The two returned to the shelter and prepared the necessary overnight items.
Ian and Amivy set off again toward the peak behind the shelter.
But this time, the little white dog didn’t run back and forth curiously and excitedly as usual.
It quietly followed at Amivy’s feet, occasionally stopping, lifting its head, and staring at the sky with those golden slit pupils.
Even when Amivy called it, it only responded with a soft whine, but its gaze didn’t move.
When they returned to the top of the peak, the ‘sun’ still hung in its original position, but its light had dimmed somewhat.
Ian chose a relatively flat rock hollow sheltered from the wind as a temporary campsite, and the two began to set up.
As time passed, the surrounding scenery gradually became shrouded in a deeper haze.
The light emitted by the ‘sun’ was slowly fading, thinning, like an oil lamp being gradually turned down.
At the same time, the little white dog, from the moment they returned to the peak, had walked alone to the highest point of the rock platform.
With its back to the busy two, facing the gradually dimming light source in the center of the sky, it stood motionless, like a statue.
The only movement was the fluttering of the fur on its neck when the mountain wind blew.
“Xiao Bai, come here, it’s safer here.”
Amivy tried to call it, holding a small piece of dried fruit in her hand.
Usually, this trick worked every time, but now the little white dog ignored her, not even moving the tip of its ears.
Its golden pupils blinked without blinking, as if its entire soul had been sucked away by the scene in the sky.
“What’s wrong with it?”
Amivy looked at Ian with some concern.
Ian also stopped his work, observed the little white dog’s state, and then looked up at the sky.
“According to my knowledge, people who look up at the moon usually express ‘homesickness’…”
Amivy: “?”
“What do you mean? Is Xiao Bai homesick?”
“I don’t know, I’m guessing. After all, I never got full marks on ancient poetry.”
“Huh? Then you…”
Just as Amivy was about to say something, the last glimmer of light in the sky, like a candle in the wind, suddenly went out.
The world fell into pure, pitch-black darkness.
No starlight, no moonlight, only the faint, dangerous rustling sounds belonging to the ‘night’ from deep in the distant jungle, and the howling cold wind on the mountaintop.
Although they had experienced this sudden darkness several times before, it always frightened Amivy every time.
The sudden darkness made Amivy instinctively hold her breath, groping to get closer to Ian.
The darkness amplified all senses, and also amplified her unease.
However, this absolute darkness did not last long.
A little blue, cold light appeared without warning at the position where the ‘sun’ had been.
At first, the light was only the size of a needle tip, then quickly expanded, like an icy moon shrouded in a thin cloud, hanging in the center of the sky, emitting a soft but enough to illuminate the mountaintop cold glow.
But when Amivy adapted and looked up again, the true appearance of that huge ‘moon’ shocked her.
That was no ‘moon’ at all; it was clearly an enormous transparent crystal stone!
Although the outline of the crystal was round, its surface was not a smooth arc but displayed countless regular facets that refracted cold light!
Even more incredible, inside this giant crystal, like a miniature moon, was not empty.
A clear cyan-gold outline was eternally sealed at the core of the crystal.
The outline was slender, straight, with ornate guard and sword pommel patterns.
Even through the thick crystal layer and from a great distance, one could feel a vast and sacred aura faintly emanating.
The moment she saw the sword, Amivy’s pupils contracted to the extreme!
Sealed inside the giant crystal was none other than the legendary Hero’s exclusive weapon—the Holy Sword Excalibur!
Just as the Holy Sword Excalibur appeared, the little white dog, which had been sitting motionless like a stone statue on the solitary rock, let out a low, warning growl from its throat, breaking the dead silence of the mountaintop.
This sound startled Ian and Amivy out of their shock.
When the two looked over, they found that Xiao Bai had already flapped its small wings and leaped up, charging straight at the crystal.
“Xiao Bai!”
Amivy cried out, realizing what the little white dog intended to do.
But it was too late.
The little white dog burst out with astonishing speed, like an arrow from a bow, straight toward the blue ‘moon’ in the high sky!
The next second, a dull, teeth-gritting impact sound came from the sky!
“Thud—!”
The little white dog’s small body slammed solidly against the surface of the crystal clear giant stone.
No penetration, no cracks, not even a ripple.
The hardness of the crystal far exceeded imagination!
The force of the impact instantly robbed it of all momentum.
It let out a short, painful whimper, like a pebble being batted away, and fell straight down from the sky!
“Xiao Bai!”
Amivy’s eyes widened, and without thinking, she rushed forward.
But someone was faster than her!
Almost the moment the little white dog hit the crystal, Ian also charged down the mountain.
His actions were so swift it seemed he had expected this situation.
Amivy was stunned by his explosive speed, then reacted and scrambled down after him.
Fortunately, the direction the little white dog fell happened to be a natural pond.
The pond was not deep, but sufficient to cushion the fatal impact.
“Splash!”
Water splashed everywhere.
Almost simultaneously, Ian arrived at the edge of the pond.
Without pausing, he waded in and quickly scooped up the small, white, unconscious body floating on the water.
When Amivy arrived out of breath, what she saw was Ian carefully and gently attending to the unconscious Xiao Bai.
The gentle and meticulous examination and first aid were a world apart from the Masked Man who had tested poison on her and even plotted to use her as bait.
Then Ian quickly took off his relatively dry outer clothes, carefully wrapped the little white dog inside, leaving only its nose exposed.
After carefully bringing the little white dog back to the shelter, Ian, drawing on his own multiple near-death experiences, found some herbs with calming and pain-relieving properties, crushed them, and gently applied them to the bump on the little white dog’s forehead.
Throughout the process, he was meticulous, even gentle.
Amivy stood aside, surprised by Ian’s sudden change.
This guy… actually has this side?
“So, why did your dog suddenly want to go hit a rock?”
While Amivy was still spacing out, Ian, having finished treating the little white dog’s wounds, turned around and asked her.
“Huh?”
Amivy was stunned by Ian’s sudden question.
She wasn’t a dog; how would she know what Xiao Bai was thinking?
“How should I know? Maybe, perhaps, he likes shiny crystals?”
Ian: “…………”
“It’s fine. Your Highness, go play… Oh, and remember to find something edible to bring back. I still need to take care of your silly dog, so I can’t leave.”
Amivy: “?”
After Amivy left the shelter grumbling, Ian looked at the unconscious little white dog with an extremely complex expression.
“Not triggering the Holy Sword, and possessing golden slit pupils… I never expected you to appear on the 99th Floor…”
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