"Awoo!"
A series of mournful wolf howls echoed through the snowy forest, not just one, but a whole pack, their chorus of howls instantly shattering the forest's silence.
The sudden, shattering wolf howl made the small figure struggling through the snow ahead tremble. Fear instinctively surfaced in its emerald eyes, and the little creature, its mouth missing a tooth, abruptly turned its head—
Then, a series of blurry figures rushed in from all directions behind them. They were agile and had sharp fangs. In an instant, Nunu recognized what these charging creatures were.
They're wolves!
No, how could this be?
Nunu's little brain went blank for a moment, because Karo had told him that the wolves in the vicinity had been cleared away and driven away by the adults in the tribe, so there shouldn't be any wolves here!
But the truth is, he's being chased by a pack of wolves right now!
Nunu paused for a moment, then instantly started running forward. He was indeed terrified, but unlike other children, he didn't freeze in place or scream and cry out of fear.
"No, no, no, don't be afraid, Nunu, don't be afraid! Mom said that snow wolves are very big. If we really encounter one, we can just hide in a rock, or, or climb a tree!"
Muttering her mother's words, Nunu spread her arms and legs, looking ahead frantically, her eyes desperately searching for any tools that could help her escape.
Trees? No, that won't work. The clan has moved to a new place, and the trees in this dense forest are tall and thick. Climbing them would take a lot of effort. Unlike their previous home, the trees here are simply not something a small child like him can climb. At least, he can't.
So, burrow into the rock?
Stone would definitely work! He's short, he can easily hide when he shrinks down!
Although he knew he would be cornered by wolves after hiding in the rocks, he was sure the adults would come looking for him, just like before. Thinking this, Nunu Big Eyes at the rocks, but soon he realized he was overthinking things.
The snow was so thick that everything was white, and being in the forest made it impossible to find anything!
Just then, Nunu's foot slipped, and then her body tilted forward. The next moment, Nunu's body curled up into a small ball and fell down with a thud.
Nunu started screaming, her heart pounding with fear, but her eyes were unusually bright.
"Nunu!"
From the sky, Layka watched her son tumble down and instinctively cried out.
"Don't worry, he won't get hurt." The next moment, Li Ke's voice rang out beside Layka.
Layka looked in the mirror and saw that Nunu said he had rolled down, but actually... he was flying?
The little body curled up into a ball and rolled towards the valley, but it didn't touch the ground. Instead, it was a short distance off the ground. After taking a closer look, Layka discovered that there was a visible blue wind pushing Nunu forward from behind.
"By changing the terrain, we can pull Nunu into your territory," Li Ke said to Lissandra beside him, seeing that Nunu was dizzy from being spun around.
Lissandra raised her hand and gently waved it, and the pack of wolves formed from ice crystals vanished, replaced by an ice mirror that appeared in front of Nunu as she landed.
The next moment, the little ball of fluff entered the ice mirror.
Meanwhile, Layka, Nilah, Li Ke, and others were also pulled into Lissandra's own domain world.
In Lissandra's world, all that could be seen was a vast expanse of white; this small, icy world was completely empty.
Then, a gentle and pleasant voice rang out in this little world.
"Lissandra, let's create a small hill there first."
"Hmm, too high. Lower it a little, and then over here, create a dense forest."
"We've reached the village. It's right here. I remember the Notai Tribe's former stronghold was in this direction."
Following Li Ke's voice, Lissandra did as she was told.
While doing what Li Ke had arranged, Lissandra felt secretly speechless. Doing this childish game made Lissandra feel a little ashamed.
She's already ten thousand years old, okay?
What on earth is going on here?!
Thinking it over, Lissandra took a deep breath.
Within her domain, dense forests, mountains, villages, rocks, and small, magically created snow-covered creatures appeared one after another in this small world.
If that kid named Nunu fails to capture the snowman and gain the ability to dispel the True Ice, then Li Ke, you're doomed!
After everything was completed, Li Ke didn't start immediately. Instead, he looked at Layka beside him and said, "Layka, you can go check on Nunu now. Also, you'll need to leave one of your personal belongings in the village later so Nunu knows you've 'disappeared'."
