Chapter 625 - 622: Fragrance

Chapter 625: Chapter 622: Fragrance

Thankfully, the Grass and Wood Fragrance coiling around Mo Ling slowly loosened its hold, and his feeling of suffocation faded.

"Strange... there’s no scent of blood on him, nor any other smell. Is he just a bit mischievous?"

The Grass and Wood Fragrance directly scooped Mo Ling up and placed him outside the swaddling cloth.

Without the protection of the Grass and Wood Fragrance, the surrounding scents instantly rushed in.

It must have just rained. The smell of the fresh downpour was everywhere, clean and refreshing. The scents were filled with moisture, which made Mo Ling feel very comfortable.

’So comfortable.’

Mo Ling flopped right down and started to roll around in the scent of the rain.

However, before he could start playing, the Grass and Wood Fragrance scooped him up again and stuffed him back into the swaddling cloth. Mo Ling could only squirm and struggle, but to his dismay, he could no longer break free and return to the scent of the rain.

"He isn’t being affected by the scents... It seems he’s more than just a little mischievous... But if you don’t sleep well, you won’t grow big and strong." The Grass and Wood Fragrance’s fluctuations softened, sending a wave of reassurance.

A wave of drowsiness suddenly washed over Mo Ling, and he fell asleep.

After that, whenever he was awake, the Grass and Wood Fragrance would let Mo Ling out to play for a while.

Sometimes, Mo Ling could smell leaves. Other times, it was the fragrance of the soil, the rich scent of wood, or strange aromas of unidentifiable types.

Most of the time, these scents were all mixed together, and Mo Ling couldn’t tell them apart. He could only roll around everywhere before being caught and taken back by the Grass and Wood Fragrance.

Once, while the Grass and Wood Fragrance had let Mo Ling out to play, that familiar floral fragrance drifted over again. It seemed very curious about Mo Ling, constantly twining around him and tempting him to roll all over the place.

"Why did you let the little one out?"

"He has too much energy. If I don’t let him play for a bit, he’ll stay awake indefinitely. He only sleeps when he’s tired himself out," the Grass and Wood Fragrance explained.

"Won’t something happen if you let him out? What if he just solidifies any random scent...?" The floral fragrance was a little worried.

"It’s fine. He just seems curious about the other scents and has no intention of solidifying them. Besides, he was exposed to the scent of blood before. It seems to have affected his ability to solidify."

"Affected? What do you mean?"

"I’ve let him out many times. He just chases the scents, experiencing their various differences. He has absolutely no intention of solidifying any of them."

"This..." The floral fragrance nuzzled Mo Ling pitifully, trying to let its scent seep into his body, but it was met with a trace of rejection. Mo Ling just came closer for a sniff, then dodged away to roll around somewhere else.

"He doesn’t have the instinct to solidify?"

"That’s right."

The Grass and Wood Fragrance and the floral fragrance intertwined, spinning ceaselessly around Mo Ling and creating a mixed aroma. Mo Ling found it very special, so he drew near again. After memorizing the scent, he tried to run away, only to be caught by the Grass and Wood Fragrance and stuffed back into his swaddling cloth.

"If he never solidifies, what will become of him?"

"I don’t know either. We’ll have to wait until he’s grown to find out. But maybe his ability to solidify will recover after some time..."

The Grass and Wood Fragrance and the floral fragrance kept discussing him, and Mo Ling, only half-understanding, committed their words to memory.

’Solidify? What is that?’

As Mo Ling pondered this, drowsiness washed over him again.

Every time he woke, he did his best to understand the world around him and memorize all sorts of scents. This consumed a great deal of his energy, but thankfully, he could always sleep soundly in the swaddling cloth of the Grass and Wood Fragrance.

The Grass and Wood Fragrance and the floral fragrance continued to fluctuate, transmitting information, but Mo Ling had already drifted off to dreamland.

He slept soundly. When Mo Ling woke again, the floral fragrance had already drifted away.

The Grass and Wood Fragrance habitually scooped Mo Ling up, intending to let him out, but this time, it paused.

"The scent of blood is back. Has the war spread this far? It seems we can’t stay here any longer."

The Grass and Wood Fragrance suddenly grew stronger, enveloping all the newborns within it. Then, Mo Ling felt himself floating into the distance, carried along by the fragrance...

Mo Ling was marveling at this peculiar method of travel when he smelled a floral fragrance mixed with the scent of earth.

This floral fragrance was different from the one he had smelled before—it was much richer.

"Where are you from? Why are you entering the flower grove?" the floral fragrance wavered, questioning the Grass and Wood Fragrance.

"I’ve come from the Pine Forest. There’s a war over there, and I was afraid the newborns would be harmed, so I came here to hide."

As the Grass and Wood Fragrance explained, it allowed its scent to disperse, letting the floral fragrance seep in. Soon, the floral fragrance sensed the newborns carried by the Grass and Wood Fragrance.

"Come in, quickly." Upon sensing the newborns, the floral fragrance’s fluctuations softened considerably as it led the Grass and Wood Fragrance into the grove.

Once inside the flower grove, the Grass and Wood Fragrance finally relaxed. It plucked up the squirming Mo Ling and placed him outside the swaddling cloth.

’New scents again. They smell so good.’

This time, it wasn’t the familiar scents from before. The moment Mo Ling was out of the swaddling cloth, he was met with all sorts of new, fresh aromas.

’Are these all flowers?’

There were similarities between the scents; most of these new aromas came from the flowers in the grove.

Mo Ling rolled around curiously among them, memorizing the characteristics of each scent.

Soon, this peculiar newborn attracted the attention of the other Fragrance Bees in the grove.

"Why did you let him out? What if he solidifies just any random scent?" the Fragrance Bees asked the Grass and Wood Fragrance as they swirled around Mo Ling.

"He doesn’t solidify," the Grass and Wood Fragrance replied faintly.

"What? He doesn’t solidify? How tragic," the Fragrance Bees said pitifully, gently stroking Mo Ling.

"Then he’ll always be like this..."

"Will he learn to solidify when he grows up? It’ll be so painful for him if he can’t."

Mo Ling felt none of the pity coming from the Fragrance Bees. He simply drew closer to them, sensing the fragrances on their bodies.

The scents of these Fragrance Bees in the flower grove seemed to be the same as the floral fragrance Mo Ling had just smelled, only purer and more concentrated.

A natural floral fragrance often mixes with other scents—the smell of rain, of soil, of grassroots... Depending on the growing environment and the stage of bloom, the fragrance would also be different.

But the scents on these Fragrance Bees were exceptionally pure. Even when mixed with other scents, the resulting aroma was a perfect, seamless blend, its proportions absolutely fixed.

Furthermore, this fragrance was unchanging. Although they could control its concentration, making it stronger or fainter, the scent itself was always identical.

It didn’t take Mo Ling long to memorize their scents. As long as he remembered these scents, he could easily distinguish them from one another.

But after memorizing these scents, Mo Ling was left with an even greater puzzle:

’Why do all these scents smell so... rigid?’

’As if... they’re fixed in place.’