CHAPTER 1336: CHAPTER 1337: THE PAST

Following the woman into the manor and arriving at a room on the second floor, everyone was surprised to find that, unlike other areas thick with dust, this room was cleaned quite meticulously. It seemed the woman visited frequently, or so they speculated silently.

Placing the small frost flower down, she smiled at Queen Hua Xiao and said,

"Keter will suffice here. You go on with your affairs. I’ll be fine."

After hesitating for a moment, Queen Hua Xiao glanced at Agunas and the others before turning to leave. Once she did, the middle-aged woman smiled slightly and said,

"Let me introduce myself: I’m Anna Kolot, the mistress of this manor. Every time Mary visits, she waters these flowers. If she doesn’t, they’ll feel uncomfortable. You must be visitors from elsewhere, right?"

"Uh, well... Sorry, I thought this place was completely abandoned. I didn’t expect..."

Scratching his head, Feng Yuan glanced at her sheepishly, knowing full well they had technically trespassed. The woman chuckled softly, took a seat, and said,

"You’re not the first group of explorers to come here; however, you’re the first to notice them."

Looking at the small frost flowers, Anna remarked gently. Many curious explorers had previously climbed over the walls to investigate; some even picked locks. Those individuals, she’d directly apprehend and send to the checkpoint at the base of the mountain. Climbing walls might be forgivable, as they at least showed some reverence for the place’s owner—but picking locks and breaking doors? Ha! Did they really think this place was unowned?

"Hehe, pure coincidence. I just wanted to see why this hot spring was abandoned, but... Why did you stop running this manor?"

Feng Yuan scratched his head in curiosity and looked at Anna. She smiled and replied,

"Because of them—they dislike interacting with humans, and so I’ve made this choice."

"Hmm, the underground pump room shouldn’t get much visitor traffic, right? If you opened a passageway down there, perhaps..."

"It wouldn’t work. The constant coming and going of people isn’t ideal for them. If it were merely occasional acquaintances, that would be a different story."

Gently tapping a small frost flower that had darted in front of her, Anna seemingly fell into reminiscence as she spoke. The little frost flowers gathered around Anna, flitting back and forth. The White Ape Warrior couldn’t resist picking them up and carrying them to the side to feed them some food retrieved from the cabinet. Watching the lively frost flowers, Anna smiled and said,

"They once saved us, so..."

Scrutinizing the frost flowers, Feng Yuan grew skeptical. After all, the individuals involved weren’t ordinary—whether Queen Hua Xiao or the White Ape Warrior, their strength was Legendary Level. How had the Common Level frost flowers managed to save them?

Swishing his tail, Agunas looked questioningly at Anna before floating over to the frost flowers to inquire. Unfortunately, he couldn’t glean any useful information from them. Undeterred, Agunas turned toward the White Ape Warrior.

Noticing Feng Yuan’s curiosity, Anna smiled faintly and explained,

"Strictly speaking, they saved our child. Originally, we operated this hot spring manor as a comfortable place for our family to stay during winter skiing trips. However, perhaps due to its favorable location, the manor became incredibly busy during the winter season."

"Every winter, the manor was packed with guests. As for them—they appeared years before the incident, arriving at the pump room. When staff reported strange noises coming from the pump room, we found it peculiar. After investigating thoroughly, we discovered them—these tiny creatures."

Watching the frost flowers as they ate, Anna smiled knowingly and continued,

"My husband and I both grew fond of them. We understood their unique requirements for their living environment, so we sectioned off a small area in the pump room and made a pool for them."

"At the time, water pumped up from the room was divided into two streams—one flowed into their pool, and the other into the hot spring basin. Perhaps due to the comfort of the setup, they decided to stay and never left."

"Then, a few years later, during another blizzard like this one, an incident occurred. Sam had an argument with his father, stormed out of the manor in anger, and disappeared. I was too preoccupied with managing guest affairs to notice. By the time we realized, Sam was nowhere to be found..."