Layka reached out and stroked Nunu's face. Even now, she didn't know whether her decision was right or wrong. After meeting Ashe, she believed Li Ke's words, and after witnessing Li Ke and Lissandra's abilities, she also believed that Nunu would not encounter any real danger.
The witch's actions, creating icebergs and snowfields with her every gesture, made her seem like a creator of the world. This convinced Layka that Nunu would not encounter any real danger under their protection, and she was willing to believe what Li Ke said.
After all, there's no reason for two such powerful people to lie to themselves and come here to play a role-playing game with Nunu, is there?
Even so, Layka was worried about one thing: how would Nunu view her after learning the truth?
"I," Layka hesitated for a moment, then said, "I have a flute that Nunu loves. I originally planned to give it to him as a gift for his fifth name birthday, and he loved the flute and named it Sefirsa's Song."
"What's that?" Nilah poked her head out from beside Li Ke and asked Layka curiously.
Sefirsa's Song, I must say, it's actually a rather nice-sounding name.
Nilah was a very strange girl to begin with. Even before she was called Nilah, she loved hero stories and reading books of legends and biographies, and she would fantasize about becoming the hero in those stories. Therefore, if Nilah were placed in modern society, she would be nothing more than a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur) girl.
Naturally, this kind of word, with its fantastical connotations, would pique Nilah's interest.
Layka explained, "That's the name of the weapon Nunu came up with. He's a natural bard with amazing imagination and creativity. Sometimes, the world of children is more interesting than ours."
"..." Upon hearing Layka's explanation, Nilah's interest, which had just been piqued, vanished instantly.
Damn, what kind of meaning could a name a child came up with?
"Then let's leave this flute here, hmm, how about this spot?" Li Ke chose a conspicuous location and asked Layka.
Layka nodded and handed the flute to Li Ke.
Li Ke reached out and took the flute, walked past Lissandra, and placed it on the snow-covered steps. To be honest, the flute was indeed quite beautiful, with an overall bronze color, simple yet exquisite.
After putting the flute away, Li Ke clapped his hands. "Alright, it's time to wake up our little protagonist."
In a daze, the little guy reached out and brushed the large snowflakes off his face, then suddenly opened his eyes.
"I... I'm alright?"
"Little guy, you almost got into trouble." A voice sounded after Nunu's voice.
Nunu sat up instantly, his fluffy felt hat making him look like a small animal. He turned to look at the person behind him, and then he saw a blurry figure.
Nunu couldn't see his face clearly because the green light obscured it, but through the green light, Nunu could tell that it was a human, an adult!
"Who are you?"
The little guy wasn't scared; instead, he asked excitedly, "Did you save me?" in his cute childish voice.
"Saved you?" The figure nodded. "If I brushed the snowflakes off you and prevented you from being buried by the snow, then I did save you."
"Then you saved me! Thank you!" Nunu exclaimed loudly. He continued earnestly, "My mom said that children shouldn't go out at night because it's very, very cold when it snows heavily! Many children like me didn't make it to their namedays because of the weather!"
"Wait, you haven't told me who you are yet. Oh right, Mom said my name is Nunu, what's yours?"
Watching Nunu crawl toward him, Li Ke's eyes, hidden beneath the green light, flickered.
Sure enough, despite her young age, Nunu possesses a strong sense of curiosity and a desire to explore the world.
He was indeed a born bard.
"My name doesn't matter, Nunu. What's important right now is that you've been unconscious for two days. If you don't go back soon, your mother will be worried about you."
"Ah!" Nunu Kog'Maw, staring blankly at Li Ke, and then asked, "Two days? I slept for two days?"
"It's not sleeping, it's a coma."
"Then let's just sleep!" Nunu stood up instantly, looked around, and then seemed to have found the right direction.
As a child of a nomadic clan, a sense of direction was an innate talent for Nunu. He quickly found his way home, but looking up at the sky, Nunu's face instantly fell, his little face scrunched up like a dumpling. He turned to look at Li Ke, pointed upwards with his little finger, and asked, "Where did I fall from?"
Nunu saw that Lord Green nodded at her.
"That's really high!" Nunu exclaimed.
