Chapter 218: Cautious Hero

Chapter 218: Chapter 218: Cautious Hero

This was, without a doubt, the simplest set of ingredients Lu Wu had ever needed for her stall.

Fine sugar, natural coloring, and bamboo sticks—that was everything she needed.

With no customers to be found, Lu Wu felt no desire to get to work.

Lying on the beach with her head pillowed on Mimi’s belly, listening to the sound of the waves, Lu Wu began to drift off.

...

In the sky above a deserted island not far from Lu Wu, a meteor streaked past, and a figure appeared on the island.

It was a young man.

"Phew, no one’s here."

The man muttered to himself after sensing no other human presence.

"This assessment is so strict. They won’t even let us use One World Communication. Are they that afraid of cheating?"

"This place is huge. How am I supposed to find some Rainbow Stone? Who knows if the darn thing is on land or at the bottom of the ocean."

"This won’t do. I need to be more careful."

His name was Ye Chi, a disciple of the Rainbow Gate sect. He was currently taking the assessment for new disciples of his generation.

Several hundred other disciples just like him had been randomly dropped into this sea region. The assessment had already begun.

Passing the assessment was simple: find a Rainbow Stone.

Legend had it that the Rainbow Stone was the very foundation upon which the Rainbow Gate sect was built. But the stone was sentient, making it incredibly hard to find—it all came down to luck.

The only other way to pass was to survive for seven days without being eliminated.

That’s right—in this assessment, the sect’s disciples were competing against each other.

As for Ye Chi, his aptitude was mediocre. He had barely scraped by the entrance standards. In the shadow of all the brilliant geniuses and prodigies, his own progress had been average at best.

So Ye Chi, not being blessed with great luck, planned to simply hunker down and survive the seven days.

’If I can’t beat them, I can at least hide from them, right?’

’Be the cautious hero. Hunker down and carve out my own victory.’

"This place isn’t bad."

Surveying the island, Ye Chi decided he would dig a hole to hide in right here.

And he got right to it.

By the time he finished setting up his hiding place, it was already late into the night.

He stretched his back, casually glanced out at the sea, and suddenly spotted a flicker of fire in the distance.

’Someone’s there?’

Ye Chi’s spine stiffened.

’Has someone already found me? No, wait... that light seems fixed in place. It isn’t moving. I probably haven’t been discovered yet.’

’But aren’t they afraid of giving away their position?’

’Or are they just that skilled, and therefore fearless?’

Ye Chi speculated, but he had absolutely no intention of going to investigate.

As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. And he, for one, wanted to live.

The "expert," Lu Wu, was pouring fine sugar into a machine. The appointed hour had arrived. Even without customers, it was time for her to start work.

The Glazed Fire activated. The machine was already preheated, and the sugar began to melt.

Centrifugal force spun out threads of white sugar.

With quick eyes and nimble hands, Lu Wu caught them on a bamboo stick and began to twirl it, on and on.

The only part of making cotton candy that required any real skill was gathering the sugar floss. The delicate strands floated about erratically; if one wasn’t careful, they would drift away or clump together.

Winding it into the proper shape took a bit of practice.

With a skillful flick of her wrist, Lu Wu spun the bamboo stick. It twisted and turned, quickly gathering the sugar floss, and a white poof began to take shape in her hands.

The fluffy ball still held the warmth of the fire. The resulting piece of cotton candy, the size of a washbasin, looked soft and billowy.

In the moonlight, you could see the delicate gaps within its structure.

The air filled with the sweet aroma of sugar, like melted winter sunshine.

A deep breath brought a faint hint of caramel into her nose—warm and clean.

A night breeze swept past the ends of Lu Wu’s hair, scattering the stray wisps of sugar floss into the air. Like willow catkins taking flight on the wind, the sight was beautiful and dreamlike.

Lu Wu plucked off a small piece and tasted it, her eyes closing in bliss.

The fresh cotton candy was still warm. It melted in her mouth like a cloud, but what surprised Lu Wu most was its sweetness.

