A long polar night and winter will blanket over the spring, lasting until the summer of the following year before it finally ends.
Although in reality it may only be a matter of waking up once or twice, within the dream, Chu Yin must honestly endure over half a year, unable to simply twist the clock and skip the time.
He can’t cultivate, nor can he stay by his Lady Witch Aunt’s side; to dawdle for more than half a year like this is just too torturous!
The more he thought about it, the more he cherished this last chance of the year to snuggle with his aunt.
His arms tightened a little, hugging Lady Witch Aunt’s beautiful back. Chu Yin was still small, and his arms were quite short, but his aunt’s waist was so slender it could barely be held, much flatter than Aunt Wen’s.
Though the sisters were twins, Aunt Wen had more of a mature womanly charm, her graceful body voluptuous and full. As for his aunt, her figure was not inferior in the least, but her abdomen and back had an extra touch of firm, tight beauty.
Right now, Chu Yin could only wrap his arms around his aunt’s slender waist. If he moved his arms even slightly upward, close to the two soft mounds above her ribs, he wouldn’t have enough arm to hold them, and at most could just barely hug her shoulder blades.
Sigh, numbers are swelling…
The Ashen Snow Witch saw the boy’s head tossing restlessly from side to side and knew he was turning over and unable to sleep. She asked softly:
“Why can’t you sleep in my arms now? Or do you want to try the potion made with strong liquor?”
Chu Yin shook his head, refusing that kind of potion. He said,
“My mind keeps jumping with thoughts, but even if I can’t sleep, just lying here with Lady Witch for a while longer is good enough.”
“What kind of thoughts are jumping up?”
“First, I was wondering if Lady Witch could take us to stay with another witch for a night, then tomorrow we could all have breakfast together…”
Halfway through, the Housekeeper Sister, who was kneeling beside them waiting, smiled and added,
“And after breakfast, go for a stroll, then when noon comes, have a sumptuous dinner together, take a nap and accidentally sleep past the afternoon, making Master linger another night at a friend’s house~ is that right?”
He couldn’t deny it, shrinking his neck with an awkward laugh.
“That’s about right, but it’s just a thought, I don’t really mean to trouble Lady Witch to accommodate me all the time!”
The Ashen Snow Witch didn’t blame him. She planned to help Chu Yin sort out his thoughts, and said,
“Besides these, do you have other thoughts?”
“I do. I’m also curious about how Lady Witch spends the long polar night and winter. Do you hibernate like small animals, sleeping until the snow melts and the earth warms?”
With immense patience, the witch answered gently,
“No. I remain in a meditative state, then slowly return the excess magic I’ve accumulated without realizing it, back into the environment.”
Chu Yin was surprised.
“I thought Lady Witch would just sleep through it! So you have to wait for the long polar winter to end bit by bit? When even Housekeeper Sister isn’t around, wouldn’t it be boring?”
The Ashen Snow Witch truly had never thought about whether it would be boring or not. Through her long years, this was always how she lived, and it was only a few months, after all.
Even when it wasn’t the long polar winter, was her usual daily life any more vibrant?
It was still reading, thinking, researching, and brewing potions.
Though it was a simple question, the Ashen Snow Witch answered the child seriously:
“I never cared before, but this time I’ll pay attention, and tell you the answer when we meet next year.”
“Alright~” Chu Yin nodded.
The Housekeeper Sister reminded them, “You’ve talked for quite a while now. It’s almost midnight. Are you planning to chat until departure?”
“I think we could,” Chu Yin agreed.
His head was buried between his Lady Witch Aunt’s deep valleys. Every time he nodded, those two soft, jelly-like fruits would jiggle with him. Her skin was delicate and clear as crystal, with visible blue veins, but no crystal could be as soft as her flesh, swaying like water.
“I don’t think so.” His cold aunt rejected him. “You changed places to sleep tonight. What if you can’t fall asleep?”
Perhaps because in the past few nights Chu Yin had often complained of sleeplessness, Lady Witch Aunt was worried about his sleeping condition.
Chu Yin didn’t argue, lying quietly in place, closing his eyes to rest and trying to fall asleep.
The Spider Housekeeper Sister asked in a low voice, “Master, should I hum a lullaby? I heard some in the Human Kingdom.”
“There’s no cradle here. Wouldn’t a lullaby lose its effect?” Lady Witch Aunt denied.
Her knowledge was indeed profound, but she really lacked some common sense.
She subconsciously thought lullabies were a kind of sleep-assisting magic that required the special implement [Cradle] as an aid.
Otherwise, why call it a lullaby?
Just as the Spider Sister wanted to explain, the Ashen Snow Witch picked up a slightly more advanced magic book and set it with a “pa-ta” on Chu Yin’s bottom, using his body as a little desk in bed.
It turned out that Lady Witch Aunt was indeed very effective at coaxing to sleep. Chu Yin had only listened to a few sentences before he felt dizzy and sleepy.
He couldn’t help but admire—Aunt Wen excelled at patting backs to lull people, but Lady Witch Aunt had her own way of soothing him!
At midnight, snowflakes danced in the sky, and the vast forest was quickly cloaked in silver.
These magically infused snowflakes were cold beyond the norm, easily able to create an expanse of glacier that even ordinary Fire-Element Monsters would struggle to melt.
The Spider Housekeeper Sister carried the sleeping boy, bid farewell to the Ashen Snow Witch, and walked into the Transmission Ripple, “seeking refuge” at the Witch Gathering Hall for the winter.
The Ashen Snow Witch watched the two of them disappear, no longer suppressing her own magic.
In an instant, the goose-feather snow in the sky changed. Still pure white at high altitude, as it neared the Demon Forest’s lower air, it swiftly transformed into the ashen flakes typical of a crematory.
The surging tides along the shore cycled repeatedly through freezing, thawing, and steaming.
Ice and fire interwove.
Such a magical environment was ideal for witches to rapidly expend the magic they had stored up.
The Ashen Snow Witch stood by the window, gazing into the deep night sky, her fingertips gently brushing a few wind chimes.
The silent night was punctuated by a few crisp, clear notes.
She murmured to herself, “It does feel a bit boring… Was the polar winter always this quiet in the past?”
The Ashen Snow Witch hadn’t expected to answer the boy’s “Wouldn’t it be boring?” so soon, but unfortunately, she’d have to wait until the summer of the following year to give him the answer.
Chu Yin and the Spider Sister appeared in front of an old castle.
It was still part of the Demon Forest on the map, but very far from the Ashen Snow Witch’s domain.
So far, in fact, that the common folk here might never see the ocean in their lifetime.
“This is the Witch Gathering Hall? I thought it would be hidden, but it’s actually so ostentatious. Aren’t they worried about trouble?” Chu Yin asked.
“No need for that. The bounties against witches are just the Church and the Kingdom putting on a show. As long as they’re sane, they won’t dare bother us.”
That’s true. The strange phenomena at the Ashen Snow Witch’s place covered such a huge area, it was like openly announcing her territory. If the Church truly wanted to crusade, they would have already.
“Whose domain is this? I should at least greet her.” Chu Yin almost forgot to ask for this information.
“Usually only the Star Oracle Witch is here. Do you see the spire on that castle? That’s her Astrology Tower.”
A witch who loves astrology, huh?
Chu Yin regretted not having read a book on zodiac divination, or at least glanced at some tarot readings—at least that would’ve given him something to talk about.