Bonds? (Thanks to wangdu001 for becoming an Alliance Leader

Winter was not exactly Nara's peak tourist season.

With the arrival of heavy snow, the streets grew increasingly deserted. Only vehicles passed by silently, the crunch of powdery snow drowned out beneath the sound of horns.

While resting at a gas station, Huai Shi bought two bottles of water from the convenience store and returned.

Russell, meanwhile, sat on a chair by the intersection smoking a cigar despite the snow, still in the form of a polar bear. He looked strangely harmonious. Huai Shi just had no idea what people thought he was, considering he hadn't caused the slightest commotion.

"Here, your tea."

Huai Shi handed it over, then unfolded the complimentary tourist map and studied the markings and directions. "Where are you meeting this old friend of yours?"

"I don't know. We haven't been in touch for so many years. All I know is that she's in Nara. I know nothing else." Russell shook his head.

"Hey, then what are we supposed to do? Don't tell me I'm going to city hall and asking them to broadcast a missing-person announcement over the city speakers?"

Huai Shi laughed at the thought. "Something like, 'Little friend XX from the Ivory Tower, your friend Russell is waiting for you at city hall. He also brought the Jinling Head-Chopper King to put on a show for you'?"

"Hey, show some respect for your elders, Huai Shi. She's old enough to be your grandmother."

Without the slightest regard for public decency, Russell casually tossed his cigar into the bushes and patted the white fur on his body. "No need to look. I know where she is. Just follow me to the place with the most animals."

As he spoke, the white bear rose onto two legs and swaggered down the road.

Straight into...

Nara