Xiang Lun and the two dragons arrived almost simultaneously, and they all spotted the magical beasts that had been invaded by the miasma fog at the same time.
Wu Shao had originally been tracking the dragon breath in Green Pine Town, but the trail had suddenly gone cold.
He had investigated the few people who went missing on the mountain and discovered they were all bounty hunters from the same mercenary hall. He traced their movements that day and found they had been trying to corner Xuzhi…
But Xuzhi had used a fake name at the mercenary hall and often wore a hood to conceal his face. He always acted alone.
Wu Shao only learned that he was a Tier 3 fire beast tamer with a small black-furred magical beast. He took on commissions at the mercenary hall very frequently, as if he was desperately short of money.
After the fire broke out on the mountain that day, he had descended from the other side, then vanished without a trace. The undead fragments along the roads outside the town hadn’t captured any sign of him.
Wu Shao suspected Xuzhi had used something like a teleportation array to escape, but he couldn’t pinpoint where he might have gone.
It was only a couple of days ago, while exchanging messages with Xing Huai, that he heard about the Dragon Clan Ruins. He also vaguely recalled the name Netherworld Mountain.
Two of the four people who died on the mountain had originally been headed there as well.
With nothing to lose, Wu Shao came to Netherworld Mountain to meet Xing Huai and planned to check out the “Dragon Clan Ruins” together.
But they hadn’t expected an element river belt around the mountain’s peak.
The element river belt was filled with deadly magic elements that could easily spawn miasma fog. Under normal circumstances, one should stay as far away as possible.
As for the Dragon Clan Ruins, Wu Shao didn’t recall any dragon ever living on Netherworld Mountain. Back when they left, they had packed all their belongings into storage spaces and taken them along. Who would leave treasures behind?
However, when the two dragons approached the element river belt, they clearly sensed a trace of dragon breath inside.
Blocked by the element river, the dragon breath was sealed within. Without getting close, it was impossible to detect.
The two dragons immediately wanted to go in and investigate, only to run into Xiang Lun.
Xiang Lun had come looking for the snow fox, puzzled by its unusually volatile emotions over the past couple of days.
Upon discovering the element river belt, he had his subordinate Ivan contact the lord of White Cloud City right away and issue a public announcement warning nearby people to stay away.
The element river belt was dangerous, yet people still wanted to enter it. Xiang Lun instinctively moved to block them, nearly sparking a fight.
He had lived over three hundred years and could see through Wu Shao and Xing Huai’s disguise magic at a glance. He also spotted the golden pupils of the two dragons.
Xiang Lun was shocked. With magical beasts already appearing nearby that had been corroded by the miasma fog, he absolutely refused to let them enter the element river.
No matter how tough dragons were, they would still be affected by the miasma fog. The sheer volume of magic elements in an adult giant dragon’s body was beyond imagination. If it all transformed into miasma fog, it could probably engulf the entirety of White Cloud City and Netherworld Mountain.
Wu Shao, however, was thinking how coincidental it all was. The moment he and Xing Huai arrived, they sensed dragon breath, only to be stopped by Xiang Lun.
He even suspected the dragon breath might be some human ploy.
All the dragons of their clan were on Dragon Island. Dragon breath appearing on Cangyuan Continent was suspicious to begin with. Could the three races be deliberately luring the Dragon Clan out into the open to deal with the miasma fog…?
If Xing Huai hadn’t recognized Xiang Lun and said he used to be the dean of some academy, Wu Shao would have attacked without hesitation.
That academy was where Yan Si had studied, so he must know Xiang Lun too.
With the element river now polluted by miasma fog, entering it was even less feasible. Wu Shao felt stifled.
At that moment, Yan Si learned they had encountered Xiang Lun and sent a message, instructing them to cooperate with him and leave the area first.
Yan Si: “Do not attack Dean Xiang.”
Yan Si: “I’m at the academy right now. We can talk about anything else later.”
Wu Shao felt even more stifled, wishing he could drag Yan Si over and make him sense the dragon breath in the element river himself. Then he’d see if Yan Si could stay so calm.
Meanwhile, Xing Huai sized up Xiang Lun and the Ivan behind him before finally pulling Wu Shao away.
Xiang Lun was fuming over some students skipping class. With the two dragons leaving on their own, he had no time to deal with them for the moment.
Once they were down the mountain, Wu Shao sighed. “We finally had a lead, but now we have to drop it. Who knows when we’ll get answers.”
Yan Si had his own matters to attend to, and Xing Huai spent her days either doing astrology or wandering around aimlessly. It seemed like Wu Shao was the only one truly investigating the dragon breath…
“Ah,” Xing Huai suddenly stopped in her tracks beside him. “I remember now.”
Wu Shao looked puzzled. “Remember what?”
