Full of twists and turns

“Um, I suddenly remembered I have something to do, so I’ll be going now.”

With that, Li Yin turned and left, leaving Yilian standing there dumbfounded.

“Did I… say something wrong again?”

…

“Ah—why is this happening!”

Walking down the street, the negative emotions of depression and irritation rampaged through her mind like two demons, ceaselessly tormenting Li Yin.

Her long silver hair was disheveled, resembling a bird’s nest.

If anyone passed by, they’d probably think she was having a fit.

But Li Yin couldn’t care less about that right now.

Stein had already discovered that Li Luo was gone; they would surely send people to search for her.

That ambitious old king spent all his time using silver dragon materials to forge weapons, hoping to swallow other nations and expand his territory.

If not for that, he wouldn’t have summoned the Dragon Slayer hero.

As things stood, Li Yin didn’t even know if she could face another transmigrator in a fight.

After all, ever since Li Luo had abducted her and turned her into this, the talent she once had for learning everything instantly had inexplicably vanished.

Naturally, her strength was now incredibly difficult to improve.

Being one of the same kind, Li Yin clearly understood just how absurdly fast a transmigrator could grow.

It was like a game: others gained just a single experience point for killing a monster, but a transmigrator could multiply that gain by a hundred, even a thousand.

Their growth speed was unprecedented.

Last time she encountered that guy in Stein, Li Yin had been confident she could beat him.

But now, she wasn’t so sure.

That was the source of her frustration.

But thinking about it now was useless.

Being too lazy really did have its price…

‘It’s all that idiot Luoluo’s fault!’

‘Why did she have to disappear?!’

‘Otherwise, I wouldn’t be racking my brains over this mess.’

In no time at all, Li Luo had been saddled with a huge blame.

That’s right, it was all Luoluo’s fault—leaving behind a pile of trouble and running off herself!

This town was definitely no longer safe to stay in.

Who knew when they would come knocking?

If they discovered that the two eggs in her basket were dragon eggs, things would be dire!

Since she had nothing much to carry, Li Yin decided to flee immediately.

But the relationships she had painstakingly built over these past days…

Sigh.

Anyway, she would come back to explain when she had the chance.

As for escaping… to the east was the sea, impossible to cross.

To the south were plains, too easy to spot.

To the west, she didn’t want to walk right into a trap.

That left only the north, with its complex terrain.

Having made up her mind, Li Yin set off immediately.

…

Splash, splash, splash—

The sun cast the day’s last rays at the edge of the world, dyeing a waterfall golden as it cascaded down a hundred-meter cliff.

Sitting under a tree not far from the waterfall, Li Yin wiped clean some fruit she had picked along the way and brought it to her mouth.
Inside, she was cursing herself for being an idiot.

Why hadn’t she brought more food before running away!

Now it was late autumn, and wild fruits were hard to find.

After eating, she tossed the core aside.

Still not full, she propped her cheek on her hand and stared at the waterfall with a vacant, helpless gaze.

Somewhere along the way, she seemed to have gotten used to having Li Luo around.

Even though the other girl loved to tease her, it hadn’t been unpleasant…

Now that she was alone, her heart felt empty, as if a piece was missing.

‘Just where did you go…’ she muttered under her breath.

Unsurprisingly, no one answered.

Only the chirping of insects echoed in her ears.

The sky gradually darkened.

Li Yin stood up to gather some dry wood for a fire.

In this kind of uninhabited deep mountain forest, firewood was everywhere.

She quickly collected a large bundle.

Back at her spot, she carelessly tossed the wood aside, carefully set down her basket, and then used a branch to clear away the fallen leaves to make a clear space—she didn’t want to wake up surrounded by flames.

After clearing, she piled some dead twigs and branches together.

Snap.

With a snap of her fingers, the pile ignited, spreading warmth into the dim, cold environment.

Once the fire was going, she returned to sit by the basket.

Leaning against the tree, feeling a bit weary, Li Yin closed her eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.

…

The morning’s moisture condensed into dewdrops, bending the tender grass that had just sprouted.

The sun’s warm rays filtered through the leaves, falling onto her youthful face.

“Oaw~”

A strange cry suddenly came from the tree.

Blearily, Li Yin opened her eyes and stretched.

Accustomed to a soft bed, she hadn’t slept well last night.

She staggered to get up, but then—something landed on her face with a splat.

It seemed to be an… oversized lizard?

One of the most horrifying things in life is waking up to find something weird on your face.

And Li Yin had a past experience: waking up to discover a cockroach plastered across her face.

Imagine opening your eyes only to see a half-palm-sized cockroach flying at you…

That had left an indelible trauma on her young heart.

And now… the situation wasn’t much better, because this thing was as big as her face.

‘…’

Li Yin’s mind went blank.

It took several seconds for her soul to return.

“Eeek!!!”

With a scream, she flung the thing away.

“Hah—hah—”

She didn’t even bother to see what it was.

Her small hand pressed against her chest as she gasped for breath.

She felt like she had almost died of fright.

But the trouble didn’t end there.

Before Li Yin could calm down, she noticed something even worse.

The basket with the eggs had somehow tipped over.

One dragon egg had rolled onto the extinguished embers, and half of it seemed to have turned black…

The sight made her brain go blank.

Instinctively, she dashed over to check the egg.

Holding it in her arms and examining it, Li Yin breathed a sigh of relief.

It was just covered in ash.

Really, she had almost been scared to death.

Seeing that the egg was intact after wiping off the ash, her heart calmed down a lot.

Thank goodness.

She had thought she’d be eating roasted eggs through tears.

But just as she was about to put the dragon egg back into the basket, another problem arose.

Wait, why did I say “another”?

‘…’

Staring blankly at the fallen basket, Li Yin was completely dumbfounded.

Because the other egg still inside the basket—had cracked.

Yes, literally cracked.

Weren’t they supposed to be as hard as diamonds?

Why did it crack?

Just as Li Yin’s heart was wailing, the strange cry echoed again.

“Oaw…”

Drawn by the sound, and combining it with the rough shape of the creature that had fallen on her face, a possibility occurred to her…

To confirm, she quickly looked toward the source.

There, on the ground covered in scattered leaves, lay a tiny silver creature.

It had a large head, two horns on its head, and a pair of small wings on its back.

It looked exactly like a miniature version of Li Luo’s dragon form.