and no one will be around to warm you up.”

By comparison, the Little Bean Sprout in Little Fatty’s hand was the only thriving spiritual plant.

It didn’t get any sunlight, but it had all the wind, snow, and warmth it needed.

“Seventh sister, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“Hmm?”

Qian Wanyu paused on her way down the mountain, slowing her steps.

But when she didn’t hear anything behind her, she turned to see Dongfang Minghui hesitating, her face scrunched up like a steamed bun.

“What is it?”

“Little Bean Sprout.”

Dongfang Minghui was impulsive as always.

She wanted to discuss Little Bean Sprout’s current situation with Seventh sister, but after seeing how angry Seventh sister had just been, she couldn’t get the words out.

The subject of their discussion was eavesdropping with its bud standing straighter than a telephone pole, and even Little Fatty was tiptoeing, walking as lightly as possible.

Qian Wanyu glanced at the bean sprout in Little Fatty’s hand.

The sprout “fawned” over her, swaying its head.

“What did Ninth Sister want to say?”

“Uh, I forgot.”

Dongfang Minghui lowered her head, not daring to look at Seventh sister’s expression.

Qian Wanyu didn’t push her.

The two of them walked in silence.

By the time they reached the place where they’d sheltered from the snowstorm yesterday, it was already light out.

The snowstorm had somehow gradually lessened, and in the end, just like before, it stopped altogether.

“You two are finally back.”

“Mom.”

They called out in unison, surprisingly in sync.

Qian Yiling saw the snowflakes on their heads and brushed them off herself before saying, “Why were you gone all night? You really made us worry.”

Qian Wanyu glanced over, her gaze fixed on Toothless.

As soon as Dongfang Minghui saw Toothless, she checked her up and down to make sure she was okay, then finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Mom, yesterday we ran into—”

“We ran into a huge snowstorm.

Luckily, there was a cave at the top of the mountain, so we hid there for a while.

When the snow let up, we hurried back.” Qian Wanyu smoothed things over without missing a beat.

But Lien, standing to the side, kept glancing at them curiously when he heard about the cave at the mountaintop.

Dongfang Minghui didn’t know why Seventh sister was hiding the truth, but wisely kept quiet.

Instead, she pulled Toothless aside and checked her over again before finally letting her go.

“To make sure we reach our next destination smoothly and quickly, I hope no one goes off on their own these next few days.” The old man’s hoarse, unpleasant voice came from under his black robe, which he used to shield his head from the wind and snow.

It also wrapped all of them together, making it hard to see anyone’s expression, which somehow made everyone feel safer.

“Since everyone’s here, let’s go.”

Nothing else weird happened along the way.

During a short break, she noticed that Seventh sister seemed to be studying a map.

Uncle Wood, her mom, and the old man were all gathered around.

Seeing Toothless looking distracted, she couldn’t help but think of last night and quickly pulled her aside.

“Toothless, what happened yesterday?”

“Nothing special.”

Toothless’s eyes darted away as she spoke, not daring to meet her gaze.

After she finished, she kicked at a chunk of snow on the ground, looking bored.

Dongfang Minghui glanced around, then dragged her even farther away.

“Toothless, you’re terrible at lying.

I heard your dragon roar last night.

You only do that when you run into a strong enemy—why would you make that sound for no reason? Besides, Seventh sister and I ran into a stranger where you were fighting.”

As she spoke, she stared straight into Toothless’s dark eyes and clearly saw her flinch.

“Toothless, do you know that person?”

Toothless was getting annoyed by her questioning.

“No.”

“If you—”

“Ninth Sister.”

Qian Wanyu stood over there and waved at her.

Dongfang Minghui glanced at Toothless, only to find that she’d already run off to play with Little Fatty and Little Bean Sprout.

She sighed.

“Seventh sister, what is it?”

“We’re going to change our route.

They found a secret passage from this mountain to another one.”

“A secret passage?”

She wondered if she’d misheard and looked at Seventh sister in confusion.

Qian Wanyu habitually patted her on the head and whispered in her ear, “We’ll talk about Toothless later.” Then, in a louder voice, she said, “The old man found the secret passage.

He says it goes right through the mountain, but it’s dangerous and we don’t know what’s ahead, so you have to stick close to me.”

“Did you talk it over with Mom and the others?”

“That’s what we were just discussing.”

“Good.”

They walked along the mountain path for a while longer.

Before they reached the top, they saw another crevice.

The old man rushed over excitedly.