Xing Huai gazed toward the peak of Netherworld Mountain. “That place… it seems like where Ming Xue used to live.”
“Ming Xue?”
At the mention of that name, Wu Shao fell silent for a moment. “Why don’t I remember her?”
Ming Xue was older than all of them. In his memories, her tastes had always been unique, and she was one of the exceedingly rare silver frost dragons.
But nowadays, silver frost dragons were long gone…
“I’ve been there once,” Xing Huai said, raising her right hand and looking at the glow on her fingertip. “She taught me astrology.”
Wu Shao eyed her skeptically. “Ming Xue’s astrology skills were top-notch. She was your teacher, yet you can’t even hit one-tenth her accuracy?”
“You think astrology is that easy to learn?” Xing Huai huffed lightly. “But don’t get too discouraged.”
She stared in the direction of the peak. “Astrology has guided me. As long as we follow that Dean Xiang, we’ll find the truth.”
~~~
At the peak, Xiang Lun attempted to establish a spatial connection with the snow fox.
He knew the snow fox was inside the element river. His recent summoning failure meant it simply didn’t want to come out for now.
Now that he knew several students were in danger, Xiang Lun immediately planned to enter himself.
With the element river polluted, those inside couldn’t get out. His space magic was the only way to open a path.
However, given the current situation, Xiang Lun couldn’t enter directly and needed to rely on space magic for teleportation.
Ivan was deeply worried. “Dean, maybe you should wait a bit…”
On one hand was the students’ safety; on the other was Xiang Lun’s. He was advanced in years, and no matter how strong he was, his health came first.
The miasma fog in the element river was currently dormant and posed no immediate threat to life. They could wait for reinforcements from White Cloud City.
Xiang Lun ignored him, closing his eyes to focus on drawing the teleportation magic.
He had been companions with the snow fox for many years and guessed it had refused the summons because it was preparing a matching teleportation array on the other side.
The distance between them wasn’t far, so they should connect soon.
But the snow fox didn’t respond to his teleportation. It seemed delayed… and its emotions felt a bit anxious.
Had the students been injured? Xiang Lun’s brow furrowed tightly. No matter how uneasy he felt, he could only wait patiently.
~~~
Meanwhile, at the center of the peak.
The fluffy balls, roused from sleep, poked their heads out from behind wooden stakes and launched attacks at the unwelcome intruders.
The beast tamers froze at the sight, then fled in panic.
Ming Shuang hid inside the tent, peeking out through a gap in the entrance.
He had almost forgotten… other humans had entered here too, also hunting for treasure.
Ming Shuang glanced down at the shrunken storage bracelet on his claw and huffed inwardly.
Now that those humans were under attack from the fluffy balls, he and Xuzhi could slip away.
But Ming Shuang hesitated, wondering if the fluffy balls would be sad if he just left like that…
They had waited so long for a dragon to finally arrive.
He also worried that if other humans found this place and discovered no treasures, they might hurt the fluffy balls.
Though for now, it seemed the fluffy balls were pretty fierce in a fight…
As he wavered, more beast tamers heard the commotion and gathered one after another at the edge of the woods.
Xuzhi observed them too. A rough count showed it wasn’t just one group—there were at least twenty people in total.
They had all rushed here in a similar state, finding no treasures along the way, only to spot a bunch of guardian beasts and tents outside the houses.
At this point, they either left sensibly or attacked the people in the tents to seize the “treasures.”
These beast tamers were reluctant to give up. Even with the ferocious fluffy balls around, they grew restless.
Finally, someone waited for the last fluffy ball to be lured away before hurling attack magic toward the tent.
Bang—
Golden light flashed as the attack was blocked by a thick defensive barrier, then promptly shattered by a bolt of thunder magic.
Tomato stood guard outside the tent, glaring furiously and flapping its wings to conjure an earth array.
Coal Ball didn’t need to act yet, but with the tent so conspicuous, Xuzhi held Ming Shuang close and prepared to enter the house to hide.
However, the moment he stepped out of the tent, a new earth array appeared beneath his feet.
The distance between Xuzhi and the house stretched instantly. He quickly leaped out of the earth array’s range and looked to the side.
Two familiar dwarf hybrids stood at the edge of the woods, eyeing Xuzhi as well.
Xuzhi wore his hood, his pitch-black robe concealing his figure, but the two still recognized him.
“So it’s you, the one hiding in the back last time,” one of them said excitedly. “What good stuff did you find? Share some!”
The pair attacked again in unison, trying to trap Xuzhi with an earth array and drag him over.
Tomato hurried to protect him, while Coal Ball, in the backpack behind Xuzhi, secretly unleashed a burst of fire.
But with the fluffy balls lured away, aside from those two Tier 7 beast tamers, others moved to attack as well.
In an instant, Xuzhi and Tomato became the targets of a siege.
In his anxiety, Ming Shuang wanted to help too.
