Chapter 60: Forbearance (Combined Edition)

During the course of those two intense and thrilling battles, the chilling lake water had stripped away a considerable amount of body heat from both Li Rui and Millie.

When they dragged their thoroughly soaked bodies up onto the lake shore, the sudden loss of the water's buoyant support made their limbs feel exceptionally heavy and fatigued, causing both of them to involuntarily breathe a little faster.

If consuming the divine berry could be counted as the start of their day, they had first engaged in an extremely fierce physical wrestling session right at the beginning. Once Millie lay down to sleep, Li Rui began chipping away at the stone.

As he hammered away, the earthquake struck, forcing them to hurriedly don their clothes, set up defensive measures, and await the arrival of fate.

Soon after, the massive boulder they were standing on was shaken loose by the earthquake, though how much time passed during that descent remained unknown.

Upon plunging into the lake within this ultra-gigantic subterranean cavern, they were forced into two consecutive battles.

Having experienced so much, their bodies felt thoroughly exhausted. Even if a pack of kobolds were lingering nearby, they simply lacked the strength to fight them.

The spot where the two of them crawled ashore was not the kobold's small dock, but rather a landing point Li Rui had purposefully selected, relying on the topographical knowledge he had acquired from the [Kobold Owu's Draconic Memories].

This location was roughly one hundred and seventy or eighty meters away from the kobold dock. This distance ensured that his [Necrotic Vision] could effectively cover the dock area, allowing him to instantly spot any kobold crawling out from the tunnel exit leading to the small dock.

Kobolds typically visited the dock solely for fishing and had no reason to patrol the surrounding area idly, as no creature capable of threatening them existed here, save for the sonic bats.

Since neither Li Rui nor Millie had left any traces of their presence around the dock, and after soaking in the lake for so long, their bodies only carried a faint, fishy scent of lake water, the creatures theoretically had no way of discovering their tracks.

Armed with [Kobold Owu's Draconic Memories], Li Rui possessed a crystal-clear understanding of the surrounding terrain.

This was a small peninsula in the middle of the lake, shaped somewhat like the Korean Peninsula, measuring about one kilometer in width and some seven or eight kilometers in length. The kobolds' small dock was situated on the right-hand corner of this rectangular peninsula as it jutted out into the water.

At this moment, the landscape unfolding before the two of them was the most bizarre spectacle in this barren realm—a forest composed of colossal wooden mushrooms.

These fungi were unimaginably gigantic, their thick stalks resembling stone pillars, while layer upon layer of massive caps spread out in the darkness. Even the smallest among them was large enough to serve as the floor of a treehouse.

These could no longer be called mere mushrooms; they were massive trees that had simply grown into the shape of fungi.

The air was thick with a mixed scent of decaying wood and damp earth. Every so often, faint rustling sounds could be heard—beetles chewing on wood beneath the caps, or the rapid, whirring flight of subterranean insectivorous bees hunting those beetles.

While the lake carried the constant sound of wind and gentle ripples, the entire mushroom forest was suffocatingly silent, as if it were a corner forgotten by the rest of the world.

According to [Kobold Owu's Draconic Memories], Owu had never encountered any creatures within this mushroom forest other than beetles, beetle larvae, and subterranean insect-eating bees.

In other words, while barren, this place offered guaranteed safety.

Li Rui selected a mushroom tree well away from all surrounding insect-eating bee hives, and carefully pulled Millie up onto the lowest tier of its fungal caps.

This would be their resting place for the time being.

Once they climbed up, Li Rui retrieved the [Vortex Iron Shard]—which he had pried from the upper jaw of the first undead creature he killed—from a special, small water pouch he carried.

Ever since emerging from the lower-level monster forest, he had been constantly moving between towns and villages, never finding an opportunity to use this item that stored negative energy, and had almost forgotten about it entirely.

As the [Vortex Iron Shard] left the small pouch, this peculiar artifact immediately began to emit a faint, grayish-white mist of negative energy, which billowed outward like a living thing to fill the surrounding area.

Wherever the mist passed, the tiny, otherwise imperceptible insects crawling upon the mushroom cap seemed to encounter their natural predator. They scrambled in panic from their hiding places and scattered in all directions, instantly sweeping the surface of the cap completely clean.

In such a place untouched by humanity for ages, this item proved quite useful.

With the annoying little bugs cleared away, it was time to set up their temporary shelter.

Li Rui manipulated a portion of his [Colloidal Fluid], causing the translucent, viscous gel to flow like a living entity under his mental command. It stretched and solidified between the upper and lower tiers of the giant mushroom caps, forming a flexible yet thick translucent curtain that effectively blocked the chilly vapor drifting from the lake surface.

