“Overestimating yourself.”
The witch looked at her like she was an idiot.
Wu Xiaomi, clueless as ever, wasn’t offended.
She just smiled sweetly and leaned obediently against the vines.
The witch stopped looking at her.
“It’s time to settle the debt, Xiao Luobo.”
Xiao Luobo?
Was she calling the Spirit of Abundance?
“I’m not a radish! Your whole family’s a bunch of radishes!” The Spirit of Abundance roared furiously from within the vine cage, “You damn demon! Let me go! Or else you’re dead!”
“Do you remember our deal?” The witch spread her fingers toward the Spirit of Abundance.
The Spirit of Abundance suddenly went quiet, guiltily lying flat on the ground.
“You once begged me for something.”
“…” The Spirit of Abundance sighed, her ears drooping. “Is it time? Today?”
The witch answered with action.
The vines suddenly hardened like steel, binding the Spirit of Abundance’s neck to Wu Xiaomi’s.
The green vines shimmered with a metallic sheen.
Gradually, they transformed into two collars engraved with intricate silver patterns.
The large fox’s body shrank inside the collar, eventually becoming a palm-sized miniature beast-eared girl.
White-haired, petite, stripped of all the brutality and majesty of her beast form.
“Let me go >_<“
Xiao Luobo tugged at the collar, throwing a tantrum and rolling on the ground, but the collar didn’t budge.
A slender black chain extended from the collar, the other end fastened to Wu Xiaomi’s neck.
Wu Xiaomi gave it a cautious tug.
So tough…
There was no way she could break it by herself.
And there were no clasps or fasteners either—it was just firmly embedded around her neck.
“Ah—”
Amid Xiao Luobo’s squeaky wails, the chain quickly shortened.
She was dragged up next to Wu Xiaomi’s head.
The chain was short, so her tiny body could only move around Wu Xiaomi’s head.
Floating, sitting on her shoulder, or perching on her head.
“You damn demon! What do you want from me?!”
“I once gave you freedom and power. In return, you must stay by this child’s side.”
“Be her pet? For this weakling? No way!”
“Pet? No, I won’t force you into a spirit contract. But you must follow her for now.”
“Follow her for what?”
The witch didn’t answer.
“I hate riddlers! Come back, you jerk, come back!”
The vines retreated, and the blood moon returned to its normal, calming hue.
Along with it faded Wu Xiaomi’s consciousness.
“Wait… if I take the Spirit of Abundance with me, what about her worshippers?” Wu Xiaomi called out to the retreating vines.
“She’s not the Spirit of Abundance.” The witch’s voice was already distant. “The true Spirit of Abundance set out to explore the continent long ago. Otherwise, this one wouldn’t have had the chance to take her place… just call her Xiao Luobo.”
“Xiao Luobo?”
“Don’t call me that! I am the Spirit of Abundance!” Xiao Luobo fumed and yanked on Wu Xiaomi’s hair.
But she was too weak.
Even going all out, she only managed to pull out one strand.
Then she fell on her butt, panting heavily from exhaustion.
“……”
The witch was completely gone.
Consciousness traveled across time and space, returning to the shrine in Harvest Village.
Back with her was the tiny Xiao Luobo.
“Ah, you’re back?” Nanalia joyfully helped Wu Xiaomi up, “Did you meet the Spirit of Abundance?”
Hard to say if she did or not.
Just as Wu Xiaomi was pondering how to phrase it, Xiao Luobo climbed up onto her head.
Hands on hips, she struck a proud pose:
“My faithful believer… eh eh eh?”
Before she could finish her grand opening, Nanalia had already grabbed her.
“Xiaomi! There’s a talking mouse in your hair!”
“Let go of me! You irreverent witch! I am the Spirit of Abundance!”
“The Spirit of Abundance?!”
Nanalia gasped and let go. Xiao Luobo landed on Wu Xiaomi’s head, tried to grab her hair but it was so silky she missed her grip.
“Gack—”
The tiny girl dangled from Wu Xiaomi’s chest.
The chain went taut, her neck cracking audibly.