He quietly used ice magic to freeze the earth array a bit, then pushed open his outer coat.
The Little Dragon hatchling’s voice rang out, tender and clear: “Awoo—!”
At once, the fluffy balls in the woods went quiet for a second, then responded in chorus: “Awoo—”
They abandoned the beast tamers they were pummeling and rushed back immediately.
“What’s going on…” A beast tamer hurriedly backed away. “That man—he—he caught a guardian beast?”
The Little Dragon hatchling’s cries sounded much like those of the fluffy plushies, so no one else could tell them apart.
He assumed Xuzhi had a guardian beast hidden in his coat, using it to force the others to retreat.
When the fluffy plushies returned, some people were indeed intimidated. Others took malicious pleasure in the situation, eager to see how Xuzhi would extricate himself.
The guardian beasts here were so ferocious, and yet he dared to grab one…
However, though the fluffy plushies were seething with rage, they did not attack Xuzhi.
One beast tamer stood there in a daze when a yellow blur suddenly leaped toward him. It kicked him squarely in the face and then punched his magical beast.
He let out a miserable scream, clutching his eye as he tumbled to the ground.
The chaotic melee erupted anew. This time, the ones who had previously attacked Xuzhi found themselves surrounded and under assault.
In truth, if Ming Shuang had not been hiding, the fluffy plushies might have protected Xuzhi from the very beginning. After all, Xuzhi was the “servant” who stayed by the Dragon God Lord’s side.
At the sight of this turn of events, the two dwarf hybrids fled faster than anyone.
They were utterly astonished but unwilling to give up just yet. Relying on their earth arrays, they dodged the fluffy plushies while searching for an opening to strike again.
A new earth array materialized on the ground and began sliding toward Xuzhi.
In the next instant, a snow fox appeared out of nowhere right in front of the pair.
It was small and dainty, covered in snow-white fur, with a jade plaque engraved with the character “Xiang” hanging from a cord around its neck.
The snow fox’s purple eyes flashed. The air twisted invisibly around it, and the earth array shattered with a crack.
The faces of the two beast tamers drained of color. One of them whispered, “Space magic?”
Where had this magical beast come from?
Ming Shuang spotted the snow fox as well and quietly poked his head out to look.
The snow fox effortlessly dismantled the earth array, trapping the two men in place. Then it dashed toward Ming Shuang.
It wove deftly through the fluffy plushies along the way, as though it had come to lend a hand.
But the fluffy plushies refused to let any creature approach Ming Shuang. They turned to attack the snow fox as well.
The snow fox dodged frantically, pressing forward with difficulty thanks to its space magic. It let out a cry: “Woo woo!”
Xuzhi’s brows furrowed slightly as he fixed his gaze on the snow fox. A faint purple glow kindled in his palm.
Inside the coat, Ming Shuang froze in shock.
The snow fox was calling out “little dragon”?
It was asking—you’re Ming Xue’s child, aren’t you?
Ming Shuang remained stunned for a moment before he hurriedly poked his head out farther. “Awoo!”
Don’t attack that magical beast yet!
The fluffy plushies around them received the command and ceased targeting the snow fox. Instead, they focused on the beast tamers and the other magical beasts.
Xuzhi heard Ming Shuang’s voice and hesitated.
Unhindered at last, the snow fox reached them.
Ming Shuang wriggled out of the coat, flew swiftly down to the ground, and hid behind a wooden post. He peeked out cautiously.
The snow fox halted its steps and cried out again, its eyes brimming with joy and excitement.
Little dragon, it really is you!
Ming Shuang wanted to ask if it knew him.
But without shapeshifting, anything he said in the dragon language would likely be incomprehensible to the snow fox.
Perhaps sensing the wariness and confusion in Ming Shuang’s reaction, the snow fox spun in a circle on the spot. “Woo woo…”
It said that it knew Ming Shuang’s mother.
Mother… The Little Dragon hatchling remained hidden behind the post, the tip of his tail twitching uneasily.
The snow fox then glanced toward the woods and informed Ming Shuang that it had to go there for a moment.
Before Ming Shuang could respond, its form flickered and vanished without a trace.
Ming Shuang gazed around in bewilderment. But only half a minute passed before the snow fox reappeared in the same spot.
It was thrilled, its tail wagging furiously as it looked back over its shoulder.
Ming Shuang followed the snow fox’s gaze. At the edge of the woods emerged an elderly man in gray robes.
His hair and beard were entirely white. He was at least seventy years old, yet his aura was far from feeble. His deep blue eyes gleamed with clarity.
Ming Shuang stared at the human, then at the snow fox.
The snow fox took a step forward. “Woo woo!”
Don’t be scared—this is your father’s father.
The Little Dragon hatchling’s eyes slowly widened. “…Huh?”
~~~