“This must be it.”

The old man and his people went in first through the crack.

Qian Wanyu nodded at them, took Dongfang Minghui’s hand, and followed.

Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and she saw the old man and his people digging at a corner of the wall.

“Seventh sister.” Dongfang Minghui was still a bit dazed.

She’d only been gone a moment—how did a secret passage suddenly appear?

“How long will it take?” Qian Wanyu pulled her aside and patted her arm.

“Once we break through this wall, we’re in.”

Later, Dongfang Minghui learned from Mu Sheng’s broken explanation that after they knocked everyone out, she pretended to be unconscious too.

Their excuse was that they’d suddenly smelled something strange, and then everyone passed out.

But the old man, trying to find the cause, turned their resting place upside down and found the secret passage where the wall was loose.

They’d even gone in to check it out and found that the passage connected to another mountain crevice.

To save time and avoid the snowstorm, everyone discussed it and chose this route, even though she didn’t really like it.

Dongfang Minghui was a nostalgic person.

She’d just gotten used to the wind and snow of Ice Lotus Mountain—whether it was night or day, the Snow Capital around Ice Lotus Mountain was as bright as day.

But suddenly switching to a pitch-black, damp tunnel made her really uncomfortable.

“Seventh sister, I can’t see my hand in front of my face here.”

“Yeah.”

Qian Wanyu’s eyes could see the path ahead.

She carefully held Ninth Sister’s hand, letting the old man and his people lead the way.

Not only did they need to be careful, but they were also scouting ahead for the others.

Toothless brought up the rear, playing with ten golden flames in her fingers.

The flames were weak, but they let the people behind see the water droplets on the ceiling of the passage.

The ground was damp, and you could faintly hear the drip-drip of water.

Little Miao and Little Fatty both tried to make fire, but their flames were even smaller—barely lit before going out.

After several tries, only the faint flame in Toothless’s hand stayed lit; no one else could get a fire going.

Qian Yiling and Qian Ziyan exchanged glances, becoming even more cautious.

“Hmm, I think I smell something else.” Little Colour suddenly spoke up in her soul sea.

Other than snow, Ice Lotus Mountain had no other scent, so Little Colour hadn’t smelled anything new in a long time—even a hint of life was welcome.

“How come I can’t smell it?”

“Probably because we’re still a bit far away.”

The temperature in the secret passage was definitely much higher than outside.

Other than a few drops of water on their clothes, everyone was mostly dry.

Little Colour poked around for a bit, then slipped out from under her robe on its own.

Dongfang Minghui glanced over and saw that no one had noticed, so she let it be.

“Seventh sister, do you still have the scented pills I gave you before?”

“I do.”

Qian Wanyu turned to look at her, just in time to see Ninth Sister wink at her with bright eyes.

The hand she had resting on her waist suddenly tightened.

But the old man was constantly watching the movement behind them, listening in all directions, eyes darting everywhere.

When he heard about the scented pills, he immediately became alert—mainly because of how they’d all suddenly passed out in the mountain crevice earlier.

Even though they’d found the secret passage, the reason they’d fainted was still a mystery.

Dongfang Minghui squeezed Seventh sister’s fingers, urging her, “Seventh sister, give it to me, I need it.”

Qian Wanyu took a porcelain bottle out of her space and was about to hand it to Dongfang Minghui, but the old man was quick and snatched it away.

He weighed it in his hand; there were still several pills inside.

When he shook it gently, you could hear a faint sound, especially in the quiet of the secret passage.

“What are you doing?” Dongfang Minghui glared at the old man, full of hostility.

“Snatching my stuff—are you after my treasure?”

The group suddenly stopped.

When the people in the back heard Dongfang Minghui’s words, they immediately assumed the old man was up to no good again and all drew their weapons.

Qian Wanyu frowned, clearly unhappy.

“Sir, that was a bit out of line.

If you wanted it, you could’ve just asked.

Grabbing things like this—aren’t you worried about our partnership?”

Partnership, my ass.

If she didn’t need him to get to the Dragon Clan’s land, she would’ve killed this old man already.

“What do these pills do?”

“They attract all the beasts within a hundred miles.

Sir, do you want to try one?” Dongfang Minghui looked at him mockingly.

“If you want to try, at least wait until we’re out of this passage.

If the magical beasts really come, we won’t even have a place to run.”

A flash of malice crossed the old man’s eyes, but with his cloak on, he looked no different.

