The squirrel floated lightly in the air and, using a tone filled with slight difficulty and effort, said to Snehwal— "Child… you completely ignored my words after hearing them."
Snehwal immediately understood— this matter was not going to end anytime soon.
His face wilted slightly. He thought to himself— "Who knows why… she only wants a dead body. Is this even some kind of cultivation…?"
But before the matter could proceed further, everyone looked toward her with respect.
"Thank you for saving our lives…" Lily said in a soft voice.
Master Jins and Liora also lowered their heads in agreement.
However, the squirrel flicked her tiny tail with a bored expression and said— "Forget all that."
Her tiny eyes suddenly swept across the surrounding forest.
"First, let us leave this place… this location is not suitable right now."
The forest spread around them was unusually silent.
The shadow of night hovered among the trees, and the whistling wind flowing through the leaves made that silence seem like a sign of some invisible surveillance.
Snehwal looked around. Dense darkness… towering trees… and an unfamiliar atmosphere.
A sweet kind of fear slowly began rising within him. Unknowingly— he quietly walked and stood behind Lily.
Morning—
At last, everyone arrived in Kankal City. The scene there was astonishingly peaceful and filled with quiet happiness. It felt like a city of the dead… or perhaps a place immersed in the deep sensation of collective meditation. There was no unnecessary noise in the streets. A slow stillness floated through the air, one that seemed to sink deep within the soul.
As soon as they entered the city— Lily suddenly grabbed Snehwal's hand.
"Come!" she said without warning and ran forward, pulling him along.
For a moment, Snehwal was startled. Then, a strange shyness and a light ticklish flutter rose within him. His heart unknowingly swelled with delight, and he continued being pulled along beside her.
Seeing this scene— both Master Jins and Liora's eyes widened slightly. Because the squirrel was also present there.
Running away like this in front of her neither seemed appropriate… nor was it something that should be done. But on the other hand— such behavior from a Yakshini who had been deprived of proper male spiritual nourishment for many days could not be considered entirely unusual either.
Just then— the squirrel lifted her nose slightly and said in a displeased tone—
"So, you ran away like this…? And that too while ignoring me? This is absolutely not proper."
She crossed her tiny hands over one another and made her face look stern before continuing, "I have some special matters to discuss with that child… and this child is running away like this. This is no different from trying to make me angry॥"
Hearing this, Master Jins jerked slightly. Both seriousness and hesitation appeared upon his face. Stammering, and blushing with an improper kind of fear, he said—
"S-Senior… please come with me. I will show you your room. You should rest as well… perhaps the journey was long… and you may be tired."
The squirrel let out a faint hiss.
"Tiredness…!"
Then she flicked her tiny tail and said, "Fine then. I will meet all of you this evening. And after that, I too will have to leave this place very soon."
Saying this, she walked behind Master Jins.
But the irony existed elsewhere. Liora remained standing there— looking in the same direction where Snehwal had gone.
Within her, emotions were colliding like fire and water. She was trying to force the heavy burden inside her heart upward and cast it away… but she could not succeed.
Watching the person she cherished together with someone else— her eyes became moist with that invisible water which no one could see.
Loneliness… guilt… and the fear of losing him— all of it gathered within her at once.
She felt herself to be at fault… and was being crushed beneath a burden of pain— a pain capable of drying the throat… and forcing a person to become a living corpse.
Morning rays in Kankal City were emitting momentary brilliance and a divinity-like energy governed by them, radiating beautiful beams that made the city shine like golden divinity.
News arose, and this news reached every merchant—or rather, it could be said that Luna, who appeared like a great and beautiful divine woman, had already developed this city into a strong center of trade through commerce, merchants, and her own influence. This matter passed through everyone's ears and eventually reached Luna—that Snehwal had arrived, or rather, that the new master of the entire city was presently within the city.
Hearing this— Luna's heartbeat fluttered with thump… thump… so intensely that it felt as though her heart would tear through her chest, leap out onto the ground, and loudly express the love she held for Snehwal—a love that had long yearned only for his sight.
Sitting within her room, she quietly brightened with a faint smile in her heart.