The Snowball Beast was scared out of its wits.
After overhearing the conversation between these few people, it finally realized with a dawning horror that behind them was hidden a true Big Boss whose strength was unfathomable.
Those few wisps of malevolent energy earlier had been more than enough to deal with, but if it was actually sent before that Big Boss, it would end up in real trouble!
However, that young man acted without any hesitation—no sooner had his suggestion landed than the next instant, the beast was swept up by the malevolent energy, lifted into the air, and flung straight toward the position of the grand ship.
"Oh dear!"
Its round body thudded heavily onto the deck, tumbling and rolling several times. The cloak draped over it came loose, and the mask on its face flew off, but the paper crown stuck to its head remained surprisingly firm, not budging an inch.
Holding its head, the Snowball Beast rolled and rolled until it came to a stop right at a pair of embroidered cloth shoes.
Just as it was about to touch the shoe’s surface, its body suddenly stopped mid-roll, frozen in place.
The person wore their clothes extremely casually, not even bothering to slip their feet fully into the shoes, simply shuffling along. As expected of a Big Boss, just this way of wearing shoes already commanded an air of authority.
Faintly, a delicate, clear floral fragrance drifted over. The Snowball Beast’s entire body trembled—the Big Boss’s scent was certainly not to be underestimated; it might be some kind of mind-clouding poison!
It trembled even harder.
"Are you the pirate leader?"
A sweet, soft voice suddenly came from above, gentle as marshmallow melting into hot tea.
"Why are you staring at my feet? Lift your head up." The voice paused, tinged with curiosity, "Don’t be afraid. Even though you look like a giant rice dumpling, I’m not going to eat you."
The Snowball Beast shivered even more violently—boohoo, this kind of softly spoken Big Boss was the most ruthless!
But it dared not disobey, so it reluctantly lifted its head and met a pair of clear, round, big eyes.
The moment those eyes caught sight of it, they seemed to brighten slightly.
The Big Boss suddenly crouched down, and there was even a hint of excitement in her voice, as if meeting an old friend in a distant land: "Lord Snow King!?"
"H-how do you know my identity?" the Snowball Beast stammered, its tongue tied. Had its fame spread this far that even this deep and unfathomable Big Boss recognized it?
"Have you, sir, ever heard of a place called Honey-Something City?"
The Snowball Beast blinked. Oh no, oh no—was this some kind of code identification?
Honey-Something City? Honey Juice City? Honey Sugar City? Honey Preserve City?
A thousand place names with the word "honey" flashed wildly through its mind, none of them matching.
It was over, completely over.
If it couldn’t match the code, it was surely doomed!
But it came from Youquan Town, living in the Snow Ice Cave within the town.
Thinking it over, it had no choice but to hedge its bets and stammered, "Snow... Ice..."
Before the word "cave" could even leave its mouth—
"Right, right, right!" The Big Boss was so excited she nearly jumped. "That’s what I thought! With that build and that crown, you absolutely are the Snow King himself!"
"Boo hoo hoo, a family member! I haven’t had an Icy Fresh Lemonade in forever!"
The Snowball Beast stared at her blankly, its mind still buzzing.
Everyone was stunned, utterly bewildered by Chai Xiaomi’s uncharacteristic behavior.
Only Wu Li stepped forward and kicked the Snowball Beast further away with his foot.
He stared at the water gathering quickly in Chai Xiaomi’s eyes, the faint shimmer spinning in her gaze, and for a moment felt an indescribable panic. He reached out and took her hand, his voice carrying a rare urgency: "What water? Where is it? If you want it, I’ll go get it for you right now."
He could clearly see genuine sorrow in her eyes.
That sadness was complex, like looking toward something very, very far away, like longing for something she couldn’t reach. Besides longing, there were many other things he couldn’t understand, sinking into the depths of her eyes, unresolvable.
This expression suddenly filled him with fear.
Fear he had never felt before.
Prior to this, he had never experienced such a feeling toward anything—especially when she shook her head gently and answered softly, "There isn’t any. It’s not here."
Here...
Did this only refer to this ship, this sea, or... this entire world?
This little episode didn’t weigh on the minds of the others.
The Snowball Beast was escorted back to its room, and White Cat began interrogating it about why it had launched a surprise attack on the sea. Though it didn’t cause real harm to anyone on the ship, it had at least sparked panic.
The Snowball Beast adjusted the crown on its head and the flower stuck beside it, sniffling as it began to speak: "It’s all because you people have no respect for Youquan Town!"
"In Youquan Town, there’s a custom: every household builds small snowmen in front of their doors during festivals, symbolizing good luck and prosperity."
"But you noble families who come here on grand ships, under the guise of enjoying scenery and composing poetry, often kick over and knock down those snowmen for fun."
"During the day, we’re just motionless snowmen. Only at night can we turn into mobile Snowball Beasts." It grew more aggrieved as it spoke. "We can only watch helplessly as our companions shatter before our eyes—and see the children who built us bawling their eyes out."
Hearing this, the Snowball Beast became deeply upset, its round body trembling.
"So at night, we secretly steal the boats from the town docks, disguise ourselves as pirates, and scare off every pleasure boat that comes to enjoy the sights!"
White Cat paused, suddenly remembering something: "No wonder there are often rumors outside that Youquan Town is haunted with evil spirits—could that have been your doing too?"
The Snowball Beast was unabashed: "Yes! At night, we often dress up as ghosts to scare sleeping travelers in the inns, so we can chase them out of Youquan Town as fast as possible!"
"Those really are despicable actions; scaring them is only proper." Song Yueyao chimed in.
The Snowball Beast’s eyes lit up, and it nodded excitedly at her—finally, someone understood them!
Then Song Yueyao continued, "But have you ever considered why, when the snowmen in front of their doors—symbols of good luck—are knocked over, the homeowners never confront these people?"
The Snowball Beast was taken aback.
"Some people with itchy hands and feet are certainly detestable, but you can’t lump everyone together with one stroke." Her tone was calm.
"Particularly since Youquan Town is a sea island, far poorer and more backward than the other cities in Liangya Prefecture. Its only source of income is travelers coming here to spend money. If you scare away all the visitors at once, what will the people who created you live on?"
Chai Xiaomi nodded frantically beside her, her gaze at Song Yueyao filled with admiration.
She was a sentimentalist, easily carried away by her emotions, often overlooking the essence of things. But Song Yueyao was different—she could always keep a level head and see straight to the root of the problem. "Sister Yao is right."
She turned to the Snowball Beast: "When food and clothing become a struggle, who has the heart to build snowmen and pray for blessings? Aren’t you digging your own grave?"
The Snowball Beast hung its head, its round body shrinking as it muttered softly, "...We never thought about that."
It looked up, and something seemed to glisten in its eyes: "So... did we do something wrong?"
