A Most Eccentric Family of Leaders

By the time we returned to Icebound Valley, more than three hours had passed since we left. This expedition had been incredibly fruitful. Lilina and I had discovered the magical Lake of Truth together; Lilina had acquired a magical yet shameless enchanted mirror for herself; and we had even encountered the absurdly formidable Supreme Dragon God: a God who could nag the dazed cat angel and Xiao Qi Jing right out of my Spiritual Sea.

Apparently, he had nearly talked a judge insane during a debate tournament—though his sister insisted that eloquence and being long-winded were not the same thing. Still, I thought that was simply awesome.

Seven Trillion came to a smooth stop where we had originally set off. The moment the door opened, Xiao Qi Jing, who had been unable to sit still in the driver's seat, was the first to rush out. The little spirit girl, who had never seen the vast Snowy Plains before, let out an incoherent cheer and floated onto the snow like a light cloud. In the blink of an eye, she was nowhere to be seen.

...She really was nowhere to be seen! Everything was white!

"Alaya, hurry and keep an eye on the kid!" I hurriedly sent the dazed cat angel out. "That girl is white from head to toe. Don't let her get lost and tumble down the valley!"

As she grew, Xiao Qi Jing's spirit body had become increasingly stable. She could now move several hundred meters away from me. In this endless white landscape of ice and snow, with a pure-white little girl running around everywhere, I was genuinely afraid of losing her.

The dazed cat angel, rubbing her eyes, answered groggily and pushed open the passenger-side door. Then came a soft thump, and this idiot vanished even