A black flash slithered past at high speed and turned left abruptly, entering another moistened, newly made tunnel. The dirt covering its inklike shiny scales made for a perfect camouflage. At the moment, Kuro blended well in the damp and dark environment of the Subterranean world it was exploring.
After two breaths, the slug-like sized Lightning Serpent suddenly stopped in a wide area with hundreds of darkened holes. The faint signature vanished again, making him sigh helplessly. Kuro immediately contacted his new partner telepathically.
It disappears again, Alpy. This one is so slippery. Did it notice us?
A wizened voice entered Kuro's mind.
This old one doubts it, Lord Eldest Brother. If it really noticed us, it would already send a lot of its henchmen over. Most likely this is its routine. Tune your spiritual sense and make it thicker, Lord Eldest Brother. Pull all other redundant spiritual energy into this, and most likely you lose focus. Observe again. Try checking upwards for any anomaly.
Kuro looked around and saw a freshly dug tunnel fifty meters to his back, as opposed to other tunnels. He hadn't noticed this tunnel before.
I found a strange tunnel above. Kuro commented after expending a fraction of a second observing the tunnel upwards.
Enter Stealth mode again before proceeding, Lord Brother. We didn't want to startle it before properly observing its habits, as what the Mistress wishes. Gramps Alpy reminded the Lightning Serpent politely.
Affirmative, Alpy. Your guess is always spot on.
Thank you. I'm flattered.
Both paused exactly at the same time, as they immediately entered a short trance moment.
...
Soul Hall Domain
Ku-chan, Alpy, Q-chan.
All three stars representing Kuro, the Lightning Serpent, Alpy, the Mire Tortoise, and Queenie, the Elemental Fiend's Primordial Queen Mother, shone after a fraction of a second.
Yes, Mommy.
I heed you, Lady Mistress.
Yes, we are here, Lady Mistress.
All three greeted the Mistress in reverence once they were summoned. Both Kuro and Alpy had been busy investigating the internal layout of the subterranean location after they managed to covertly enter one of the more remote tunnels from the location mentioned by the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother was somewhat surprised to be called together with the exploration team since she had been tasked to do internal jobs.
Have you found this... Lord Kreemore?
Yes. Twenty-nine hours ago at a location deep underground. We have marked it here. Kuro answered succinctly.
Kuro manipulated his Spiritual Sense to create a 3D image map. It was very complex and had a lot of 'X' and 'O'. It had the same style as the Elemental Fiends' underground nest but at a much larger scale. A red dot was blinking at the bottom left of the map.
Kuro nodded at Alpy, indicating him to elaborate.
We have found the Fire Pangolin to be very mobile. Due to that, we have worked together to develop a novel method to secretly imprint a target without alerting them using Spiritual Sense even when it traveled out of range. Within twenty-nine hours, it had moved fifty-one times through the nodes labeled with 'O'.
As of this moment, we have identified three large underground pockets, but no established exits. Upon my rough estimation, the deepest one was the largest, as big as ten times the cultivation fields outside. It seemed that the subterranean dwellers are not keen on going out at all.
However, there are six tunnels very near to the surface that could affect the Serpent's Lair territory. All of them were concentrated in the direction of the Elemental Fiends' old nest. The one we breached is one of them.
Safe to say that these underground beasts will at least attack the Elemental Fiends' nest no sooner than a few months.
Gramps Alpy explained his deduction after mapping the surrounding tunnel locations with Kuro. It was a relief that they knew this sooner rather than later.
Good, good. Excellent work, Ku-chan, Alpy. I'm impressed with your progress within such a short time. Kuro and Alpy were inwardly gratified with the Mistress' compliment and encouragement.
Heed my new instruction. The Mistress' tone changed afterward, showing that she was serious. The Mistress was tapping into her Soul power, which meant that what she was going to say will be a 'Soul Decree', an order to be followed through to the end even if it meant death. She had only unknowingly used it once; it was when she instructed Lord Brother Kuro to stop interfering with a direct attack from the late Lord Fearsilver. All three of them focused on the new instruction.
