Hey, the drying kiln and the refrigerated cellar in Green Ox Valley have been going at each other lately! Old Qian had just finished moving the dried Rhodiola toward the cellar when he heard Bead-Chain jumping into the shape of the Chinese character for "heat" atop the kiln, shouting down at the cellar: "Hey, ice cube! Don't freeze my freshly dried herbs into popsicles!" The Abacus Bead in the refrigerated cellar instantly projected a rolling of eyes: "Cut the chatter, you baking hot thing! Come any closer and I'll pelt you with ice shards!"
"Abacus Bead! We're all family here, why are you bickering amongst yourselves?" Xiaoxiu demanded, hands on her hips with a chuckle. The Abacus Bead over the drying kiln projected a wronged Huwa: "It thinks I'm too hot, and I think it's too cold—we're just fundamentally incompatible!" The Abacus Bead in the refrigerated cellar added insult to injury: "As if you could hop around inside ice? Let's see you try if you've got the guts!" No sooner had the words left its "mouth" than the Abacus Bead from the drying kiln actually came rumbling right into the cellar, instantly kicking up a cloud of steam with a hiss that sent the ice scrambling backward in fright.
Just as they were carrying on, a sudden thunderstorm broke out, dousing half the fire in the drying kiln. Old Qian wrung his hands in a panic: "Thank goodness for Bead-Chain!" The Abacus Bead had already bounced into the shape of a tiny flame, projecting inside the kiln: "Bead-fire neve…
Chapter 297