Chapter 109
Mine's Recipestele stared at Felina with a small frown creasing her brow as she pondered something.
'Is that woman already dead? Why hasn't she called me? Or maybe she already did, but something blocked it? But what could it be?'
She was genuinely confused, then the crease on her forehead faded as she glanced at Tell, who was playing with Zuhen's cheek while he lay unconscious on the filthy white sofa.
"Hey, weird creature," she muttered rudely.
"Huh? What is it?" Tell asked to make sure, then suddenly realized something. "Eh, what did you just call me? Aren't you also a weird creature like me?" Tell immediately floated toward Mine's Recipestele with her tiny fist clenched tightly, ready to punch her.
The nameless Recipestele let out a sigh and said, "You, do you know where my Master is right now?"
'Being stuck with all of you until now makes me want to throw up, and I still haven't gotten that food again, ahhhhh damn it,' the Recipestele thought as she shut her eyes tightly, holding back tears because she missed Mine.
Watching the two of them argue for no clear reason, Felina looked at them helplessly before turning around and walking toward the empty room on the right side of the living room where they were staying, intending to retrieve something.
After gathering something disgusting to ordinary people, but to her it was valuable material, or more precisely, payment that could make the plan she'd prepared beforehand come true.
The corner of her lips curled upward, nearly forming a grin, as Felina turned around and carried out something wrapped inside a sack. Even though it was heavy, she still intended to do it herself.
The moment she arrived, their argument instantly stopped after hearing the whistling sound coming from the woman standing there while carrying something that produced a mouthwatering sound.
Felina smiled as she watched both of their mouths hang open while they floated toward her as if lunging.
"You two want this?" Felina smiled coldly as she spoke with the expression of someone in absolute control.
Drool slowly began dripping down their chins as both of them nodded and answered at the same time, "Of course I want it."
It was an animal bone.
"But this comes with a price, you know?" Felina muttered teasingly while shaking the sack around, making the bones inside clatter against each other.
But the nameless Recipestele understood the hidden intention behind the way Felina was treating her. She turned her face away and said with a pout,
"Hmph, lowly human. What, are you planning to use me like a slave? Tch, impossible."
Tell stared at her in confusion. Then she glanced at Felina, who had begun untying the rope while holding back the drool gathering at the corner of her mouth with her tiny hand so it wouldn't drip.
The contents of the sack were fully exposed once Felina crushed the rope in her grasp until it turned to dust and vanished in an instant.
Felina lowered the sack while taking one of the bones, nearly five meters long, spotless white without dust, dirt, or even bloodstains.
The moment she saw it, the nameless Recipestele, who had previously acted unwilling despite clearly wanting it, immediately shot toward Felina and snatched the bone in an instant before gnawing on it while floating behind the closed door.
Tell clicked her tongue as she realized the bone being eaten by the Recipestele could satisfy the hunger she had endured for so long.
"Give me all those bones!"
"No," Felina answered as she began making the sack full of bones disappear through the Ten Symbols ritual.
Tell realized this was a rare opportunity because she hadn't eaten bones this plentiful and this good in a long time.
Swallowing hard, she realized there was no point fighting Felina because she knew perfectly well that Felina could reopen the ritual herself. Killing her? That would be a stupid act committed over mere bones. Tell never considered such a thing, and for the sake of her goal, she decided to agree to cooperate with Felina.
"Fine, fine," Tell said while sighing. "So, you're definitely ordering me to find that strange man and..."
Her sentence stopped midway as she remembered what Aaron Kwok had done, weakening the condition of her spiritual form and even diminishing her power, causing Zuhen to frequently fall into comas because she could no longer receive enough spiritual energy from him.
Tell clicked her tongue, unable to stop her trembling fingers, before her index finger pointed toward the sack filled with bones.
"You want this?" Felina smiled while suppressing her disgust as she lifted another bone.
Tell quickly wiped her mouth, nodded, and said, "Of course I do."
'Bones in this world are unbelievably delicious, completely different from the supernatural realm where I live,' Tell added as her entire body trembled from being unable to suppress her desire.
Then Felina tossed the bone toward her and simply let Tell leave while she walked calmly toward the single sofa beside the long couch where Zuhen lay like a corpse, yet still alive. Comatose.
Opportunities did not come twice, and when Tell saw the Recipestele occupied with her food while Felina was busy staring at Zuhen with a worried and restless expression, a wild idea instantly crossed her mind.
Tell floated toward the sack full of bones before pale blue light shimmered from her index finger, touching the sack.
And in an instant, the sack vanished, leaving only two thigh bones from the countless bones inside to fall onto the dirty floor.
She whistled, and the sound instantly made the Recipestele react, causing her to abruptly stare at Tell.
"What? Could it be you're unhappy because I took your share?" Tell asked loudly while floating arrogantly with an intense gaze directed toward her.
"Why would I be unhappy?" Tell immediately floated closer while playing around with the three bones floating under her control.
The nameless Recipestele froze in shock, her mouth tightly shut.
