The Guide Always Wants to Run (GL) - Chapter 9

Qin Xiao stayed perfectly still in the pit, her eyes locked onto the rainbow-hued ice creature. She watched as it lowered its head slowly and gracefully, its tail swaying in an almost teasing motion. The shifting light glinted in her eyes, dazzling and enticing.

She forced herself to resist the itch in her heart stirred by its allure and remained completely motionless. Before long, more of the translucent ice creatures emerged around the small pond. Each was crystal-clear and lifelike, but none of them shimmered with the same brilliant rainbow light.

In comparison, the others paled into insignificance.

The radiant one stood proudly at the center, clearly the leader. It held its head high, gazing into the distance. None of the others dared approach it. They scattered around the pond’s edge, bowing their heads to drink. A couple of them slipped and tumbled into the water with a splash, only to climb out moments later, the moisture on their bodies vanishing instantly as if it had evaporated.

Qin Xiao watched the whole scene in awe. She waited patiently as the creatures finished their rest. The brilliant ice king then led the group southward around the pond, and the others followed at a steady pace.

Only when the last tail disappeared from view did Qin Xiao finally crawl out of the pit. She shook off the dirt clinging to her fur, took a few steps forward, then turned and pressed her paw firmly into the ground beside the pit, leaving a subtle mark.

Keeping her body low, she followed them.

A few mischievous stragglers lagged behind and kept glancing over their shoulders. Every time they did, Qin Xiao dropped flat onto her belly and played dead. When they weren’t looking, she would quietly sneak after them again.

She couldn’t help wondering. Why are these creatures so disorganized? They detected an outsider, yet none of them reacted.

She continued following them as the sun slowly sank westward. There were moments she considered turning back, but whenever she caught sight of the radiant ice creature, she felt she couldn’t let the trip go to waste. She left faint paw prints along the way, marking tree trunks, grass, and even stones by the trail.

Eventually, the group reached a barren mountain. The landscape was utterly barren, covered in nothing but sand and dirt without a trace of greenery. Just as Qin Xiao was wondering where to leave her next paw mark, the creatures in front suddenly turned around in unison. More of their kind emerged from the surroundings.

Qin Xiao looked behind her and froze. She was completely surrounded.

This was a true display of strength in numbers. In the blink of an eye, thousands of ice creatures filled the plain before the mountain, every one of them staring at her with sharp, penetrating gazes.

Qin Xiao quickly shrank back, flattened herself against the ground, and put on her most pitiful expression. Her eyes were wide and innocent as she tried to look like an accidental intruder.

The radiant ice creature tilted its head at her, then let out a series of high-pitched squeaks to its companions.

Soon, a dozen or so creatures circled around her, examining her from every angle before nudging her forward. With no choice, Qin Xiao obediently followed them up the mountain, glancing nervously in every direction.

“Squeak squeak squeak.”

“Awoo.”

Qin Xiao made a small sound of protest. At the end of the path lay a cave entrance, just large enough for one of the creatures to pass through. Luckily, Qin Xiao was also small. As she was herded inside, she found herself quietly celebrating that fact.

The space beyond was another world entirely. The walls glistened like crystalline ice, forming a palace-like cavern.

The small energy node buried within her dantian, usually dormant, suddenly stirred, floating and sinking within her core. Qin Xiao kept up her frightened expression, but inside, her mind raced with excitement.

She might have found a source of energy.

A few creatures drove her toward a smaller tunnel, gesturing for her to crawl inside.

She glanced at it, then obediently crouched and wriggled through. Inside, she found a few odd-looking creatures roughly her size. One was a fatter version of the rabbit-like beast she had eaten yesterday, noticeably larger and plumper. Another was a miniature bird, who squeaked when she entered. It was clearly a female. There were also two fish-like creatures that oddly had legs, making them look awkward and mismatched.

Qin Xiao bared her sharp teeth and let out a menacing growl toward the four newcomers. They immediately recoiled and huddled in their corners, trembling.

She was quite satisfied. As the rightful top of the food chain, she didn’t waste time mingling with those beneath her.

Finding a secure spot near a glimmering wall, she curled up. Her thoughts wandered. Would that human notice the trail of clues she left behind? And when would she come looking…

The next morning, still drowsy, Qin Xiao heard the creatures squeaking outside the tunnel. Since she was closest to the exit, she followed the others out of curiosity. After several turns, she secretly left a faint paw mark at a corner.

They soon arrived at their destination. The cavern was filled with stone, from scattered fragments to massive boulders the size of Tuan Tuan. Even the smallest ones were as big as she was.