It wasn’t cloying at all. Instead, it was as if a thousand silken threads of flavor were tantalizing her taste buds, urging her to take another bite.

The floss was delicate. Despite its impressive size, it was practically weightless in her hand.

It had a delicate, feathery texture. Before she could even register the shape of the floss on her tongue, the cotton candy dissolved in the warmth of her mouth, leaving behind a pure sweetness that lingered.

’Mm, this is my dream candy.’

Lu Wu gave herself a perfect ten.

"WOOF! WOOF!"

’It smells so good! Doggy wants some!’

Gou Aotian wagged his tail, circling Lu Wu again and again. His big tongue lolled out, drool practically forming a waterfall. He was desperate for a bite.

Since turning into a cat, Mimi’s personality had become just as proud and standoffish.

He didn’t say a word. He simply lay in Lu Wu’s arms, his tail sweeping back and forth across her wrist—a ticklish, unspoken plea.

His feline pupils had narrowed to slits, locked onto the cotton candy.

Huohuo had already landed on Lu Wu’s head.

As it happened, Lu Wu was holding the cotton candy at just the right height. Huohuo only needed to dip her head a little to reach it.

’Faced with such a delicacy, a bird simply cannot resist.’

"CHIRP!"

’Just a little taste,’

Huohuo thought, dipping her head to pluck a small piece of cotton candy with her beak.

The pure, sweet flavor sent the little bird into a state of bliss.

But the piece she had taken was too small. It dissolved the moment it touched her tongue, leaving Huohuo feeling utterly bereft.

’Birdie wants more. Just a little more.’

’Peck!’

This time, Huohuo was a little bolder, and the piece she snatched was much bigger.

She glanced down at Lu Wu. Seeing that her master hadn’t noticed her pilfering, her tail feathers bobbed up happily.

’So yummy! So sweet!’

The sweetness seeped deep into her heart, bringing a fleeting memory to Huohuo’s mind: her first crush from a past life, another bird.

’Not enough. Birdie needs more.’

Having gotten away with it twice, Huohuo grew bolder still.

She stood on Lu Wu’s head, her claws gentle, but she stretched her neck out long. Finding her moment, she struck again, this time making off with a piece of cotton candy as big as a fist.

Huohuo let out a low, happy chirp.

’Birdie is the best.’

In truth, Lu Wu, who had seen everything out of the corner of her eye, was smiling.

"Is it good?"

Lu Wu suddenly asked.

"CHIRP!"

Delicious.

Huohuo blurted it out, but the moment she did, she knew she’d been caught.

With a bit of cotton candy still on her claws, Huohuo’s little bead-like eyes darted around in visible panic. Her mouth, however, didn’t stop moving as she continued to stuff her face.

’Got to finish eating before the scolding starts.’

Lu Wu plucked Huohuo from her head. Seeing the little red bird dotted with white sugar floss, she couldn’t help but chuckle.

"It’s not like I wasn’t going to let you have some."

She divided the rest of the cotton candy into three portions and fed it to her three little companions.

"MEOW!"

’Master, you’re the best.’

Mimi savored the treat from Lu Wu’s hand, eating with great care.

With a single lick, the barbs on his tongue easily scraped away a layer.

Sweets put a cat in a good mood.

Mimi’s tail began to sway lazily.

As for Dahuang, his approach was much less refined.

With a single swipe of his massive tongue, he slurped the entire palm-sized portion into his mouth.

His jaws snapped shut, crushing the cotton candy into a thin, sugary film.

The excited Gou Aotian felt the cotton candy instantly dissolve into a rush of sugar water that flowed down his throat.

SMACK, SMACK.

Gou Aotian smacked his lips, savoring the taste. But when he saw the other two slowly savoring their portions, his expression immediately became one of utter grievance.

"WOOF!"

’Master, doggy wants more.’

A thought flashed through Lu Wu’s mind as she watched this scene with a smile.

’Perhaps... I know how to complete this task after all.’