"That's none of your concern," Old Madam said with a sly smile. She pulled out a bright red cord, woven with mystical patterns, and handed it to Queenie Zhu. "This is the Binding Spirit Cord. Tie it around the Antler Serpent and train it well. Once it's bound, it'll do whatever you say."
The Binding Spirit Cord seals off a spirit beast’s powers. If it dares to resist, it’ll end up hurting itself.
"Grandmother!" Grace shot to her feet, her eyes flashing cold. "You can’t do that to it! It’ll get hurt!"
"What do you know?" Old Madam snapped, frowning. "Queenie, get on with it."
Queenie only had one good hand, but she was nimble enough—her fingers danced like she’d done this a hundred times.
With practiced ease, she looped the Binding Spirit Cord—engraved with runes and soaked in mysterious potions—right over the Antler Serpent’s body.
The Antler Serpent was caught—just like that.
Queenie’s face lit up. She tugged at the cord and chirped, "Come on, Cutie Pie Antler Serpent! Unless you want to suffer!"
But when she pulled, the Antler Serpent didn’t budge an inch.
The Antler Serpent glanced down at the red cord around its body, then shot Queenie a look—and lunged to bite the hand holding the cord.
But Queenie Zhu didn’t flinch at all. She channeled her spiritual power into her hand, grinning cheekily. "Oh? You wanna bite me? Your powers are sealed, sweetie. Careful, or you’ll break a tooth—ah! Let go!"
Queenie was still riding high on her success, but the Antler Serpent didn’t care one bit about her spiritual power. It sank its fangs right into her hand!
And it didn’t just bite—it tore off skin, flesh, and bone in one savage chomp!
"Ah! Ah! My hand! My hand!" Queenie screamed, her face twisted in terror.
Old Madam was stunned. She lunged to grab the Binding Spirit Cord, but the Antler Serpent turned into a streak of black light and shot out the door faster than lightning.
The Binding Spirit Cord was still dangling from its body...
Old Madam froze for a second, but Queenie’s screams snapped her back to reality. She hurried over to check Queenie’s hand.
This time, she could actually see the bones.
Blood everywhere, white bone gleaming—several finger bones were shattered.
Aunt Leah was scared out of her wits. She rushed to call for the doctor, and the whole place turned into a whirlwind of chaos.
Grace let out a secret sigh of relief, her face full of sympathy. "Grandmother, see? I told you! The Antler Serpent is super timid. If it gets scared, it bites! Now Queenie Zhu’s got both hands injured, and today’s wound is down to the bone. That’s not gonna heal anytime soon—what’ll she do about the martial tournament?"
"Shut up!" Queenie Zhu nearly spat at Grace. "Drop the fake sympathy! If I don’t kill that beast, I’ll write my name backwards!"
"Whoa, don’t be so scary! My nerves are even weaker than my Antler Serpent’s!" Grace acted startled, backing away a few steps. Then she turned to Old Madam: "Grandmother, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be off! I have to find my Antler Serpent."
Old Madam’s face was stormy, and she said nothing.
Truth was, she had no idea what to say.
Grace didn’t wait for a reply—she spun on her heel and hurried out.
As she turned, a sly smile played at the corner of her lips.
A cold, mocking smile.
Back at Serenity Pavilion, the Antler Serpent had already beaten her there.
Somehow, it had wriggled free of the Binding Spirit Cord—the red rope lay abandoned on the floor.
Grace picked up the Binding Spirit Cord and handed it to Penny. "Take this back to Old Madam and tell her the Antler Serpent came home on its own. She doesn’t need to worry."
"Worry?" Penny huffed. "As if Old Madam would ever worry about Cutie Pie!"
Grace chuckled. "Just go, Penny!"
Go annoy her a little.