Now we know the Fire Pangolin's intentions. Although it might just be an assumption, it is better to act on it. The wait-and-see method that I said before is non-applicable anymore. We need to act fast. Continue observing him closely for the right opportunity. Immediately grab him when you get the chance and bring him to me. Make it as covertly as possible. Do not alert other underground creatures.
Hana paused and added. I know that Chomper is not a true member of our family, but do treat him right. He has a good head. One day he would be your brother for sure. Make good use of Chomper's gift. Remember, a drenched fire pangolin is a useless fire pangolin. Find ways for its fire to be extinguished for good without killing it.
This one shall be a proper slave to our cause.
The Mistress spoke emotionlessly, giving them a chill.
Afterward, identify other subterranean leaders within the underground pockets. Repeat as necessary and bring them over. Gag them if you must. Use all the resources you need. We will slowly absorb them all until there will be no hidden dangers left in our own backyard. I will be waiting for your good news on the first one. Dismissed.
...
Hana took a deep breath after exiting her Soul Hall Domain. She had to be the bad guy to make the Serpent's Lair a safe place to develop and grow with her pets. Right now, she was just too weak to be righteous or kind. She had no choice but to weed out potential problems.
After her contact with Arash, she knew that they were linked in some way through her own Soul Energy. After consulting Kuro, the fastest way to improve her Soul Energy besides cultivation was to absorb more half-souls into her Soul Hall Domain. The goal of getting her soul stronger had never been as clear as now.
Hana clenched her hands into fists.
...
For quite some time, the Goddess Mistress was humming a mysterious mantra under her breath while smiling. However, she was still refusing to go out and only wished to stay indoors for a secret session of closed-door cultivation.
The business was as usual at the crop fields until someone noticed Lord Shiro walking out of the Mistress' personal lair, high above them. The white fox walked to the edge and started making an announcement about gathering volunteers for a short mission.
A chance!
The freshwater creatures were so excited as they chatted with each other loudly in Bubble Language. A few hot-blooded ones immediately enlisted without caring about the mission's content. It triggered a rush of sign-ups from eager volunteers. The number of participants was too high until Shiro had to tighten the requirements to reduce the number to five.
...
Eleven hours later, a drenched reddish brown pangolin with overlapping scales covering its limp body and thick tail slumped in front of Hana on the clearing just outside her sojourn. Hana had an unbelievable look on her face.
The pangolin was the size of an elephant!
Kuro was doing his job, constricting the pangolin until its face turned blue, while a group of freshwater volunteers kept on drenching the poor sod with a lot of water. It looked like it was drowning and only had a breath of life left. The corner of Hana's mouth twitched a few times. Hana was unsure whether it nearly drowned from being constricted by Kuro, or being doused by so much water; it must have gone through a very bad day.
"It's time, Mistress." Alpy bowed low and presented the sorry-looking fiend who had made his life so difficult during its abduction. Because of this, Alpy was putting on a triumphant look when observing it.
Hana nodded and approached the pangolin with a determined look.
...
"Uuuuu, waaaa, uuuu, waaaa!"
"Uuuuu, waaaa, uuuu, waaaa!"
"Aina, come on, calm down!" Aira wrapped her arms around her little sister with worry.
Her baby sister had been very cranky for the past three days. She didn't cooperate at all and kept on throwing food away when a helper was trying to feed her. Aira could see that Madam Lisa was reaching her limit. The pretty lady was walking around in circles while trying to call someone. Most probably, she was trying to reach Papa.
It made her feel so scared.
Aira looked over the windowpane for God knows how many times. The gray asphalt floor greeted her sight, reminding her that the person she was waiting for wasn't appearing anytime soon.
Where was Papa when they needed him?
Why was he not here?
The promised time was long over.
Was he trying to chuck them both to this evil lady?!
Just thinking about it made Aira's eyes mist.
Suddenly Aira saw a Lalaomove big brother come over from the windowpane. She burst into tears of happiness, and sadness at the same time.
He remembered to order the pink unicorn plushies.
...
mrs.mooncat's note:
Lalaomove = it's an on-demand same-day delivery service. We can opt for many different kinds of vehicles of our own choice. It is different from the normal courier services and usually a favorite of sellers with fragile items such as cakes/cookies. mrs.mooncat did use the service once a while to send over food items