Stellar Train: I Open a Small Shop on the Train-Chapter 67

Hu Tao shielded Huohuo with one hand and held her Staff of Homa in the other, scanning the surroundings.

Soon enough, Hu Tao locked onto her target.

"Found you! Everyone, follow me!"

With that, Hu Tao ignited her Staff of Homa and charged into a small courtyard.

Seeing this, Stelle and the others grabbed their weapons and followed her.

Huohuo, noticing everyone rush into the courtyard, quickly followed behind.

"Wait for Huohuo!"

She hurriedly trotted in with her short little legs.

Inside the courtyard, Hu Tao raised her Staff of Homa and struck a large mirror by the entrance.

Everyone expected the mirror to shatter—but it didn't.

Just as the staff was about to hit the surface, a Hu Tao from within the mirror suddenly reached out, grabbed the staff, and yanked Hu Tao into the mirror.

The others immediately lunged forward to grab her.

As a result, they all got pulled into the mirror as well.

Within the Mirror World.

The Heliobus called Cirrus sensed Hu Tao and the others entering the mirror realm and tried to possess Guinaifen.

Just then, a few fire butterflies fluttered over—Hu Tao arrived and swung her Staff of Homa straight at Fuyan.

Cirrus was terrified, immediately abandoning Guinaifen and fleeing.

It had only just escaped its prison and hadn't had time to absorb more Heliobus to grow stronger—there was no way it could fight Hu Tao right now.

Hu Tao caught Guinaifen and shook her shoulders.

"Guinaifen, wake up!"

Under Hu Tao's shaking, Guinaifen groggily opened her eyes.

"Where am I...?"

Hu Tao breathed a sigh of relief. Good thing she made it in time. If Cirrus had successfully possessed Guinaifen, things would've been way harder to handle.

"You were just grabbed by something that looked a lot like Mr. Tail. Luckily I arrived just in time. How are you feeling?"

Guinaifen rubbed her temples.

"A little dizzy... but I'll be fine after a bit of rest."

Hu Tao nodded.

After letting her rest a moment, Hu Tao sensed the surroundings, found Cirrus's trail, and took Guinaifen along to chase after it.

At that moment, Cirrus had arrived near March 7th.

March 7th was aimlessly wandering through a small alley.

"Where did everyone go? I've been walking for ages and haven't seen a single person."

Behind her, Cirrus quietly emerged from a wall.

Seeing how defenseless March 7th was, Cirrus sneered.

"Little girl, no vigilance at all. Perfect vessel for me!"

It lunged toward March 7th and dove into her body.

Less than a second later, Cirrus was forcefully ejected by a powerful energy.

March 7th merely felt an itch on her back, scratched it, and kept walking.

Once she was far away, Cirrus flew up from the ground, bruised and battered.

The moment it entered her body, it had been struck by overwhelming power and immediately expelled.

Scanning the area, Cirrus sensed the presence of Stelle and Sushang.

"Hmph! Don't tell me everyone here is this strong! No way! In a group, there's always a weakling!"

It ran off to ambush Stelle and Sushang.

Moments later...

"AAAHH!! DAMN!! IT'S SO HOT! I'M BURNING!!"

Cirrus, engulfed in flames, fled from Stelle and Sushang in a panic.

It had tried to possess Stelle, only to be attacked by searing heat. Luckily it escaped in time—any slower and it would've been incinerated on the spot.

It dove into a nearby pond to douse the flames.

"Are all of you freakishly powerful?! What kind of hellish luck is this? What kind of monsters did I drag myself into!?"

Just as Cirrus was about to give up, it suddenly heard crying.

"Waaahhh~ Huohuo can't do anything... Waaahhh~"

Cirrus perked up—was that a little girl nearby?

No way she's strong too, right?

Following the sound, Cirrus saw Huohuo crying in a corner.

Just as it was about to possess her, it sensed another Cirrus presence nearby.

Cirrus froze and carefully analyzed it... It felt oddly familiar.

The next second, Mr. Tail appeared beside it.

"Well, if it isn't Cirrus. Hasn't been long, but look at you—beaten black and blue, and even scorched. Tsk tsk."

Cirrus instantly recognized the presence.

"Tail! Watch your mouth!"

Tail snorted coldly.

"Hah. I'm just speaking the truth."

Cirrus was briefly speechless.

Then it noticed something strange about Tail's state.

Looking around, it saw the seal on Huohuo's tail—and smirked.

