The campsite was quiet. Climbers and management staff were hiding in their own tents, waiting for dawn. n.o.body would be strolling around outside in such an extreme and precarious environment.

Ning Tao and Qing Zhui entered their tent while Howling Celestial Dog stayed outside guarding.

Just when Ning Tao had put down his small medicine chest, Hu Xiaoji started whimpering for attention, reaching out her pair of chubby arms, asking Ning Tao for a hug.

Ning Tao reached out to Hu Xiaoji, carrying her in his arms. He brushed her nose lightly with his fingers and smiled, saying, “Hu Xiaoji is your name. Remember it.”

“Hehehe…” Hu Xiaoji giggled and reached out to grab Ning Tao's nose.

Ning Tao let her grab his nose and then kissed her tiny hand. “Hu Xiaoji, tell me what the content is of the Ancestor-seeking Elixir prescription, okay?”

“Heehee…” Hu Xiaoji continued giggling. A small finger found its way into Ning Tao's nostril.

Ning Tao smiled wryly. “It's still too soon to ask you such a question. How about you call me uncle. I'm your Uncle Ning.”

“Mama,” Hu Xiaoji blurted out with its tiny mouth.

Ning Tao was stunned instantly. He was only teasing the child for fun, and did not expect Hu Xiaoji to be able to speak at this young age, and with such clarity. But what had surprised him was not her speaking at such a young age. After all, Howling Celestial Dog was already memorizing the English alphabet. He was surprised that Hu Xiaoji did not call him uncle but rather, had called him mother. Even if she had wanted to establish a kins.h.i.+p, she should have called him father. Why mother?

Qing Zhui came closer, smiling as she said, “Aiyah, how obedient! Try calling me Mama.”

Hu Xiaoji looked away and made a sound with her small mouth. “Hmpf!”

Qing Zhui hit Hu Xiaoji's b.u.t.t. “You little thing, are you trying to anger me?”

Hu Xiaoji burrowed her little head in Ning Tao's arms, evading Qing Zhui.

Ning Tao recalled something in an instant and said in shock, “Could she have taken me as… something like the Silvermoon Cherry?”

Qing Zhui said after pondering for a while, “Indeed, there could be that possibility. You've interfered with her reincarnation. It's very normal for her to see you as her mother.”

Perplexed, Ning Tao said, “I'm a man, how could I be a mother?”

Qing Zhui smiled with pursed lips, “Men can be mothers too. In some same-s.e.x families, there is a differentiation between who is father and who is mother.”

Ning Tao slapped right on Qing Zhui's curvaceous b.u.m.

With that loud smack, Qing Zhui did not shout out in pain, but rather, was staring intently at Ning Tao, like she was going to devour him.

There were many types of people in the world, and so be it.

Ning Tao realized something suddenly, then changed the topic of conversation. “Let's rest for a while and we'll go take a look at the Everest's South Col. We'll leave here once we're done. I'm guessing that it's also about time for the clinic to move.”

The two rested on a small mattress with not much s.p.a.ce. Hu Xiaoji was stuck in the middle of them. A few minutes later, she climbed on Ning Tao, one hand pulling Ning Tao's s.h.i.+rt and relentlessly moving her tiny mouth toward Ning Tao's chest.

Ning Tao patted his head. “Oh dear, I've forgotten to buy her milk powder in Guan City. Qing Zhui, carry her for a while. I'm going to go buy her milk powder now.”

Qing Zhui said, “The sky is still dark. Where are you going to buy her milk powder? Once dawn breaks, I'll go ask for some horse milk from the management for her to drink.”

“Hungry, hungry… I want… milk…” Hu Xiaoji murmured.

“What should we do now?” Ning Tao was slightly anxious. He had never cared for a child and was completely lost.

Qing Zhui reached out to carry Hu Xiaoji, and with one swift action, clothing was lifted…

Hu Xiaoji fell silent.

But Ning Tao was not feeling good.

Qing Zhui's gaze grew enticing. “You're staring so intently. Are you hungry too? There's still s.p.a.ce for you, do you want it?”

Even though Ning Tao did want it, the line of scripture line “I rest within the womb, listening to the sound of the Way” suddenly resounded in his head when he was about to get closer.

“Dong!”

The holy bell rang and no desire was left.

What was this situation?

The sky finally grew bright. Ning Tao let Qing Zhui hold Hu Xiaoji. He left the tent to ask for some horse milk from the management.

That management staff member was frowning as he looked at the carca.s.s of that Tibetan Mastiff in front of the tent.

Ning Tao walked toward him, saying politely, “Hi friend, do you have any horse milk? Goat milk is fine too.”

The campsite manager said, “Yes, it's in my tent, but you'll need to pay for it.”

Ning Tao said, “No problem.”

“Right, where are those people?” the manager asked.

Ning Tao shook his head, “I don't know. Oh, what happened to this dog?”

“It died. How could that guy dump it here? They should bury its body. How inconsiderate.” The manager's tone contained a sense of pity. The Tibetans had a special sentiment toward Tibetan Mastiffs, and he was no exception.

Ning Tao said, “They might have been met with something urgent.”

