After Dongfang Minghui woke up, her lips felt a little sore and her gums tingled. She wondered whether all her worries lately had stoked too much internal heat.
Once she got up, she poured herself a cup of cold water.
"Toothless."
"Mother, Mother."
Dongfang Minghui crouched down and looked under the bed. Somehow, the little creature had rolled off the bed and was now lying belly-up, kicking all four legs in the air. The gap beneath the bed was too narrow, though, and she was stuck there, unable to get out.
If Dongfang Minghui hadn't called for her, she probably wouldn't have noticed.
"Toothless, how did you manage to roll off the bed and then accidentally roll underneath it?" Dongfang Minghui was almost impressed by the little beast's intelligence. How had she wedged herself into precisely that spot?
"Mother, Mother." Toothless looked utterly aggrieved. She hadn't rolled off on her own. Someone had thrown her down.
Dongfang Minghui squeezed her cheeks. "Sleeping like this isn't safe for you. I'd better build you a nest today. From now on, little girl, you'll have to sleep by yourself."
"Mother, Mother." Toothless kicked her legs in protest.
Dongfang Minghui got straight to work. She asked Yong Xing to bring over some discarded timber, intending to use a sharp tool to cut it into sections.
After looking at it for a while, Dongfang Minghui suddenly began practicing instead. Many leaves from Blue Star Dream had fallen into the little courtyard. She placed a log a meter away, channeled all her spiritual power to lift a leaf, and sent it slicing into the surface of the log with a swish. When she went over to inspect it, only the tip of the leaf had sunk in.
That only made her concentrate harder. When Dongfang Wanyu