On the forward deck of the Cloudsoarer, Adair, whose protection period had ended and couldn’t be renewed, was casually tossed onto the deck by Ye Xi.
Nearby, Ivan was giving instructions on skydiving.
Ivan handed the parachute pack to Ye Xi, explaining its use. “Once you reach the appropriate altitude, press this button, and the parachute will deploy.”
Adair, struggling on the ground, cried out, “Hey, you’re only giving Ye Xi a parachute! What about mine?!”
Ye Xi nodded in understanding. “So, I determine the appropriate altitude myself?”
“Yes,” Ivan replied. “After all, this parachute was designed to be unaffected by atmospheric factors. I believe you’ll grasp the feeling naturally.”
“Don’t ignore me!” Adair continued to shout.
Ye Xi adjusted the parachute pack on her back, ensuring it was properly secured. Then, she picked up Yuzu, who was wagging their tail on the ground; the wolf also had a small parachute attached.
“I can’t believe they even have a size that fits Yuzu,” Ye Xi remarked with a touch of emotion.
Ivan stroked Yuzu’s wolf head. “It’s actually for children, with excellent elasticity. But will they know how to use it?”
Adair exclaimed, heartbroken, “Am I really worth less than a husky-breed wolf?! Stop pretending I don’t exist!”
“Yuzu is very clever, and far more likable than a certain someone. So, they need special protection. I’ll open their parachute for them when the time comes.”
Adair attempted to appeal to their sympathy. “You two are going too far! Thousands of meters high—you’re not joking, are you?”
Ye Xi rested her chin in her hand, sighing. “Your Highness Ivan, a clown has been incessantly yapping since earlier. It’s truly annoying.”
Ivan agreed. “Indeed. Can’t he just give our ears some peace? Anyone with an ounce of intelligence would understand why we couldn’t possibly give him a parachute.”
Ye Xi smiled slyly. “Besides, how could someone with their hands and feet bound, living like a grub, possibly use a parachute?”
“Then untie me!” Adair proposed.
“Impossible!” both replied simultaneously.
Adair spoke, on the verge of tears. “There has to be a bottom line to being human.”
“Master, you’re actually talking about a bottom line? I heard from His Highness Ivan that you’re utterly shameless.”
With that, Ye Xi grabbed Adair, ignored his protests, and tossed him directly off the Cloudsoarer.
Having dealt with the source of noise pollution, Ye Xi clapped her hands and bowed to Ivan. “We’re off.”
Ivan waved goodbye to Ye Xi, who, holding Yuzu, leaped from the Cloudsoarer. “May your martial endeavors be prosperous.”
Watching the troublesome pair depart, Ivan breathed a sigh of relief. “Finally, I can attend to some matters of my own.”
****
“Aaaahhh! Waaahhh!”
Freefalling from thousands of meters, Adair, even without acrophobia, was terrified to the point of delusion. As his speed rapidly increased, he was even deprived of the right to scream; the immense wind pressure prevented him from making any normal sound, and the biting cold wind stung his face.
Just then, he felt a weight on his back, as if someone had stepped onto him.
“Master, how embarrassing.”
Ye Xi’s teasing voice cut through the wind. Such was the advantage of power; though also descending at high speed, Ye Xi was completely unaffected by the wind pressure.
Adair could only whimper, “Waaahhh (Save me).”
“Let me check the map.” Ye Xi didn’t understand him, or rather, chose not to. She leisurely stood on Adair’s back, studying the Helada map she had received from Ivan.
It was a magical map, capable of displaying their current coordinates.
“Awoooo!”
Even the ringing in Adair’s ears from the wind pressure couldn’t block out a joyful howl that reached him.
Adair managed to twist his head, discovering a young wolf with its maw wide open, joyfully reveling in its high-altitude flight. It even performed somersaults and flew backward.
Of course, it also saw Adair’s miserable state, and a vivid expression of mockery appeared on its wolfish face, its eyes filled with schadenfreude.
‘Ungrateful ingrate!’ Adair seethed inwardly.
It was clear Yuzu was protected by Ye Xi’s aura; otherwise, they couldn’t possibly be so at ease. Polar snow wolves were land predators; no matter how high they jumped, they couldn’t grow wings, let alone adapt to high-altitude environments.
Adair finally had to admit the fact that his status was inferior to that of a single Yuzu.
And the maid standing on his back was still pondering their landing spot! What happened to him being her master?
“Hmm, since we’re dropping from such a height, we should choose a sparsely populated area. This grassland looks promising.”
Ye Xi then used Adair as an aerial snowboard, adjusting their direction with her aura.
In Adair’s vision, a green patch on the ground grew larger and larger as they descended. Seeing the increasingly clear verdant grassland and recalling his terrifying speed, he knew a direct impact would be like tofu hitting an iron plate at bullet speed. Adair felt his only advantage over tofu was the blood.
Adair didn’t notice Ye Xi, standing on his back, suddenly frowning as she looked down at the vast grassland. ‘This sense of danger is… never mind. Even flowers and grass are life. Let’s land on those harder rocky hills instead.’
