Summoning 499

When Azure Seal urged Willow Leaf to return from the clouds, she had to slow her pace because of the small burden on her back.

Yunie clung to her neck, whispering by her ear, “Are you really my sister?”

Azure Seal replied with a question, “What did Lord She tell you?”

Yunie said, “He told me I was collateral he kept, and my sister would come to exchange treasures to get me back.” He paused, then added, “He said you were my real sister.”

A wave of tenderness swept through Azure Seal’s heart, and a smile touched her lips. That old snake spirit, Lord She—cruel and stingy as he was—still told Yunie this gentle lie, sparing him from the burdens of old feuds once he grew up. It showed there was a sliver of kindness in his heart. So she answered firmly, “That’s right. Lord She didn’t lie to you. I am really your sister.”

Yunie hugged her neck tightly, tears of joy rolling into the collar of her robe.

When they hurried back to Hundredfold Cavern, dawn was just breaking. A little mouse spirit stood outside, peering anxiously. Upon seeing her, he rushed to announce her arrival, and with a thunderous roar, the stone gate swung open. The Lord of Chess Mountain came out to greet her in person. Azure Seal steadied her feet, and Yunie jumped down from her back.

The Mountain Lord was surprised to see her return with a child. He was about to ask, but the child glared at him with crimson eyes, a faint chill seeping straight into his bones. Startled, the Mountain Lord staggered back, pressing himself against the stone wall, his voice trembling, “A… a snake child?!”

After all, snakes were natural enemies of mice.

Azure Seal reassured him, “Don’t be afraid. He’s my little brother.”

How could the Mountain Lord not be afraid? His distress surged like a river in flood. Cats or snakes, there was no peace for him here! Without further delay, Azure Seal led Yunie quickly toward the cave where Stranger Road lay, asking as she went, “Is everything alright?”

The Mountain Lord replied, “The divine beast is still unconscious, the baby was fed long ago and is sleeping in the arms of my seventeenth wife.”

Seventeenth wife! Azure Seal gave him an incredulous look. “How many wives do you have?”

The Mountain Lord answered, “At present, sixty-three.”

“...!” Azure Seal paused, then asked, “And all these little mouse spirits in the cave…”

“Some are my children, some my grandchildren, some great-grandchildren, and some great-great—”

“I see…” Cold sweat beaded on Azure Seal’s brow. So, the countless mice in Hundredfold Cavern were all one big family! When she had captured that little mouse spirit, she thought she’d caught a mouse prince, but it turned out the cave was crawling with “princes and grandsons.” She had to admit, the Mountain Lord had it hard. Her gaze toward him now carried three parts admiration, seven parts sympathy.

Entering the cave, she rushed to Stranger Road’s side to check on him. He was still in the same position, fast asleep. The two little mouse spirits assigned to care for him were huddled in the corner, just as they had been when she left, not daring to move all night. She could not expect them to take care of him.

She reached out to check his breathing and pulse. His breath was burning hot, his pulse weak and erratic—the situation had grown even worse.

Kneeling beside the great beast, she took the universe pouch from her waist, untied the black cord, and thrust her hand inside, only to break out in a cold sweat. “Where’s everything?!”

The bag was completely empty!

She turned it upside down and shook it vigorously, but nothing came out. In her panic, a weak voice sounded from the wall, “That’s not how you use it.” She looked up—it was Yunie, standing far away, clearly frightened by the beast cat lying on the hide, not daring to come closer.

Azure Seal quickly called, “Come here, help me get out the healing medicine.”

Yunie, seeing the beast cat unmoving, mustered his courage and came over to teach her the retrieval incantation. She tried to recite it, but in her agitation, got it wrong. Instead of medicine, there was a loud "boom" and a pile of gold bars flooded out. She hurriedly asked Yunie to help her gather them back into the pouch. This time, focusing hard, she recited the incantation correctly, and a heap of healing medicines tumbled out.

She sorted through them, picking out several bottles of “Primordial Bone-Setting Paste” for external use. This paste was a Zhou family secret, renowned for mending broken bones. For an ordinary person, one bottle sufficed, but with the enormous size and severe spinal injury of the beast cat, she needed several times the usual amount. Since she had to reapply the medicine, she called for the Mountain Lord to have water boiled.

After several unanswered calls, she looked up and saw the Mountain Lord clinging to the doorway, eyes glazed, nearly fainting—dazzled by the brilliance of the gold bars.

With difficulty, she snapped him back to his senses, and he set off with renewed vigor. Never before had he seen so much gold. The promise of gold and silver Azure Seal had made earlier was now a gleaming reality, and he was already planning new clothes for his wives and better meals for his descendants, wholly forgetting that this fortune came at the cost of hosting a fierce beast cat—the money was as good as licking blood from a knife’s edge.

Azure Seal removed the old bandages from the beast cat, applied fresh Primordial Bone-Setting Paste to the broken bones, and wrapped it all up carefully. As she finished, she paused, tying the last knot in a butterfly bow. A faint smile played on her lips as she flicked his stiff whiskers. “I’ve tied another butterfly knot for you. If you don’t wake up soon, I’ll tie a pink one on your head next time.”

