Chapter 29: I Have to Go Work TT…sob sob

Seeing her master fuming with anger, Mo Xiao scratched her head. It seemed she had never told Bai Yuan about the issue with that bottle of spirit ink.

“Yeah, that was a bottle of spirit ink. I just poured all of it out.”

Even though she knew this was partly her fault for not explaining beforehand, she still stood there with her hands on her hips, looking completely justified as she admitted it without hesitation.

“You—! How could you do that?! A single bottle of spirit ink costs a hundred feather coins! Custom-made ones can go up to three hundred! I… I… wuu…”

Bai Yuan wanted to scold this disobedient little dragon, but no words would come out. In the end, she could only puff her cheeks and start crying in frustration.

“Oh? How did the little book spirit manage to make her own master cry?”

You leaned against the kitchen doorway, clearly enjoying the chaos as she teased Mo Xiao.

“What’s it to you? Just go wash the dishes! You bruised-up little loser!”

Mo Xiao had already expected Bai Yuan to cry, so she only felt a bit of heartache—she wasn’t panicking.

But hearing You’s comment? That she couldn’t tolerate. She told you to wash dishes, not stand there and watch the show. She really had been too lenient—there was no authority at all.

“Heh~ Sounds like a certain little dragon wants to get beaten again.”

A faint smile appeared on You’s lips as she walked back into the kitchen. Either way, she could observe everything—standing at the door or not didn’t matter.

“Master, stop crying first. When have I ever done something that truly harmed you?”

Mo Xiao was quite experienced at coaxing Bai Yuan. Bai Yuan wasn’t an unreasonable child—no matter how angry she got, she would still listen.

“You have! Wuu—sniff—lifting my skirt, calling me stupid all the time—wuuuu!”

If she hadn’t said anything, it might’ve been fine. But now that she started, Bai Yuan cried even harder, as if pouring out all her accumulated grievances.

…Okay, that was true. But that didn’t count as harming her, right?

Mo Xiao chose not to argue. The more she spoke, the worse it might get. Actions were more reliable.

She stepped forward and gently hugged the crying Bai Yuan. Since she was shorter now, her head fit snugly against her master’s soft chest.

“Wah—let go of me! What are you trying to do now?!”

Bai Yuan froze for a moment, then hurriedly tried to push Mo Xiao away. But her strength was nowhere near enough—no matter how hard she tried, it didn’t work.

“Don’t move, Master. Just let me hold you for a bit. You’re not calm yet—once you are, I’ll explain.”

“Let go! Wuu! You pervert—lecherous dragon!”

Bai Yuan ignored her completely, struggling wildly. But it was useless.

In her anger, she even forgot to cry—her sadness gradually turned into fury.

Her hands stopped pushing Mo Xiao’s shoulders and instead went for a weaker target—pinching Mo Xiao’s small, delicate ears.

“Master, that really hurts. That bottle of spirit ink couldn’t be used. The shop owner isn’t a good person—there was poison in the ink she gave you as compensation. You wouldn’t want Mo Xiao to disappear, right?”

Even though she said it hurt, Mo Xiao’s voice remained calm as she explained the situation briefly.

“If… if Master really hates me that much, then it wouldn’t matter if I disappeared.”

Mo Xiao released her embrace. Bai Yuan should be calmer now—though she might still be angry.

But she believed Bai Yuan wasn’t unreasonable. And she definitely didn’t truly hate her—she had that much confidence.

“You can’t just say things like that without proof! Shopkeeper Yilian even compensated us with a lot of feather coins—how is she not a good person?”

Bai Yuan let go of Mo Xiao’s reddened ears. And what was that about “disappearing doesn’t matter”? Of course it mattered!

After spending these past few days together, she realized that although Mo Xiao spoke harshly, everything she did was for her sake—it was just that some methods were hard to accept.

She wouldn’t let Mo Xiao disappear over a single bottle of spirit ink.

After all, this was the only book spirit she would ever have.

“That woman hides knives behind her smile. The spirit ink is one piece of evidence—if I kept using it, I’d gradually fade and disappear. Of course, I’ve already poured it all out.

From now on, don’t buy anything from her shop. Those coins she gave you were probably just to make you lower your guard.”

This time, Mo Xiao didn’t speak aloud—her voice echoed directly in Bai Yuan’s mind.

She hadn’t forgotten about the person in the kitchen. The earlier part didn’t matter, but the rest didn’t need to be heard by You.

“Is that really true? Is there any ink left?”

Bai Yuan grabbed Mo Xiao’s hand and dragged her into the bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

In the kitchen, You wiped a cleaned plate. Reflected faintly on its surface were two small figures.

From the conversation just now, she more or less understood what had happened. That person had noticed the swapped spirit ink and tried to use the same trick again.

But this time, it had been discovered by that little dragon.

How strange.

With that person’s level of secrecy, being exposed like this was unusual.

There was definitely something odd about that little dragon. How could a mere book spirit resist its own creator?

Things were getting more and more interesting.

With a faint curl of her lips, You set the plate aside.

She didn’t need to listen to the rest.

Now, it was time to go find that person and have a little “fun.”

Meanwhile, inside the bedroom, neither Bai Yuan nor Mo Xiao noticed that You had already disappeared from the kitchen.

Bai Yuan was still interrogating her little dragon.

“You didn’t leave even a drop? How am I supposed to believe you?”

She had intended to check the ink, but after opening the bottle, she found it spotless—there wasn’t a trace left.

“Don’t worry about it too much, Master. Worst case, I’ll go work with you later. One bottle of spirit ink isn’t that expensive.”

Mo Xiao grinned sheepishly. She knew Bai Yuan worked part-time at a fruit shop in Wil City, mainly watching the store and occasionally moving stock.

“You? You’re too small—who would hire you? Under twelve counts as child labor. No one would take you.”

Bai Yuan seriously considered it, but no matter how she thought about it, it didn’t seem possible.

Though… now that she had a book spirit, maybe she could change jobs. That boss hadn’t treated her very well anyway.

“Uh, Master, I’m a book spirit. There are plenty of things for book spirits to do—like hunting, patrolling, gathering herbs, and so on.”

Mo Xiao realized her master was still thinking like an ordinary person.

“Master, you’re a Spirit Author now. There are many ways for Spirit Authors to earn money. You can also learn to make spirit ink yourself, or process spiritual materials.”

Mo Xiao wanted Bai Yuan to learn how to make spirit ink.

Relying on others for something like that was too dangerous—especially now that someone was targeting them. Even going to spirit material shops wasn’t safe anymore.

Traveling to other shops in Wil City would be far—and more expensive.

“Me? Can I really learn that? I heard becoming an ink artisan is really difficult. I… I don’t think I can. And we don’t have the money to learn right now…”

Bai Yuan hesitated, but didn’t reject the idea.

Now that she was a Spirit Author, there were more ways to earn money. And making spirit ink herself would indeed be better.

“It’s fine if Master’s a bit slow—I can learn too! The school library has beginner books, right? We can just go take a look and learn—wuu~”

Mo Xiao puffed out her modest chest confidently, her face full of pride.

That only annoyed Bai Yuan more. She immediately reached out and grabbed the little dragon’s cheeks.

“You called me stupid again! You’re the big idiot! That bottle cost three hundred feather coins—if you don’t earn it back for me, then from now on, you’re not allowed to sleep on the bed. And forget about hugging me!”

Blushing furiously, she stretched Mo Xiao’s cheeks while trying to look fierce—her mismatched eyes wide, baring her teeth in an exaggerated glare.