Under the watchful eyes of the thieves, two figures and two beasts descended the hillside, slipping away from Half-Moon Valley and disappearing into the night.
They followed the Red Ghost Spider to its hiding place.
"You really moved quite a lot," Liyue said, staring at the twenty white cocoons piled up in front of her.
"It's still not enough," Luciel shook his head regretfully.
Even after feeding thousands of people on jerky for a month, they had only managed to haul away about two thousand catties.
"..." Liyue rolled her eyes cutely, unable to find the right words to complain.
"How about helping me move some more?"
Luciel turned toward the white-haired girl, his voice soft. "Stay at my place tonight. Consider it payment for your hard work."
"No need."
Liyue frowned, her pale brows knitting as she replied coldly, "I'll help you move things—but you have to trade me those flowers."
There was no way she would stay overnight at the home of someone she'd only just met, especially when she carried the infection of the so-called "virtual ghost."
"No problem," Luciel nodded, not pressing the matter.
He stacked two more cocoons onto the back of the tricolor lizard until it looked like a walking hill.
A level-four tricolor lizard could easily carry its own weight—over a ton. The current load was nearly a thousand catties.
The Red Ghost Spider bore about five hundred catties, its back also covered in two layers of white cocoons.
"Just carry one," Luciel said, strapping a cocoon of tomatoes onto Liyue's back.
"This isn't heavy," Liyue replied coolly, weighing the load. "Give me another one."
Though only about 1.6 meters tall, she could carry five to six hundred catties with ease.
"No need. Everything's already sorted."
Luciel slung two cocoons over his back and clamped another two under his arms.
"Let's go home."
With that, he and the two beasts trudged forward, their loads nearly as large as themselves, leaving Liyue staring blankly.
"What a strange person," she muttered, hurrying to catch up.
In the dark of night, the beasts led the way.
The two walked in silence. Luciel stayed alert, scanning their surroundings for any sign of lurking beasts, while Liyue kept trying—and failing—to find something to talk about.
A distant roar echoed across the wilderness, but soon faded into silence.
No one knew how long they had been walking.
"Finally home."
Luciel's words snapped Liyue back to her senses.
"Home? This place?"
Her silver eyes darted around, puzzled. All she could see were bare rocks—there wasn't even a cave.
"Just wait." Luciel gave a command to the Rock Tortoise.
"Huh?"
In the next moment, the ground in front of her shifted, rising into a staircase of stone.
"Come on, my house is up there." Luciel started climbing.
Liyue blinked, stunned. "Incredible… how did he do that?"
The tricolor lizard gave a sharp neigh, nudging her forward.
"Sorry, I'll go up now."
Flustered, Liyue apologized to the beast and trotted up the stairs.
At the top, Luciel was waiting.
"That's my house." He gestured to the structure behind him.
Before Liyue could speak, he called out, "Mino, I'm back!"
"..." Liyue froze.
Bang!
The door flew open, firelight spilling onto the ground.
A slim figure dashed out and ran straight into Luciel's arms.
"Luciel, you're okay?"
Mino leaned forward, her rabbit ears twitching with worry. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine. Really," Luciel answered gently.
Relieved, Mino quickly took the cocoon Luciel was carrying.
"Little Cai brought some things back earlier. If I hadn't seen the signal, I would've been scared half to death," the rabbit-eared girl chirped.
"Xiao Cai's grown. She's strong enough to carry plenty now." Luciel chuckled warmly.
"Um… I…"
Liyue, who had been standing awkwardly behind them, finally spoke, embarrassed at being ignored.
"Oh right, I almost forgot."
Luciel turned back with a smile. "Come on in, Liyue."
"Okay… thank you."
Relieved to be invited, Liyue no longer felt like an outsider trailing behind.
But when she stepped inside, she was stunned.
The house was clean and tidy, water simmered on the fire, and there were rooms on both sides of the hall—one with a door, one without. The simple decor radiated warmth.
Luciel and Mino were both neatly dressed, while she looked down at her filthy cloak in shame, suddenly feeling inferior.
"Please, sit." Luciel gestured politely.
"Mm." Liyue nodded lightly, but her eyes couldn't help drifting toward the twelve wooden barrels on the table.
"Mino, help Liyue with her things," Luciel said, nudging the rabbit-eared girl. Come on, be a good host.
"Okay."
Mino's reply was soft, her blue eyes glancing timidly at the white-haired girl. She picked up a knife, moving stiffly, her little feet dragging.
"??" Luciel raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected Mino to be afraid of strangers.
"I'll do it myself."
Liyue's silver eyes flickered with envy as she glanced at Mino's rabbit ears. Then she lowered her head, trying to hide the red markings on her face.
As expected, only Luciel seemed unbothered by her "virtual ghost infection."
"Mino, go help Xiao Cai and Xiao Hong unload the rest," Luciel sighed, trying to ease the tension.
"Alright."
Mino's stiff posture softened at once, and she left with the knife in hand to join the beasts at the door.
Luciel drew his saber and stepped over to Liyue, cutting the spider silk from her back.
"Don't mind her," he said gently. "Mino's just a little shy with strangers."
"I don't mind," Liyue mumbled, lowering her head.
Luciel studied her dejected expression. Mino's unintentional reaction had clearly touched her sensitive heart.
Really… one problem girl after another.
So, to change the subject, he said calmly, "Didn't you want to see the flower with wings?"
Liyue's head shot up, her silver eyes sparkling. "Where is it?"