Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong pushed open the door, only to find that someone had already arrived behind it—a knight holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, guarding in front of Tianlan—the Long Halberd could not be wielded here.

”What happened?”

Fang Hong looked their Miss Poet up and down, observing that the latter was unharmed, and then asked.

Luo Yu silently extended his hand, pulling Tianlan to his side, closer to his boyfriend, and the latter felt a little better, stammering as he gestured:

”Old... mouse, such a big one...”

”Mouse?”

Behind, Elisa and Tang Xin had also walked down, and upon hearing the name of this detestable rodent, Miss Nightingale immediately retreated cautiously.

Though Tang Xin did not show it as clearly, she obviously stopped at the stairs.

On the other hand, Ai Xiaoxiao was peering in curiously from the stairway. She was initially terrified by Tianlan’s shriek that sounded like a succubus, turning her face pale, but now, upon hearing it was merely a mouse, she was not as frightened.

She skipped down the stairs, asking: ”Mouse, where is the mouse?”

Fang Hong was a bit speechless; with Nini on board, how could there possibly be a mouse?

Even if there were, it would have been scared to death long ago by her. This little girl was always mysteriously appearing and disappearing on the ship, up to no good. Last time, a horned beetle flew onto the ship, and it landed in her hands, only for her to fiddle with it for quite a while, nearly leading to disaster.

If a small horned beetle couldn’t be hidden, let alone a mouse.

But seeing the ladies’ expressions, he had to follow Tianlan’s gaze, walking over to search among the goods piled in the bottom cabin.

Yet in the dim glow of the Crystal, all around was silent as the grave, not a mouse to be found?

”Really... I saw it, such a big one, it just darted past...” Tianlan seemed at a loss, quickly answered: ”Miss Mei saw it too...”

Fang Hong looked towards the knight lady. Mei raised her head, gently blinked, and nodded to them.

This was odd, indeed. Miss Mei would never lie; could there truly be a mouse on the ship?

Fang Hong then had Luo Hao and Xiangzi come down, moving every item in the bottom cabin around, yet despite turning the ship’s hold upside down, nothing was found.

It seemed Nini’s presence was indeed formidable; not a single mouse, not even an insect, could be found below deck.

”But I really saw it...” Tianlan looked a bit aggrieved, ”White, such a big one... it just whooshed past...”

Ai Xiaoxiao seemed a bit disappointed: ”No mouse, huh...”

No one knew what this lively girl was thinking.

But mentioning the mouse reminded Fang Hong of something; it hadn’t been Tianlan’s first time seeing a mouse on the ship.

Around the time they left Orlenze, she and Elisa had also encountered such things on board, though after a thorough cleaning, no trace of mice was found, leaving the matter unresolved.

Since then, they discovered Miss Fang Nini was reigning on the ship, fearing only the horned lizard and a bit frightened by Little Light; anything else was like a toy in the hands of this little girl.

No creature fared well under her reign.

”White?” Elisa suddenly said: ”Last time, I saw a mouse too, it seemed white, but was that really a mouse? It seemed much larger than a mouse...”

”Indeed, too big, if it were a regular mouse, I, I wouldn’t be so scared...” Tianlan muttered awkwardly, trying to excuse her fear.

”But are mice really that big?” Miss Nightingale suddenly said: ”Perhaps it wasn’t a mouse at all?”

The remark finally made Ai Xiaoxiao shiver; she wasn’t afraid of things that scared ordinary people, like furry spiders or filthy rats, she was even a bit curious.

But those elusive things made her pale: ”El, Elisa, don’t scare me.”

”I’m not scaring anyone,” Elisa chuckled, ”Just recalling some events.”

She was actually thinking of experiences from Orlenze.

At the time, they suddenly felt heavy on the elevator, and Miss Nightingale, the most perceptive among them, had always suspected something was following them.

Later, when Fang Hong and the others escaped from the inn, they did experience strange events; for instance, a cat tangled the guards in the hall.

Fang Hong recalled seeing that cat’s fleeting shadow, which indeed seemed a bit like Lady Daisy.

Hearing their description, Tianlan’s eyes widened, even blinked:

”Brother Ade, are you saying Lady Daisy is still on the ship?”

And from before, Fang Hong had always felt that way.

But feelings were just feelings; the Seven Seas Traveler was only so big, besides the bottom cabin, where else could one hide?

And besides the Papalar people, there had never been any unexpected food shortages on board, unless Lady Cat hunted herself, but the Sky Sea wasn’t an abundant source of food.

Moreover, Daisy had no reason to hide from them.

It was just a cat, after all.

If it was just a cat—

The topic of Lady Daisy still being aboard the Seven Seas Traveler circulated for some time, even the underground Walnuts joined in the search for Lady Cat’s whereabouts.