In fact, even if someone had found the temple in the mountains and found those bodies, he had nothing to worry about. Because they were not killed by him.

Ning Tao bought some horse milk from the management and brought it back to the tent. After Qing Zhui fed some of the milk to Hu Xiaoji, Ning Tao then led Qing Zhui and Howling Celestial Dog out of the campsite, heading toward Everest.

When the sky grew dark once again, Ning Tao had already taken Qing Zhui and Howling Celestial Dog over to the other side of Mount Everest, reaching the South Col located within the territory of Nepal. Ning Tao and his team had only taken over 10 hours to accomplish what professional climbers would require a few days to do.

A cold gust of wind blew. Even though Hu Xiaoji was naked in Qing Zhui's embrace, she did not feel cold at all. She stared intently at Ning Tao, who was squatting on the ground reading the map. She was a fox demon after all. If normal foxes could survive in the cold, then there was no doubt a demon fox like her could as well.

“This is the place.” Ning Tao put away the map after confirming the location.

Qing Zhui frowned. “But there's nothing here except for snow and rocks. What could we possibly find?”

Ning Tao said, “You guys go hide from the wind and wait for me there. I'll be done very soon.”

“Okay, we'll go wait for you there.” Qing Zhui carried Hu Xiaoji and walked toward a cliff to hide from the wind.

Howling Celestial Dog also followed along.

Ning Tao took out the deficient Ancestor-seeking Elixir and put it in front of his nose to sniff it while charging a shred of spiritual power into The Whisperer on his left wrist.

In the next second, all he saw was seawater. A sperm whale of unprecedented size swam past above him. That body had to weigh at least 200 tons!

The second time, he saw the seawater receding in a flashback. Mount Everest slowly emerged from the surface of the waters. There were carca.s.ses of all sorts of prehistoric fishes. The Whisperer had not managed to capture any sounds.

The sounds captured by The Whisperer were actually the remnants of soul energy in this s.p.a.ce. He had entered a certain point in the prehistoric era, so it would be frightening if he had heard anyone speaking.

The third time, he activated his state of smell, strengthening the allergic reaction to the deficient Ancestor-seeking Elixir. This time, snow was falling in his vision, filling the entire world, but there was nothing apart from snow.

He rested for a while, recovering his mental state using spiritual power and also reciting the first line of Your Text to calm his mind. He tried again after resting for a while, but he had still failed the third time consecutively. He was not able to capture the remnants of Zhu Hongyu's soul energy at all, nor her voices.

After resting for the second time, Ning Tao tried capturing it for the third time again and it still failed.

He had given up. But he understood something, which was that it was only possible to capture the soul energy remnants and voices of people in the past in a sealed s.p.a.ce. At a place like Mount Everest where strong gusts of cold wind and snow blew intensely, any remaining soul energy would already have been blown far away.

It seemed like taking the shortcut was not feasible. He could only take that woman to Italy and find the clue of the bone left by Hanks.

Ning Tao came to the foot of the cliff where Qing Zhui was. After repeatedly experiencing the allergic reaction from the Ancestor-seeking Elixir, he was exhausted physically and mentally. Along with his sense of disappointment, he looked terrible.

Qing Zhui approached and asked with concern, “Brother Ning, what happened to you?”

Ning Tao forced a smile. “I'm okay, just a little down. I didn't manage to find any clues. We've come for nothing.”

Qing Zhui tried to console him, “It's not a wasted trip. This little thing is also a gain. There are also a lot of spiritual soil and Night Snow Lotuses. Don't you worry too, we can always keep looking.”

She was indeed a caring little wifey.

Ning Tao could not resist putting his arm around her shoulders. All the blues in his heart had dissipated.

“Mama, I want you to carry me,” Hu Xiaoji said, then reached out her chubby arms to Ning Tao.

A helpless yet amused Ning Tao said, “Hu Xiaoji, can you not call me Mama?”

It would still be okay to call him that here. At most, Qing Zhui would laugh at him. But if she still called him Mama back in the city, just how many strange glares would it attract?

“Okay, Mama,” Hu Xiaoji said. Her little arms were stretched out straight, insisting on getting a hug.

Ning Tao was already speechless.

“You little thing with no conscience. Once your mama is here, you're already making him hug you. Did I feed you for nothing last night?” Qing Zhui groused.

Hu Xiaoji huffed, “No milk, it's fake.”

“You really are an ungrateful fox.” Qing Zhui smacked Hu Xiaoji's b.u.t.t then put her into Ning Tao's embrace.

After being teased by Qing Zhui like that, Ning Tao was not unhappy at all. Rather, there was a heartwarming feeling. He hugged Hu Xiaoji for a while, and after taking a break for a while, he drew a blood lock on the cliff then opened the convenient door. He let Qing Zhui carry Hu Xiaoji, then stepped inside the convenient door while carrying Qing Zhui. Celestial Howling followed right behind and entered the convenient door.

Not long after Ning Tao had left, a woman donned in a black robe had arrived at this mountain. Two youths followed behind her.

Those two youths were Wu Xiaolin and Liu Xian'er.

The woman's face was hiding behind a black mask, only her eyes were exposed. Those eyes were like stars in a cold winter, distant and cold, there was not a bit of warmth…