"Tail, you better worry about yourself. You're still sealed. At least I'm free, ha ha ha!"

Tail let out a chilling laugh.

"Not for long."

Cirrus blinked.

"Not for long? What do you mean?"

Tail pointed behind Cirrus.

"Turn around and see for yourself."

Cirrus suddenly had a bad feeling—like something terrible was about to happen.

It slowly turned its head...

Only to see Hu Tao charging at it, swinging the Staff of Homa.

BOOM! The strike hit Fuyan square in the chest, slamming it into the ground.

It tried to tunnel underground to escape, but Tail grabbed it and yanked it back up.

"Tail! You traitor!"

Those were Cirrus's last words.

Hu Tao summoned Big Hilichurl, who swallowed Cirrus in one bite.

From then on, there was no more Heliobus named Cirrus in this world.

Big Hilichurl burped, then hid back inside Hu Tao's sleeve to digest.

"All done." Hu Tao clapped her hands and put away the Staff of Homa.

Behind her, Guinaifen looked at Hu Tao with admiration.

"Hu Tao, you're amazing! Can you teach me? I want to learn how to catch ghosts too!"

Hu Tao replied,

"Can't do~ That's part of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's secrets. Only direct disciples can learn."

Guinaifen looked a little disappointed.

"Oh... okay then~"

But then Hu Tao changed her tone.

"Actually, if you want to learn ghost hunting, you don't have to learn from me. Ye Yun probably has techniques for sale—you can just buy one."

Guinaifen lit up. She remembered Hu Tao mentioning Ye Yun before.

"Alright! I'll go with you after we get out. Oh, and I need star jades to buy from Ye Yun, right?

I sold a few online, but not sure if it's enough. Star jades are crazy expensive these days..."

Hu Tao nodded.

"Let's check on HuoHuo first—she looks really shaken up."

Guinaifen nodded, and they went to find HuoHuo.

Hu Tao knelt beside her and gently asked,

"Huo Huo, what's wrong? Tell big sis—maybe I can help."

***

Huohuo pulled her hand back, sobbing as she spoke.

"Huohuo can't do anything~ I got everyone dragged into this..."

Seeing this, Hu Tao hugged Huohuo and patted her on the shoulder.

"Hey now, that's not true! Huohuo did great—if you hadn't distracted that thing just now, I wouldn't have been able to catch it at all~

You're the real MVP here. Come on, high five!"

Hu Tao grabbed one of Huohuo's hands and gave her a high five.

Huohuo's mood improved a lot after hearing Hu Tao's comforting words.

"Really?"

Hu Tao nodded.

"Of course! You were amazing, Huohuo. Alright, alright, no more tears.

Big sis will show you a magic trick."

Huohuo focused all her attention on Hu Tao. Hu Tao stood up straight, clasped her hands together and rubbed them, smiling at Huohuo.

"Huohuo, come open big sis's hands."

Hearing that, Huohuo reached out cautiously toward Hu Tao.

Her eyes were full of curiosity, with just a hint of nervousness.

The moment she opened Hu Tao's hands—

A few fire butterflies fluttered out.

"Flutter, butterfly~" Hu Tao raised her hands and spun around a few times, with tiny sparks falling from her hands, burning brilliantly in the air.

Huohuo's eyes lit up instantly.

"Wow! So pretty!"

She clapped her hands quickly, happily watching the fire butterflies dancing around her.

Seeing Huohuo had cheered up, Hu Tao gave her another hug.

"Come on, Huohuo, let's go find the other girls."

Huohuo nodded and obediently followed behind Hu Tao.

Later on—

With the guidance of Hu Tao's secret arts from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, they successfully found Xing, Sushang, and March 7th.

The group reunited.

March 7th was very curious how Hu Tao had managed to find them so accurately.

"Hu Tao, this place is such a maze. How did you manage to find us?"

Hu Tao conjured a fire butterfly and displayed it in her palm for everyone to see.

Huohuo's eyes lit up again at the sight of the fire butterfly.

"It's a fire butterfly!"

Hu Tao chuckled and patted Huohuo's head.

"Huohuo, this isn't a fire butterfly—it's a Guiding Butterfly, which leads the dead to the afterlife.

And it can also guide the lost back to the world of the living.

That's how I found you all just now."

Hearing this, Huohuo stared at the butterfly in Hu Tao's hand in awe—she didn't expect it to be so powerful.