“Minghui, listen, you guys can’t stop to rest.

You have to get out of this passage as soon as possible.” Little Colour was screaming in her mind.

It took her a while to understand—there was a fork ahead, and every path reeked of rot.

Dongfang Minghui immediately used their dual cultivation connection to quietly pass Little Colour’s message to Seventh sister.

Qian Wanyu’s expression didn’t change.

“Sir, keep the bottle.

Consider it a gift from us.

Please, keep leading the way so we can reach the Dragon Clan’s land as soon as possible.”

After that, they all picked up the pace.

Little Colour’s vines split into three, each heading down a different fork.

Time passed quickly.

Dongfang Minghui was starting to get tired, not to mention Zhilan and Mu Sheng behind her.

But since they didn’t complain, Qian Wanyu pretended not to notice.

“Wait, there’s a fork here.”

“Yeah.”

After Little Colour’s three vines went into the forks, it hadn’t stopped cursing in her head for a second.

“If I’d known, you guys might as well have stayed out in the freezing snow.”

Shortcuts always come with high risks and danger.

Dongfang Minghui rolled her eyes.

After walking all day, hearing this now was just asking for a beating.

Besides, Seventh sister must have her reasons for choosing this path, so she decided not to make trouble.

“Miss Qian, which path do you think we should take?”

“What do you think, sir?”

She kicked the question right back to him.

“Little Colour, which way?”

“None of them are good.” Little Colour grumbled as it pulled back its remaining vines.

“All three forks are full of traps.

If you’re not careful, your whole group will die in there.”

Dongfang Minghui immediately got serious.

“Did you see anything?”

All three of Little Colour’s vines were rotting.

It broke off a piece itself, grimacing in pain.

“The cave on the left has strong light-type spiritual energy.

It feels nice at first, but behind the light there’s a bunch of those man-eating bugs, so fat they’re oozing oil.”

Its vine had been chewed down to a stub by those bugs.

Luckily, it pulled out in time.

“Strong light-type—” Dongfang Minghui immediately ruled out the first fork.

Seventh sister’s dark-type spiritual energy would clash with light-type, and both she and Mu Sheng were wood-type Spiritual Masters.

If they ran into those man-eating bugs, they’d be helpless.

“What about the second one?”

“That one’s weird.

The right fork is piled high with bones, and as soon as you get close, you can smell thick death energy.

Didn’t you see my vine got completely corroded? I sacrificed a lot for you guys.”

Dongfang Minghui ignored Little Colour’s last grumble and thought to herself that the right fork was probably out too.

The old man’s people were all dark-type Spiritual Masters.

Taking the right fork would just boost their power and weaken their own group.

Other than Seventh sister, the rest of them would just be dead weight, and even her potions might not be enough.

“Then let’s take the middle path.”

Little Colour went silent for a while.

The old man clearly sensed the heavy death energy and maliciously suggested, “Let’s take the right fork.”

Qian Wanyu raised an eyebrow and suddenly smiled.

“I think the left fork looks good.

Sir, why don’t we all take the left?”

Qian Yiling and Qian Ziyan both went to check out the three forks.

The left and right were piled with bones of different colors, but the middle had none at all and looked much safer.

After a careful look, they agreed, “We think the left fork is better.

Sir, why do you insist on the right?”

Obviously, because it benefits him.

But he couldn’t say that out loud.

So both sides refused to back down, each arguing for their own choice, fighting for control.

Dongfang Minghui watched them argue back and forth for ages, but no one suggested the middle path.

She was so anxious she almost bit her finger, so she just said, “Stop arguing, let’s just take the middle.”

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on her, and for at least half a breath, the entire tunnel was silent.

Dongfang Minghui asked in confusion, “What, is that not okay?”

The old man suddenly laughed and said, “The young lady is absolutely right.

Why don’t we just take the main path?”

Qian Wanyu nodded in satisfaction.

“Then let’s do as Ninth Sister suggested.

We’ll rest for a bit, then take the middle path.”

Everyone changed their minds pretty quickly, as if they hadn’t just been arguing.

Dongfang Minghui suspected they’d been waiting for someone to step up and suggest a compromise, and she just happened to be the unlucky middleman.

“Seventh sister, Little Colour says the middle path is also really dangerous.

It doesn’t even dare get close.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

After a short rest, everyone was about to head down the path ahead when the old man, who’d been leading the way, suddenly found an excuse.

“Yesterday we were all unconscious, and even after a short rest I still feel weak.

