Xiaosuisui went "Ah!" upon hearing this and scratched her head, her lack of confidence evident.
Upon seeing her gesture, Ji Youzhi’s heart, which had just begun to warm up, suddenly chilled considerably.
"What happened? Can’t you find him?"
When Ji Youzhi asked this, his voice trembled noticeably.
"No, it’s because I haven’t looked yet. I’m not sure if I can find maternal grandfather!"
"Ah! Then why didn’t you look first?" Ji Youzhi asked anxiously.
Xiaosuisui blinked and said with great innocence, "Weren’t you in mortal danger, trapped in the Illusion Array? I was so anxious, I just focused on getting you out first. As a result, after I rescued you, I completely forgot!"
Xiaosuisui touched her little head, looking quite helpless.
Ji Youzhi’s heart suddenly clenched with pain, as if someone had viciously stabbed him with a knife.
"It’s all Seventh Uncle’s fault. My skills are lacking, and I got trapped in the Illusory Realm, making Suisui worry and risk herself to save Seventh Uncle. My poor little treasure Suisui has suffered!" Ji Youzhi began to murmur self-reproaches, his face etched with sorrow, which inexplicably made Xiaosuisui’s heart ache for her Seventh Uncle.
The little girl reached out and gently touched Ji Youzhi’s sad face.
"Seventh Uncle, don’t be sad. Suisui won’t get into trouble."
Ji Youzhi blinked cooperatively, trying hard to squeeze a few tears from the corners of his eyes, wanting to appear a bit more pitiful.
In the end, he couldn’t squeeze out anything at all.
Just then, a loud "AH—!" cry came from nearby.
Ji Youzhi and Xiaosuisui quickly turned their heads. They saw Xiaobai suddenly raise its head to the sky, its four paws splayed on the ground. Then, one by one, small, glossy black, perfectly round spheres emerged from its mouth.
Afterward, it opened its mouth wide again, swallowing the Celestial Thunder and the seawater from this vortex.
And those dark, glossy, round little black spheres floated straight towards Xiaosuisui.
Xiaosuisui blinked, stretched out her hand, and caught a few, letting them rest in her palm. She examined them but couldn’t figure out what these things were.
"What are these things Xiaobai spat out?" Xiaosuisui looked them over and over but couldn’t make sense of them after a long while.
Ji Youzhi took them and looked. After a good while, he said, "I sense what seems to be the power of thunder and lightning on these!"
The power of thunder and lightning?
Xiaosuisui blinked. She felt these things were somewhat familiar, yet for the life of her, she couldn’t recall what they were.
"Master, step aside! I’m going to use my power to gather all these things at once," Xiaobai’s voice suddenly came.
Along with Xiaobai’s voice came Da Hei, who had been swatted over by one of Xiaobai’s paws!
Da Hei shot over like a gust of wind after being swatted by Xiaobai. Xiaosuisui immediately grabbed it, and it deftly coiled around her wrist.
"Hey! Why has this big python coiled around your wrist? Throw it away, quickly! Be careful it doesn’t hurt you!" Seeing this, Ji Youzhi paled in alarm and quickly called out to Xiaosuisui.
Xiaosuisui, however, didn’t listen to him. Instead, she raised her right hand and grinned cheekily at Ji Youzhi.
"Seventh Uncle, don’t be afraid. It’s my pet, and pets don’t bite their masters."
After speaking, she righteously corrected him on Da Hei’s behalf, "Besides, it has already passed its tribulation. It’s a true Jiao now."
Ji Youzhi was speechless.
He silently put down the little treasure in his arms and, taking the opportunity, shoved the small black spheres he had received from Xiaosuisui into his storage sleeve.
He also deliberately moved a bit further away from the little girl.
Don’t blame him for his affection for the little girl vanishing in an instant; it was really because Da Hei was a Jiao!
What he, Ji Youzhi, feared most in his entire life was snakes...
AWOOO—
A long cry rang out, and the heavens and earth changed color. A tremor ran through their surroundings. Then, their vision blurred, and the gray, hazy scene reappeared before them.
"Phew... We finally passed this trial!" Ji Youzhi’s body went limp, and he collapsed straight onto the ground.
Xiaosuisui also took a deep breath and then lay down on the ground beside him. Xiaobai’s body suddenly shrank, turning into a little rabbit. Then, one by one, it spat out black spheres, which formed a large pile in front of Xiaosuisui.
Afterward, it closed its eyes and fainted right into Xiaosuisui’s embrace.
"Xiaobai! Xiaobai, are you okay?" Xiaosuisui held Xiaobai and started patting it vigorously—patting it so hard that Xiaobai’s eyes rolled back into its head.
"Suisui, be gentler, gentler! Don’t you know how strong you are? Look, you’ve patted it so hard its eyes are rolling back!"