That’s right—it was none other than Fang Qian, the girl Bai Qiu had rescued during their previous encounter.
Judging by the voices, her older sister Fang Yi and Wang Lin were here as well.
No matter how hard Bai Qiu racked his brain, he couldn’t understand how the three of them had managed to get here ahead of him when not a single one of them was even above Level 30.
The twin sisters were one thing, but even Wang Lin, who relied on a wheelchair, had somehow made it all the way here.
From the stone forest where they had first met, past the volcano, the forest, the grasslands, and finally to this place, the journey spanned nearly nine hundred kilometers.
Along the way were dangers beyond counting—from venomous insects to ferocious beasts.
Yet Fang Qian’s silver hair remained as soft and lustrous as ever, and her fair skin wasn’t stained with even a speck of dust.
Compared to her, Bai Qiu looked far more travel-worn.
“Wow! It really is Big Brother Uncle!”
The moment Fang Qian saw Bai Qiu, she cried out in delight before jogging over to greet him.
Bai Qiu responded somewhat awkwardly.
When he saw the other two emerge from the bushes behind her, he finally lowered his guard completely.
After stepping out of the undergrowth, Wang Lin took her wheelchair out of her Storage Card, allowing Fang Yi to gently set her down.
The three girls all looked at Bai Qiu with unconcealed curiosity.
“You three…”
Bai Qiu swept his gaze over them with his Appraisal skill.
Discovering that their levels had barely changed since four days ago, he immediately frowned.
“How did you manage to get all the way here at your levels? Around here, even ordinary wild beasts are over Level 40. This place is extremely dangerous for you!”
His tone turned stern.
Even Bai Qiu himself had to remain on constant alert in this region.
Yet these three little girls, all barely in their twenties level-wise, had somehow ventured into territory dominated by Level 40 monsters.
Although he had no idea how they’d gotten here…
The three exchanged glances.
In the end, Fang Qian—the most outgoing of the trio—was the one who stepped forward to explain everything.
“Well, Big Brother Uncle, the afternoon after you left, we…”
Just as she was about to begin, Bai Qiu suddenly pressed a hand lightly against her abdomen.
A gentle gust of wind carried her backward, depositing her beside Fang Yi and Wang Lin.
“Eek…”
“Screee!”
“So it really was you!”
Three voices rang out simultaneously.
The veins on Bai Qiu’s forehead bulged as mana surged through his body like a raging flood.
In an instant, he raised the Heaven-Earth Shattering Bow and released a Crystal Silver Arrow.
Boom!
A deafening explosion erupted.
The Crystal Silver Arrow collided head-on with a Sky Cannon fired by the Skyvault Silver Falcon.
The violent energies clashed, erupted outward, and ultimately canceled each other out.
Without hesitation, Bai Qiu drew a Radiant Star Silver Arrow.
He simultaneously activated Mana Manipulation, Mana Release, and Wind Control, enchanting the arrow in a single instant while locking onto the circling, shrieking Skyvault Silver Falcon.
Immense physical strength exploded from within his body as he drew the bowstring to its absolute limit before releasing.
The force behind the draw alone was overwhelming.
A fierce gale roared across the mountaintop.
Centered on Bai Qiu, dust and gravel were blasted into the air in every direction.
The three girls had never witnessed anything like it.
Had Wang Lin not immediately erected a protective barrier, their slender bodies would probably have been blown away by the shockwave.
“Big Brother Uncle, don’t fight! It’s—”
Before Fang Qian could finish speaking, Bai Qiu’s arrow grazed past the Skyvault Silver Falcon and continued for several more kilometers before striking a distant mountain peak.
The Radiant Star Silver Arrow embedded deep into the mountainside.
Then— It exploded.
Unmatched destructive power erupted outward, blasting the entire summit clean off the mountain.
A vast cloud of shattered rock and dust billowed into the sky, so massive that it threatened to drift all the way to where they stood.
Bai Qiu’s eyes burned with anger.
If he had wanted to, he could have detonated the Radiant Star Silver Arrow the moment it passed the Skyvault Silver Falcon, killing it instantly.
But the distance had simply been too short.
Had the explosion occurred that close, even he wouldn’t have escaped unscathed.
The three children would have stood no chance at all.
“…What terrifying power…”
Wang Lin stared blankly at the scene before her.