Even after finishing this task, a large amount of the gel remained. Rather than wasting it, he gathered the remainder into a single strand and let it trail down a thin linen rope toward the surface of the gloomy lake water, forming a large, circular slime lurking beneath the surface.

This was a simple yet practical escape mechanism. Should they face a sudden ambush while resting, they only needed to leap directly into the water, and the submerged [Colloidal Fluid] would instantly transform into the "gel stingray" Li Rui had previously controlled, wrapping around them to provide breathable air and protection underwater, whisking them away from danger.

Only after completing all of this did Li Rui let out a long, silent breath.

Fatigue swept over him like a tidal wave, making it difficult for him to even remain standing.

He collapsed heavily onto the wide, flat fungal cap, which felt as comfortable as a natural bed. When his back made contact with the cool yet resilient wooden surface, an indescribable sense of comfort instinctively wrung a low, satisfied sigh from his lips.

For some time now, they had been trapped in a "triangular cage" formed within a corner of the cave. Though the space inside was just large enough for them to lie down and sleep, the uneven, cold, and hard rock surface always left their entire bodies aching and sore.

Even with the [Colloidal Fluid] acting as a mat, unless they used their own body heat to warm the gel, the texture remained cold and sticky, far inferior to the natural, flat wooden cap in terms of comfort and reassurance.

Just as he lay down, intending to relax his tense nerves and drift off to sleep, Millie gently nudged his arm.

Her voice carried a trace of weakness: "Li Rui, I'm hungry."

Hearing her words, Li Rui finally realized how time had slipped away.

In this subterranean world devoid of sun, moon, and stars, precise timekeeping was an impossible luxury.

His only reference point was the daily casting of [Goodberry]. Once summoned, the berries would vanish after twenty-four hours.

He felt around his chest pocket, and sure enough, the two remaining berries from his previous summoning had disappeared.

He propped himself up, concentrated, and softly chanted the familiar incantation.

A faint magical aura gathered in his palm, condensing into several plump, sweet-scented divine berries.

However, as he placed a berry into his mouth, Li Rui encountered an awkward situation.

The moment that familiar, sweet taste brimming with life energy melted on his tip of his tongue, an indescribable instinctual throbbing from deep within his body swept over him without warning.

Throughout this recent period, he and Millie had lived in close quarters within the cramped cage, with nothing else to distract their attention except for... certain activities.

The two of them had spent their time engaged in intense, censor-busting contests of endurance, gradually forging an exceptionally intimate, deeply ingrained mutual dependence.

The divine berry—a treasure meant to sustain their lives in the foodless underground—had unexpectedly acted as the spark that ignited a certain instinctual desire.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Millie and noticed that her movement of accepting the berry and putting it into her mouth had also noticeably paused.

Although Li Rui's [Inferior Darkvision] could not render colors, within his monochrome field of view, he could clearly see two dark patches appear on Millie's delicate and pretty face—had there been light illuminating her cheeks at that moment, they would undoubtedly have been two blushes.

Though Millie could see nothing in the dark, she immediately heard Li Rui's breathing suddenly grow heavier.

The air seemed to instantly turn thick and scorching, and a tacit understanding of mutual desire silently bridged the space between them.

Yet, this was not a place where they were entirely alone.

In this silent mushroom forest, where even the chirping of insects felt jarring, any slightly excessive noise could become a fatal signal, drawing kobolds or even sonic bats directly to their location.

The risk was simply too high; they could not afford such a gamble right now.

The air between them froze for a moment, that yearning colliding and tangling silently in the stillness, before it was ultimately suppressed by sheer willpower.

Each of them chewed the divine berries in silence, feeling the life energy flow into their hungry and exhausted bodies, while quietly suppressing the turbulent, instinctual cravings stirred up by their environment.

"Let's sleep. We have things to do when we wake up."

"Mn."

Millie gave a soft acknowledgment, then shifted away to lie down at a slightly greater distance from Li Rui, turning her back to him.

Li Rui couldn't help casting a glance toward where she had moved, then took a deep breath to stamp out the lingering internal fire, lying down with his clothes on, his back also turned to her.

Driven by a combination of suppression and exhaustion, the two finally drifted into a deep sleep.

***

Waking up, the surroundings remained blanketed in boundless darkness and stillness.

The anticipated attack had not occurred; only the permanent, suffocating tranquility of the mushroom forest remained.

Sufficient sleep dispelled the exhaustion from their bodies, and their minds grew sharp and clear once more.

With their clarity and vitality restored, Li Rui decided to take the initiative and infiltrate the kobold nest to wipe them out.

