Chapter 19: When the Master Becomes Prey

Having dealt with these matters, Yu Yan finally had time to examine the man on the ground.

The man's face was tinged with blue, and even in the dim light of the cave, it was clear that he was terribly pale from excessive blood loss. Yu Yan felt for his pulse, then used a Gu-carved feather to check his breathing... Fortunately, he was still alive.

“Duoduo, stop crying, won’t you? Don’t you have a healing Light Mark? Cast one for Tang Siqi’s father.”

Tang Siqi’s sobs stirred up the emotions Cloud Du’er had been holding in these past few days.

The two children were wrapped in each other’s arms, their faces streaked with tears and snot, utterly disheveled.

“Oh... hic!” Suddenly halting her cries, Cloud Du’er hiccupped from weeping. “Okay, Mom.”

Mom was right—now was not the time for tears. Saving Tang Siqi’s father mattered more. If Mom hadn’t reminded her, she would have been so caught up comforting Siqi that she’d have forgotten about her healing Light Mark.

Ashamed, Cloud Du’er stepped forward and cast a healing Light Mark. Tang’s father’s pallor eased slightly.

Cloud Du’er then threw two Holy Light Orbs, but Tang’s father still did not wake.

“Mom?” Cloud Du’er was uncertain.

“He’s probably poisoned.” Yu Yan surmised. The venom of the Blue-tailed Giant Scorpion was fierce, and she’d gleaned from Tang Siqi’s earlier cries that the two had been attacked by a swarm of them. She thought for a moment, then, with some pain, took out a Scarlet Fruit, sliced off a small piece with her knife, and pressed it into Tang’s father’s mouth.

The Scarlet Fruit also came from the double-S ranked “Lava Cave” dungeon, its yield exceedingly rare. The one Yu Yan produced was a seventh-grade, the lowest among the dozen she’d harvested.

To use an earth-grade spiritual fruit to cure the poison of a yellow-rank dungeon monster—Yu Yan felt it was extravagant, but there was no other way. Cloud Du’er was watching her with hopeful eyes. Tang Siqi, too, had stopped crying, anxiously observing Yu Yan and her daughter as they tried to save her father.

Clearly, she’d need to find some detoxifying herbs in the future.

Yu Yan sliced the remaining Scarlet Fruit into seven pieces, gave two to Cloud Du’er, kept one in reserve—lest Tang’s father’s poisoning ran too deep and one piece wasn’t enough—and planned to absorb and refine the rest herself.

Once the Scarlet Fruit is cut, its spiritual energy quickly dissipates.

In at most two days, it would become mere ordinary fruit.

“Duoduo, follow Mom.” Yu Yan popped a piece of Scarlet Fruit into her mouth, sat cross-legged, and closed her eyes. Cloud Du’er imitated her, and soon the fruit’s spiritual energy surged into their bodies, flooding every limb and bone. The phantom lotus mark on Yu Yan’s brow flashed desperately, greedily absorbing the Scarlet Fruit’s energy.

Cloud Du’er’s Waterlight Butterfly at her brow fluttered its wings, lively as if it might leap out at any moment.

Tang Siqi watched curiously.

She didn’t ask for the obviously precious Scarlet Fruit, nor did she disturb their absorption of spiritual energy. Instead, she sat by the cave entrance, keeping a wary eye on the outside.

The Scarlet Fruit’s rich spiritual energy was a rare attribute-less type, which almost any plant-type or bloodline enhancer could absorb and refine. Not only that, even ordinary enhancers benefited greatly from it; for those of lower rank, advancing a grade or two was not unusual.

Yu Yan had spent the past few days gathering high-grade dungeon loot, then slept heavily during her adaptation period. After waking, she’d accompanied Cloud Du’er to find her best friend, but hadn’t really had time to strengthen herself or her daughter. Even though their food was always spirit beast meat and their drink was high-grade spring water brimming with spiritual energy from the dungeons, Yu Yan was currently only a third-grade plant-type enhancer.

Cloud Du’er was a bit better off; during Yu Yan’s two days of sleep, she hadn’t stopped eating or drinking. She’d reached the peak of third-grade bloodline enhancement and was close to breaking into the fourth grade. Don’t underestimate the difference of a single grade: one was yellow-rank, the other was mysterious-rank.

A leap across a major grade brought a fundamental increase in strength.

For example, previously Cloud Du’er could only cast ten Holy Light Orbs in a day. After advancing to mysterious-rank, she could throw thirty or fifty as if playing.

Yu Yan focused on refining the spiritual energy. She sensed Tang’s father waking up but didn’t open her eyes.

Tang’s father was clearly no fool.

If he were, he’d have perished long ago in a C-grade dungeon at thirty percent power; he’d never have survived this long with a burdensome daughter in tow. In a C-grade dungeon, yellow-rank monsters were everywhere, and fourth-grade meant little.

Surviving so many days and only encountering a nest of Blue-tailed Giant Scorpions spoke volumes about Tang’s father’s abilities.

If not for Tang Siqi holding him back...

He likely would have killed several Rock Serpents during the newbie welfare period, and eaten their meat to become an earth-type enhancer. The Rock Serpent was a mysterious-rank, fourth-grade earth-type dungeon monster; its meat could grant earth-type abilities.

Dungeon monsters during the newbie welfare period were pitifully weak.

Even at mysterious-rank, fourth-grade, as long as one was bold and careful, it wasn’t difficult for an ordinary person to kill a few.

Having learned everything from his daughter, Tang’s father was grateful. He went out to check the surroundings and found a swarm of fist-sized scorpions gathered not far from the cave, along with several unknown snake-like creatures weaving among them.

Describing it as “cranes among chickens” was apt: not a single scorpion dared approach those snakes.

Within the crowded scorpion swarm, a serpentine vacuum had been carved out!

Tang’s father frowned; he knew these scorpions well.

His unconsciousness was their doing—those blue-glowing tails were fiercely venomous, quick as the wind. At first, he could easily kill them, but three days ago, he barely managed to dispatch a few with skill, and after that, he could no longer keep up.

He’d also seen those snakes.

Siqi feared snakes, so he’d stayed close to her to avoid frightening his daughter, never testing their strength.

Now, seeing the scorpions’ reaction, he realized animal instincts were far sharper than humans’; it seemed those snakes were far stronger than the scorpions.

Strangely, neither scorpions nor snakes ventured beyond the cave entrance. From their agitated movements, they were clearly interested in the four people inside, but for reasons unknown, didn’t rush in to attack.

Tang’s father quickly noticed the Fire Crystal Powder at the entrance.

The powder was scattered in a thin, faint circle around the cave mouth—not especially obvious.

Yet the scorpion swarm and snakes, as if in agreement, skirted the perimeter of the Fire Crystal Powder, forming a neat, undulating line. “Siqi, did that lady scatter this stuff?” Tang’s father asked his daughter in a low voice.

Tang Siqi nodded, pointing at the monsters outside. “Daddy, will they come in?”

Now that her father was awake, she felt much more secure.

But it was these very scorpions that had stung and bitten him, causing his coma, so worry flickered across Tang Siqi’s face.

“They shouldn’t.” Tang’s father glanced at his daughter and reassured her, “If they were going to come in, they would have already.”

There was one thing he didn’t mention, not wanting to frighten her.

If it rained, everything could change. Rain would wash away the unknown powder at the cave entrance; then, these monsters would not hesitate to attack. To them, humans were likely the weakest, most easily hunted source of blood and flesh.

Tang’s father could only smile bitterly.

He never thought that, one day, humanity—the dominant species of Blue Star—would become prey.

And not just prey, but the weakest, easiest to hunt kind...