Eternal Beast Taming Family

Hearing the young man's words, Chu Qinhui felt a chill run down his spine.

The young man took out a map that was about the same size as the table in front of him and then pointed to two locations on it.

"This is our Paper Hawk County, and this is the Illusory Mist Spirit Plain."

Chu Jingyu looked down and examined it carefully. Sure enough, as the young man had said, there were several different types of terrain and environments between them.

Are there any human cities near the Illusionary Mist Plains?

The young man slowly shook his head. "As far as I know, our Paper Hawk County is relatively close to that place. After all, the lowest-ranking source beast species in that Spirit Plains are all spirit beast species, and it would be really difficult to protect them after the city was built."

The young man rolled up the map, glanced at the three people in front of him—one old, one middle-aged, and one young—and finally handed it to Chu Jingyu, adding a sentence.

"Six months from now, a caravan from the Treasure Pavilion will be heading to the capital and will pass through that area. If you can wait, you can hitch a ride with them."

The three of them, grandfather, father and grandson, boarded the carriage to go home. Chu Qinhui looked extremely sad. Xiao Yuan was lost so far away. How could they possibly find him?

Even Spirit-rank Contract Masters face a near-certain death, so for the Chu family, whose highest rank is merely Extraordinary, it's even more impossible to send anyone to search for them.

The atmosphere inside the carriage was extremely oppressive. Chu Jingyu stared at the map in his hand for a long time.

"Let's issue a reward. Not only should we post the reward notice in our town and Yuzhen, but we should also spread the word in Paper Hawk County. I'll leave this to you, Qin Hui."

"Xiao Fan, go and tell those families in the county who have reserved the Moon Worship Rabbits that if any family can bring Xiao Yuan back from the Illusionary Mist Spirit Plain, they can be provided with five Moon Worship Rabbits at once."

"Yes." After hearing his grandfather's instructions, Chu Shengfan jumped off the carriage and hurriedly returned to the town.

Chu Jingyu and Chu Qinhui rushed back to Qixia Mountain and carefully examined the ancient tree where Chu Shengyuan had disappeared. Apart from the last traces of his actions, they found nothing new.

Chu Qinhui forcibly took his somewhat listless wife and left the area. He then immediately wrote many notices with the steward and handed them to the servants and guards to be posted in the town and county.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, a message spread rapidly throughout the streets and alleys.

Someone actually offered a thousand spirit stones to find a child. I wonder which family's pampered young master got lost while playing.

Some people who resent wealthy and powerful families might feel a sense of satisfaction upon seeing such a reward. What good are wealthy and powerful families if they still can't have a happy family life?

However, when his gaze fell on the children around him, he became more cautious, just in case he happened to run into them.

As darkness fell, Jiang Nian remained uneasy all day, and by evening, no useful news had arrived.

Late at night, Chu Shengfan, who had gone to the county town, returned home.

Facing the expectant gazes of his family, Chu Shengfan shook his head with great bitterness. "The three families I went to all rejected Grandpa's suggestion, saying that if they had the ability to go to the Illusionary Mist Spirit Plain, they wouldn't need the Moon Worship Rabbit."

Let's stick to the original agreement.

Although wealth is tempting, those members of the eighth-rank aristocratic families would only cherish their lives more. Clearly, the reward of five "Moon-Worshipping Rabbits" was not worth them risking their family's resources.

If the Chu family could help their Spirit Rank Contract Master advance to the Domain Rank, things would probably be quite different then.

"Perhaps it is fate." Chu Jingyu sighed and walked out of the main hall.

"The bounty will be posted as usual, and five more slots for opening spirits will be added as rewards. Leave one or two servants to patrol the ancient tree area, and recall the rest."

Qin Hui, I only allow you to be sad for today; tomorrow you must begin recruiting workers to build the road.

Chu Qinhui suddenly looked up at his father's back as he disappeared through the courtyard gate. He understood what his father meant: from this day forward, whether Xiao Yuan could be found would depend entirely on luck.

His lips trembled uncontrollably as he replied in a trembling voice, "Okay."

Jiang Nian collapsed into a chair, tears streaming down her face like a broken string of pearls, unconsciously murmuring, "Xiao Yuan..."

Chu Shenghan stood beside Jiang Nian, holding her mother's arms with both hands, crying sadly as well, unable to offer a single word of comfort to her mother.

After a while, Jiang Nian suddenly stood up, took a few quick steps to her husband, grabbed his collar, and asked through gritted teeth, "Where is the map? I'll go find my son myself."

Seeing Jiang Nian's somewhat frantic state, Chu Qinhui, though reluctant, still grabbed her arm and shouted loudly, "Xiao Nian, wake up! That place is the Illusionary Mist Spirit Plain, which is thousands of miles away."

There are countless high-level source beasts on the road. How can you, a mere mortal-level contract master, possibly find them? Even a spirit-level contract master would face a near-death experience.

"Think about Xiaofan, Xiaohan, and our other children. What will they do if something happens to you? What will I do?"

"But...but my little Yuan must be so scared right now. He's never been this far from home before. He's so young, he's never even been to town. How helpless he must feel. If I don't go looking for him, no one else will."

These words brought tears to Chu Qinhui's eyes. He held Jiang Nian in his arms, speaking as if comforting his wife and himself:

"Xiao Yuan has always been lucky; he's a little lucky star. He'll be alright... he'll be alright."

Inside the ancestral hall, the light from the flickering lanterns was dappled and uncertain.

Before Chu Jingyu, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, a map was unfolded, and his only remaining right hand kept stroking the location marked "Illusory Mist Spirit Plain" on the map.

His eyes were fixed on that spot, as if something was drawing his attention.

Inside the stone-carved book, the "nameless book" floating in the air remained open to the "Chu Shengyuan" section.

Name: Chu Shengyuan

Position: Regular Member

Rank: Middle of Mortal Rank

Age: nine years old

Source Beast: Aomori Giant Python (Mid-level Mortal)

Status: Curious, worried, homesick

Family relationships: ..."

There is some good news: Chu Shengyuan is not in any immediate danger, but given the perilous environment outside the boundary, no one knows when he might encounter danger.

Chu Mu is now filled with regret. He had initially decided to make it up to his little lucky star, but the Chu family has been plagued by all sorts of problems.

Furthermore, Chu Mu had not yet figured out what to compensate him with, so the matter became a matter of waiting and waiting, and there would always be an opportunity.

Even now, Chu Mu regrets why he didn't stay by his side and teach him more often, and regrets why he didn't let the Chu family set up a curfew rule.

But life is unpredictable, and some things cannot be avoided by force. Now, Chu Mu can only pray sincerely that nothing bad will happen to Chu Shengyuan, otherwise it will become a thorn in his heart forever.

The stars and moon hung in the sky, their light shining on the snow and reflecting a pure white glow.

The old man lowered his head as if atoneing for his sins, looking at the map in front of him and whispering softly.

"Xiao Yuan, I'm sorry..."