Chapter 17: Wuwu~ I Was Wrong

“Xiaoyan-jie, where’s Xiaoyue-jie?”

At this moment, Chongchong suddenly asked with doubt.

Only after the reminder did she realize that one person was missing from the team.

“What’s going on? Where’s Liu Yue?”

Chen Xiaoyan quickly pulled up the map and noticed that one teammate’s cursor was still at the village gate, not having entered the village at all.

Could something have happened?

【Chen Xiaoyan: What’s wrong? What are you doing outside?】

【Dao Ji Shi Kong: Legs weak】

【Chen Xiaoyan: ………】

“Let’s go. She’s at the village gate. We’ll go check on her,” Chen Xiaoyan said with a helpless chuckle, shaking her head.

“What’s Xiaoyue-jie doing outside the village?”

“Too scared to come in.”

At this time, Liu Yue had already stepped into the village, but her pace was as slow as a turtle’s.

She took a step, then nervously glanced around to confirm that nothing unusual was happening before daring to take the next step.

“Geh geh geh”

Suddenly, from an abandoned house up ahead, a sharp, hoarse ghostly scream rang out.

It sounded like the creaking of an old threshold worn down by years of neglect.

It also sounded like a human’s vocal cords were damaged, trying desperately to scream.

Combined with the eerie atmosphere, Liu Yue’s sanity plummeted.

“Ah!!!”

She broke down, letting out a shriek as she crouched to the ground, covering her ears with both hands, her whole body trembling violently.

“Geh…”

That chilling scream sounded again.

“All right, Chongchong, behave yourself or Xiaoyue will come after you.”

This sentence instantly shattered the terrifying atmosphere.

Liu Yue was stunned upon hearing it.

That voice… could it be them?

She lifted her head and looked ahead.

“Hi~ Xiaoyue-jie.”

From a ruined wall of the abandoned house on the left ahead, Chongchong poked out her head, grinning and waving cheerfully at her.

Liu Yue’s pupils shrank, and the light in her eyes vanished. Even the densest fool would know that the ghostly screams just now were all her prank.

Immediately, she clenched her fists and trembled all over.

But it wasn’t fear causing her shaking—it was anger.

The next moment, Liu Yue picked up the Bamian Han Sword lying on the ground. Filled with killing intent, she silently approached Chongchong.

Her icy eyes were like those of a corpse staring down a living soul.

Chongchong’s smile froze instantly.

Terrified, she quickly turned and ran toward Chen Xiaoyan.

“Xiaoyan-jie, save me!!!”

Chen Xiaoyan stood quietly to the side, holding her spring umbrella, watching the scene with a calm smile.

Seeing Chongchong running toward her, she hastily raised a hand to refuse, “No, I can’t save you.”

“If you have the guts to scare people, you have to bear the consequences.”

“Wuwuwu, I was wrong, please save me, Xiaoyan-jie,” Chongchong whimpered, clutching at Chen Xiaoyan’s skirt.

“Boom!!!”

A sword qi blasted through the abandoned house’s broken wall, collapsing it entirely.

Dust rose everywhere as Liu Yue strode in like a vengeful demon returned from hell, her gaze fixed intently on Chongchong alone.

“Chongchong, looks like I’m powerless to help,” Chen Xiaoyan shrugged helplessly.

“Whoosh~”

A sword qi sliced through the air.

Seeing this, Chen Xiaoyan activated the Yueying Step, pushing off the ground with one step and spinning away elegantly, leaving behind multiple afterimages.

“I’ll go first. Take care.”

“Eh?” Chongchong was dumbfounded, watching Chen Xiaoyan run off and momentarily unable to react.

Am I not your cutest little baby?

Why won’t you save me?

“Ah-yo~”

Before she could figure it out, a tremendous force hit her back, instantly sending her flying.

“Ow~ ow ow ow.”

Feeling the burning pain on her back, Chongchong gasped sharply.

Seeing her HP bar hadn’t decreased, she knew it wasn’t a monster’s sneak attack.

