Chapter 138: The Haunting Terror of the Mirage Sea

"All right!"

Zhang Zhenye happily accepted the manuscript. Before stepping out, he turned back and added, "You can just call me Uncle Zhang; there's no need to be so polite with me. My feelings for your mother are sincere. You'll see that in time."

"Since I am with your mother, you are my daughter."

"Isn't it only natural for me to do things for my own daughter?"

Yu Yan: "..." She really couldn't get used to this sudden acquisition of a daughter status. She wanted to flip the table! Having a pair of troublesome parents was already annoying enough. She definitely didn't want another pair, thank you very much!

...

"Mistress Yan, what do we do now?"

As he spoke, Lou Yuhui gripped the protruding rocks on the cliffside with all his might to keep from falling, his appearance utterly wretched. Yu Yan was in slightly better shape, but not by much. She was hanging onto the cliffside using a leaf of the Plumed Tip Banyan in each hand.

Yun Duo'er, however, was faring the best of the three. It wasn't that her abilities were superior to theirs, but rather that her Blood-Sucking Vine, a Metal-spirit, had a natural advantage in this environment. Once a spirit pet reached the Profound Rank, it could freely control its body size. Her Grade 5 Blood-Sucking Vine, at its maximum size, was as thick as an arm, its roots anchored deep into the rock crevices while one end was wrapped tightly around Yun Duo'er’s waist. Yun Duo'er even had the spare capacity to recover her spiritual energy.

"Duo'er, have Little Gold give Uncle Yuhui a hand."

Lou Yuhui’s wind-type ability was depleted, unlike Yu Yan, who could hold on a little longer. If worse came to worst, Little Qing could fly; the Grade 4 early-stage creature could easily carry a person or two when at full size.

"Many thanks, Mistress Yan."

Lou Yuhui felt he was truly at his limit. Who could have imagined this dungeon would be so treacherous? Upon entry, they were immediately subjected to a thousand-meter freefall. Had he and Yu Yan not possessed wind-type abilities, their party would surely have faced a grim fate. To make matters worse, as they fell, they were attacked by numerous flying dungeon monsters: Cloud-Piercing Sparrows, Long-Necked Gray Geese, Dragon-Clawed Ribbon-Birds... they all appeared in swarms. Had they not entered a D-rank dungeon, where these birds—despite their numbers and fierce attacks—were mostly Yellow-rank monsters, they would likely have perished already. Their lives were saved for now, but their overall condition was poor.

Gold-spirit obeyed Yun Duo'er’s command, splitting off a thumb-thick side vine to wrap around Lou Yuhui’s waist.

Lou Yuhui sighed in relief. "Thank you, Little Mistress."

Ever since they had parted ways with Yu Wei and the others, leaving only the mother and daughter, Lou Yuhui had reverted from calling her "Sister Yan" to "Mistress Yan." Although Yu Yan wasn't quite used to hearing it, she knew this was his way of showing respect, so she didn't bother to correct him. In fact, their master-servant relationship was an unspoken understanding between them. If Lou Yuhui didn't act this way, Yu Yan would have actually felt uncomfortable. As for him calling her "Sister Yan" when others were around, that suited her just fine. She didn't want too many people knowing that Lou Yuhui had pledged his loyalty to her; it would be too attention-grabbing. Hearing him call Yun Duo'er "Little Mistress," Yu Yan raised her eyebrows slightly and used her free hand to toss two Plumed Tip Banyan leaves to Lou Yuhui.

Though these were only Grade 6 Profound Rank, not comparable to the two she held, they were still rare treasures. Lou Yuhui caught them joyfully, stashing one in his inner pocket and using the other to stab into the cliffside with one hand. The hard rock was sliced through like tofu; he felt as though he hadn't even used any effort. If he had possessed these strange leaves earlier, he wouldn't have needed the Little Mistress's help to anchor himself to the cliff! His waist-worn soft sword was fine, but it wasn't suited for this kind of work.

Lou Yuhui pulled out the leaf, wiped it clean with care, and tucked it away.

"Hurry and recover your spiritual energy. There are at least a dozen nests of Grade 2 and 3 dungeon monsters lurking nearby, and a flock of unknown birds is approaching from the sky, led by a Grade 4 early-stage creature." Yu Yan’s expression was solemn. She didn't know why, but even though they had only entered a D-rank dungeon, these monsters seemed unaffected by her illusion skills. It was one thing that she hadn't reacted quickly enough during the initial freefall, but later, she had clearly enveloped their party in her spiritual energy, keeping her illusion skills active at all times. Yet, the monsters they encountered still came straight for them, striking true every time. It was as if her illusions were completely useless. This situation was highly abnormal. Could it be related to the dungeon’s name, "Mirage Sea Horror"?

Below the cliff where they were perched lay a boundless sea. While in the high altitude, Yu Yan had observed the terrain during lulls in the fighting, estimating they would land on an island. Who knew that as they fought, they drifted closer and closer to the edge of the island? If Yu Yan hadn't made a split-second decision to toss out five Grade 7 Fire Rhino Horns, using them as bombs, they likely would have been dragged into the sea by the dungeon monsters—and that would have truly been the end!

Once their wind-type abilities were exhausted, their only fate in the sea would be certain death. Yu Yan frowned; she had to get to the bottom of this dungeon's oddities.

Lou Yuhui knew the severity of the situation without being told. He steeled himself and took out the Wencheng Fruit Yu Yan had given him earlier, swallowing it in a few bites. The gentle wind-type energy replenished his exhausted meridians. Both Yu Yan and Yun Duo'er had plenty of spirit items in their Illusion Lotus spaces, and spirit beast meat matching their attributes was a staple. After each of them ate a piece of meat of similar grade and rested briefly, their energy was nearly restored.

"Hanging in mid-air is extremely disadvantageous for us. Let’s head down."

"Little Qing, provide us with cover!"

With her wind-type energy restored, Yu Yan felt more at ease. Little Qing let out a shrill cry, flew two circles around the three of them and the vine, then darted to the side like lightning. Moments later, it returned with a Grade 2 snake-type dungeon monster in its beak. This display of deterrence successfully cowed the nearby nests of restless monsters. The Gold-spirit vine stretched and lowered itself toward the bottom of the cliff. Upon reaching the lowest point, the vine sprouted dense suction cups, latching tightly into the rock crevices. The tail of the vine shifted downward bit by bit, and after repeating this process several times, it successfully brought Lou Yuhui and Yun Duo'er to the ground.

Yu Yan alternated stabbing her two Plumed Tip Banyan leaves into the cliff, descending rapidly. Her wind-type ability flowed subtly, used only to slightly stabilize her posture. All three tacitly agreed to avoid using their inner energy as much as possible. In this inexplicably strange dungeon where illusion skills were ineffective, maintaining their peak condition was their greatest reliance for ensuring everyone’s safety!

The mere thought that those foolish birds, not even reaching the Profound Rank, had cost her five precious Grade 7 Fire Rhino Horns made her want to vomit blood. Ever since her rebirth, she had entered countless high-level dungeons. Aside from the Grade 8 Fire Rhino Horn she had actively sacrificed to secure Little Blue’s loyalty, she hadn't consumed a single Earth-rank Fire Rhino Horn. Who would have thought she would capsize in a gutter, failing in a D-rank dungeon that was at most intermediate? If she couldn't figure out why her illusion skills had lost their effect here, she would truly be devastated.