Chapter 4: A Huge Windfall

This dungeon’s other spoils didn’t interest her, but the wind-element spirit crystal was truly a treasure! Unfortunately, Yun Duo’er was alone at home right now, and she could only imagine how frightened the child must be. With this thought, Yu Yan cast aside any thoughts of the rare finds within the dungeon, hopped onto her little electric scooter, and sped home as fast as she could.

The moment Yu Yan opened the door, she was met with Yun Duo’er’s eyes brimming with tears, full of grievance and accusation. Those watery, bright eyes tried hard to conceal the fear and panic within.

Yu Yan’s heart ached at the sight. She pulled the child into her arms, soothing her gently, “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Mama had something very important to take care of and had to step out for a while.”

“Then why did you lock the door?” the child demanded. “And why didn’t you tell me before you left? Did you not want to wake me? You could have left me a note, you know? Don’t you realize how worried I get when I can’t find you?”

The string of questions left Yu Yan speechless and ashamed. She silently berated herself—of course, she could have left a note for Yun Duo’er before going out! A child could think of these things more carefully than she had. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I promise I’ll be more careful next time.”

Yun Duo’er wiped her tears away with a smile. “It’s okay, Mama.”

After a moment’s pause, she said shyly, “Mama, I’m hungry. Is there anything to eat?”

Yu Yan smiled back. “There is.”

Before the arrival of the dungeon world, Yu Yan’s lazy nature meant she always stocked up on dry goods for a month or two, and enough fresh food for over ten days. So without even checking, she knew her refrigerator was packed full. Not only that, but every cupboard and both tall shelves beside the fridge were piled with vegetables, fruit, and all sorts of drinks.

That was also why, after being reborn, she hadn’t rushed out to scavenge for supplies. The stores she’d amassed at home were more than enough for her and Yun Duo’er to last a month or two. As for what to do afterward, she had her own plans.

In no time, Yu Yan whipped up a pot of noodles loaded with toppings—eggs, ham, shrimp, a medley of corn, cabbage, black and white mushrooms—enough to fill both their bellies.

“Duo’er, Mama needs to talk to you about something,” Yu Yan said after dinner, leading her daughter to the sofa. She had decided to be honest about what was happening outside.

“What is it, Mama?”

Her mother’s serious expression made Yun Duo’er sit up straight. It must be something important.

“There have been some strange changes in the world outside… How can I explain it? You can think of it as the games you’ve played before. As soon as we step out the door, it’s possible we’ll fall right into a game world.”

“These games all share a name: dungeons.”

“The biggest difference between these and the games you’ve played is that everything in the dungeon is real.”

“In other words, if you get hurt in one, you will bleed and die for real.”

“And we can’t stay in this home much longer. There’s a dungeon in the elevator outside—one called ‘Bloodthirsty Vine.’ In three days, as the dungeon expands, our home will become its backyard.”

“If we’re still living here then, we’ll become its nourishment, nothing left of us but bones.”

Yun Duo’er was silent.

What was Mama talking about? She understood every word, but together they made no sense. But she could see the worry in her mother’s eyes. “It’s okay, Mama. No matter what happens, as long as you’re with me, I won’t be afraid!”

Yu Yan’s heart ached as she hugged her daughter, tilting her head back to hide her tears. In all her years, she’d never had regrets—except for Yun Duo’er. In her reckless youth, she’d become pregnant out of wedlock, defying everyone to have her daughter.

As a single mother, she had to provide for them both and take care of Yun Duo’er in every way. Even if Yu Yan had three heads and six arms, she couldn’t be everywhere at once, and so Yun Duo’er had to grow up far too quickly. At twelve or thirteen, she didn’t even know what it was to be willful or naive. Other children, left alone at home for hours, would have panicked and cried for comfort. Yun Duo’er, instead, worried about her mother.

Even now, when she heard the world outside was changing, her first reaction was to comfort Yu Yan.

Such a good child—and yet, in her previous life, when the dungeon world arrived, she hadn’t survived more than three days.

“Mama, are you crying?” Yun Duo’er’s worried voice reached her. Yu Yan laughed, “Of course not! With a precious girl like you, how could Mama be anything but happy?”

“Duo’er, Mama has things to do. I’ll be in my room for a while. Promise me you won’t go out, and if you get hungry, eat some snacks from the boxes until I come out, okay?”

She pointed to two boxes in the living room, filled with snacks.

Yun Duo’er nodded obediently. “Okay, Mama,” she said, hesitating as if wanting to say more.

Yu Yan stroked her daughter’s head. Ever since she’d obtained that large pack of Spatial Phantom Lotus and absorbed the twelfth-rank Heavenly Spatial Lotus Plant Spirit, Yu Yan hadn’t had a chance to check her gains, being preoccupied with her child.

As a plant spirit enhancer, it was possible to obtain more than one plant spirit skill. Yu Yan was curious—what kind of miraculous skills would a twelfth-rank heavenly plant spirit grant her?

This might become the greatest advantage for her and Yun Duo’er to survive in the dungeon world. Despite her daughter’s evident anxiety, Yu Yan steeled herself and entered her room.

Creation, Bioformation, Simulation, Phantasm!

Four plant spirit skills in all—when Yu Yan finished examining her plant spirit, she stood frozen in shock.

Though Creation and Bioformation were obscure skills, while only Simulation and Phantasm were familiar, Yu Yan knew she’d hit the jackpot this time. In her three years in the dungeon world of her previous life, she’d never heard of anyone whose plant spirit came with more than three skills.

The only person with three plant spirit skills was Thor Sheng Xuan, who had an eighth-rank Earth Vajra Vine.

Most people were lucky to get one or two skills. Some, if unlucky, would absorb a plant spirit and not get a single skill!

But then again, a twelfth-rank heavenly plant spirit was something she’d never even heard of before. For such a supreme, top-tier plant spirit to grant four skills was only fitting—it would be stranger if there were only one or two.

Yu Yan quickly accepted this fact and joyfully began to explore and familiarize herself with her new abilities.

An hour later, gazing at the lotus mark on her forehead in the center of the mirror, Yu Yan nodded in satisfaction.

She had to admit, her luck was truly extraordinary. Not a single one of the Spatial Phantom Lotus’s abilities was useless!

Take Simulation, for instance. On the surface, it didn’t seem very useful—it only allowed her to disguise her spiritual energy and plant spirit at a basic level. The disguise was crude and could be easily seen through in a real confrontation…