At ease?

Green mountains faded into the distance, waters stretched far away; autumn had ended south of the river, yet the grass had not withered.

The mountains were as lovely as a beauty's painted brows, distant peaks dark against the sky and nearby waters veiled in mist. Verdant ridges overlapped, blue-green ripples shimmered, and clouds wound through the mountains like a dream. At their summits, sturdy pines and cypresses stayed green throughout the seasons; at their feet, streams murmured and clear springs flowed over stone. Wildflowers bloomed in profusion, birdsong deepened the mountain stillness, ancient trees towered overhead, and deer occasionally appeared deep in the woods.

Words could not fully describe this mountain's beauty. Only by coming here could one truly appreciate its spirit.

Passing through a waterfall, Lu Li could not help marveling:

"Surely this is the legendary Water Curtain Cave on Flower-Fruit Mountain?"

Chixia explained, "What Flower-Fruit Mountain? This is Pinting Mountain, behind Jinzhou."

They strolled along Pinting Mountain's trails when they spotted flecks of green, like stars guiding their way.

Following the little flowers, they finally found Verina standing amid a sea of blossoms, her back to them.

Lu Li crept up, seized Verina's arms with his wicked hands, and lifted her into the air.

Verina cried out, her pale little legs kicking. "Aaah-"

She turned her head to look and immediately relaxed. "Oh, it's you, Big Brother Lu Li. I thought you were a Remnant."

Lu Li lifted her over his head and settled her on his shoulders.

A Piao tilted her little face up and smiled. "Are you Starflower?"

Verina answered shyly, "Starflower? Usually, only Granny Lin calls me that..."

Lu Li said, "This is Verina."

A Piao said, "Nice to meet you. I'm A Piao."

Verina gave a small nod. "Since you're friends with Big Brother Lu Li, Big Sister Chixia, and Big Sister Yangyang, you're my friend too."

"Have you run into some trouble?"

Yangyang said, "Well, we're looking for a particular flower..."

A Piao handed Verina the photograph.

Verina held her chin and frowned, murmuring a whole string of botanical facts.

"Corydalis has a distinct notch at the tip of its petals, so we can rule that out..."

"Compared with Cliff Fairy, this black flower's stamens are noticeably longer, and it has one more petal..."

After ruling out several plants, Verina finally said, "This black flower has very unusual characteristics. There are almost no similar plants in nature."

"My tentative guess is that it might be a new, artificially cultivated variety."

"And its veins actually form a cross... If you look closely, you can also see tiny traces of frequency fluctuations. That's a sign of Echo Energy leaking out."

"So this is a very special Echo Plant. Its formation might have something to do with resonance power."

"But I can't make a more specific judgment based on a single photograph."

Chixia scratched her head. "Looks like our lead has hit another dead end..."

Verina was also a Resonator, and her Resonance Ability seemed to be related to plants.

Lu Li asked, "Verina, can you use your Resonance Ability to make a copy of this black flower?"

Verina said, "If you only need it to look the same, my Resonance Ability can certainly do that."

Lu Li said, "Please!"

He set Verina back down on the grass. She lowered her head slightly and pressed her palms together.

A moment later, several soft green lights appeared before her.

The next second, the lights faded, and four black flowers materialized out of thin air.

Chixia exclaimed excitedly, "No way! That's amazing! They look exactly like the black flower in the photo!"

Verina smiled gently. "I'm glad I could help."

Sunlight fell across her delicate little face, making her look like a little angel.

Lu Li took the four black flowers and grinned. "All hail the great goddess Verina! Nothing more needs to be said!"

Verina scratched her head shyly. "I'm not as amazing as you make me sound..."

Just then, however, Yangyang glanced behind them with a hint of concern, then suddenly walked a short distance away.

Lu Li and A Piao followed her and asked, "Did you find something?"

Yangyang crouched down and pointed at the petals on the ground. "A Piao, Lu Li, have you noticed?"

"There have been black petals scattered around us for a while now... They don't belong to Miss Verina."

"The Flow in the wind has been disturbed too... Someone's following us."

A Piao pondered for a moment. "They might be after me. Let me go meet them."

Lu Li looked at her worriedly, only to find her expression resolute.

He nodded. "In that case, let's split up."

"Yangyang and Chixia, wear the black flowers and head into the city. See if you can find any members of the Black Shores. I'll wear one and look around outside the city to cover more ground."

Yangyang nodded. "All right. Since you'll be out in the wilderness on your own, please be careful. If anything happens, we can contact each other through our Terminals at any time."

The three returned to Verina and Chixia. Smiling, Lu Li ruffled Verina's hair. "All right, little Starflower, you should hurry back to the city too. Granny Lin's calling you home for dinner."

Verina nodded adorably, looking a little bewildered. "Huh? Okay, I'll go pack up my gardening tools..."

After they split up, Lu Li wandered aimlessly through the wilderness outside Jinzhou City.

"There's a girl in Jinzhou named Xiaofang, pretty and kind..."

"With beautiful big eyes and a braid thick and long..."

Lu Li hummed to himself, utterly at ease. He had not felt this relaxed since coming to this world.

"Hm? What's this?"

Lu Li read the words on a wooden sign beside the road aloud. "The Returnee Mutual Aid Society is hiring one mechanical repair technician..."

Just as he was wondering what the Returnee Mutual Aid Society was, he suddenly heard a commotion up ahead.

"...I'm really sorry for knocking down so many of you, but the Returnee Mutual Aid Society has no intention of being your enemy."

"How about letting Li Rong and his daughter go... After all, they're still our people."

A calm, elegant female voice rang out. Lu Li quietly peeked around, and a mature, red-haired beauty immediately caught his eye.

Her long hair reached her waist, with a plum-blossom-patterned hairpin tucked among its strands.

She wore a black qipao that revealed just enough of the undersides of her breasts to make it impossible to look away.

Both arms were clad in high-tech-looking combat gauntlets, with two golden chains hanging from them. The gauntlets extended all the way up her arms, leaving only her soft, snow-white shoulders bare.

The qipao's slits reached her waist, displaying her long, flawless legs to their fullest.

Behind her stood a trembling man, shielding a little girl in his arms.

Facing the three of them were two masked Fractsidus members dressed in red.

The sultry, mature beauty paused, then continued, "You can take these puppets. We'll pretend nothing happened today."

The tall, thin Fractsidus member opposite her snapped in humiliation and anger, "Are you playing us for fools? We're taking the puppets, but he and all of you are going to die!"

The red-haired beauty gave a cold snort. "Are you sure that's wise? We're partners, after all."

The other, obese Fractsidus member sneered. "Partners? To us, you're nothing but lab rats!"