Meanwhile, Chou was feeling neither confident nor strong. But he had no choice! The little furry beast terrified him! He hurried forth with the task that the evil fox left him with. He threatened that if he didn't follow his orders, he would roast him under eternal flames! Chou cried internally at the very thought, believing every word. 'Boohoohoo…'

Chou had to follow through with the plan. He wrapped his vines around both the foolish humans that harassed his naive, and silly master.

"What do you think you're doing?! Let me go, you stupid plant!" Wu Ying Yue kept screaming as she felt Chou's vines tangle around her body in the same way they did for Wu Wei. They both howled in agony as the tendrils constricted their waists.

None of the humans knew what had been said between the fox and the man eating plant, but a second after the cub barked his commands, Chou grasped both Wu Wei and Wu Ying Yue with his vines and flung them straight into the gaping jaws of the fire breathing drake.

"Let me out of here! Mmphhph!!" Whatever Wu Ying Yue said after that was nothing more than muffled gibberish, while her and her husband's heads filled the drake's open jaws. However, their screams could still be heard, as the flames pouring out of the giant reptile's gullet slowly burnt them alive.

The Fire Drake, whose mouth was suddenly stuffed to the brim just as he was about to blow his destructive attack, tried to swallow back his internal force and reabsorb the fireball into his body.

But it was too late. The attack was already too far in progress to abandon, and it ended up blowing up in recoil. The Fire Drake's gargantuan body burst into smithereens, Wu Wei and Wu Ying Yue's bodies burnt to a crisp as they were engulfed in a sea of flames. The explosion was large enough to cause a small crater in the path, wiping out all the trees and plants in the area.

In the distance, Li Meirong was blown forward by the explosion, her body flung against one of the still standing trees, knocking the wind out of her.

She collapsed to the ground and coughed blood, her whole body in pain. Now, covered in dirt and warm slimy goo, which she could only assume was the Fire Drake's remains, she lifted her face off the ground, pushing herself up with her arms, speechlessly taking in the wreckage caused by the explosion.

It was already too dark to really see all of the damage, but she could discern the rows of gigantic trees, broken and bent, one after the other like dominoes. The air was thick with smoke, causing her to fall into a coughing fit. In the distance Li meirong noticed, near the path she ran away from, was a hole in the ground so large it seemed as though a meteorite had crashed into it.

'Master, I'm coming!' Chou's telepathic thoughts soon reached her as he got close enough. He shrank back to a miniature version of himself as he used the broken trees like jungle vines, swinging from one branch to another, until he reached her side.

Li Meirong couldn't help herself, she grabbed little Chou and brought him up to her face, rubbing her cheek affectionately against his plump body.

Chou's plant body heated up, and he used his leaves to push Li Meirong away. 'Stop it master, this is undignified!'

Li Meirong giggled at his indignation. She was so relieved they made it out alive, for a moment there, she really had thought that would be the end for them.

Suddenly, she dropped Chou to the ground, cupping her hand to her mouth as she gasped. "Oh no, the baby fox!!"

If Chou had eyes, he would have rolled them. He rubbed his little tush with his leaves after falling so clumsily, and hoped nobody had seen that embarrassing moment. Why was his master getting all bent out of shape anyway? Good riddance, said he! He jumped back up onto her shoulder.

'Master, forget that fox, he's bad news. If you keep him, for sure he will eat Master one day.'

Li Meirong glared at him from her peripheral vision. "Stop it Chou, he's one of the reasons we're alive right now!"

'But Chou did all the work!' Chou exclaimed, feeling unappreciated. He wanted to just be alone with his master. Why was she always trying to help other beasts? They weren't even plants!

Chou was most unsatisfied.

Li Meirong sighed and rubbed her jealous pet. "Yes, you did. Good job, Chou. I'll prepare a honeyed water brew for you when we get back home, alright? Now please help me search for Snowball."

Chou grew even more upset. 'You think Chou will be so easily bribed with a snack?! Humph, humph!, And what does master mean by saying 'Snowball'? Master already named him?!' Chou wanted to wring his betraying master's neck.

Li Meirong, disregarding her plant's raging complaints, continued. "Yes, I thought of it as I followed him through the woods. His little butt moved about like a flying snowball."

'...' Chou was at a loss for words. His master was really bad at naming things. He decided it was time to hit her with the silent treatment again.

Unbeknownst to Bai Qingyue, he had just received a nickname that would follow him for the rest of his life.

Li Meirong moved her sore limbs and tired body as fast as she could, moving stones and peering through shrubs, reassuring herself that the fox ran ahead of her, and therefore had to be alright!

As she crawled around on the forest bed, searching for Snowball's whereabouts, she began to notice a faint light shining through the edge of the woods, uphill. It was hotter than before, and the unknown source of light alarmed her.

Li Meirong recalled Wu Ying Yue's words; "Fire mountain..."

The sound of bubbling, boiling liquid could be heard from the direction of the glow, up at the edge of the woods.

It was as she feared. In all of the danger and commotion, Li Meirong had made her way to the fire mountain, otherwise known as an active volcano.

'Master, methinks Chou senses the fluffy beast. He's up ahead, where the heat source is coming from.' Chou's voice resonated in her mind.

'Of course, he was in the direction of the volcano… Of course he was!'

Li Meirong looked up at the skies in silent accusation, wondering why fate always insisted on dragging her into life threatening situations.