One of the ice creatures squeaked at her, but she couldn’t understand what it meant. Glancing around, she noticed the four trembling creatures from before were now pushing stones with their bodies, rolling them forward.

Meanwhile, more creatures passed stones hand to hand into a giant basket. The basket was then moved into another chamber. Qin Xiao peeked briefly into that chamber and saw that it had been crafted with remarkable beauty.

“Squeak squeak squeak squeak.”

“Awoo.”

Watching their entire workflow, Qin Xiao suddenly felt like she had been completely screwed over.

They brought her here… to haul rocks?

She was still fuming when she completely missed the fact that the little node in her dantian was spinning wildly. She pressed her body against one of the stones, mimicking the others’ movements. She just needed to get through the day.

The moment her body touched the stone, she felt a surge of spiritual energy hidden within. It was far more potent than the energy in Yan Ningjin’s energy box.

As she pushed the stone with her upper body, she kept her little paws firmly against it, her eyes darting toward the busy laborers nearby. She gleefully absorbed the energy within. It was intoxicating.

By the time she finished rolling her first stone, she had already drained about seventy percent of its energy.

Cheerfully, she moved on to a second, but it contained nothing. The rest of her day passed in frustration, alternating between energy-rich and empty stones.

That evening, after a full day of labor, each of them was given a rat, no bigger than a palm.

Qin Xiao: …

The four cowardly creatures lunged at their meals with wild abandon, tearing the tiny rodents apart with their sharp teeth in a violent, bloody mess.

One rat wasn’t enough to satisfy anyone. As soon as they finished their portions, the four turned their hungry eyes toward Qin Xiao’s share. Even the rat on her plate seemed to sense the malice.

Understanding completely, Qin Xiao gently nudged her rat toward them with a paw, then retreated to her corner to watch how they would divide it.

Luckily, she had absorbed so much energy today that she didn’t need to eat a rat. Spiritual energy worked far better.

The four immediately began brawling over the morsel. The two fish-like ones with legs got the largest share. The remaining tail went to the rabbit, while the bird lost most of her feathers in the scuffle and ended up with nothing.

Qin Xiao closed her eyes and quietly digested the energy she had absorbed throughout the day. The node in her dantian hadn’t changed in size, but its glow had grown noticeably brighter and harder to ignore.

In the corner, the four trembling creatures glanced at one another, then inched closer to her as she slept.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes, pounced, and landed directly on the leading fish creature. Her sharp claws slashed three deep gashes across its belly. Bl00d poured out onto the floor.

“Awoo!”

She bared her fangs at the others in warning. They retreated to their original corners without another sound. The wounded fish was dragged back by one of the others.

The balance of power in the cavern had been decisively reset.

After rushing out of the forest, Yan Ningjin realized she had lost track of the little beast. She continued on with Tuan Tuan, scouting for a full day without finding anything, then circled back to the forest.

This time, she let Tuan Tuan choose the path. Once they were out of the trees, he found a paw print Qin Xiao had left on a tree trunk.

Following the trail of prints, the two made their way toward the mountain.

Just before reaching it, Yan Ningjin suddenly stopped. “We can’t go any farther. I can feel something inside that mountain.”

Tuan Tuan circled her anxiously, his fluffy tail twitching.

She crouched and inspected the area. “This is where the trail ends. No more prints.”

Tuan Tuan pressed his broad face gently against her.

Her expression grew conflicted as she stared at the barren mountain. From a distance, it looked dead and lifeless, yet she could sense countless life forms hidden within.

“We can’t act rashly.”

That night, as Qin Xiao dozed off, she dreamed a delightful dream. In it, the golden-furred giant followed her into the cavern, but had shrunk to match her current size.

Delighted, she rolled over and pinned the mini Tuan Tuan beneath her, stroking his fur with satisfaction. She buried her head in the fluff, rubbing it this way and that, trying to make up for all the times she hadn’t been able to touch it.

“Finally got to pet you. So soft.”

If she had looked more closely, she would have seen that the little Tuan Tuan’s eyes had turned cold as ice.

With a sudden jerk, Tuan Tuan slammed into the wall, throwing her off.

“Ow! That hurt.”

Qin Xiao blinked in confusion and looked around. She was still in the same cavern. The four cowardly creatures stared at her in shock. Her back stung from the impact.

The moment she saw the golden-furred Tuan Tuan, she forgot the pain and immediately pounced.

Without hesitation, Tuan Tuan raised a paw and swiped. Three bloody gashes appeared across her chest.

Qin Xiao let out a couple of pitiful howls. She looked at the cool and distant Tuan Tuan, then down at her injuries.

With a dazed expression, she muttered, “Wait… that wasn’t a dream?”