“Can such destructive force really be unleashed by human arms?”
Everything unfolding before her felt almost unreal.
Breaking free from Fang Yi’s grasp, Fang Qian unexpectedly rushed out from the protection of the barrier and sprinted toward Bai Qiu.
“A Qian, don’t go!”
Caught completely off guard, Fang Yi had relaxed for only a brief moment before her younger sister slipped free and ran off.
Watching the girl charge toward him without hesitation, Bai Qiu could only suppress his aura for the time being.
His eyes remained locked firmly on the Skyvault Silver Falcon while his free hand produced a fist-sized gemstone.
It was the Brilliant Star.
As long as the falcon dared to attack, he would immediately consume one Brilliant Star to block its assault before going all out to kill it.
It was the only way he could think of to ensure everyone present survived unharmed.
However, the Skyvault Silver Falcon seemed unusually concerned about Fang Qian standing beside Bai Qiu.
Instead of attacking, it merely circled overhead while repeatedly crying out.
Bai Qiu immediately noticed this peculiar behavior.
“Big Brother Uncle, don’t fight Mama Bird! She’s a good person… um, I mean, she’s a good bird!”
Fang Qian ran over and hugged the arm with which Bai Qiu was holding his bow.
Fang Qian threw her entire soft, slight body weight onto Bai Qiu’s arm.
Yet the arm holding the bow didn’t sink even the slightest bit.
Instead, she ended up hanging slightly off the ground, suspended by the arm she was clinging to.
It was hardly surprising.
The Heaven-Earth Shattering Bow itself weighed 1,500 kilograms.
Even if Fang Qian weighed close to fifty kilograms, she was insignificant by comparison.
To put it bluntly, even a single bowstring of the Heaven-Earth Shattering Bow probably weighed more than she did.
“What exactly is going on?”
Supporting Fang Qian with one arm, Bai Qiu slowly retreated until he stood beside Wang Lin and Fang Yi.
His gaze never left the Skyvault Silver Falcon overhead, though he refrained from launching another attack.
Originally, after his first shot had failed to finish it, he had intended to switch to the Star Iron Armor-Piercing Arrow.
But the situation seemed to be unfolding in a way that completely exceeded his expectations.
…
“What? You’re saying you happened to find it after it crashed to the ground with serious injuries, healed it, and then all three of you were mistaken for its chicks and taken back to its nest?”
The corner of Bai Qiu’s eye twitched as he spoke, utterly speechless.
A critically wounded field boss… shouldn’t the normal reaction be to finish it off for loot and materials? Who would heal it instead…?
Fang Yi had one arm wrapped tightly around Fang Qian’s waist to keep her from running off again, while her other hand pinched her sister’s chubby cheeks as she administered a proper lesson in sisterly discipline.
That left the idle Wang Lin to explain everything to Bai Qiu.
After hearing the whole story, Bai Qiu couldn’t help feeling both amused and exasperated.
According to Wang Lin, they had already tried escaping more than a dozen times.
Every attempt ended the same way.
Either they ran into dangerous monsters and were forced to retreat, or the Skyvault Silver Falcon found them and carried them back to the nest.
The falcon also brought them fresh meat and fruit every day, making them stay together with its own chick.
Based on Wang Lin’s speculation, the reason for this special treatment was probably because Fang Yi and Fang Qian were silver-haired twins, whose hair color closely resembled the plumage of the falcon’s chick.
Just as Wang Lin had described, throughout this entire exchange the Skyvault Silver Falcon merely circled the mountain while crying out repeatedly.
It never once made a proactive move to attack.
A short while later, another Skyvault Silver Falcon—considerably larger than the first—flew over.
Its sharp eyes locked onto Bai Qiu.
It landed on the opposite side of the mountain peak, facing him in silent confrontation.
The smaller Skyvault Silver Falcon, which had been too frightened to approach and had only circled overhead until now, finally gathered its courage.
It landed beside the larger one on the opposite side of the peak as well, letting out mournful cries in Bai Qiu’s direction.
Why do I keep running into couples lately…?
Bai Qiu was at a complete loss for words.
First it had been the Lava Dragons.
Now it was the Skyvault Silver Falcons.
Every powerful monster he encountered seemed to come in pairs.
— The end of the Chapter–
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