Instead of heading for Skyvault Palace, Prince Nolan and Serena Feng chose to travel through scenic spots, often missing towns and camping out in the wilderness. But...
Back when they had the Smart Med‑Pack, they never had to worry about packing supplies. Now, everything has to be loaded onto the carriage, and they really aren’t used to it.
The carriage was too small, so a lot of things couldn’t fit—especially food, which couldn’t be stored for long. In this situation, they had to find their own meals.
Of course, Prince Nolan could have just ordered the shadow guards to handle it, but since this was supposed to be a vacation, he refused to let a bunch of people spoil his time alone with Serena.
"I’ll go check if there’s any game nearby." After pitching the tent and getting the fire started, Prince Nolan went off to hunt for their dinner.
"Alright, I’ll boil some water." Serena nodded and tossed a few dry branches onto the fire.
After ten years of pampered living, Serena had almost forgotten how to survive in the wild.
The couple each did their part, and with joint effort, they barely managed to put together a dinner.
It wasn’t exactly delicious, but at least it was cooked. Serena wasn’t picky at all—after all these years, as long as Nolan could roast the game properly, she was satisfied.
Why was Nolan the one roasting the game instead of Serena?
Obviously, Prince Nolan was worried Serena might accidentally hurt herself, so he insisted on handling it himself!
At Skyvault Palace, under Sweet Dumpling’s lead, Tyler Cui, Max Zhai, and the rest stepped through the palace gates without a scratch.
"We finally made it up the mountain." Evan Yu wiped his tears.
Life down at the foot of the mountain these past months—just thinking about it brings tears to their eyes.
"It was so hard. I swear I’m going to eat Skyvault Palace out of house and home to make up for my injured leg." Max Zhai wiped his sweat, punched Liam Fuller on the shoulder, but luckily Liam, though not very muscular, was sturdy enough not to get knocked over.
"These six have a really strong bond." Sean Xuan walked in and saw the six half-grown kids horsing around, celebrating their victory in their own way.
"Mm." Little Dumpling declared, not at all envious.
The two of them entered the hall together. Sweet Dumpling, knowing she was in the wrong, kept her eyes glued to the doorway. The moment she saw Sean and Little Dumpling come in, she rushed over. "Uncle Sean, I missed you so much. Brother, Sweet Dumpling missed you too."
She hugged Sean Xuan’s leg tightly, and didn’t forget to sweet-talk her brother at the same time.
"Is that so? I missed you too, Lily." Little Dumpling replied through gritted teeth, reaching out to pinch Sweet Dumpling’s cheek. Not satisfied, he gave it an extra tug.
"Brother, that hurts..." Sweet Dumpling was about to cry.
It really did hurt—a mark was sure to be left. Her brother was getting more and more annoying.
"You call that pain? My heart hurts way more," Little Dumpling retorted. Still, he let go after one pinch—he did care about her, after all.
But he really did leave a deep mark on Sweet Dumpling’s face.
"Uncle Sean, it hurts." Sweet Dumpling clung to Sean Xuan’s leg, hiding behind him, terrified her brother would bully her again.
Her brother wasn’t gentle at all anymore.
Sean Xuan was about to comfort Sweet Dumpling when Evan Yu piped up, looking smug: "See? Girls really are crybabies!"
"Good thing we didn’t play with her before, or she’d have cried every day and driven us crazy," Leo Si chimed in. Max Zhai nodded vigorously: "Told you, girls are all like that—my mom cries all the time too. Who wants to play with them?"
Tyler Cui, Shane Wang, and Liam Fuller didn’t say anything similar, but by stepping in front of Leo Si, their actions made it clear they agreed.
"You guys are so ungrateful! I’m not a crybaby—I was leading the way and protecting you just now!" Sweet Dumpling burst into tears. These boys were the worst, and she hated them all.
Waaah... I'm not a crybaby.
Tyler Cui and Shane Wang immediately stepped forward to apologize. "Your Highness, Princess... Max and the others spoke without thinking. Please forgive them."
"No way—unless you promise never to call me a crybaby again." Sweet Dumpling puffed up her cheeks and turned away, furious.
Tyler Cui was about to smooth things over, but Little Dumpling cut in, "You are a crybaby! Why shouldn't people say it? Since when have you gotten so stubborn?"
"Brother, you're so mean! How am I being stubborn? You're the one who pinched me and made it hurt!" Sweet Dumpling was utterly aggrieved.
It really did hurt—she wasn't pretending.
"Hurt? How much could it hurt? There isn't even a drop of blood! Look at their legs, they're bleeding and you don't see them crying like you." Little Dumpling refused to admit he'd been too rough, insisting Sweet Dumpling was just too delicate.
"You guys..." Sweet Dumpling was about to cry, but seeing there were seven of them, she knew she couldn't win. She just sulked and turned to hug Sean Xuan. "Uncle Sean, they're bullying me."
"Be good, Sweet Dumpling, don't cry, don't cry. Uncle Sean will beat them up for you." Sean Xuan picked her up and comforted her softly, but...
Sean Xuan forgot that Sweet Dumpling was already seven—she wasn't so easy to fool anymore.
"Uncle Sean, I'm not a little kid anymore—I'm not two or three."
"So...?"
"So don't talk to me like I'm a baby." She thought his tone was totally fake...
"Alright, Uncle Sean knows he was wrong. What do you want Uncle Sean to do?" William Wang Jinling left at just the right time—these half-grown kids were really hard to handle.
"Uncle Sean, could you ask Valley Master Grandpa to come get me? I miss my herbs." It was too dangerous here, and her brother was too scary—she’d better run away and come back when he calmed down...
"You want to leave, Sweet Dumpling?" Rory was talking to Tyler Cui and the others, but turned around the moment he heard her say she wanted to go, his tone instantly shifting.
Sweet Dumpling shrank in Sean Xuan’s arms. "Brother, I just miss my herbs—I don’t really want to leave." She hated how scary her brother was becoming; she didn’t even dare speak her true thoughts.
"So you don’t really want to leave?" Rory smiled, but the smile made her want to cry.
With tears in her eyes, Sweet Dumpling lied: "No, I don’t want to leave." She really, really wanted to go—she regretted everything... Waaa, Uncle William, you’re bad! You tricked me into coming here and won’t protect me.
"Good girl. You really are my wonderful little sister." Rory nodded, satisfied. "Uncle Sean, Sweet Dumpling is grown up now—she can walk by herself. Isn’t that right, Sweet Dumpling?"
"Yes." Sweet Dumpling sniffled, pitifully telling Sean Xuan, "Uncle Sean, I’m big now and heavy. Please put me down—I can walk by myself."
Sweet Dumpling clung tightly to Sean Xuan’s neck, her eyes brimming with tears, but she didn’t dare cry out loud.
Her brother was truly terrifying now—she would never dare abandon him again.