At this point, Anna’s expression darkened with lingering fear. After a long pause, she resumed,

"When I learned what had happened and wanted to search for him, it was already too late—Sam’s trail was gone. That night, my husband and I searched tirelessly across Honite Snow Mountain. Yet, amidst the blizzard, finding someone seemed impossible."

"It was at our moment of despair that it appeared. We couldn’t understand what it wanted, and Loto almost lashed out at it. Luckily, Keter was there. Although Keter couldn’t explain the situation completely, his gestures made me realize that it might know where Sam was."

"Eventually, under its guidance, we found Sam in the Crystal Cave. Oh, poor Sam! Huddled in a corner of the cave, they had been using their cold absorption Ultimate Move to keep him from freezing."

Telling this part, Anna brushed away a tear. Although so much time had passed, the incident still haunted her. If it weren’t for them, she’d never see Sam again. As for why the frost flowers used their cold absorption Ultimate Move,

This, Feng Yuan could understand. The frost flowers relied on this move to nurture the tiny ice crystals atop their heads. By absorbing cold air, they slightly raised the surrounding temperature. Why didn’t they create fireballs like Agunas? Well, sorry, as single-water-element Spirit Beasts living in snowy terrain, it would be bizarre for them to generate fire.

"So, you left the manor to them? But, didn’t you have any reason to keep it running?"

Scratching his head, Feng Yuan asked incredulously. Anna shook her head and replied,

"After that incident, my husband never said it outright, but deep down, he formed a rejection to this place. We built the manor mainly as a cozy spot for our family during skiing trips. After what happened, Loto no longer wanted to deal with the manor, and Sam refused to come back either. Relying on me alone to run this place was too challenging, and, frankly, I found it meaningless."

"At one point, we considered converting the manor entirely into a sanctuary for them. But they feared strangers. Moreover, if we didn’t return here regularly, I feared something terrible might happen."

"We only wanted them to live happily in this environment, not be exploited by someone pretending to care for them someday. So, we sabotaged the pump room, pretending the hot spring had dried up, and abandoned the manor altogether."

Watching the frost flowers darting playfully around the room, Anna added,

"Looking at it now, it seems like this was the right choice. At the very least, they seem to love this environment."

Swishing his tail, Agunas remained silent. If someone managed to ’deceive’ them, it likely meant that person genuinely cared during the time they were looking after them—a concept Agunas found more reassuring than deceitful. Nonetheless, it was only his perspective. Perhaps Anna perceived it differently.

"Still, even so, can you truly say they live better lives now? If you really want to repay them, shouldn’t you at least arrange periodic cleaning for the manor or something? Besides, you’re of considerable status, aren’t you? Just spend some money and ask nearby patrol officers to keep an eye out—it wouldn’t be too much trouble."

Feng Yuan looked at Anna, puzzled. She froze for a moment before murmuring softly,

"It seems, this..."

"For wild Spirit Beasts, as long as the environment is unsuitable, they’ll leave on their own. Trying to recreate their original conditions—what’s the point?"

Looking at Anna’s expression, Feng Yuan helplessly remarked. Her idea of doing what was best for the frost flowers seemed, in his view, entirely subjective. Bowing her head, Anna fell into silent contemplation. Qi Chen nudged Feng Yuan to prompt him to stop talking. Shaking his head, Feng Yuan chuckled wryly and said,

"Ultimately, I was only making a suggestion. Um, you wouldn’t mind if we looked around a bit, would you?"

After a long pause, Anna replied softly,

"Go ahead. Let me... just be alone and reflect."

Seeing Anna’s demeanor, Qi Chen looked at Feng Yuan uneasily. Shaking his head again, Feng Yuan opted to say nothing. Anna simply needed time to ponder things clearly, and he believed she wasn’t someone who would stubbornly cling to a narrow mindset.