The wolf is good, the man is bad

“Haa-wu~”

She propped herself up groggily, closed her eyes, and habitually stretched her body in a big, lazy stretch.

“Good morning, Little Qiancha.”

Xun Xue’s cool voice, tinged with a smile, sounded from the bedside.

She had already finished washing up and was sitting on a low stool by the bed.

“Mother… morning.”

Lu Qiancha answered subconsciously, her sleepy eyes drifting toward the yellow flowering pear wood rack where clothes usually hung.

Where her gaze landed—

A silent, upright, gray-blue figure was standing noiselessly at the head of the bed.

Only a step away from her…

“Waaah—!!!”

Lu Qiancha was instantly scared out of her wits. She bounced straight up from the bed, her small paw pointing in panic at Ling Wanbai, who was standing there like a post, her voice cracking: “You, you, you! What are you standing here for?! You scared me to death!”

“S… Sorry.”

There was no emotion in Ling Wanbai’s voice, but a genuine look of guilt appeared on her face.

“I, you…”

Lu Qiancha pointed at her, her still-shocked little face instantly turning explosive red again.

The images of last night suddenly flooded back into her brain like a dam breaking.

She was now both shy and annoyed, and felt an extremely strong sense of guilt.

After all, she was the one who made the other party eat the Dendrobium and Pearl Orchid…

The little wolf cub opened her mouth, her brain feeling like it was stuffed with paste. She stammered for a long time but couldn’t squeeze out a complete sentence.

“I…” Ling Wanbai took a deep breath, as if performing some extremely solemn ritual.

Her hands properly and stiffly pinched a corner of her robe and, expressionless, lifted it upward.

Revealing a small section of a calf and ankle, smooth as cold jade and beautifully curved.

Ling Wanbai’s voice was waveless, like reading a verdict: “For the disrespectful things that happened last night… I express my deepest apologies. Please, Lord Qiancha, punish me as you wish!”

“???”

If the previous events only made Lu Qiancha shy, annoyed, and guilty, the current situation directly fried her CPU.

Her mind went blank.

The little wolf cub was stunned for a full three breaths before she snapped back to reality.

A small paw shot out like lightning.

“Smack!” It landed hard on the back of Ling Wanbai’s hand, which was still lifting the corner of her skirt.

Lu Qiancha’s little face exploded red instantly, her voice a roar filled with utter embarrassment: “Idiot! If you’re apologizing, then speak properly! Who taught you to lift this when apologizing?!”

“Excellency Xun Xue said this action might obtain Lord Qiancha’s forgiveness.”

Ling Wanbai’s hand was slightly red from the hit, but she remained motionless, repeating the words flatly.

“Pfft—!”

Xun Xue, who had been enduring it while watching with relish from the side…

Finally couldn’t hold it back and let out an undisguised, gloating chuckle.

“Mother, you’re still laughing!” Lu Qiancha’s grievance exploded instantly. She lunged into Xun Xue’s arms, her little head burrowing frantically.

Mist gathered in her blue eyes, and her little ears drooped pitifully as she complained: “Mother actually bullied me together with her! Baddie, baddie, baddie!”

“Alright, alright, be good. I won’t tease my Little Qiancha anymore…”

Xun Xue held back her laughter and gently patted her daughter’s back: “After fussing all night… you two should have made up by now, right?”

“Made up?!”

Lu Qiancha raised her head from Xun Xue’s arms like a bristling kitten.

Her little face was puffed up, her blue eyes wide and round.

“I don’t want to make up with this baddie.”

Lu Qiancha’s voice was thick with a nasal tone, resolute and wronged.

“Little Qiancha…” The smile in Xun Xue’s eyes deepened, carrying a hint of mischief: “This little shrine official told me everything about last night, exactly as it happened, word for word~”

She tapped the tip of Lu Qiancha’s nose with her finger: “This time, it seems like a certain bad-hearted little wolf ‘treated’ someone to a pile of Dendrobium and Pearl Orchid first.”

“Ngh!”

Lu Qiancha was like a popped balloon. With a “swish,” her little face turned red through and through.

She turned her head away abruptly, wishing she could bury her entire head in Xun Xue’s lapel.

The little wolf cub’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, carrying intense guilt: “But, but she wanted to eat it herself! It… it’s not like I forced it on her…”

“So how can Lord Qiancha forgive me?”

Ling Wanbai spoke again in that emotionless tone.

“Stick your head over here.”

Lu Qiancha hooked her paw.

Ling Wanbai didn’t hesitate at all and leaned in as told.

“Smack!”

“Smack!”

“Smack!”

Lu Qiancha extended her little paws, and a series of rapid-fire kitty punches, dense as a storm, knocked quickly on the top of Ling Wanbai’s head.

Ling Wanbai remained expressionless, as if a pile of “-1” damage indicators were popping up above her head.

“Phew—!”

After a flurry of paw-dancing output.

Lu Qiancha shook her little paws, which were slightly numb from the hitting, and her mood improved.

Although it seemed to be her fault.

But the little wolf cub didn’t care. In short, Wolf good, Shrine Official bad.

Case closed!

Life returned to tranquility. After a few more leisurely days, the maturity period of the Shapeshifting Stone finally arrived.

Xun Xue did not bring Ling Wanbai, who usually followed silently, but only led Lu Qiancha on the journey to the back mountain secret realm.

Before leaving, Lu Qiancha left a sentence for Ling Wanbai: “Don’t wander around here. I’ll come to pick you up in a few days.”

Ling Wanbai maintained her frosty face, simply giving a quiet affirmation before staying alone in the palace to wait.

The entrance to the secret realm was located in the center of a huge platform surrounded by towering snow cliffs.

On the platform, a chilling aura had long since condensed into substance.

A five-person squad, fully clad in armor, stood silently in formation.

Their postures were as straight as spears, their bodies emitting a cold, iron-like aura that rejected intimacy, silently awaiting the arrival of Xun Xue and Lu Qiancha.

Lu Qiancha sized up this squad. The leader’s face was covered in black ice, revealing only a pair of sharp, falcon-like eyes. He wore heavy armor forged from mythril and engraved with the Great Spirit Venerable’s totem. With a profound black spear in hand, he made no effort to hide his spiritual energy, radiating the pressure of the Integration realm.

The four people behind him had slightly weaker auras, only at the Void Refining realm. Yet each was like an unsheathed blade, and as their Void Refining realm spiritual energy surged, there was a faint sign of resonance among them.

Xun Xue did not immediately let Lu Qiancha go forward. She grabbed Lu Qiancha’s wrist and pulled her aside.

Then she nagged endlessly about always paying attention to safety while in the secret realm.

And things like if she encountered powerful secret realm demons, she should run away quickly and not linger in battle.

And that safety came first; if it was too dangerous, the matter of the Shapeshifting Stone could be reconsidered.

“Mother, don’t worry.” Lu Qiancha nodded vigorously, her eyes clear and solemn. “Qiancha understands.”

Just then—

“The auspicious time has arrived!”

A loud shout like a great bell suddenly tore through the heavy air.

The entrance to the secret realm glowed with a dark light.

Xun Xue’s hand holding Lu Qiancha’s tightened subconsciously, then finally slowly let go.

Her voice carried a huskiness and reluctance that couldn’t be completely hidden: “Little Qiancha, go. Mama will wait for you here.”

Lu Qiancha took a final, deep look at Xun Xue, her throat moving slightly, but in the end, she just nodded.

Without another word, she turned around, her steps steady, and stepped into the secret realm together with the Frost Ice Camp squad.

The squad consisted of five people, three in front and two behind, protecting Lu Qiancha in the center.