Xiao Mi Da

Mida returned.

She also brought back two snowfield pack beasts.

The two large creatures were terrified under Mida's claws. After landing, they froze in place, standing in the snow exactly like two snow-covered statues.

"Did you go hunting?" Liyana was quite surprised by the spoils Mida brought back.

"Yeah," Mida replied expressionlessly.

Aina, sitting on the sofa, gently patted her own thigh. Mida's ice-sculpture-like little face instantly fell, a trace of nervousness flashing through her eyes.

"Someone was trying to capture the snow spirits as slaves, so I went to stop them," Mida hurriedly added, then began to gauge Aina's expression.

Xia Lun, sitting on the other side of the sofa, also patted his thigh, and Aina went over to sit on Xia Lun's lap.

Mida breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she would not be spanked after all.

"But what can these two pack beasts do? We do not seem to need them, right?" Liyana looked through the window, sizing up the two new guests outside.

The pack beasts were much larger than snow wolf dogs, looking somewhat like rhinos covered in fur, though they had no horns.

They had docile temperaments and had long been domesticated, becoming indispensable beasts of burden on the snowfield.

Because of their bulky builds, the pack beasts could not match the speed of the snow wolf dogs, but endurance was their strong suit. They were absolutely essential for long treks across the snowfield.

However, when Liyana and the others were browsing the market earlier, they had not considered these big guys, because Mo Lini felt they were not as cute as dogs.

"I can give them to you," Mida said very generously.

"Eh? Give them to us? We have no use for these two guys either. Our earth dragon is still boarded at the inn." Liyana scratched her head.

Although they could be sold for money, ever since joining Xia Lun and the others, Liyana gradually developed the illusion that gold coins were becoming increasingly useless.

Mida thought for a moment. "Since you have no use for them, you can use them to make sausages."

For some reason, Liyana felt a chill down her spine.

Eating them just because they were not needed, Mida's way of thinking was a bit too cruel.

However, because the pack beasts had abundant fat in their bodies, there really were pack beasts bred specifically for consumption in the snowfield.

There was still some time before the Five Kings Conference began.

Originally, there was no rush to hurry back, but since Liyana clamored about wanting to see the snowy scenery and said she wanted to have a good time playing here for a while, they embarked on their return journey early.

Liyana probably just wanted to leave the Elven Forest quickly and get farther away from Sletta.

Sletta had caused her quite a psychological shadow.

However, after having one snowball fight, Liyana lost her sense of novelty, and her enthusiasm for this silvery-white world quickly cooled.

Being used as a snowball in a snowball fight really did not feel great.

"There is nothing but snow, how boring." Liyana squatted boredly in front of the fireplace, poking the burning pine wood with iron tongs. The skins of several potatoes buried inside were turning charred black, and a savory aroma was gradually wafting out.

However, with the freezing weather outside, snuggling up in a warm cabin was indeed a very cozy thing.

"I feel like I could live here for the rest of my life," Liyana sighed with emotion, the dancing flames casting warm light and shadows on her face.

Of course, it was really just a feeling. In reality, with Liyana's personality, living here for a month would bore her to death.

Even Aina kept Mida around to chat and relieve boredom, and Wolund would occasionally come over to receive an education.

"Yawn."

Mo Lini yawned and glanced at the brass-framed pendulum clock hanging on the wall.

"It is already so late."

Outside, the holy moonlight blended into the silver-gray snow, coating it with a layer of fine silver radiance, much like the long hair of Aina in Xia Lun's arms.

Mo Lini stood up, walked to the corner of the room, lifted the trapdoor on the floor, and slipped into the underground laboratory, with Liyana closely following behind.

Mida also tactfully followed them, not planning to sleep outside tonight.

In the past, when her mother's laboratory had not been cleaned up, she was not allowed in. When her mother had things to do at night, Mida would sleep in the snow.

Sleeping in the snow was very comfortable, and Mida actually quite liked it.

But since there were guests, she should keep them company, and also prevent anything from happening to them.

In Mida's impression, her mother's laboratory was a very scary place. Sometimes, quite terrifying auras and maddening shrieks would emanate from inside.

It turned out that after being cleaned up, it was no different from an ordinary basement.

When she was little, little Mida had sneaked into the laboratory once while Aina was out, and then her butt was spanked until it blossomed.

Little Mida asked her mother how she knew. She had perfectly hidden her aura and left no traces. Her mother said that Xia Lun, who was still a corpse back then, had seen her and told her.

Mida did not believe it before. She had always regarded Xia Lun as a specimen in the room, or a doll. Her mother was also a girl, and it was normal for girls to like playing with dolls. The underground laboratory also housed various bizarre dolls belonging to her mother. Little Mida had seen them once when she sneaked in, though those dolls seemed quite dangerous.

But Mida believed it now. After all, Xia Lun had come alive now. It did not seem strange that he would secretly tattle to her mother in the past.

Because of that severe beating, Mida had always harbored a bit of resentment toward Xia Lun in her heart.

However, Xia Lun treated her very well and would even defend her in front of her mother, making the resentment in Mida's heart slowly dissipate. After all, sneaking into the laboratory back then was indeed her own fault.

Moreover, Xia Lun would help her deal with her mother at night.

When little Mida was bored, she had also observed humans, so she actually knew everything.

Men would beat women at night, which was very scary.

Even Anana's father, that guy who did not look like a bad person, would do such things at night.

Little Mida could not understand such behavior. She guessed that this might be a biological habit of humans.

When little Mida first observed this behavior in the past, she had asked her mother about it once, but her mother remained silent, merely spanked her bottom, and warned her never to peek at others doing such things again.

Little Mida would not deliberately peek anymore after that.

Occasionally catching a glimpse inadvertently definitely did not count.

Therefore, whenever her mother laid down a magic circle, Mida could roughly guess what her mother was doing.

Mida just could not understand why getting beaten would make one happy.

But there were still many things Mida did not understand, and she did not care much either.

After all, humans were simply too complex.

Bang.

The wooden door was pulled shut by Mida.

Her mother's magical fluctuations immediately came from above, shielding all perception.

Leaving the rest of the night and time to her father and mother.