Why doesn’t Miss Qian lead the way for now? Once we’ve rested enough, we can take turns.”

If there’s danger ahead, just let Seventh sister take the lead.

“You—”

Qian Wanyu tugged her lightly and said coolly, “The old gentleman is right.

It’s not a good idea to explore in a tired state.

Why don’t you take the rear, sir? Toothless, come with me and help scout ahead.”

Qian Yiling and Qian Ziyan exchanged a look, and everyone switched places.

Once the old man moved to the back, Qian Yiling and Qian Ziyan were just ahead of him.

Mu Sheng and Zhi Lan swapped places with Little Fatty and Xiao Miao, moving to the middle, and Lien followed behind Qian Wanyu and her group.

Toothless snorted coldly.

“So help me, I’m going to get rid of that old ghost sooner or later.”

As soon as they stepped into the fork ahead, the passage widened a lot—enough for three or five people to walk side by side.

The walls on both sides were covered in patterns, the kind that looked ancient and rare.

Dongfang Minghui reached out and touched them lightly.

The wall was uneven, but felt icy cold to the touch.

“Seventh sister, these patterns aren’t painted on—they’re carved with some kind of tool.

If you didn’t look closely, you’d never guess this was a wall.

It’s so intricate.”

She said it without thinking, but someone was listening carefully.

Qian Wanyu’s heart skipped a beat, and she started paying more attention to her surroundings.

The same patterns were carved on both walls, stretching forward and disappearing into the darkness, as if there was no end.

“Get closer to those patterns so I can see them clearly,” Qing Mo instructed in her soul sea.

Qian Wanyu habitually tried to set a moonstone into the wall, but as soon as she did, the moonstone in her hand shattered to dust.

The wall made a soft ding sound—not loud, but the echo seemed to linger for ages.

Dongfang Minghui waved her hand in front of her face a few times before pulling her attention back.

“Seventh sister, what are you spacing out for? You just crushed the moonstone.”

Crushed it?

Qian Wanyu looked at the fragments of moonstone in her hand, the light already dim.

“Ninth Sister, are you saying I crushed the moonstone?”

Dongfang Minghui nodded.

“Yeah, is something wrong, Seventh sister?”

Qian Wanyu didn’t answer, but asked Qing Mo the same question.

“Of course you did.

Try it again.

Let me see what’s wrong.

And those patterns—I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere before.”

Everyone was amazed by the exquisite carvings on the wall, and for a while, no one remembered they were supposed to hurry through.

Dongfang Minghui, bored, took out her sketchbook, pressed it against the wall, and started tracing the patterns line by line.

“These are really intricate.

Little Colour, look—these patterns look like vines, the leaves are so green.

Yours don’t even come close.”

“Like hell!” Little Colour was so annoyed it whipped Dongfang Minghui with its vines.

Of course, it mostly hit the patterns on the wall.

After a few strikes, Little Colour suddenly stopped, staring at the wall.

At some point, the patterns had turned into its own vine form.

It freaked out and shot straight into Dongfang Minghui’s soul sea.

“Let’s go, something’s not right here.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Look at the patterns—did they change? They turned into my vine form.”

Dongfang Minghui rolled her eyes.

“Little Colour, are you going through menopause or something? Vines? You wish you were famous.”

Little Colour actually felt better after being scolded so energetically by its partner.

Clearly, it had just imagined things, but that creepy moment had spooked it so much it kept nagging in the soul sea, “Stop looking, let’s go.”

After hearing it nag a hundred times, Dongfang Minghui suddenly snapped out of it.

“Right, aren’t we supposed to be in a hurry?”

She looked around and realized something was off.

Everyone seemed relaxed.

Lien had taken out a knife and was carving something on his precious bow.

She peeked over and saw the bow was covered in the same patterns as the wall, even the words he’d carved before had been worn away by the patterns.

“Lien, do you really like these patterns?”

“Witch, don’t they look good?”

Dongfang Minghui scratched her head.

They didn’t look bad, but the patterns were everywhere, so dense it made her skin crawl.

She actually felt a chill run down her spine.

“I guess… they’re not that great.” Not as cute as Little Colour, anyway.

“Hm?”

Lien’s face turned fierce.

He pointed the knife at her and said in a weird tone, “Witch, what did you just say?”

Dongfang Minghui was really startled.

Staring at the knife in front of her, all she could think was, Oh shit.

Streakkkkk – new chapter released again for you my lovely readers!!!