“Ah Dai…”
Yun Qingxue’s voice was muffled, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “Ah Dai might be gone…”
“Hmm?” Jin Lin was puzzled.
Gone? What did that mean? Ah Dai and Xuexue had formed a master-servant contract. Ah Dai belonged to Xuexue—how could he be gone?
Yun Qingxue took a deep breath and briefly recounted her encounter with the human kingdom’s Grand Preceptor, Chen Qing, and how he had tried to kill her. Suppressing a sob, she added, “Ah Dai disappeared right then! With such a terrifying lightning tribulation at the time… I’m afraid the worst might have happened.”
Hearing Yun Qingxue’s ordeal, Jin Lin felt a mix of shock, fury, and heartache.
When he first saw Xuexue crying, he had guessed she must have suffered some grievance. But he never imagined her journey to the beast tribe had been a brush with death! Though some time had passed, Jin Lin wished he could turn back time and appear by her side during that perilous moment.
What kind of monster was this human Grand Preceptor? How dare he bully his Xuexue and nearly take her life!
Hmph, the human race! Fine, very fine!!!
Jin Lin’s usually clear eyes blazed with fury.
“Jin Lin, I’m sorry!” Yun Qingxue’s voice was thick with guilt. “You trusted me enough to entrust Ah Dai, whom you raised since childhood, to me… but I ended up getting him killed…”
“Xuexue, don’t blame yourself!” Jin Lin suppressed his anger toward the unseen human Grand Preceptor, Chen Qing, and asked gently,
“After Ah Dai disappeared, did you ever try casting a summoning spell for him?”
“Summoning spell?” Yun Qingxue frowned, confused. “What spell?”
Jin Lin also frowned at her, puzzled. “Xuexue, you don’t know?”
“Know what?” Yun Qingxue was bewildered.
“After establishing a master-servant contract, the master can use an incantation to summon the contracted servant at any time. No matter where the servant is, as long as the master chants the summoning spell, the servant will instantly be transported to the master’s side.” After explaining, Jin Lin asked doubtfully, “Xuexue, didn’t I tell you this before?”
Yun Qingxue thought back and replied firmly, “No!”
If Jin Lin had mentioned it, she definitely wouldn’t have forgotten something so important!
Jin Lin blinked guiltily. Though Xuexue had recounted the dangerous situation in detail, he had a strong feeling that Ah Dai was fine!!!
Ah Dai was a sacred serpent, a treasure of the aquatic race. At two hundred years old, he would mature into a merman, and after a thousand years of cultivation, he could transform into a dragon! If anything had happened to Ah Dai, Jin Lin, as the Dragon King, would have sensed it. That was one reason he had allowed Ah Dai to accompany Xuexue in the first place.
If Xuexue ever faced grave danger, he could sense it through Ah Dai. Even if he couldn’t reach her immediately, he could command the nearest aquatic beings to assist her.
Jin Lin silently berated himself. Xuexue must have grieved over Ah Dai all this time. Had he lost his mind back then? How could he have forgotten to teach her the summoning spell for the master-servant contract?!
After saying “No,” Yun Qingxue lowered her gaze and fell silent. She wanted Jin Lin to teach her the summoning spell—she wanted to try calling Ah Dai back…
But given how dire the situation had been, she feared that even if she chanted the spell, Ah Dai wouldn’t return. If that happened, the last flicker of hope that Ah Dai might still be alive would be extinguished forever…
Her hands hung at her sides, clenching and unclenching, mirroring the turmoil in her heart as it wavered between hope and despair.
A dazzling radiance swirled around them. Jin Lin’s clear voice rang out in the space.
“Heaven and earth, vast and primal, the ruler guides the subject. By the name of the Aquatic King, I summon my sacred serpent, Ah Dai, to appear before me!”
As Jin Lin spoke, Yun Qingxue held her breath. Her eyes remained fixed on him, unblinking, her hands clenched tightly at her sides.
Would Ah Dai appear under Jin Lin’s royal summons?
Would Ah Dai… really come…?
The uncertain yet hopeful question echoed endlessly in Yun Qingxue’s mind, like a string pulled tauter and tauter.
The brilliant light swirled around Jin Lin.
*Thud!* The crisp sound of something falling—or perhaps the snap of that overstretched string. Yun Qingxue’s heart surged with overwhelming joy.
Within the dazzling radiance, as Jin Lin’s summoning chant ended, a faint purple serpent materialized out of thin air!
Yun Qingxue felt an indescribable joy of recovery wash over her heart.
Ah Dai had appeared! Ah Dai had truly been summoned by Jin Lin!!!
Ah Dai wasn’t dead!!!
Overcome by euphoria, she stood frozen, staring blankly at the serpent before her.
Ah Dai wriggled, sore from the fall, his beady eyes darting around. He remembered being beside Hua Yin just moments ago, but then an inexplicable force had yanked him to this unfamiliar place.
And that landing—it had hurt.
Suddenly, his tail was pinched, and his body was lifted into the air again.
Who dared mess with him? Didn’t they know he was venomous? One bite, and they’d regret it!!
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