It was a teammate.

Teammate attacks don’t reduce HP, but the pain is still real.

So…

Chongchong’s expression changed drastically.

This time, it was completely over.

***

A few minutes later

Chongchong limped back to the team with Liu Yue.

The former’s arm guard sleeve was torn, while the latter’s complexion looked much better.

“Xiaoyue, got any energy left? If so, keep going—this girl needs a beating to learn her lesson,” Chen Xiaoyan laughed.

Liu Yue gave her a slight smile but said nothing, only shaking her head.

But Chongchong, hearing this, was overwhelmed with grievance and burst into tears immediately.

“Waa~ Xiaoyan-jie, what happened to the ‘darling baby’ you promised? What about protecting me? So love just disappears, huh?”

Looking at her tear-streaked, pitiful face, Chen Xiaoyan felt no urge to pity her at all.

You brought this on yourself.

Going around scaring people for no reason, a beating in-game is a light punishment.

Mu Qingxue saw this lively character and couldn’t help but laugh.

She envied this kind of atmosphere a little.

As the eldest Miss Mu, it was destined that she would rarely have close friends in this life.

“All right, all right, we’re still doing the dungeon. Stay in formation and watch out for trouble.”

With that, Chen Xiaoyan extended her right hand to Liu Yue.

“Come on.”

Liu Yue glanced at the slender jade-like hand in front of her, then looked up at her with suspicion.

“Aren’t you scared? I’ll hold your hand so you don’t get lost again,” Chen Xiaoyan said with a light laugh.

She really hadn’t expected that this aloof girl would be so timid she couldn’t even walk properly from fear.

Kinda ruins the cold beauty image.

Liu Yue hesitated for a moment before extending her left hand.

“Let’s go.”

Seeing Liu Yue’s expressionless face, Chen Xiaoyan didn’t care and took her hand, leading her deeper into the village.

“Xiaoyan-jie, I’m scared too,” Chongchong arrived belatedly.

She grabbed Chen Xiaoyan’s left hand and glanced at Liu Yue beside her.

Coincidentally, Liu Yue was looking back at her.

Their eyes met instantly.

“Hmph!” Chongchong snorted and turned her head aside.

“What are you scared of? You didn’t seem scared when you scared Xiaoyue just now,” Chen Xiaoyan teased.

“I’m scared now,” Chongchong answered stubbornly.

“Tch.”

Chen Xiaoyan rolled her eyes and ignored her.

“You don’t love me anymore, Xiaoyan-jie,” Chongchong bit her lip, her big eyes full of innocence.

Chen Xiaoyan felt her head ache.

“Ah, right, right.”

“You’re starting to brush me off.”

“Yes, yes, yes.”

Liu Yue quietly watched Chen Xiaoyan’s flawless profile, her heart far from as calm as her face showed.

Deep in the Monster Village

The group finally spotted the monsters—or rather, the demons.

【Demon Soldiers, Level 10】

Four two-meter-tall giants wielding greatswords, dressed in rags, stood outside a sealed bronze door, heads lowered as if standing asleep.

The bronze door was tightly bound by two iron chains as thick as thighs.

On the ground was a golden magic circle, covered with a dozen mysterious runes that enveloped the entire bronze door.

Not far away, behind a broken wall, the group was secretly observing the scene.

“Looks like this is the dungeon boss area,” Chen Xiaoyan whispered.

“Should we go up? Those four monsters are only level 10; we should be able to beat them,” Hongchen Rumeng said.

Mu Qingxue furrowed her brows slightly: “The attributes of demons and monsters differ greatly. Better to be cautious.”

“True, but waiting here does no good either. Let’s try. Worst case, we die and restart.”

“I agree with Xiaoyan’s opinion,” Liu Yue chimed in.

“Okay,” Mu Qingxue nodded.

“All right, Hongchen, draw aggro. Xiaoyue, take mid-range DPS. Don’t use the Liyuan Sword Formation for now. Si Xue, stay mobile and roam.”

“Received.”