Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 181 Battle on a Snowy Night

Violet withdrew her gaze. "So you've dumped my stupid little brother, Vioas?"

“No, I’m playing both sides,” Catherine replied, her face beaming with undisguised smugness.

Zijin immediately rolled up her sleeves, feeling that the person in front of her still needed to be taught a lesson.

Su Ming quickly stopped her, "Don't interrupt her—keep going with Chloe's part."

"That's easy. Chloe was the former queen of Charlico, and she faked her death."

"If you can tell that Chloe is faking her death, how could King Shariko not know?" Su Ming didn't understand. How could an emperor let his wife run away like that?

"Queen Chloe ran away with the egg," Catherine added.

"What does 'egg' mean—" Su Ming didn't quite understand the word "egg," ""running away with a baby?"

Catherine shook her head. "Literally, she laid an egg and then ran away with it."

This sentence contained so much information that even Su Ming's not-too-slow-witted mind was stuck for quite a while.

Queen Chloe should be a member of the Teya native race, also known as the Feathered Race. She and Shariko couldn't possibly have a child; it must be an extramarital affair—Su Ming analyzed bit by bit on his fingers, but these two "people" shouldn't have gotten married in the first place!
"No, all of you combined wouldn't even form a normal person with a romantic mindset!" Su Ming felt that this otherworldly gossip was unbearable to listen to; there wasn't a single thing worth talking about.

“The imperial court,” Zijin said, “is so chaotic that even novels can’t imagine it.”

****
Hansster restarted the Youth Civilization train, and the carriages began to sway again.

Catherine was thirsty, so she got out of bed to pour herself some tea. As she passed by, she reached out to grab the peanuts in front of the scholar, but was stopped by Violet.

After shooing Catherine away, Violet patiently peeled a peanut. She crushed it into powder with her fingers and then held it to the little dumpling's mouth. Su Ming grabbed her fingers, "What are you doing?"

"Feed him!" Violet asked, puzzled. "Can this child get enough to eat just by drinking milk?"

"No, no, no, a one-month-old baby only drinks milk!" Su Ming confirmed. "You've experienced growing up from a human infant, haven't you?"

“Yes,” Zijin recalled. “I used a spoon to eat the dry milk powder by myself, and then I drank water from a cup. I like to eat peanuts, but since I don’t have teeth, I crushed them before eating.”

Su Ming's eyes widened in shock. "How does Atia take care of a baby?"

“She was very busy,” Violet replied. “Back then, I could barely control two forms at the same time. I raised Elisa using the Bone Dragon.”

Su Ming had no idea what he was feeling. Before he even realized it, his hand was already stroking the girl's head.

The scholar, holding a peanut, gave her a questioning look. "Is there something on my head?"

Su Ming quickly withdrew his hand without saying a word, which made Zi Jin even more puzzled.

When Catherine returned, she saw this scene and scratched her head in confusion.

"Can I wash my hair here?" she asked Violet. "My hair is all tangled."

"You may use my bathroom for a moment." The girl summoned her skeletal servant and had it take Catherine there.

When Catherine entered Violet's room, she saw a large bed placed side by side, along with personal belongings that clearly belonged to two people.

They still won't admit they're a couple?! She cursed inwardly, "This is ridiculous."

****
Catherine washed her hair and dried herself off. Violet lent her one of her own pajamas, but unsurprisingly, she couldn't fit into it.

"Human women who are breastfeeding have much larger breasts," the scholar pointed out, explaining the reason for the problem.

“What about your academic ethics!” Catherine corrected. “The reason your clothes are too small is because you don’t—no, wait.” She suddenly poked the girl’s chest. “You’ve improved quite a bit, haven’t you?”

Zijin slapped her hand away and had the skeleton servant bring over a set of Su Ming's pajamas, a neutral bluish-gray.

“You’ve changed so much since school.” Catherine took the pajamas and put them on, rolling up the long sleeves and pant legs. “You look so much better, and your personality is more human now.”

“You’re still as annoying as ever, making people want to mess with you just by looking at you,” Violet replied.

Catherine rummaged through the violet dressing case for hair clips, but couldn't find any suitable ones. She soon spotted a small box on the shelf containing a silk hair tie with a crystal orchid pendant, its exquisite craftsmanship surpassing even her current royal possessions.

"You actually have something like this!" Catherine was very surprised. At least Violet now uses a bone staff to tie her hair up; before, she would just use tree branches and chopsticks haphazardly.

