“Gelu, is the soup ready?” Hearing Gelu laugh, Long Ming also felt a little childish for taking the spirit so seriously. He stood, walked over with his tail swaying behind him, and peered at the small soup pot simmering over the fire.
Two oval fruits floated inside. Once their skins had been peeled away, the white flesh beneath looked like pear. The soup was now bubbling steadily.
Gelu filled a bowl and handed it to the little cub. “It’s ready. Good cub, take this to Sailiya.”
Sailiya flew to the bowl and looked down at the tender white fruit.
“See if you can taste the sweetness.” Long Ming set the bowl on a stone and crouched down to look at the crimson spirit.
Aoduoduo walked over beside the little dragon cub. Sailiya immediately zipped back to its friend’s tail.
“Oreo?” Long Ming raised his head toward the mermaid. He saw Oreo tap a fingertip, and the steaming fruit soup in the bowl instantly froze solid.
“Perhaps it can eat some this way.”
Sailiya tilted its head at the sight. Only after Oreo walked away did it fly to the edge of the bowl. Probably because magic had been used, the ice melted much more slowly than Sailiya expected. It could not resist taking a tiny bite and tasted cool sweetness.
Long Ming saw the fire spirit’s flames suddenly leap upward before gradually settling. The fire flickered ceaselessly, as if Sailiya were delighted.
“Delicious.” Sailiya spun in happy circles and decided it was never going back to that quiet, desolate lava pool in the valley. It wanted to live here.
And so, once Long Ming had eaten and drunk his fill and was lazily swishing his tail while preparing to sleep, he heard Sailiya’s bold declaration.
“You want to live here?” Long Ming rolled over on top of his glittering diamond chips and looked toward the fire spirit dancing in the flames.
“Yeah. I like it here.” Sailiya danced with the fire, as comfortable as a fish in water.
Before Long Ming could answer, Gelu readily agreed with a grin. “Sure. Stay as long as you like. You can keep the little chubby cub company.”
“I’m so bored. I want to hear a story.” Sailiya flew beside its friend without the slightest trace of sleepiness. As an elemental spirit, it rarely needed rest in the first place.
Long Ming yawned. The surroundings were so warm that he slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep. Every time he ate his fill, he became sleepy.
“Did he fall asleep?” Sailiya flew in front of its friend, surprised that the chubby cub could fall asleep so quickly.
“He’s still little. He’s a cub, and this is exactly the age when he needs sleep.” Aoduoduo held a travelogue in his hands as he read. His voice was soft, carrying an unspoken rhythm. His pale gray hair looked silver under the firelight, and his long, fair fingers rested gracefully against the yellowing pages. He seemed as composed and elegant as if he were sitting in a magnificent palace rather than an extremely shabby cave.
Sailiya hesitated, then flew over to Aoduoduo and curiously looked at the book in his hands. “Can you tell stories?”
Aoduoduo looked at the fire spirit and smiled slightly. “I can.”
“Then can you tell me one? I’m so bored.” Sailiya’s eyes lit up, and the flames around its body grew larger with excitement.
“Then I’ll tell you a story about a knight and a dragon.” Aoduoduo lowered his gaze to the book. His long lashes cast deep shadows over his eyelids, making his extraordinary face seem even more handsome. Combined with his warm, mellow voice, Sailiya felt as if its ears were going to melt.
How could Oreo’s voice sound this good?
But after hearing the story, Sailiya felt that no matter how beautiful Oreo was or how pleasant his voice sounded, none of it could make it happy anymore. Its eyes turned red and tears streamed down its face. Without caring about its image at all, it flew back into the fire and accused Oreo from among the flames.
“Oreo, you… sob… you’re terrible! Why did you tell a story like that?” Sailiya wiped at its tears in misery. Its cheeks puffed in anger, and its flames suddenly surged several times higher as grief and fury mixed together. “Why did the knight betray his dragon in the end? Sob… that’s too cruel.”
“The dragon ended up all alone with no one to talk to! That’s not good at all!” Sailiya knew what loneliness felt like, so it hated this ending. Oreo’s story was awful. Sob, sob…
Aoduoduo walked toward the little spirit and sat on the grass mat beside the fire. His voice was warm and clear as he comforted it. “It’s only a story, Sailiya. It isn’t real.”
“Even if it’s fake, it’s still not allowed.” Sailiya angrily wiped away its tears, its flames shooting upward. It hated Oreo’s story.
“I don’t like this ending,” it muttered.
Aoduoduo smiled helplessly. “Then how about I tell you another story? I promise this one will have a perfect ending.”
