Chapter 352

Chapter 352: Life in the Cave (Part Four)

Several more days passed.

Night fell.

Through Lin Yu’s increasingly adept coaxing, Darkling Stalker finally relented.

When her daughter nodded in agreement, Lin Yu could scarcely believe it—she had even steeled herself for the worst outcome: spending “an entire lifetime with Darkling Stalker underground.”

“You…you’re truly going to remove this bracelet for me?”

“Yes.”

Darkling Stalker replied with her usual expressionless face, one hand absently stroking the white-haired girl’s head.

“The sisters have begun searching this direction. They’ll locate us soon.”

She paused, her gaze sweeping across the chamber before adding,

“I don’t wish to abandon this place.”

“What do you mean?”

“You must promise to stay with me for a while longer after removing the bracelet.”

Lin Yu blinked in surprise before a sly thought surfaced.

_Just agree for now. Once the magic restriction lifts, hmph, we’ll see who’s in control! It’s been over ten days—the castle daughters must be frantic with worry. And newborn Ji Qiao…she’s still so tiny. As her mother, how can I abandon her? Besides, she’s likely completed the bonding by now. I must return._

“Yes, I promise.” Lin Yu bobbed her head earnestly.

“Truly?”

To her alarm, Darkling Stalker fixed those luminous silver eyes—void of any discernible emotion—directly on hers.

Guilt crept in as Lin Yu averted her gaze, turning her face aside.

“Y-yes…”

“If true, why avoid your daughter’s eyes?”

“Mm…”

“Mother?”

Cool fingers gently redirected Lin Yu’s face forward. Darkling Stalker studied her in silent scrutiny until the older woman squirmed under the weight of that stare.

“Fine, fine! I’ll keep my word!” The white-haired woman surrendered at last.

As the vow left her lips, the Ice Beauty’s sudden radiant smile froze Lin Yu breathless—a fleeting vision of winter’s thaw that lingered in her mind.

“So…”

Darkling Stalker radiated unmistakable delight, her irrepressible smile gleaming as shadowy tendrils coiled around the bracelet. With deft movements, she slid the ornament from her alabaster wrist and cast it onto the nearby dressing table.

The bracelet’s removal instantly restored Lin Yu’s psychic link to her daughters. Closing her eyes, she perceived countless luminous dots of varying sizes and intensities within her consciousness—each representing a member of her ant-daughter collective. These specks formed an intricate Go-like lattice, densest around eleven key clusters marking the ant race’s primary colonies from First to Eleventh Anthill. Yet the forest’s core hubs now glimmered faintly compared to former days, while radiant arcs spread outward like search parties fanning from subsidiary nests.

*They’re scouring the woods for us,* Lin Yu realized at once.

“Mother can reach your sisters now.”

Darkling Stalker’s voice regained its customary frostiness as Lin Yu opened her eyes. The white-haired matriarch observed her daughter’s now-neutral expression, contrasting sharply with earlier exuberance.

*Now that I’m free from magic suppression… My Unique Skill could restrain her anytime…*

Conflict flickered through Lin Yu. Rationality dictated immediate restraint—this daughter might reapply the cursed bracelet otherwise. Yet memories of their shared days surfaced, binding her to that silent vow of accommodation.

*As their mother, I must honor promises through action,* she resolved.

“I’ll reassure Red Pupil first,” Lin Yu declared, extending her consciousness toward Foggy Castle in the Death Fog Zone.

Connection flared.

*Mother? Is it truly you?*

*Little Pupil, yes, it’s me.*

The white-haired woman’s pulse quickened at her eldest’s dulcet tones. Their mental exchange unfolded like breathless telephony, affectionate diminutives flowing freely.

Beside her, Darkling Stalker observed this reunion with unsettling stillness. Then—as when cornering prey—her lips curled in predatory delight. Delicate fingers crept around the engrossed matriarch’s waist…

~~~

Earlier, within Foggy Castle’s grand hall…

Anxious daughters clustered like unsettled starlings, their bond to Lin Yu severed for twelve sunrises. Leadership had fallen to Red Pupil’s cohort, yet the ant-swarm’s ceaseless searches proved fruitless.

“Still nothing!” Lvzi slumped dramatically, jade hair pooling across the table. Suddenly she jerked upright, eyes blazing. “That scheming Little Shadow’s probably—*gasp*—subjecting Mother to unspeakable… *unthinkable*… *clutches chest* Ohhh, why does the thought make me tremble? So unfair! So… thrilling…”

The assembly ignored their sister’s convulsive theatrics. Army Lady tapped strategy maps. “Could Darkling Stalker have fled the forest?”

“Impossible,” Red Pupil countered. “She’d never risk Mother’s safety beyond familiar terrain.”

Magic Rainbow nodded. “Her devotion equals ours. We’ll find them through systematic search.”

Purple Mist shot up, hand waving. “Purple One and I will comb the eastern thickets tomorrow!”

“I’ll ensure her diligence,” Purple Cloud added dryly.

“Lazy? I’ve barely eaten since Mother vanished!” Purple Mist huffed.

A whimper pierced from the corner. Weak Sound’s eyes glistened. “This… this is my fault. I failed to stop her escape…”

As comforting murmurs enveloped the guilt-ridden daughter, collective gasps suddenly rippled through the hall. Eleven pairs of eyes widened—their severed connection flared back to life.

“Mother? You’ve returned?!”

Red Pupil’s startled cry silenced the chamber. Every daughter stilled, breath bated, watching their eldest commune with the restored psychic link.