'What?'
"Hey, how did you get three bones at once?" Of course she refused to accept it, immediately thinking of protesting to Felina as she floated past Tell.
Then the actual truth slammed into her mind the moment she saw the sack gone and Felina sitting there while gently rubbing Zuhen's forehead.
'What just happened?' she thought in confusion before turning around.
"You... you're the one controlling those bones now?"
"Of course," Tell answered with a confident expression.
"Give me those bones, those bones are mine!" The Recipestele stretched out her tiny right hand with her palm opened wide.
"Yeah," Tell replied lazily, "I'll give you two bones, and if you want more, then help me find what that woman wants."
Her tiny finger pointed toward the round table holding a lantern, surrounded by a worn-out sofa set that was still comfortable enough to sit on for a long time.
Seeing the Recipestele listening seriously and standing there frozen, Tell quickly added,
"And also find your Master, who still can't summon you."
The nameless Recipestele sighed and said,
"Fine, I'll do it."
Tell smiled the moment she tossed the two bones over. Then she turned around and floated out of the house despite the snowstorm still raging outside, blanketing the world even though it was still daytime.
Elsewhere, in one of Karuoo's filthy alleys with roads and rooftops buried beneath thick snow, two women calmly walked through the street beneath a single umbrella while wearing thick fur-lined winter jackets and heavy winter boots.
While clearing paths through the deep snow, the two of them slowly voiced the thoughts they'd kept buried after spending so long searching for someone under his orders.
"Hey, Hana," Mine said while rubbing her nose as the freezing wind shot past so fiercely that it made her head numb.
"Should we just stop searching for that person?" Hana asked cautiously after seeing her friend's pale condition.
Even though the freezing wind howled violently together with the raging snowstorm, the murmurs and complaints of the people living along the roadside echoed through the streets, bouncing against one another until they merged into sharp, whispering noises.
Walking in weather this cold without proper warmth was no different from deliberately shutting down the body's internal organs.
Forced by the conditions, the two of them finally turned around as those constant murmurs irritated them, continuing to follow the snowy roads and dug-out pathways while deciding to head back. They intended to quickly find shelter somewhere warm and bathe in hot water before lying beneath thick blankets as medicine against the piercing cold.
Time seemed to move slowly as they walked with frozen knees that cracked with every step.
Feeling like there was no other choice, the two of them kept moving forward. Their destination was not far from the road they were walking on, and they could already see lights glowing from hundreds of meters away.
"Living in a situation like this, giving up is a terrible idea, Mine," Hana muttered, trying to encourage her friend even though her own physical condition had already reached its limit.
After enduring the piercing cold that stabbed through both their bodies and bones despite the thick clothing they wore, every step pushed their adrenaline to keep surviving, and the reward for their struggle finally arrived as they now sat on the cold floor before a heater stove with steady flames burning inside.
"This is insane, absolutely insane," Mine muttered while shivering beneath a thick blanket wrapped around her body.
Then she glanced to her right when a woman wearing thick clothing suited for weather like this approached her with a cup of warm tea to help warm her body.
"Thank you." Mine didn't know what else to say after accepting the cup with trembling hands.
That woman, the owner of the house who had offered them free shelter after hearing that Hana and Mine were victims of Moran's destruction, willingly gave them refuge from the freezing weather outside.
It was a lesson of compassion from the Goddess Yarandrela, whom the woman worshipped and whose teachings encouraged kindness toward people suffering through hardship, like a mother caring for her children.
To lighten the atmosphere, Mine slowly sipped the warm tea before glancing at the woman sitting there with a tray in her hands and relief in her eyes.
"Thank you for your kindness, Mrs. Stelyn," Mine said while looking at her with a sincere smile.
"Ah, don't think too much about it." The woman gestured casually before placing the tray atop the drawer beside her.
The warm and peaceful glow of the lamps made the room feel far more alive as the two of them chatted about the hardships weighing down their lives.
Even though the truth was bitter and they hid things from one another, both women still laughed while concealing deep sadness as the flames inside the fireplace flared wildly, almost as if reacting to their conversation.
Not long afterward, Hana entered the room after spending too much time borrowing the bathroom to urinate because lately she had been urinating frequently and assumed the cold weather was the cause.
"Sorry, am I interrupting your conversation?" Hana asked with a hesitant expression, though her heart carried deep seriousness as she looked toward Mine.
The woman turned her head and answered with a faint smile,
"Relax, don't be so stiff. Just treat this place like your own home."
"So, does that mean I can sell this house?" Mine suddenly interrupted with a quiet laugh.
Stelyn turned toward her with one eye closed and said, "Now that definitely isn't allowed." Her index finger wagged quickly from side to side.
The room instantly came alive as the three of them burst into loud laughter together. Meanwhile, from behind the hallway leading toward that room, Mrs. Stelyn's husband silently observed the movements of the two women who had suddenly arrived at his house, growing suspicious because both of their faces felt strangely familiar.