Perfect hanging.
Luckily, she was light enough not to actually die.
“She’s not the Spirit of Abundance, but she’s definitely connected somehow.” Wu Xiaomi picked her up and casually placed her on her shoulder.
“What is that? A new kind of necklace? That design is adorable—is it a plushie?”
“No, she’s alive. It’s a long story.”
Oh.
Though curious, Nanalia didn’t press further.
With strange happenings afoot, she just wanted to figure out how to deal with the puppets.
“Did you meet the Spirit of Abundance? Did you ask how to deal with those puppets?”
“Puppets? What puppets?”
As if to show off her usefulness, Xiao Luobo sprang upright despite her near-death state, kneeling on Wu Xiaomi’s shoulder and asking:
“Hard masks, unknown material, painted with bloody red smiles, bodies made of wood that won’t burn?”
“You know them?” Wu Xiaomi asked.
“They burrow underground, right? Appear out of nowhere, and there’s a lot of them?” Xiao Luobo replied.
“Exactly!”
Nanalia looked hopeful: “You know about them? Please, how do we destroy them? I’m begging you!”
“Why destroy them?” Xiao Luobo gave a strange look. “Don’t you know? These things are super valuable, they’re contractable creatures…”
“Contractable?!” Nanalia gasped. “You mean… they’re uncontracted spirit pets?!”
“If your description is accurate, then they’re a very rare type of spirit pet—Blood Puppets.
They may look scary, but they don’t have their own will. Once contracted, they’re extremely obedient. So for beast tamers who are into dark aesthetics, they’re actually a solid choice.”
“But how do we deal with them?” Nanalia pressed. “They’re running wild in the village and attacking everyone—they’ve already hurt a lot of people!”
“These puppets normally can’t move on their own. If they’re active in the village, then there must be an energy core nearby keeping them going… Kid, gimme a map.”
Nanalia quickly unrolled a map of the village.
“Mark all the places they were spotted.” Xiao Luobo spoke with exaggerated authority.
Nanalia focused and marked each place where the puppets had been seen that day.
The sightings were clustered around the village center, near the watermill.
“Blood Puppets can’t stray far from their energy core—if they do, they lose mobility. So if you draw a circle around the outermost sightings, the core is most likely at the center—right by the watermill.”
Very professional.
Almost like a detective.
“Of course, that will also be where the most puppets are. The place will be heavily guarded. They won’t let anyone destroy the energy core, so it’s guaranteed to be full of traps…
They understand what humans fear. They’ll use their abilities to make the core zone look terrifying—viscerally, instinctively scary—to the point where you’ll hesitate, or even die of fright! Awooo—!”
Xiao Luobo suddenly threw up her tiny arms and let out a fierce howl.
Unfortunately, her voice was way too soft and cute. Nanalia and Wu Xiaomi weren’t scared at all.
“Only the bravest warriors can pass this trial—with your guts, you’ll probably faint before you even reach the core.”
Scare attempt: failed. Xiao Luobo pouted in frustration.
The bravest?
No… maybe what we need isn’t bravery.
……
Meanwhile, in the southern part of Harvest Village—
Village chief Muxi was patrolling with the [Monsoon] adventurer team, already having completed two laps around the village.
“Ahahaha don’t run away!”
“Little cutie, come gimme a hug!”
“…,” Muxi watched the Monsoon members in silence, completely speechless.
With crazed expressions, they had blocked off streets and alleys like wild lunatics.
The terrifying Blood Puppets were fleeing for their lives, scrambling in panic.
Muxi could’ve sworn… he saw despair on one of the puppet’s faces.
Fear? Not even a factor.
“Village Chief Muxi!”
From a distance, he saw Nanalia and Wu Xiaomi approaching side by side.
“You’ve figured something out?”
“Yes. Their energy core is hidden at the watermill. We need a few fearless warriors to go with us and destroy it. That will stop them from moving.”
Fearless warriors?
Muxi looked toward the Monsoon team.
At this rate… it wasn’t clear who should be afraid of whom…
[Translator’s Note: In Chinese Luobo means Radish]