“You’re doing what here?” White Feather Dove glared fiercely at Evil Father and snapped, “You’re not welcome here.”
“I got lost and happened to run into you all,” Qingshamu replied.
“Aren’t you supposed to be with the Kendo Club?” Feini said expressionlessly, clearly not buying her excuse.
“Everyone has their own team. We’re not like the others who can’t play without sticking together,” Qingshamu retorted mockingly.
As she spoke, she sneaked over to the campfire and sat down to warm herself.
“I never said you could sit here,” Feini snapped angrily.
“Gugu gu~” Qingshamu lay down pretending to sleep, acting like she couldn’t hear anything. Looks like she planned to stay here no matter what.
White Feather Dove was so annoyed her teeth itched. She turned to look at her mother.
Feini simply raised her hand calmly, signaling to let it go.
With no choice, White Feather Dove had to calm down and eat with her mother first.
Their main meal was actually Gemstone Hamburgers, with Wild Vegetable Stew served to restore their Rationality Value.
But Gemstone Hamburgers were heavy and hard to carry, and their large backpacks couldn’t hold much food.
They had to live off the land for an entire month.
Neither she nor White Feather Dove had any survival experience in the wild.
Qingshamu, however, was a Hero, the King of Adventurers, the most knowledgeable about wilderness survival, and a powerful bodyguard.
The Devil Tree Sea was extremely dangerous. To survive, Feini decided to make use of her, even if this one was a stalker who had tortured her before.
That’s why Feini didn’t drive Qingshamu away all night; she even let her stay nearby and gave her a bowl of Wild Vegetable Stew.
“Thank you.”
Qingshamu was deeply moved—she still had feelings for me after all!
……
The morning of the second day of the trial.
As expected, Qingshamu used her seasoned adventurer experience to help the mother and daughter overcome difficulties.
“Let’s find a water source first, then build a temporary base.”
She took the lead, directing them without a hint of feeling like an outsider.
Feini and White Feather Dove didn’t say much; the daughter knew her mother was using Evil Father and followed Qingshamu’s lead tacitly.
The trio found a small stream to replenish their water supply.
“We can’t build our shelter too close to the water, or beasts will harass us. But if it’s too far, it’ll waste too much energy. I’ll find a good spot,” Qingshamu analyzed seriously.
“Leave it to you,” Feini replied calmly.
Qingshamu felt a cool stream flow across her skin, bringing her a great sense of comfort and happiness.
Little did she know she had been hooked by the “bad mom” and was being played.
Qingshamu had brought a professional Wilderness Survival Tool Set, which was finally coming in handy.
She found a concealed spot near the stream, took out her saw, and went to gather wood, painstakingly building a temporary shelter.
Feini squatted by the stream, leisurely fishing.
White Feather Dove sat nearby, meditating and training.
They almost forgot they were here to hunt Demonic Beasts. But with a whole month ahead, there was no rush.
Besides, Demonkind and the Human Race weren’t really the same; there wasn’t truly a “demon race.”
The Human Race just collectively called all Demonic Beasts by that term for convenience.
Fang Beasts, Dragon Tribe, Weapon Demons, Undead Tribe—all were distinct bloodlines.
So when Magical Beast Apprentices entered the Devil Tree Sea to hunt other Demonic Beasts, there was no guilt. They only wished they could kill faster.
“Let’s go check on that one.”
After Feini caught a few large fish, she took White Feather Dove back to camp to check on Qingshamu’s progress.
They saw Qingshamu building a simple wooden hut under a huge tree root, covered with turf so it blended almost perfectly into the environment, even possessing a sort of invisibility.
Feini crawled inside and found three wooden plank beds lined up.
“How does it look?” Qingshamu smiled.
“It’s so hot, and your beds are way too close,” Feini picked apart the details.
Because Qingshamu had brought a wood stove connected to a chimney and had already started a fire, the inside of the hut was very warm.
There was no choice; her little clever tricks were discovered. She had to move her bed aside and sleep alone.
Feini went outside to build a campfire and took out her Exclusive Pot to cook fish soup.
“Feini, you clearly don’t need to eat normal food. Why do you cook soup every day?” Qingshamu asked curiously.
“To restore Rationality Value,” Feini explained.
“If we don’t, we’ll soon revert to pure, efficient, merciless killing machines. Delicious food temporarily suppresses our degeneration. But killing machines are what Weapon Demons were originally meant to be; what we are now is the real degeneration.”
“I see,” Qingshamu learned some useless knowledge.
Soon Feini finished a pot of pure, fresh Wild Vegetable Fish Soup and ladled a large bowl for Qingshamu.
“Thank you.” Qingshamu was startled but reached out solemnly to hold the bowl.
“You’re welcome,” Feini smiled.
Qingshamu was overjoyed, completely hooked by the bad mom, unable to break free.
After dinner, they extinguished the campfire and went back inside to sleep.
The stove kept the house very warm without revealing any firelight.
Last night’s campfire was visible for kilometers around, luckily only on the edge of the Devil Tree Sea; inside the sea, such light would surely attract dark Demonic Beast ambushes.
But of the three wooden plank beds, only Feini lay down to sleep.
White Feather Dove and Qingshamu sat all night on their beds meditating, entering a state to absorb natural magic and purify themselves to practice magic.
Every magician had an iron spine; otherwise, how could they sit that long?
Qingshamu woke early, stretched, went to the stream to wash her face, and felt clearer headed.
Then she furrowed her brow and quickly sensed something was wrong.
She rushed back to the shelter and found Feini and White Feather Dove awake, packing their things.
“Big White, today we officially go hunting,” Feini encouraged.
“Yes, Lady Feini,” White Feather Dove nodded.
“Wait! Big White… was she meditating last night?” Qingshamu asked in surprise.
“Morning nonsense? So annoying,” Feini gave her a glare.
“Ahem, does Big White know how to use magic?” Qingshamu asked again.
“What’s the matter? Can’t she? And did you name her?” Feini said coldly, “Don’t get so close—we’re just partners.”
“Is Big White a magician? What’s her talent?” Qingshamu pressed.
“Enough! We don’t owe you an explanation of our secrets,” Feini said icily. “We’re just temporary teammates.”