100. The Valley Of The Purple Kite
"Sister Sera, why, why are you here!" Elly said with a mournful face.
The person who came was indeed Sera.
It's over!
Hiding in the bag, Xia Yi cursed her bad luck!
How could Elly not reveal flaws in front of the astute Sera!
Just being stared at by Sera, she would definitely cry, how could she continue acting!
Sera's face was expressionless, "Elly, the person who should answer the question is you."
"I…?"
"Why are you not at your post here now, but thinking about leaving the imperial city."
"Ah!"
Elly's face turned red, she couldn't say anything, trembling with guilt.
In her eyes, Sera was very difficult to deal with, she couldn't hide anything, as if she had mind-reading skills, even a little lie would be seen through.
Unconsciously, the little green dragon maid was already sweating profusely, trembling slightly.
It's over.
It's over!
It's over!!
The matter of me abducting the princess is going to be discovered, I'm going to the guillotine!!
She seemed to have already seen herself being pushed to the guillotine, with a snap, her head falling to the ground, a tragic end.
"Answer my question, Elly."
"I, I… am preparing to go out to purchase things, I saw that the kitchen's ingredients are not enough!!" Elly shouted this sentence with all her might, then squatted on the ground, not daring to look at Sera again.
Sorry, Your Highness, this is my limit!
But Sera was obviously very dissatisfied with this answer.
She walked step by step towards the cart.
Xia Yi was also stunned, just about to leave the Dragon Palace, and then Sera appeared out of nowhere.
What to do, what to do, what to do?
She also had no corresponding means.
Relying on Elly was fundamentally impossible to confront Sera, the gap in strength between the two was too great, what's the point!
The lid of the cart had already been opened, the sunlight outside poured in.
Xia Yi covered her mouth and nose, not daring to breathe, her heartbeat getting faster and faster, she closed her eyes in despair.
But Sera stopped, thinking to herself—
What is the princess playing at this time?
Although she didn't directly pull open the bag to check, Sera had already noticed that her little princess was hiding inside the bag, the bag was trembling slightly, obviously afraid of being discovered.
She glanced at Elly, who was almost collapsing.
Could it be that Elly is abducting the princess?
No, that's impossible, with Elly's courage, she couldn't do such a thing, with that bear-like appearance, she still dares to do bad things?
It's more like the opposite, it's obviously the little princess forcing Elly to take her out of the city.
Speaking of which, since this morning, the princess has not been seen.
Then a guard said that when patrolling, he encountered Elly, and then suddenly fainted for a long time before waking up.
Because it was suspicious, Sera went to look for Elly and found that she was indeed not at her post.
The guard also said that in his dizziness, he seemed to hear Elly talking to someone, that person's voice… sounded very much like the princess.
Sure enough.
Sera smiled.
Is the princess causing trouble again?
Fun times ahead~
"Speaking of which, Elly, the kitchen really lacks some ingredients," Sera closed the lid of the cart, "The kitchen's ingredients are indeed not enough to prepare dinner, I was actually planning to go out and restock, but seeing you so spirited for once, I'll leave this task to you."
"Ah?" Elly looked up, her face a picture of confusion.
"Lucia has called me for an urgent matter, I must go now." Sera then walked away without saying much more.
Is it… all clear now? Elly tousled her hair in bewilderment.
Phew. Xia Yi, hidden in the bag, also let out a sigh of relief.
Although she didn't know why Sera suddenly left, she and Elly were finally safe, perhaps it was divine intervention!
Seeing that the cart hadn't moved, Xia Yi quietly nudged the cart, making a small noise.
Elly, as if waking from a dream, quickly pushed the cart, leaving the Dragon Palace's gates behind.
…
"Princess, that really scared me to death," Elly gasped for air as if she had a narrow escape, "I was almost discovered by Sister Sera, my head was nearly relocated."
"I was almost scared to death too… Anyway, as long as the outcome is good, we should hurry, Elly, let's set off for the Purple Kite Valley!"
"Yes, alright." Elly released her true dragon form, transforming into a green dragon.
Perhaps due to her age, Elly's size wasn't particularly large, she was a size smaller than the average adult giant dragon.
Xia Yi then jumped onto Elly's back.
"Take off!"
"At your command, Your Highness." Elly flapped her wings and soared into the sky, the green dragon entering the high altitudes, the vast landscape of the Dragon Kingdom spread out below.
