"..."
Gu Yuena's slender hand clenched tightly as a little voice in her head kept nagging:
Bi Ji is still young. She doesn't know any better. Don't stoop to her level~
"Go! Check if those two idiots are dead!"
Suppressing the overwhelming urge to punch—no, pummel—the goose, Gu Yuena pointed toward the shore. Right now, she didn't want to waste another breath on that airheaded girl.
"O-oh~!"
Bi Ji quickly nodded and took off, not daring to hesitate in the slightest.
She flew to the Sky Azure Bull Python's side first. The creature's massive body lay half on the shore, half submerged in the lake. On the exposed portion, there were no visible wounds—only arcs of lightning occasionally crackling across its scaly surface.
Carefully raising her little hand, Bi Ji let a gentle emerald light seep from her palm, slowly mending the injuries within the beast's body.
"Lady Bi Ji, about the Lady…"
The Sky Azure Bull Python, feeling his strength gradually return, spoke with a tremble in his voice, still too afraid to look toward the figure standing at the lake's center.
"Her Majesty sent me to check if you two are dead."
Bi Ji replied sweetly while staying focused on healing, her voice as crisp and pleasant as birdsong.
But to the Sky Azure Bull Python's ears, there was no comfort to be found at all.
"..."
Ashamed, the great beast's body trembled slightly. Its lantern-like eyes shut tight again, pretending to be dead as it lay utterly still.
"Thank you, Lady Bi Ji!"
Next, Bi Ji moved on to the Titan Giant Ape and bathed him in the same emerald light.
Feeling the searing pain from the lion's burn lessen significantly, the ape quickly offered his thanks.
However…
"Big guy, are you feeling any better now?" Bi Ji asked, looking up at the massive soul beast.
"Much better," the ape replied.
"Then get up already."
"I… I can't…"
"Huh? You're fine now, how come you can't get up?" Bi Ji frowned, suspicious that this oaf might be pulling the same stunt as the bull python.
"Lady Bi Ji… there's a rock mountain still pinning me down…"
The Titan Giant Ape struggled with all his might, but the mound of stone on top of him didn't budge an inch. No matter how much he thrashed, it was useless.
Even though the battle with the lion had drained him, with his brute strength alone, this mountain of stone should have been easy to toss aside. So why couldn't he break free?
"Alright, I'll ask Her Majesty to help you out."
Bi Ji looked up at the rocky pile and sighed. As a healing-type soul beast, she couldn't do much about this kind of physical restraint.
She cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone and shouted toward the center of the lake:
"Your Majesty! Big Guy says he can't get up unless you come help him~!"
"No—! That's not what I meant…"
The Titan Giant Ape frantically shook his head. He knew Gu Yuena's temperament all too well.
As the leader of the Star Dou Forest, she had little patience for her own kind and often dreamed of entering the human world, trying to integrate with them. She barely lifted a finger for other soul beasts.
This time, he'd genuinely thought they were goners. He hadn't expected her to step in at all…
"Hm?"
A flicker of annoyance crossed Gu Yuena's eyes. She rose into the air and descended before the rocky mound pressing on the ape, impatience clear in her tone.
"What now? If you're not dead, get up. I've got something to discuss."
"Your Majesty…"
The Titan Giant Ape wriggled his head in vain. That mountain of stone remained firmly fixed atop him, giving him no leverage to push off.
Even worse—when he tried using soul power to lift it, the energy was entirely absorbed, like it had fallen into a bottomless pit.
All the soul power he'd just regained was gone again, and he was back to square one.
Gu Yuena took a step forward, narrowed her eyes at the mound, then clenched her fist. A powerful soul force gathered around her hand as she smashed it down hard.
Boom—!
The sound echoed—but Gu Yuena gritted her teeth and shook out her stinging arm. A small dent had appeared where she struck, but her hand throbbed painfully from the backlash.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
Now thoroughly irritated, she threw herself into a second strike with all her might.
The impact was louder this time, and the crater she left was deeper, but the rock didn't budge an inch.
Even though she was a spiritual-type soul beast, as the Silver Dragon King, her physical capabilities weren't to be underestimated.
Yet even her full-power strike barely dented it. At this rate, she'd either shatter her arm or need all day just to make progress.
She turned to glare at the Sky Azure Bull Python, still playing dead nearby.
"Handle it yourselves. Don't bother me. Actually, even if you have something, don't bother me."
With that, she strode off toward the spatial rift.
"Your Majesty, wait for me—!"
Bi Ji called after her, taking one last reluctant deep breath before chasing after Gu Yuena into the spatial tunnel.
"Oh, and one more thing: don't provoke that boy again. If it happens another time, I won't care where or how you die."
Gu Yuena's cold voice drifted back just as the portal sealed shut behind them, sinking deep into the ears of the two beasts left behind.
"Your Majesty…"
Back in the alternate space, Gu Yuena immediately started rubbing her sore fist. Bi Ji, ever the attentive one, summoned a soft healing light over her hand while muttering a healing incantation.
"What is it?"
As the pain ebbed away, Gu Yuena's mood seemed to improve.
"Your Majesty, that boy you mentioned earlier… was he the one you gave that gift to?"
"Who else would it be?"
Gu Yuena curled her lip. This girl was good at everything—except thinking. Her brain had the longest delay imaginable.
"Why'd we give him a gift, anyway?"
"To save those two morons and to build a connection with that boy," Gu Yuena replied absentmindedly.
"But the ancestral teachings say that soul beasts and humans are mortal enemies. I get saving our own, but why try to befriend a human?"
Bi Ji looked at her with a confused and innocent gaze.
"…Get out. I'm going to rest. Don't bother me unless it's urgent. Actually—no, not even then."
Gu Yuena couldn't deal with Bi Ji's endless string of questions anymore and directly kicked her out.
"Okay…"
Bi Ji pouted, visibly aggrieved.
Of course she knew her queen was calling her dumb. But she didn't want to be like this either…
"Oh right—if Di Tian comes back, tell him to get his butt in here to see me! Actually… forget it. He's probably not coming back."
Just as Bi Ji reached the cave's exit, she heard Gu Yuena's cryptic mumbling from inside.
"Then… do I tell him or not~?"
Bi Ji's little head spun with indecision.
She'd have to think long and hard about this.
_
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