When Ruan Shu finally saw what her paw was pressing down on, her eyes widened slightly.
That color, that shape, that fluffiness…
Wasn’t this exactly the Edelweiss they had been looking for?!
She glanced around and discovered that it wasn’t just the area around her; the whole place seemed overtaken by Edelweiss.
Several of the fuzzy balls even gathered near her, neatly lining up beside her and looking toward the battlefield.
Though Edelweiss didn’t have eyes, Ruan Shu had the distinct feeling that they were “watching.”
The little pink mushroom clearly wanted to come over, but after just a couple of hops, it was blown back by a small gust of wind.
Countless Edelweiss were converging in this direction.
As a mutated plant, Edelweiss didn’t have feet, but it could summon the wind.
With just a light sway, a gentle breeze would carry them in whatever direction they wanted to go.
Everywhere she looked, a fluffy white carpet of Edelweiss stretched out. If it weren’t for the slight swaying of their fluff and their appearance, Ruan Shu wouldn’t have realized that there was such an expansive field of fluffy white balls here.
They looked just like dandelion puffs, except pure snow-white, without a hint of color.
Ruan Shu released her paw from pressing on one of the Edelweiss balls, watching as it quickly bounced back into shape.
Edelweiss moved silently, floating without a sound.
Ruan Shu was thrilled—she’d found so many Edelweiss! She needed to quickly notify her brother and the others to come and collect them.
But there was no way she could reach the battlefield herself.
Worse still, the Edelweiss seemed to be preparing to leave, drifting gently forward.
Ruan Shu called out, “Meow, meow, meow!”
Wait for me!
The Edelweiss around her floated up and down, brushing gently against her ears before continuing to drift forward.
Standing in place, Ruan Shu’s fluffy face was full of anxious expression. She glanced back and forth between the star beasts on the battlefield and the retreating Edelweiss, wishing she could split herself into two cats!
For a moment, she didn’t know what to do.
She didn’t know how to gather Edelweiss, and she couldn’t go to the battlefield; if she did, she’d definitely be the one slowing them down.
As she fretted, even clutching one Edelweiss and refusing to let go, several others in the migrating group seemed to notice their missing friend. They left the flock and drifted back toward her.
The little vine beside Ruan Shu eyed the approaching Edelweiss with hostility.
Previously, it had been buried by so many Edelweiss!
If it weren’t for the fact that they meant no harm to Ruan Shu, the little vine would have been furious.
Of course, the little vine had realized it couldn’t do anything to these Edelweiss.
Their bodies were just too unique. Even if grabbed, they could slip through any tiny gap and fluff up again into their original shape.
These fluffy balls could contort into any shape—they were lighter than feathers!
The Edelweiss completely ignored the little vine as they floated over to Ruan Shu, paying no mind to the one she held. Instead, they bumped into her back repeatedly, as if encouraging her to keep up with them.
Ruan Shu gave a puzzled “meow” and, watching their movements, hesitantly took a step forward.
The Edelweiss stopped nudging her, now just floating up and down, as if encouraging a young one in their group to keep moving forward.
Ruan Shu: …………
It almost seemed like they’d mistaken her for one of their own.
Ruan Shu couldn’t help but look down at herself. She admitted that when she curled up with her fluffy fur, she probably did resemble these Edelweiss, but she wasn’t curled up right now!
Just look at her tail, all big and fluffy, and her little paws—even if they were short, they were still there!
But…
She decided, for now, to just go along with them.
As she followed, she left little markers along the way, so her brother and the others could find her once they were done. She didn’t want to lose these hard-to-find Edelweiss.
Or, rather… it wasn’t quite that she had found the Edelweiss; they had found her.
Ruan Shu felt a bit embarrassed.
Once she’d made up her mind, Ruan Shu, along with Pink Maiden and the little vine, joined the Edelweiss’s larger group.
Along the way, she left behind her tiny paw prints and… some precious pearls and gems that Almer had given her.
The paw prints might get covered by snow, but the shiny things—surely Almer would find them quickly?
Every so often, she would also leave one of her woven charms or a little felted doll she’d made.
After joining the larger Edelweiss group, many of the Edelweiss seemed determined to drive away Pink Maiden and the little vine, conjuring small whirlwinds to nudge them out.
Yet Ruan Shu fit right in, blending seamlessly with the Edelweiss without any of them pushing her away. They even gathered around her protectively.
Ruan Shu couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated.
After the pink creature and the little vine were blown out for the nth time, Ruan Shu finally told them to stay back and wait for her brother.
But the two refused; they insisted on protecting her!
Ruan Shu: “Meow, meow, meow…”
‘Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Look, I’ve got all these Edelweiss protecting me.’
If they stayed, who knew if these “territorial” Edelweiss might one day decide to conjure up a real, powerful whirlwind to blow them far away?
The snowfield was vast; if they were blown out of sight, how would she ever find them again?
In the end, the two mutated plants reluctantly stayed behind, while Ruan Shu continued blending in with the Edelweiss, leaving small markers along the way.
Whenever she encountered a large rock, she’d even use a colored marker to awkwardly draw a rough cat face on it with her little paw.
At first, she’d been sneaky about making these marks, almost like a thief, but soon realized that even when the Edelweiss noticed, they would only watch curiously and make no further moves. So, Ruan Shu continued marking her path openly.
After following the group of Edelweiss for about half an hour, they passed through a narrow crevice in the snowy mountain.
With her soft, flexible body, the cat was just able to squeeze through.
After leaving a marker at the entrance, she continued forward with the neatly aligned Edelweiss. As they progressed, the path became wider and wider until she finally reached a basin.
This area, too, was covered in ice and snow, with even more Edelweiss!
She could even see many Edelweiss leaves.
Edelweiss was a fascinating mutated plant. The fluffy balls were actually its main body, and the leaves only grew after they had settled somewhere and nested, staying in a fixed location for several days.
That’s right—it wasn’t that Edelweiss had roots and leaves before forming its fluffy balls. Instead, the balls themselves produced the roots and leaves.
The materials needed for the inhibitor were precisely these leaves and roots that grew from the spot where the Edelweiss had nested.