The Purple Kite Valley wasn't very far from the Dragon Kingdom's capital.
Soon, Elly carried Xia Yi to their destination.
After landing, Xia Yi was stunned by the scenery before her.
The valley was filled with countless blooming irises, like a sea of purple, the mountain breeze caused ripples in the sea of flowers, petals fluttering past Xia Yi, as if she was in a scene from a painting.
"So, so beautiful!" Elly couldn't help but exclaim upon seeing this sight.
"Yes, it's really beautiful, Elly, if I remember correctly, the blooming season for irises is spring, right?"
"Your Highness, it's mid-June now, should be within the blooming period, right?"
"That's also true…"
"I've heard from the sisters in the Royal Maid Corps that the Purple Kite Valley is extraordinary, even when the Dragon Kingdom enters winter, the irises here won't wither, it's very magical!"
"Why?"
"I'm not too clear on that, the sisters in the Royal Maid Corps said that the Purple Kite Valley is very dangerous, it's said that there's… a terrifying monster trapped in the valley, forever unable to leave, any dragon that enters the valley gets eaten!"
Elly even imitated the monster's posture.
But Xia Yi didn't find her scary at all, rather she seemed somewhat comical.
"Anyway, the Purple Kite Valley is very mysterious, any dragon daring to enter disappears, never to return, so dragons don't approach this place lightly!" Elly said, "That's all I know, Your Highness."
After this explanation, Xia Yi felt the Purple Kite Valley was shrouded in mystery, her curiosity piqued.
What kind of person would Xia Lulu's old friend be in such a place?
The anticipation was growing.
"Alright, Elly, let's go!" Xia Yi said with excitement.
Elly hesitated for a moment, "…Your Highness, what are you talking about?"
"Literally, let's set off!" Xia Yi said matter-of-factly.
"Where to?"
"Of course, inside the Purple Kite Valley." Xia Yi stated as if it was the most natural thing to do.
"Your Highness, that's not possible, it's very dangerous inside the Purple Kite Valley, even the sisters from the Royal Maid Corps have warned me, we must not enter, we can only look from the outside!"
Elly stepped back in fear after hearing this.
"Just a glance here is enough, right, Your Highness? Didn't we agree that if it's before nightfall, we would return to the Dragon Palace?"
Xia Yi nodded, "I did say that I would return to the Dragon Palace before nightfall without being discovered by others, I can understand your feelings, Elly, I won't force you."
"Thank you, Your Highness, that puts my mind at ease."
"Elly, wait here for me, I'll go in by myself."
"Mm, okay…"
Elly was about to agree, but upon further thought, something seemed off.
"Your Highness, what are you going to do?!"
But Xia Yi had already jumped down the slope, heading deep into the Purple Kite Valley, about to disappear among the flowers.
Elly's face changed drastically.
Wait here by myself?
What if something happens to Her Highness? Then I would lose my head!!
She really didn't expect that just cleaning Her Majesty's portrait would lead to so much trouble!
Maybe I should just go down and drag Her Highness back!
"Your Highness, wait for me!"
Elly gritted her teeth, stomped her foot, and rushed in, but at this moment, she slipped, lost her balance, and tumbled to the ground.
Reenacting a pinball scene, she rolled down the hill, rumbling back down like a ball.
"Elly!"
Xia Yi saw Elly rolling towards her, didn't plan to dodge, and tried to catch her.
But Elly's tail smacked right onto Xia Yi, flipping the petite figure over.
Two dragons clung together, becoming one!
The Elly-Xia Yi pinball!
Both of them rolled down the slope together, their cries echoing through the valley.
After a while, Elly, holding her head, slowly sat up.
Looking down, she realized she had knocked over the little princess!
"Ouch… Ahhh!! Your Highness, I'm sorry, I've caused trouble again!"
Elly quickly helped Xia Yi up.
"I've hurt Your Highness, now I must be sentenced to death!!"
"I'm fine, Elly, don't be so nervous…" Xia Yi shook her head.
"Are you really not going to kill me, Your Highness?"
"Of course not, you're overthinking it."
"Thank goodness…"
Elly sighed in relief.
Xia Yi initially didn't care much, just took it as a quick way to get to the bottom.
She looked ahead.
The purple sea of flowers stretched endlessly into the valley, arousing curiosity to explore further.