Still, there was no response. Though she forced herself to smile, tears welled in her eyes. A cat’s whiskers are extremely sensitive; even asleep, a touch would make them twitch unconsciously. Yet now, no matter how she teased, there was no reaction at all, as if—

She shook her head fiercely, sending the tears flying away, refusing to think of that ominous word.

She found a few more suitable oral medicines and forced them down the great beast’s throat. After all this, she lay down beside him, utterly drained. She glanced over at Yunie—he, too, was exhausted and had crawled onto the bed to sleep. She burrowed into the beast’s embrace, sinking into his soft, long fur, pressing her face to his chest, wriggling until she found a spot where she could hear his heartbeat, then finally relaxed and mumbled, “Stranger Road, when I wake up, you must wake up too. I’m afraid to wake alone.”

Within moments, she slipped into sleep, completely spent.

The scene from their first encounter replayed itself. He had been gravely wounded, revealed his true form as a three-tailed lynx, and lay unable to rise. She had slept beside him every night like this, curled up in his soft fur.

The difference was that now, her heart brimmed with endless fear. Fear that he would never wake. Fear of being left alone.

When she woke again, the lynx was still sleeping. She steeled herself, changing his medicine, feeding him, speaking to him, teasing his whiskers and pointed ears. But he only slept on, giving no response at all.

So it went for more than ten days, with no improvement. Her fear grew ever deeper. Perhaps it was this fear that gave birth to a dream.

A dark-haired youth held her hand, leading her down a shadowy path. She could clearly feel the warmth of his palm, the strength of his fingers. She didn’t know where they were going, only felt a quiet joy, her heart warmed. From time to time, she looked up at his perfect profile, his dark brows and eyes, his gaze deep as a pool.

If only they could go on like this, wherever it led, it would be fine.

But suddenly, his hand slipped from hers. Panic seized her, and she hurried to grab his hand again. She caught it, but it was now cold as ice. She looked up at his face—his expression was distant and cold. He didn’t look at her, his gaze fixed on the darkness ahead. She pressed both her hands around his, anxiously saying, “It’s alright, I’ll warm them up for you.”

As long as you’re willing to hold my hand.

As long as you don’t let go.

I’ll warm your hands for you.

Such a simple dream, yet Azure Seal woke from it crying. Her hand touched the lynx’s soft mane, and she remembered it was only a dream. She threw her arms around the great beast’s neck, sobbing for a long time before she could calm herself.

Suddenly, she understood: no matter how fine her medicines, they were mortal things, and his wounds had been inflicted by a celestial being. She did not have the power to heal him. If this went on, she could only watch him slowly die.

But there was nothing she could do. Only a celestial might save him. And the only one she knew was the silver-haired man—the very one who had wounded Stranger Road.

A flash of wild determination lit her eyes. The silver-haired man wanted the immortal fungus. She was the immortal fungus. If she offered herself in exchange for Stranger Road’s life…

Perhaps she could bargain with him.

She didn’t know what the silver-haired man wanted her for, nor what fate awaited her. Perhaps imprisonment, or worse—so dreadful she dared not imagine.

She still had wishes unfulfilled, family vengeance unpaid.

Yet if it would save Stranger Road, nothing else mattered.

The wild light in her eyes faded quickly. Even if she wanted to negotiate with the silver-haired man, she had no way to reach him. He was a figure of the Immortal Realm; she needed someone to act as a go-between.

Despair swept over her like the tide, ebbing and surging to drown her.

Seeing her grief, Yunie came over to wipe the tears from her cheek. She forced a smile for him, reaching out to ruffle his small head. Looking at Yunie, her thoughts naturally turned to Lord She.

Suddenly, a phrase sounded in her ear: “Ignite the feather of the blood dove, and you may summon my true form.”

She sat up with a start. Of course—aside from Stranger Road, she knew another being from the Immortal Realm.

The Nine Feathers of the Blood Dove.

She found a fire striker, nudged Yunie aside, “Yunie, step back—don’t get hurt.” Then she faced the wall, flipped her wrist, and shot an arrow as lightly as she could.

The feathered shaft shot from her wrist, thunking into the stone wall and quivering. Before it could vanish and return to her pulse, she brought the fire striker close to the arrow’s end. The feather caught, flaring up in a burst of crimson fire, then vanished in a flash.

She blinked, staring at the hole left in the stone. “Is that it? Did it work or not?” She looked around—Nine Feathers didn’t leap out of thin air as she’d imagined. Everything looked the same.

She felt a wave of disappointment, guessing either Lord She had lied or she’d ignited the feather incorrectly, and nothing could be summoned.

Author’s note: Trading oneself for another’s life—perhaps this seems melodramatic or foolish. So I hesitated for a long time while writing this scene.

I tried to put myself in the heroine’s place, to consider carefully what I would do in such a situation.

So she made the trade—driven to desperation, with no other choice.