Ruan Shu’s eyes went round, like a dazed kitten.
“But, but didn’t Almer say we’re not passing through there tomorrow?”
Ruan Xinglan’s gentle voice took on a slightly sinister edge, teeth gritted: “He lied to you. From now on, don’t believe anything he says!”
Ruan Fengsi nodded in agreement. “Exactly. He’s nothing but a scoundrel who deceives children.”
Not far away, Almer muttered, “…I can hear you, thank you.”
Of course, that was the whole point—they wanted him to hear it, and they were dead set on openly putting him on blast.
Almer only chuckled and walked away unfazed. When he returned, he brought along a few crestfallen wolves.
These wolves had tried to slip away while the group was fighting, but they didn’t anticipate that the terrifying dragon would easily track them down, give them a good thrashing, and force them back.
The wolf king looked up at the sky with a touch of melancholy, wondering why it had to bear such burdens!
At dawn, they continued their search for Edelweiss, and after a few more days, they pinpointed the general area where it might be.
“This should be the area. Shall we split up to look?”
Everyone agreed. Ruan Shu stuck close to her eldest brother, and for once, the three brothers were in perfect harmony, doing everything they could to keep Almer from getting anywhere near Shushu.
Edelweiss is as white as snow and likes to lie perfectly still on the ground, camouflaging itself in the snow. They had to be meticulous in their search.
Ruan Shu’s eyes were wide open, afraid she might miss it. She even insisted on getting down into the snow herself to search.
If her viewpoint were lower, perhaps she could see more clearly?
Unable to refuse her, Ruan Fengsi put her down.
Even Pink Maiden and Little Vine joined in to help.
But it was clear that even knowing Edelweiss grew in this area didn’t make it any easier to find.
After an entire day, they had nothing to show for their efforts.
They decided to rest for the night.
The wolves, having led them to the location, were finally freed. Not being entirely heartless, they’d even prepared “travel expenses” for the wolves—a pile of exotic beasts they’d hunted along the way.
As they left, the wolves seemed beyond thrilled; even from afar, they could hear their joyful howls echoing in the distance.
Dinner that night was once again hot pot, steak, grilled lamb, and boiled shrimp.
Ruan Shu still had some stockpiled fish snacks, so while the others were cooking, she sat obediently on a small stool, munching on her spicy dried fish.
Ruan Fengsi was absolutely fed up with having hot pot every day. No matter how delicious it was, anyone would feel sick after eating it for a month straight.
“Edelweiss is hiding way too well. Tomorrow, we’ll check inside the caves,” he suggested.
The reason they used the word “hiding” was that Edelweiss, as a mutated plant, was alive and frequently moved in groups. A cluster of mutated plants that matched the color of snow—when still, even the sharpest eyes couldn’t spot them.
The next day, they began exploring caves where Edelweiss might be hiding, and then…
“Holy—! Isn’t this giant snake supposed to be in Lake XX? What’s it doing in a cave!”
They had stumbled into the territory of an S-rank Ice Jiao and accidentally woke up the massive creature.
Ruan Fengsi reacted instantly, scooping up Shushu and bolting.
The Ice Jiao was ridiculously huge, almost on par with Almer’s dragon form, and it seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. The disturbed beast let out a thunderous roar and started chasing them.
As it moved, the entire cave trembled, and stones began to fall. It looked like the whole place could collapse any second.
The group sprinted out of the mountain cave in unison. They had come in together because the cave seemed unusually large and suspicious.
Suspicious, indeed, but none of them expected to find the Ice Jiao here, a creature that should have been lazing around in the neighboring ice lake. Talk about unlucky!
Speaking of unlucky, everyone couldn’t help but glance at Almer.
Ruan Fengsi didn’t hold back. “We never should’ve let you come along!”
Almer retorted, “What does this have to do with me? Who knew it would be here?”
Ruan Shu: “Meow meow meow!”
How can you two still be bickering? Have you forgotten we’re currently running for our lives?
“Running for our lives?”
Almer smirked coldly, golden eyes filled with pride and disdain. “Is that dumb snake even worthy?”
“ROAR!!”
The Ice Jiao let out an earth-shaking howl, its eyes blazing red, clearly enraged.
Ruan Fengsi patted Ruan Shu’s little head. “Shushu, don’t worry. You’re underestimating us. We’re not running for our lives.”
Ruan Xinglan nodded proudly. “Almer’s right; that dragon-serpent doesn’t deserve to make us run for our lives. The only issue is that fighting it in this cave will be too cramped, so we need to lure it outside.”
Ruan Shu: “…”
So am I the only kitten here seriously thinking about how to escape?
Fine. Seeing how confident they were, Ruan Shu relaxed a bit too.
But as she stole a glance at the giant snake slithering toward them, fear still gripped her.
A small snake was already enough to scare her, let alone one this massive.
Its mouth was so large that it could probably swallow several cats whole, and they’d barely be a mouthful.
Better not look.
The kitten quickly burrowed into her big brother’s coat.
The Ice Jiao was enormous, but it wasn’t slow; it kept right on their tails.
As it moved, even with Ruan Shu being held by her brother, she could feel the earth shaking beneath them, a true “ground-shaking” experience.
They quickly made it outside, where the full length of the dragon-serpent was now in clear view.
At that moment, instead of continuing to run, the group halted and instantly transformed into their star beast forms.
Almer was the quickest, hovering mid-air as he shot a fireball straight at the massive serpent.
“Shushu, wait here. Don’t wander off,” Ruan Fengsi instructed, setting her down at a safe distance from the battlefield and placing a protective shield over her.
“You two, keep an eye on her.”
“Chirrup!”
Pink Maiden bounced in acknowledgment, almost as if making a solemn vow.
Little Vine waved its pointed tendrils. Do you even need to say it?
Ruan Fengsi then joined the battle in his star beast form.
This Ice Jiao was undoubtedly powerful, with a horn on its head that could unleash torrents of ice spears. Even Almer couldn’t take it down easily right away.
Ruan Shu crouched in a snow pile, carefully watching the battle. When she saw that Almer and her brothers were holding their ground, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, Ruan Shu felt something brush against her tail.
Thinking it was Pink Maiden or Little Vine, she simply flicked her tail dismissively.
“Chirrup, chirrup!”
Pink Maiden’s voice sounded further away than she expected.
Ruan Shu belatedly realized something strange seemed to be pressing close beside her—something distinctly not Pink Maiden.
Her fur puffed up in alarm!
Twisting her little neck to look over, she instinctively swatted with her tiny paw.
And her paw landed squarely on a fluffy, snow-white ball?
TL: Will be posting 30 more chapters but I’ll only do 10 everyday until I complete it.