Chapter Five: An Accidental Encounter with a Spirit Beast

After Qin Xiaomo was taken away by Jiang Wei, her eyes were blindfolded and she was thrown into a carriage, her hands bound painfully behind her back.

From the rhythmic clopping of hooves outside, it seemed there was only one horse. The air was filled with the calls of strange birds—she must have been taken into the depths of the forest. Around her drifted a scent reminiscent of sandalwood and orange blossom, and as the journey continued, the cries of wild beasts grew more frequent. The sound of running water, at first distant, now came ever closer. In such circumstances, anyone would have guessed their fate was sealed.

At this point, Qin Xiaomo felt as if her very innards were about to be jolted out of her. She could hardly care about appearances anymore; whoever said you couldn’t get carriage-sick clearly hadn’t tried it. “Sir, could we stop for a moment? I think I’m going to be sick!”

She strained her ears, but received no answer. “I must’ve eaten too much. Even if you intend to kill me, at least let me catch my breath. I feel awful.”

The carriage slowed distinctly—she deduced her captor was alone, both driving and guarding her, and not entirely heartless.

She pressed on, “Are you one of Qian Mubai’s people?”

Still, no reply. In her dreams and in the game, there had always been a confidant named Jiang Wei at Qian Mubai’s side. Qin Xiaomo decided to take a gamble.

“I actually know who you are! Your name is Jiang Wei, isn’t it?” The carriage jerked to a sudden halt, causing her head to slam into the window frame and leaving a large bump. Even blindfolded, her ears were sharp. The man lifted the curtain but did not enter. At last, he spoke.

“Who are you?”

“Could you take off the blindfold? You’re going to kill me anyway, so it hardly matters if I see your face, does it?” Qin Xiaomo was secretly pleased her guess was right, calculating that being able to see would be a good start.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Wei approached, pulled her from the carriage, and outside, removed her blindfold with one hand while keeping the other behind his back, gripping a dagger—ready to finish her at any sign of trouble.

A blinding light made her squint, but as her eyes adjusted, Qin Xiaomo was astonished. Outside the carriage was nothing short of a fairyland: pink peach blossoms stretched across a plain between rugged stone hills, wreathed in mist. A crystal-clear river, dozens of meters wide, flowed between the mountains, sunlight piercing the haze and casting rainbows in the sky—a breathtaking sight.

“Who are you?” Jiang Wei repeated.

Qin Xiaomo, enthralled by the scenery, almost forgot his presence. Turning, she carefully studied him: ruggedly handsome, with strong, well-defined features—though his skin was weathered and rough from years of sun and wind.

Who am I? How should I answer? She quickly searched her dreams for memories related to him.

“I am a Prophet.”

“A Seer?” Jiang Wei seemed uncertain.

“Yes! A Seer!”

In Mirror Hollow City, the Seer was a figure of unrivaled honor, fiercely sought after by every territory. With a Seer, a clan could discover secret treasures and resources. If even one person from a territory broke through to the Ninth Heaven’s rank, they could tame the Devourer Beast as their mount and become the supreme ruler, a god-emperor among men—though no one truly knew what the Devourer Beast looked like.

Jiang Wei’s eyes brightened. “How can you prove you are a Seer?”

Qin Xiaomo closed her eyes, muttered under her breath, pinched her fingers together, then abruptly opened her eyes and spoke in an eerie tone, “You have an elder brother. As a child, you became separated from your family in the forest and were nearly devoured by a wild beast. Qian Mubai saved you just in time. Since then, you have followed him, vowing to protect him with your life. Am I correct?”

Jiang Wei stood dumbstruck for a long time. No one but Qian Mubai could have known these things. Could this woman truly be a Seer? If so, the heavens had surely favored Mirror Hollow City. If she was lying, it would be easy to dispose of her later. He decided to bring her back to meet Qian Mubai first.

He was about to ask more when, suddenly, birds and beasts scattered in the distant forest.

“Not good! We have to go!” Jiang Wei hurriedly tried to push Qin Xiaomo back into the carriage, but the horse, spooked by some unknown terror, neighed wildly and tore free, disappearing into the undergrowth.

“What’s happening?” Qin Xiaomo asked, bewildered.

“There’s no time to explain—just run!” Jiang Wei seized her hand and took off at a sprint.

Even as he spoke, dust clouds surged from afar, moving rapidly toward them. The air was filled with the calls of wild beasts, the ground shaking as if struck by a drumbeat, growing ever louder.

