It Wasn't the Lighthouse That Was Far Away, but the Ground That Was Lying

Milluki nearly screamed in fright.

Bai Zhu clamped a hand over his mouth and pushed the knife out another half inch with his other hand.

Outside the tree hollow, that voice was still there.

"Bai Zhu?"

"Young Master?"

The tone, pauses, and trailing inflection all sounded exactly like Morel.

It even had a hint of that raspy smoker's voice.

Milluki's entire body tensed, his fingers already reaching for the miniature bombs in his bag.

Bai Zhu immediately jabbed him with a knee and lowered his voice.

"Don't start acting up."

Milluki shoved the bombs back in.

The next second, the fat owl moved.

It had originally been huddled on the other side of the hollow, but now it suddenly propped itself up. Its feathers flared out one by one, making the entire bird look a whole size bigger.

It slowly shuffled one step toward the entrance.

Bai Zhu and Milluki were blocked behind it.

The voice of that "Morel" outside abruptly stopped.

Milluki even stopped breathing for half a beat.

The tree hollow remained quiet for several seconds.

Then came a soft rustling sound of something crawling over the bark.

Up.

Down.

It seemed to circle the entrance several times.

Finally, it moved completely away.

Only then did the fat owl slowly flatten its feathers and turn to glance at the two of them.

"Hoo."

Bai Zhu immediately sat up straight.

"Big Daddy."

Milluki spoke softly.

"It helped us?"

"No shit."

Bai Zhu pulled out his backpack and emptied out what little dried seafood remained inside.

"Come on, Big Daddy. Collect the rent."

The fat owl lowered its head to peck up a piece, crunching away noisily.

Bai Zhu offered it more.

"Eat up. Don't hold back."

Milluki's eyelids twitched as he watched.

"Didn't you say those were your emergency