"Lord Green, can you help me?"
Li Ke was taken aback, then realized that the "Lord Green" Nunu was referring to was him.
Do you want me to help you up?
"Yes, I'm not going to look for the hero! Although I really want to find Braum and have him teach me how to become a great hero in stories, I've been gone for too long—two days! That's two whole days! Mom must be looking for me everywhere right now. I love Mom the most, and I don't want her to worry about me!"
Nunu then said in a very serious tone, "I've never been out for so long before. I thought I could find Braum in just one afternoon!"
If you don't want her to worry about you, don't think about running off to be some kind of hero!
After hearing Nunu's words, Li Ke felt both speechless and amused.
But Li Ke simply reached out his hand and used magic to send Nunu up there.
"Waaaaah!!!"
"I... I can fly!"
"Lord Green, I can fly!"
Nunu lifted off the ground and slowly flew upwards, shouting excitedly as he looked down at Li Ke, his face flushed. But soon, as if remembering something, Nunu smiled and waved to Li Ke: "Ah, I have to thank you, thank you for helping me!"
"I live in... well, in a village. Come find me, Mr. Greenie, and I'll have my mom sing you a song. My mom's singing is the best!"
Nunu waved vigorously at Li Ke, but in the blink of an eye, he realized that the adults below had disappeared.
Standing on the snow, Nunu blinked and lay down to search for traces, but couldn't see anything.
Turning my head again, all I saw was a vast expanse of white silence. No, it wasn't that there was no sound at all; there was the sound of the wind blowing.
Nunu pursed his lips, looked ahead, and his eyes suddenly lit up. He ran forward, pulled a fallen branch from the snow, held it high, waved it, Nunu walked into the woods.
"Is this little guy using a tree branch as a weapon?"
"Lissandra, have your people prepare. Once Nunu enters the village, have your people take him to the Village of the Abandoned."
"I know," Lissandra said.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, until her legs ached and her eyes were almost too tired to keep open, Nunu finally saw the stronghold where the tribe was located.
Nunu's fatigue dissipated considerably in an instant, and he excitedly tiptoed to look around. Although he was somewhat disappointed that he hadn't encountered any Nunu wolves despite having prepared his weapons, he was happy to have safely found his tribe and returned to his mother's side.
But as Nunu got a little closer, she discovered that there were no adults or her good friend Kona around.
This instantly panicked Nunu, and a bad thought immediately popped into her mind.
He quickened his pace, shouting as he ran towards the tribal stronghold.
Is anyone there?!
"Nunu is back! Mommy? Mommy??!"
Nunu ran into the tribal stronghold and looked around, only to find that it was completely different from the place he knew.
The snow covered the tents, and the wooden houses that the adults had built were dilapidated. The open space that had been cleared of snow and was originally intended to be used for singing and celebrating the winter was also gone.
Nunu looked around anxiously, her voice trembling with tears.
Until he saw a yellow flute peeking out from the snow on the steps.
Nunu ran up instantly and grabbed the flute.
"No, that won't happen."
Recognizing the flute, he hugged it to his arms, his face flushed with anxiety, tears streaming down his cheeks. Nunu was worried about his mother.
"Mom would never abandon me, and neither would my uncles and aunts. They must be in danger!"
"It must be robbers! This must have been done by robbers!"
Nunu raised her voice; she was speaking to herself.
He believed that the adults wouldn't abandon him, and that if he got lost from them, Nunu wouldn't blame them.
The reason all this happened is because of him. He was looking for some hero, which caused him to get separated from the adults, and now that everyone is not in the tribe, it must be because they have been attacked by other tribes.
This has happened before.
Thinking of this, Nunu gripped the flute in her hand tightly.
"I... I have to find my mother."
He held back his tears and sniffed.
He raised his arm to wipe his face, thinking seriously.
But as soon as Nunu stepped down the steps, she heard a noise.
Looking up, Nunu saw a group of tall figures—
Those tall figures were dressed in black armor, wearing strange helmets, and carrying frightening weapons. At the very front was an aunt who wasn't wearing a helmet. She was so tall, even taller than her own mother!
And her face had a beautiful blush.