Jiang Wei ran, glancing back—seeing the herd not even a few hundred meters away, ready to overtake them in moments. He scanned the area and spotted a hollow behind a large boulder not far off—a temporary refuge from the stampede.

He dragged Qin Xiaomo behind the rock, where they crouched and covered their heads. The herd thundered past. Qin Xiaomo, peering from the corner of her eye, saw creatures at least three meters tall, some over twenty. They came in all shapes: bird-legged, ox-bodied; deer-faced, leopard-clawed; their colors and markings defied her knowledge.

Holding their breath, they waited as dust and broken branches swirled around. Her arm was scratched by some beast’s sharp claw, but she stifled her cry. At that moment, she felt someone shielding her head with their body—it was Jiang Wei. She was genuinely moved.

When the herd had passed, Jiang Wei rose impassively. “Let’s go. With no horse, we’ll be out here until nightfall.”

“You’re bleeding on your back.”

“It’s just a scratch.”

“Thank you, for saving me.”

“That’s because you might be a Seer.”

“What was with that beast stampede just now?” Qin Xiaomo dusted herself off.

“I’m not sure. This is the Seventh Earth-level Beast Zone—usually nothing can scare the local beasts, since different level herds keep to their own territories and don’t interfere. It must have been a Ninth Earth-level predator, or even a celestial beast, invading their territory to cause such chaos. Hurry! We need to return and report this to my master, before worse comes to pass.”

“All right!” Qin Xiaomo was about to run when she felt a strange heaviness on her foot. Looking down, she saw a fluffy white ball perched on her shoe, its big black eyes gazing up at her with a watery innocence, two tiny paws clutching her skirt as it panted for breath. Its body was like a chubby chinchilla, its face round like a plump guinea pig, every part of it adorably plump.

“You poor thing, your legs are too short to keep up, aren’t they? I know I’m dressed in white, but I’m not your mother. Did you get separated from her?” Qin Xiaomo crouched down and reached out. The little ball bared its teeth in warning. She had raised cats before, so she gently scratched its chin and belly—the little creature kicked its stubby legs in delight.

When she stopped, it nuzzled against her hand, clearly wanting more. “Jiang Wei, do you know what this is?”

“I have no idea—I’ve never seen one before.”

“Can I keep it? I really like it.”

“That’s not allowed!” The little creature seemed to understand, clinging to Qin Xiaomo’s leg and baring its teeth at Jiang Wei. “Beasts can’t enter the city unless their owner has a contract with them. Otherwise, they’ll be destroyed.”

“How do you form a contract?” Qin Xiaomo asked, curious.

“You don’t have a beast-capturing talisman yet, so you have to do it the hard way—exchange a drop of blood. It gives a drop, you give a drop, they merge, the seal is made, and the contract is formed.” Jiang Wei gestured as he explained.

“What does the contract do?”

“A beast can only have one master. Once the seal is made, it’s bound to protect you—your lives are connected. If you die, it dies too. But if it dies, nothing happens to you. Unless you set it free, only then can it regain its freedom.”

“That seems rather unfair,” Qin Xiaomo hesitated. She didn’t want anything bad to happen to such a cute little thing.

“There’s no other way,” Jiang Wei sighed. That was simply the rule.

Qin Xiaomo looked at the white ball. It tucked its little paws behind its back, though its chubbiness left half still showing.

“Little one, do you want to come with me? If you do, stick out your paw. If not, we’ll part ways here. Your choice—I know you understand me.” She gazed at it.

The little creature wavered, torn between the pleasure of being scratched and its fear of pain. Its paws stretched out, then withdrew, again and again. At last, it squeezed its eyes shut and thrust its paw forward.

Jiang Wei deftly pricked it for a drop of blood—it squealed in pain, but the seal was made.

The little one raised its paw, as if complaining. “All right, all right, I’ll blow on it and it’ll stop hurting.” Qin Xiaomo scooped it up, rubbing its belly. “What should I call you?”

After a moment’s thought, she said, “You’ll be called White Dumpling, all right?”

The fluffy white ball offered no resistance, allowing her to cuddle and squeeze it as she pleased.

The road back to the city was unusually quiet—no birds called, no beasts howled, not even the insects sang. Jiang Wei suspected the herd had driven all the creatures away, which explained the silence, and so thought nothing of it. Thus, their return to the city was smooth and uneventful.