Apart from the sound of flapping wings, there was also a light tapping on the glass.
In an instant, many unpleasant news stories from her past life flashed through her mind.
Was it some villain? Or just a bird?
Yun Manman grabbed a book from the table, her palm sweaty, and walked barefoot to the floor-to-ceiling window. One hand held the book high while the other rested on the switch for the blackout curtains.
"Let's see who's causing mischief this late at night..."
With a soft "beep," the blackout curtains slowly opened.
Then Yun Manman's eyes met the large eyes of a small snake flying in mid-air.
What should she do when this midnight intruder was so cute?
Yun Manman's tense nerves relaxed, and she opened the floor-to-ceiling window to let the little snake in.
She complained, "Qiqi, you could have told me you were coming. Climbing into a girl's room so late at night, how improper..."
Lu Qi watched her sit on the edge of the bed, and flapped his wings to fly onto her bedside table.
His crimson vertical pupils gleamed in the darkness as Lu Qi said in a muffled voice, "I sent you a message, but you didn't reply."
Yun Manman tucked her hair behind her ear, saying awkwardly, "Um... I've been busy these past couple of days, haven't really checked my communicator..."
Indeed, she had been busy - busy being taken out to play by her older brother and sister.
She sat on the bed, her round cat-like eyes looking at the little snake: "Qiqi, is there something you need, coming to find me so late at night?"
The little white snake's form was slightly larger than his previous pet snake appearance, and he now had a pair of fiery red wings on his back - a miniature version of a Singing Snake.
Those wings were quite beautiful indeed.
Lu Qi sensed the girl's gaze lingering on his wings, so he crawled forward, placing the tip of his tail in the girl's delicate palm, subtly showcasing his wings.
"I feel my mental sea is a bit unstable."
The snake's tail in her palm was cool and smooth, reflecting light as if coated with lacquer. The wings on his back had no temperature, but they were fluffy and sleek, each feather meticulously groomed, with the tips seeming to sparkle.
Up close, there even seemed to be a fragrance.
Oh my, today's Qiqi seemed particularly amenable to being touched and talked to.
Yun Manman happily fondled the little snake that had offered itself to her palm, asking with concern, "How is it unstable?"
The last assessment after the final guidance session two days ago showed his mental power purity had reached forty-five percent. By all accounts, it shouldn't easily become disordered.
Qiqi coughed lightly, wrapping his tail around the girl's slender wrist, his voice so soft it was barely audible: "I don't know, perhaps it's because I killed a Beastfiend today."
"My head is aching terribly now. I endured it all day but couldn't bear it anymore, otherwise I wouldn't have come to trouble you so late at night."
Hearing this, Yun Manman was no longer in the mood to pet the snake: "What are you saying? When you're not feeling well, you should come find me."
She hurriedly released her mental power to enter Lu Qi's mental sea and guide him.
Although the effect of guidance was best in the morning, in emergencies, timing didn't matter.
The condition of Lu Qi's mental sea was indeed somewhat worse than before, but this "somewhat worse" was merely the absence of sun above the sea.
The sea itself was still calm, and as if sensing the arrival of Yun Manman's mental power, it raised small, lingering waves trying to touch her mental power.
While guiding, Yun Manman wondered, it's not that bad, is it?
Would this level really cause such a headache?
By the time the mental power guidance was finished, more than ten minutes had passed. Just as Yun Manman's mental power was about to withdraw, it was caught by a mischievous wave.
In that instant when their mental powers touched, Yun Manman felt a tingling sensation throughout her body.
She quickly shook off the wave and swiftly retreated.
In the dim light, the little snake had fallen asleep, his crimson eyes still open but unfocused, his breathing slow.
Qiqi always fell asleep after mental power guidance, so this wasn't surprising.
Yun Manman puffed out her pink cheeks, freely stroking the little snake: "You naughty thing..."
Finally, she sneakily buried her face in his wide-open wings: "It really does smell nice, what kind of perfume is this? It's quite pleasant..."
The little cat muttered as she played with the little snake, finding that he just wouldn't wake up, his tail still wrapped around her wrist and impossible to remove.
She had no choice but to fall asleep like this.
What Yun Manman didn't notice was that a faint pink color had appeared on the little snake's white jade-like scales.
Early the next morning, when Yun Manman woke up in bed, she found that the little snake wrapped around her wrist had disappeared.
On the table not far away, there was now a fresh bouquet of flowers.
The orange-juice colored rose petals were layered, each petal still bearing droplets of water. The bright and vibrant orange-yellow color brought a sense of infinite vitality to the gloomy rainy season.
Yun Manman's mood also brightened, with colorful bubbles of ease and joy gurgling at the soft tip of her heart.
This Qiqi was quite good at giving flowers.
On the other side of the Yali'ou Mountain Range.
In a dense, lightless primeval forest, there stood an ancient castle with a dilapidated exterior.
The interior of the castle was equally dark and lightless, with countless bats hanging upside down from the ceiling.
The bat above the castle's throne was particularly huge. It spoke in an old, deep voice: "Kashida still refuses to return Qiao You?"
A nearby bat replied: "Yes. Prince Qiao You is now in Lu Qi's hands."
King Qiao Xiu of the Holy Gold Country, who was this giant bat, angrily spread his wings: "Fools!"
"Not only did they fail to kill Lu Qi, they didn't bring back the guide either, and even got themselves caught!"
His movement startled a flock of surrounding bats into flight. As they landed again, it triggered a string of curses: "Don't push me!"
"If you think it's crowded, go outside and get rained on!"
"Shut up! The king is angry..."
The chirping voices grew louder and louder, and Qiao Xiu could barely suppress his inner frenzy: "Silence, if anyone makes another sound, you'll all be sent outside!"
After everything quieted down, Qiao Xiu wearily asked: "How's the mining of magic crystals going?"
A bat weakly replied: "The mining of magic crystals is progressing steadily, but many of our own bats are also turning dark..."
"Moreover, we're running short on fresh blood from beast-men."
"Perhaps... we could feed on animal blood?"
The bat's voice grew increasingly feeble as it spoke.
Qiao Xiu swung a wing, knocking down the speaking bat, his voice authoritative: "Say that again?"
The bat that had been struck to the ground trembled in fear, not daring to make a sound.
"Bats who ingest animal blood are declining in both physical strength and intelligence! We are planning to attack Kashida in the future! Weakening our combat power at this time is of no benefit to us!"
Qiao Xiu ignored the bat on the ground and turned to instruct another: "It doesn't matter if we've lost the brown bear connection, we still have another option. Go contact the antelope tribe, we must ensure the food supply for our people."
The bats hanging above flapped their wings and cheered: "Long live the king!"