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Nearby, Mr. Tails was staring at Hu Tao like she was a monster—this little girl's methods were more impressive than those of the Ten Lords Commission! The only thing she might lack is strength; Hanya and Xueyi from the Ten Lords Commission are still stronger than Hu Tao.

Hu Tao released the butterfly in her hand and said to it:

"Guiding Butterfly, lead us out of here."

Receiving the command, the butterfly flew off in a certain direction.

Hu Tao called out to everyone:

"Come on, if we follow the butterfly, we'll be out in no time~"

The group followed the butterfly and quickly found the exit. After passing through, they returned to the little courtyard from before.

Hu Tao looked at the mirror behind her and smashed it with her Staff of Homa.

"All done—let's go!"

Along the way, they encountered a few more Heliobus.

These ones were much weaker. Hu Tao let Huohuo try sealing them to build her courage.

Huohuo clearly had talent—just lacked confidence.

With Hu Tao supervising nearby, Huohuo was able to seal the Heliobus successfully.

And this scene was witnessed by Hanya and Xueyi, who had already taken notice of the commotion.

Hanya watched Huohuo bravely sealing the Heliobus under Hu Tao's encouragement, deep in thought.

Maybe... Huohuo could spend some time learning from this woman.

Hu Tao's exorcism techniques were quite unique—unlike anything Hanya had seen before.

And so, without delay—

Hanya and Xueyi went to the exit ahead of time to wait for them.

Seeing them waiting, Stelle suddenly felt nervous. We're doomed!

Just as she was about to turn and run, Hanya spoke.

"We're not here to arrest you."

Hearing that, Stelle slowly put her foot back down.

Hanya looked at Hu Tao.

"Hello, I'd like to talk to you about something. Can we speak privately?"

Hu Tao was puzzled—what did they want with her? Was it because she fed that Heliobus to the big hilichurl?

She followed Hanagasa to the side.

Hanya spoke.

"Hello, I'm Hanya, from the Ten Lords Commission."

Hu Tao introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Hu Tao. What do you want to talk about?"

Hanya got straight to the point.

"I'd like Huohuo to learn under you for a while."

Hu Tao immediately shook her head.

"No can do—my ghost-hunting and exorcism arts are passed down through generations."

Hanya clarified quickly:

"No, no, not to learn your arts. We at the Ten Lords Commission have our own methods. I just want you to mentor Huohuo for a while.

She's young and still immature. Before, when we took her exorcising, she'd always hide far away, too scared to get close.

But just now, I saw that when she's with you, she can calmly seal those Heliobus."

Hu Tao considered this—it might be doable.

She glanced at Huohuo, who was chatting with Xueyi in the distance.

Huohuo really was the type she had a soft spot for. Taking care of her didn't sound too bad.

"Alright then, that's fine.

So can I take her with me now?"

Hanya looked troubled.

"I'm afraid not. What I had in mind was for you to stay in Fyxestroll Garden for a while and look after her there."

Hu Tao understood. They barely knew each other, and Hanya wasn't comfortable letting Huohuo leave with her just like that.

Hence, asking her to stay in Fyxestroll Garden made sense.

Seeing Hu Tao hesitate, Hanya added:

"Don't worry—I'll give you generous compensation."

Hu Tao shook her head.

"It's not about the money. I just don't have that much time."

She paused, then suddenly thought of Jing Yuan.

"Wait—how about this: you still let me take Huohuo with me. I know your General and Tai Bu. I'll ask them to send you a message."

Saying that, she pulled out her phone and dialed Jing Yuan.

At that moment, Jing Yuan had just returned from Ye Yun's shop. He was enjoying an evening of tea and opera with Welt and Zhongli.

He picked up the call.

"Hello? Hall Master Hu, what's the matter?"

Hu Tao replied:

"Well, here's the thing..."

She told Jing Yuan the whole story.

Jing Yuan recalled Huohuo's image in his mind.

He knew her—a little fox girl working at the Ten Lords Commission. She was talented, but a bit timid.

Thinking about Hu Tao's profession, Jing Yuan agreed right away.

Letting Hu Tao guide Huohuo might be just the thing. Hu Tao had a great personality—despite working in such a serious field, she remained cheerful and full of life, which was rare.

Most of the judges in Luofu's Ten Lords Commission—Jing Yuan had never seen them smile.

"Sure, hand the phone to the people from the Commission—I'll explain."