"If you touch it, your hand will be gone," Violet stated calmly.

Catherine stopped her hand, which was halfway out.

****
After taking a shower, Catherine felt much better and returned to her hospital bed.

Looking out the car window at the still biting wind and snow, a sense of worry welled up inside her. She asked Su Ming, "Could you send a contact to the Northern Church? My daughter must be looking for me."

“We can’t do that, we don’t have any communication towers,” Su Ming replied.

Long-distance communication requires a communication array, along with a specialized alchemical amplification device. The White Triangle had one, but Su Ming didn't bring it ashore.

"Your train is so big, why doesn't it have a communications tower?" Catherine asked, puzzled. This is an essential tool for both home and travel.

Zijin said irritably, "Who are we, all alone, supposed to contact with if we need a communications tower?"

"..." Catherine was speechless, especially since the cause of this situation was the Temple of Light, to which she belonged.

She thought for a moment, then changed her request, "Could you send a letter to Iser when we get to the next town?"

Iser must be desperately searching for her right now. The enemy's exact identity is still unclear, and the weather is so terrible; Catherine has no idea what she might encounter.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already left a message for your daughter,” Su Ming said.

Catherine looked at Su Ming with great surprise, "You two are in contact?"

“Yes.” Su Ming honestly recounted their relationship, “A few days ago, when I was alone with Miss Iser, I confessed my love to her, and she reciprocated by giving me a hairpin.”

“My daughter doesn’t—” Catherine suddenly realized her mistake halfway through her sentence. She narrowed her eyes and looked Su Ming up and down. “The young man looks quite energetic. If you are willing to abandon Elisa, I will approve of you two being together.”

Su Ming feigned a troubled expression, "Can't we have both? Besides, Iser's best friend, the priestess Jerus, is quite pretty and cute."

"You're interested in that little poisonous milk too? Not bad, I'm rooting for you!" Catherine laughed.

****
Exhaustion gradually crept in; after all, Catherine was still recovering from serious injuries, and getting out of bed to move around had been somewhat of a struggle. She quickly fell asleep again.

Zijin also came to the workshop. Su Ming looked up and noticed that her hair was slightly damp and she had changed her clothes.

The two exchanged a glance, then looked at the baby in the crib.

“We have to switch shifts.” Realizing that this wasn’t something that could be done overnight, Violet suddenly complained, “Saving Catherine is one thing, but why did we have to get a baby as a bonus?”

"What time did you get up?" Su Ming asked the girl.

“Around noon,” she replied. “The little dumpling was crying very loudly, but you didn’t wake up.” Su Ming considered for a moment, “I’ll take him until midnight, and then I’ll hand him over to you.”

“Okay,” Violet agreed.

She took out a book and started reading. Su Ming was somewhat envious of Zi Jin's spirit; his disrupted routine had left him feeling unwell and he needed more rest.

Zijin suddenly asked Su Ming via text message, "You just said, Iser?"

Su Ming didn't understand. "What's wrong with Iser?"

"...What happened, the thing you told Catherine?"

Su Ming was confused. "I told you, didn't I? Because I didn't understand the doctrines of the God of Light, I almost gave myself away in front of Iser. I managed to cover it up then."

【cover up?】

Su Ming had no choice but to recount the events in detail. Usually, Zi Jin wasn't interested in the intricacies of the process, so he had only briefly mentioned it before.

"...That's quite quick-witted of you," Violet commented. She thought for a moment, then added, "You do lack common sense, but that's not your fault."

"Yes, I shouldn't have talked so much," Su Ming reflected. He had only been in this other world for three months, and common sense issues couldn't be easily caught up on.

"That dew—" Zijin began, then suddenly stopped.

She closed the book, tapped her head with the spine, and said, "I need to take a shower too." She then got up and left, heading towards the workshop.

Did she just wash her hair? Su Ming looked at the girl's back and couldn't help but wonder.

No sooner had Violet left than Hanster arrived at the workshop, carrying flour, lotus root, meat, and other items he had taken from the warehouse.

“Miss Sacred Beast is keeping an eye on things from the cockpit,” he told Su Ming. “But she keeps nagging you about not keeping your word.”

Su Ming glanced at Tuanzi; the little one had fallen asleep again without him noticing. He pushed the crib next to Catherine and then started making lotus root cakes with Hanster.