Sailiya regarded him doubtfully. In the end, it flew out again but added another condition. “Oreo, can you continue the ending of the story you just told? Change the ending. I don’t like that ending.”
Aoduoduo looked at the stubborn little spirit. He could only take the book out again. After thinking for several minutes, he began once more under Sailiya’s expectant gaze.
For a time, only the mermaid’s voice echoed through the cave. Gelu slept soundly rolled up in his grass mat, while the little chubby cub lay on his glittering bed, breathing softly and evenly. One glance was enough to tell he was having a good dream.
………
“In the end, the tree spirit named Aimo moved in beside the fire dragon, and the two became the closest of friends.”
Sailiya released a satisfied breath. Its small wings beat rapidly behind it, creating dazzling sparks. “That’s the ending I wanted. Thank you, Oreo.”
“Well then, the story is finished, and I should sleep too. See you tomorrow, Sailiya.” Aoduoduo stood, said good night to the fire spirit, and returned to his wooden bed to rest.
Sailiya flew in a few circles, then returned to its friend’s side. It turned around several times, lay down on the stone beside him, and closed its eyes too.
When Long Ming woke, the first thing he saw was the little spirit not far away. He blinked and discovered that Oreo was beside him as well.
“We’ll continue studying today.”
Remembering yesterday’s interrupted meditation, Long Ming sat up. “All right, Oreo.”
But by the time he had meditated long enough to become hungry, he still had not sensed anything like what Oreo had described.
Oreo saw through the little cub’s disappointment at a glance. He looked at the little tail dragging limply on the ground. “Don’t rush. You’re still young. You’ll definitely succeed later.”
Long Ming could only comfort himself that way.
“Good cub, good morning!” Sailiya flew above Long Ming’s shoulder and greeted him.
“Good morning, Sailiya.”
Gelu was preparing breakfast. Aoduoduo looked at the daylight leaking through the cave entrance and narrowed his eyes slightly.
The days passed at an unhurried pace. Long Ming grew used to having a fire spirit around him. Sailiya was innocent and simple, and the two got along extremely well.
But nearly three months passed, and Long Ming still had no clue how to sense elements through meditation.
He felt as though the elements Oreo spoke of had completely shut him out. Even with a fire spirit fluttering in front of him every day, he could not sense the fire element at all.
Other than being able to spit black fire, he felt perfectly ordinary.
“What’s wrong, little chubby cub?” Sailiya looked at its unhappy companion and asked curiously. “Are you upset?”
Long Ming placed Sailiya in his palm, not knowing how to explain. He felt a little stupid. So much time had passed, yet he still could not sense the elements.
“It’s nothing, Sailiya.” Long Ming touched the fire spirit’s wing. He had grown a little by now, and his scales were sturdier than before. At least when he touched Sailiya’s wings, the center of his claw no longer felt burned.
The same was true of his tail. Ever since Sailiya discovered that, it had begun treating Long Ming’s tail like its home and often rested on it.
“Oreo and Gelu both went out today. I wonder if something happened.”
Sailiya flew into the air. It had barely finished speaking when Oreo’s voice sounded.
“We’re back.”
Long Ming tilted his head. To his surprise, both of them had returned empty-handed.
“Get ready. In a few days, we’re leaving this place.” Oreo unexpectedly gave Long Ming a wonderful surprise.
“Leaving? You mean going outside?” Long Ming’s tail whipped behind him as he stared at Oreo with sparkling eyes, unable to conceal the delight in his voice. “Where are we going?”
Seeing how happy the little cub was, Gelu finally made up his wavering mind. He crouched down and stroked the little fellow’s scales. “First, we’ll go to Mate Village, the village closest to the Hell Mountains.”
His little chubby cub spent every day trapped in a sunless underground burrow and had hardly smiled lately. It made Gelu’s old fatherly heart ache to pieces.
“Are we really going outside? That’s great!” Long Ming could not help asking again, his tail swishing wildly with happiness.
“Mm. We’ll leave in a few days.” Oreo gave the little fellow a firm answer.
The little dragon still could not sense any elements. Perhaps Oreo’s teaching method had been wrong. Besides, it was time for him to find a seventh-rank divine healer to treat his own wound. Otherwise, the “Evil Scar Curse” would only become even more troublesome.
“Ah! I want to go outside too.” Sailiya hurriedly volunteered. “Take me with you.”
Long Ming cupped the little spirit from his tail in his claws. At those words, he blew lightly on its flames with an “Awoo,” smiling happily. “Don’t worry. We’re taking you. We won’t leave you behind.”