Ye Xi’s muttered words turned Adair’s heart into marble dust. The grassland wasn’t enough; she had to choose an even harder rocky hill! She must have said it deliberately, a true blow to his spirit!
Ye Xi quickly put her decision into action, aiming ‘Adair missile’ at an uninhabited rocky hill.
Once at an altitude Ye Xi could control, she pulled her parachute cord and also opened Yuzu’s. As for Adair… Ye Xi ultimately didn’t make him endure a true freefall from thousands of meters. She grabbed him, slowing his excessively rapid descent.
Just as Adair thought the nightmare was over, Ye Xi’s demonic whisper reached him.
“Master, do you think you can finally relax?”
Then, Ye Xi threw Adair down again, headfirst.
“Aaaahhh!”
Adair’s piercing shriek made Ye Xi and Yuzu cover their ears.
This scream didn’t last long. With a resounding ‘boom,’ Adair fell silent.
Ye Xi and Yuzu landed safely on the rocky hill. Ye Xi led Yuzu to the edge of a fresh, newly formed crater.
In the center of the pit was Adair, plunged headfirst into the ground like a carrot. His lower body was still exposed, his pants tattered into mere strips, leaving him barely clothed, his backside exposed, his body trembling slightly.
Ye Xi feigned surprise. “Yuzu, look. This carrot really does resemble a person, and it’s even wearing clothes.”
Yuzu covered their mouth, stifling a laugh, unable to bear the sight.
Ye Xi slowly walked over and pulled out Adair, who was seeing stars and cartoon birds circling his head.
“Stop pretending. To prevent you from becoming a completely lower-half creature, I took some protective measures for your not-so-bright upper-half brain.”
When Ye Xi threw Adair down, she had used profound energy to form an aura helmet for him, which effectively counteracted the impact of the descent. She also enveloped other parts of Adair’s body in an aura armor, making him appear miserable but only suffering superficial injuries.
Ye Xi looked at Adair, who was still feigning unconsciousness, and calmly stated, “Do I need to carve a few big words onto your bare backside?”
“No, no, no! I’m awake, I’m awake.”
Adair felt a bun-sized lump on his head and didn’t dare to touch it. Of course, those were secondary concerns. The main issue was his current ragged state; his lower half felt exceptionally cool.
“Can I have some clothes? Even weighted gear would do.”
Ye Xi took clothes from her backpack, walked over with them, and enthusiastically offered, “Master, would you like me to help you change?”
No matter how gentle Ye Xi appeared now, to Adair, who had been traumatized, she still felt like a demon.
“No need. I’ll do it myself. Self-reliance is key to prosperity.”
Adair, ever the gentleman, politely refused Ye Xi’s eager offer and went aside to change. After such a long period of training, Adair had finally unlocked a remarkable achievement: putting on his weighted gear by himself.
Though the entire process took a full hour.
Adair emerged, fully dressed, and approached Ye Xi as if nothing had happened, asking, “Where are we now?”
Ye Xi, acting like a loyal, honest maid, handed the map to Adair. “On an uninhabited rocky hill in the western part of Helada’s Green Grassland.”
Both tacitly ignored the ‘benevolent master, filial servant’ scene that had just unfolded.
Adair meticulously examined the map, gauging his distance from the ducal capital. It wasn’t too far, actually; they just needed to cross the grassland before them.
“Then let’s set off.”
Adair and Ye Xi had no choice but to travel on foot. While the Swift Dragons granted to them by the Marquis were indeed intelligent, intelligence didn’t mean they could skydive. The poor Swift Dragons were spared.
Their objective this time was to visit Duke Buzz, who was currently in his territory, and then, with Adair’s persuasive tongue, win him over.
Originally, Adair had suggested that since they had a month, they might as well return to the royal capital first.
However, after the meeting, Ivan detained Adair and informed him that the Cloudsoarer was conveniently passing through the Helada region, Duke Buzz had coincidentally returned to his territory for some business, and both he and Ye Xi happened to want to vent their frustrations on Adair.
Thus, the two of them simply tied up the helpless Adair, ignored his protests, and threw him off. Adair glanced at Ye Xi behind him; she was looking at him with an innocent expression, like a sweet, naive maid.
Adair, of course, wouldn’t be fooled by appearances. This woman was utterly wicked. But surely her anger had mostly dissipated by now?
Thinking this, Adair walked towards the Green Grassland, completely oblivious to the thoughtful smile playing on Ye Xi’s lips behind him.
The two walked across the soft grass, under a clear sky with a gentle breeze. The air carried a faint scent of earth, and the surroundings were silent and vast, the green expanse stretching like a sea.
It was a harmonious natural beauty, yet Adair felt an inexplicable awkwardness, a sense that something was missing. As he walked, he pondered, suddenly recalling information he’d seen about Helada’s Green Grassland. According to the records, it should have been a place with flourishing livestock farming. Yet, Adair hadn’t seen a single herder, let alone any cattle or sheep, throughout their journey.
The seemingly vibrant grassland was permeated with an empty, deathly stillness.
Adair swallowed, asking Ye Xi behind him, “Ye Xi, have you noticed anything strange about this grassland?”
“Of course,” Ye Xi replied with a sweet smile. “Why else would I have adjusted our landing position?”