****
In the blizzard, two young girls, Iser and Gerald, are making their way through the snow.

They followed the tracks from Zouma Slope, without resting for a day and a half. The snow deer, exhausted, could no longer proceed and was sent away by the two.

Night had fallen; this was the fourth night since Catherine's attack and escape. Knowing she was carrying her newborn brother and the weather was so terrible, Iser's worry was overwhelming.

Gerus wanted to offer comfort, but didn't know how to begin.

They heard a noise ahead, exchanged a glance, and ran towards it.

It was a small military squad, busy on a collapsed snow slope, lighting magic lamps.

“The Northern Noble Army?” Isher identified them by their attire.

An officer who was clearly the leader saw the newcomers and said, "Your Excellency the Watcher, Your Excellency the Priest."

"What happened here?" Iser asked.

“I am Granville, the captain of the local garrison. We learned that Princess Daphne and Queen Star had been attacked and were ordered to search for them,” Granville recounted. “But our several squads were ambushed here and almost all of them were wiped out.”

Gerus cast a luminous spell into the sky and surveyed the scene. It was a large-scale avalanche; hundreds of bodies lay scattered around, and soldiers were still digging in the snow.

Iser sighed and drew his longsword.

"Lord Watcher?" Granville took a step back, his expression confused and flustered. "Why are you doing this?"

"Coming here on orders? How did you nobles get here from your camp in such a short time? Can you fly?" Iser sneered. "I bet you've been chasing after Queen Catherine the whole time!"

Seeing the commotion, the surrounding soldiers drew their weapons and surrounded them. Iser glanced around; there were more than twenty of them, several of whom were quite skilled.

Granville stopped them and explained earnestly, "We just happened to be nearby."

Iser took a step back, and Gerus stepped forward, raising her scepter. The aura of "Judgment of Truth" enveloped everyone.

"Please repeat what you just said, with God as your witness," the priestess said.

Granville got stuck; lying under this divine spell would cause him considerable harm.

"Then let me rephrase my question. Lady Catherine's assassination is related to you, right?" Gerus continued.

Granville, seeing that he could no longer conceal the truth, stopped pretending. He drew his long sword from his waist, "You're asking for it!"

Gerus withdrew her Judgment Aura, and several defensive spells enveloped her. "God will hear the repentance of sinners!"

In such terrible weather, the fact that two young girls could track them all the way here is hardly the sign of weakness. Granville didn't want to lose any men, so he wanted to gain their trust before launching his attack.

But even though the pretense of civility had been broken, he wasn't afraid. The team he led was composed of carefully selected elites!

One soldier, with a lewd expression, said, "Boss, the avalanche really got me into a bad mood. These two girls are so pretty, let the brothers cool off!"

The soldiers burst into laughter.

Behind the priest, Iser discarded her cloak and backpack, quietly activating her equipment; her armor and longsword turned white. A hazy light flashed, and she vanished into the snowstorm.

Several elite soldiers noticed and quickly raised the alarm. But it was too late. The soldier who had spoken lewdly had his neck slashed open, and he lay on the snow, clutching his throat in bewilderment.

"Form ranks!" Granville commanded quickly. The wind was too strong to locate the enemy by sound. "Watch out for footprints on the ground!" he roared.

Everyone quickly formed ranks. In the midst of the movement, another soldier was hit. But after a short while, these soldiers huddled together back to back. Those on the outer circle held swords and shields on guard, while those in the inner circle carried spears, and some even took out bows and began to draw their bowstrings.

Iser frowned. This army was unexpectedly elite, and its quality was far superior to that of the usual noble army.

"The light and shadow are hazy!"

Gerus cast a spell. Everything in the scene was bathed in an ethereal glow. Already illuminated only by magic lamps, the snowfields became even more indistinct, obscuring the view.

In the interplay of light and shadow, dark energy also subtly spreads.

Granville charged at Gerus, knife in hand, intending to disrupt her spellcasting. Gerus gracefully retreated, creating distance, her eyes tinged with a calm, black depth.

"Shadow Priest!" Granville recognized the aura. Suddenly realizing something, he shouted behind him, "Watch out!"

But it was too late. The energy that had just been planted exploded in the crowd, and a sense of dread washed over all the soldiers.

Fear spell!

The weakest soldiers, their minds thrown into disarray, frantically pushed past their comrades and fled. This disrupted everyone's formation, and the once-orderly ranks crumbled instantly. Iser rushed forward and struck with his sword, felling two soldiers to the ground.

(End of this chapter)