Chapter 215: Chapter 215: What to Exchange for Information
Lan Ying pressed a hand to his chest. He had been struck there by that thing from the lake, and a dull ache was spreading from the spot.
Feng Xuan noticed something was wrong and was about to ask, but Lan Ying shook his head at him.
Realizing Lan Ying was being mindful of the Zaizai, Feng Xuan swallowed his words. He first had Da Hu and the others go play in another room, and only then did Lan Ying explain everything.
"That thing was disgusting. It didn’t look human or like a ghost. It’s the one that took Xiao Yu’s Shark Pearls, which is why Xiao Yu can’t turn back into a human."
The mere thought of the creature he saw at the bottom of the lake made Lan Ying feel nauseous. "I was struck by that thing, but it didn’t hurt much. It should be fine."
He wasn’t injured; the spot where he was hit was just a little red. It wasn’t a big deal, so he hadn’t paid it much mind.
"Let An’an check it for you," Feng Xuan said, disagreeing. "What if something happens?"
Ao Wu deeply agreed. "Feng Xuan is right. If something happened to you, Xiao Yu would be without his Beast Father."
"Although," he mused, rubbing his chin, "Xiao Yu still has the four of us as his Beast Fathers. It’s the same with or without you."
Feng Xuan chuckled. "That’s right. We’re all Xiao Yu’s Beast Fathers anyway."
"Get lost," Lan Ying said, rolling his eyes. "I knew you were up to no good. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely outlive you all!"
In the kitchen of Lord Mo’s courtyard, Yu An placed Fuzai on the table to play by herself while she and Mo Yan cooked together.
Fuzai was coiled up in a ball, her eyes darting around. The moment her brother Little Wolf came into view, she flew over to him without a sound.
She whispered, "Brother, let’s go."
Little Wolf nodded and led Fuzai toward the courtyard’s main house.
The door wasn’t shut tight, so Little Wolf slipped through the crack. As soon as they were inside, the two of them saw another "Yu An" meditating in the room.
They both knew this was the Lord Mo their Female Mother had told them about.
Little Wolf stopped in his tracks. "Sister, will he tell us?"
Fuzai thought for a moment. "He probably will. We won’t just ask for free; we’ll trade something for the information."
"What should we use? I brought the pearl my second brother gave me, and the milk candy Female Mother gave me, and..."
He listed his treasures as Fuzai felt her own little pocket, which contained much the same things.
The two of them hid in a corner, whispering back and forth, but after a long discussion, they still couldn’t come up with a plan.
Fuzai touched a scale on her body and, biting down with her little teeth, said, "How about... we use one of my scales?"
She had heard her grandfather say that the Heart-protecting Scale of the Dragon Clan was incredibly tough, a rare treasure in this world.
Little Wolf was startled. "No!"
’My sister can’t get hurt!’
He hurriedly searched himself for any treasures he might have. After looking and looking, he realized the only valuable thing he had was his fur coat.
A fluffy tail appeared behind him. Little Wolf hesitated for a moment. "Sister, my Beast Father told me that the most precious thing for us Snow Wolves is our tail."
"Fifth Brother, are you silly?!"
Fuzai stopped trying to pry off her own scale and angrily hugged Little Wolf’s tail. "Don’t do anything stupid! My scales can grow back if they’re gone, but your tail won’t! And it will hurt a lot!"
"But..."
"What are you two doing here?"
A voice suddenly rang out from above them. The two little ones jumped in fright. Little Wolf instinctively changed back into his beast form and pulled Fuzai into his arms.
Lord Mo looked down at the fluffy little wolf cub and the little dragon cub being held so tightly she could barely breathe.
"Lost? Your Female Mother is in the kitchen. Go find her..."
"We came to see you about something."
Little Wolf changed back into his human form and quickly called out to him, "Lord Mo, can you tell us how to help our Female Mother recover?"
Lord Mo paused. "Why do you ask?"
"We want to go home with our Female Mother soon."
Fuzai finally struggled free and flew up in front of Lord Mo. She blinked her eyes. "Would you like one of my scales? Can we trade?"
Lord Mo glanced at her. "A Heart Protecting Scale?"
"Yes," Fuzai nodded, her body bobbing up and down with the movement. "But can we just trade one? I just tried, and it hurts a little."
Lord Mo reached out a hand. Fuzai thought he had agreed and was about to pull off a scale when Lord Mo grabbed her instead.
He grabbed the scruff of Little Wolf’s neck with his other hand and carried them both out the door.
The two were just about to ask where Lord Mo was taking them when they saw him walking toward the kitchen.
"Brother," Fuzai said, shrinking her neck back, "I have a bad feeling about this."
Little Wolf said weakly, "Me too, Sis."
Sure enough, after Lord Mo concisely explained the situation to Yu An, the two little ones felt the aura around their Female Mother change.
Yu An smiled and thanked Lord Mo, then took the two children from him.
The moment Lord Mo left, her expression changed. "Didn’t your Female Mother tell you not to run off on your own?"
Fuzai tried to get by on cuteness. "Female Mother, this Zaizai just wants our family to go home to Grandpa and Grandma soon~"
Little Wolf added weakly, "Me too, Female Mother."
"Your Female Mother will take care of these things," Yu An said sternly. "You’re still little. You don’t need to worry about such matters, understand?"
Yu An hadn’t intended to scold them. Especially after hearing from Lord Mo that they had wanted to trade a Heart Protecting Scale and a tail, she felt both gratified and heartbroken.
Fuzai pouted. "Female Mother, when can we go home? I miss Grandpa and Grandma, and my uncles."
"Me too," Little Wolf said, tugging on a corner of Yu An’s clothes. "Female Mother, we were so worried about you while we were living in the pocket dimension."
Although they were young, they understood that their Female Mother making them stay in the pocket dimension meant it was dangerous outside. But their Female Mother, Beast Fathers, and other relatives were all out there, and they were very worried.
Yu An opened her mouth, but in the end, she couldn’t say anything. She just knelt and hugged them tightly.
"Be good, my Zaizai," she said soothingly. "Your Female Mother is very strong. We’ll be able to go back in a little while."
That Array-within-an-Array Ao Yin mentioned last time was simple. She had heard from Ao Yin’s subordinates that the Array was almost complete.
Whether Lord Mo solidifies his control over the body or she reclaims it, everything will be decided when the Array is complete.
"Trust your Female Mother," Yu An said, ruffling their little heads. "Besides, your Beast Fathers will protect me too."
She glanced at Mo Yan, who was dazed. He snapped out of it. "That’s right, you two don’t worry. Kids shouldn’t worry about adult business, or you won’t grow tall."
"Beast Father Mo Yan is just tricking us."
Fuzai muttered, then took Little Wolf’s hand and went back with Han Li, who had come looking for them.
Han Li had only stepped out for a moment. When he came back and found his cub missing, he nearly had a heart attack!
Mo Yan was in charge of washing and chopping the vegetables. He had been fine just a moment ago, but after that whole episode, he was now dazed while he chopped.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his hand. He looked down and saw he had cut his finger.
Yu An caught it out of the corner of her eye and quickly used her superpower to heal him. Fortunately, the cut wasn’t deep and healed right away.
"Mo Yan," she said, a little worried. "What’s wrong? You seem so distracted."