"Your Highness, let's go back! We can't proceed any further!"
Elly grabbed Xia Yi's hand, trying to pull her back, but as she turned around, she started screaming again.
"Ahhh! Ahhh!"
"What's wrong now…"
Xia Yi was getting a bit exasperated, a little noise and Elly would start screaming, too sensitive.
"The path is wrong, all wrong! Your Highness, look, the slope we came from is gone!"
"Eh?"
She turned around, where did the slope go?
Behind them, there was no slope they had entered the Purple Kite Valley from, just an endless sea of purple kite tail flowers, no different from the front.
Xia Yi and Elly, as if suddenly thrown into an unknown sea, lost their bearings.
"It's bad! It's all my fault, Your Highness!!" Elly turned pale, "If I hadn't fallen, we wouldn't have gotten lost in the Purple Kite Valley together!!"
"Elly, don't panic, remember, we're dragons, we can fly."
"Oh, right! Just fly up to the sky!"
Elly laughed foolishly.
Xia Yi felt that Elly was indeed a bit silly.
Then, Elly used her true dragon form, turned back into a green dragon, and flew up.
She flew towards the sky, trying to get a clear view, but suddenly…
Thud!
Her head hit something extremely hard.
"Ah… Your Highness, why are you standing upside down!"
"Elly, it's you who's upside down."
Elly then realized she had hit the ground.
She flipped over.
That's not right, wasn't she flying towards the sky? How did she suddenly hit the ground?
Refusing to believe it, Elly flew towards the sky again.
Thud!
But again, she hit the ground, her vision flipped just like before, and Xia Yi watched her in astonishment.
"What's going on!!"
Elly was terrified, as if she had seen a ghost.
"Your Highness, weren't you watching from the side?"
"Elly, I saw you flying up to the sky, then suddenly you flipped over and hit the ground."
"I don't believe it!"
Elly couldn't accept Elly, unable to accept the reality, decided to try once more!
She took off with determination, her wings beating powerfully against the air.
Thud!
Yet, the result was the same; she crashed to the ground, now with a head full of bumps.
"I'll give it a go," Xia Yi said.
She raised her hand towards the sky and, using chant regulation, launched a fireball, attempting to test the situation with magic.
Elly watched the entire process from the side. The fireball, initially soaring towards the sky, suddenly reversed direction and plummeted towards them.
Xia Yi, quick to react, released a second fireball, causing the two to collide mid-air and neutralize each other.
Elly now understood why she kept hitting the ground.
The method of leaving through the sky seemed to be sealed off.
"Elly, is there another way? Like using a teleportation scroll or something…?" Xia Yi inquired.
"It doesn't seem likely, Your Highness," Elly shook her head, "The space here seems very chaotic, and teleportation scrolls only work in stable, orderly spaces."
"So you're saying… we're trapped here?"
"Wah, wah, wah, Your Highness, I'm sorry, it's all my fault!! Now, I can only atone with my death!!" Elly began to wail, "I finally understand why there's no return from the Purple Kite Valley!"
At this moment, however, Xia Yi remained calm.
Rather, it made her feel somewhat nostalgic, reminiscent of similar crises faced during her time as the human Sword Saint.
Unable to leave upwards, and with the entrance behind them gone, the only option left was to venture deeper.
Xia Yi pondered for a long time, then lifted her gaze towards the depths of the Purple Kite Valley and froze.
Amidst the purple ocean, a different color emerged.
A girl was looking at her from afar, with golden hair, golden vertical pupils, and a tail behind her…
A dragon!
And a golden dragon at that?
The girl and Xia Yi locked eyes for a few seconds, the girl smiled, then turned and ran deeper into the valley.
"Wait a minute!!" Xia Yi shouted, running towards where the girl had vanished.
"Your Highness, this is not the time to run around!" Elly grabbed Xia Yi.
Xia Yi quickly explained, "Elly, we're not alone in this valley, there are golden dragons, I just saw one."
"Golden dragon?"
"Yes, we must hurry and follow, or we'll lose her…"
Elly's hands trembled, refusing to let go, her reaction more intense than before.
"No, Your Highness, you absolutely can't go!"
"Why are you so opposed?" Xia Yi was puzzled.
Elly became unusually agitated, "It must be a hallucination, Your Highness, you must have seen it wrong, it can't be a golden dragon, it's not real…! It's because, because…!"
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