Two main reasons drove him to this decision.

First, he needed to harvest the [Black Dragon Bloodline] trait from the kobolds, which was a prerequisite for acquiring the power of a dragon-blooded sorcerer.

Second, and more importantly, he needed more memories and intelligence.

Among [Kobold Owu's Draconic Memories], there was a crucial piece of information—this tribe of kobolds occupying the peninsula were not indigenous inhabitants, but migrants from elsewhere.

Owu's memories revealed that this tribe engaged in a vital activity every year: sending out roughly half their population on trade expeditions.

They used dried roasted fish meat and... lower-ranking members of their own tribe as commodities to barter for supplies from other parts of the subterranean world.

Owu was merely three years old and too young to participate in such grand journeys; indeed, it was likely destined to be treated as trade goods itself, which was why it knew almost nothing of the world beyond the peninsula.

Li Rui needed intelligence—a detailed map of this vast, unfamiliar, and perilous subterranean world, along with an understanding of its rules for survival.

The only ones possessing this knowledge were the highest-ranking chieftain of the kobold tribe and the core inner circle of kobolds who accompanied the chieftain on these annual trading ventures.

Stored within their brains was critical information leading to other parts of the underground.

Only by slaying them and using his golden finger to extract their memories could he piece together the complete outline of this underworld like a jigsaw puzzle.

Li Rui raised his gaze, piercing through the overlapping layers of the giant mushroom caps, as if gazing upon the distant surface world—or rather, hope.

Before officially joining the "Earth's Claw" adventurer party, Nova had told him something: someone in Rock City had dug a well so deep that it breached a passage leading directly to the underworld.

He and Millie had also fallen down here precisely because of the cave-in triggered by that damned earthquake.

Since there was an entrance, there had to be an exit—and likely more than one!

Finding them and returning to the sunlit surface was their ultimate and mandatory survival goal.

The chieftain and his cronies in the nest had to die!

This was done not only to acquire the power of a dragon-blooded sorcerer, but more importantly, to find the path back to the light.

Thanks to [Kobold Owu's Draconic Memories], a detailed three-dimensional structural diagram of the kobold nest—resembling a massive ant colony—was clearly imprinted in Li Rui's mind.

The winding paths of every tunnel, the location of every residential cavern and its population, the positions of the fatal traps laid due to the kobolds' malicious hobbies, the core area inhabited by the chieftain and his confidants, and the few relatively spacious nodes suitable for a human of his stature to wage combat...

He knew every single detail.

Yet Millie knew nothing of this.

A successful surprise attack required flawless cooperation between the two of them; he had to share this information so Millie could be equally well-versed in the layout of the entire nest.

However, to impart this information to Millie, he would need to kindle a flame and draw a corresponding map to explain it, otherwise Millie wouldn't be able to see a thing, rendering his explanation useless.

Still... Li Rui's gaze swept over the towering, silent mushroom forest around them and the wide, dark, calm expanse of the lake.

Start a fire and draw maps here?

In this absolute darkness of the underground, even a minuscule spark would stand out like a lighthouse.

Cut down mushroom trees to build a light shield?

The kobolds were merely accustomed to having a boatload of their kin occasionally wiped out by sonic bats; even if those who went fishing failed to return, they wouldn't bother searching, which conveniently saved on rations.

However, if they created too much commotion, not only would the sonic bats hear it and immediately home in on them, but the kobolds foraging for insects in the mushroom forest would also notice them. What they might do next exceeded Li Rui's predictions.

His gaze finally returned to the gloomy surface of the lake.

An idea struck him.

The [Colloidal Fluid] once again transformed into the gel stingray, carrying the two of them silently into the lake water until they reached the deep, dark lakebed.

Then, Li Rui manipulated the [Colloidal Fluid], extending a gelatinous tentacle upward, its tip continuously indenting to form bubbles.

As bubble after bubble was squeezed downward, the gel eventually expanded within the water to form a slightly vibrating, spherical air pocket barely large enough to accommodate the two of them.

In the absolute darkness underwater, Li Rui cast [Burning Hands], generating a ball of fire in his palm that emitted a steady glow and warmth.

Next, he took off his inner lining shirt to use as parchment, and had Millie use a dagger to sharpen a small piece of dead wood scavenged along the way, charring it over the flame to serve as a charcoal pencil.

With all tools prepared, he carefully and cautiously began explaining the various structures of the kobold cave to Millie...

Time slipped away amidst the tense tutoring.

When Li Rui finally concluded his explanation, pointing to the last marked point on the map—a concealed exit close to a water source—Millie suddenly turned her face and planted a reward-like, swift kiss upon his sweat-beaded cheek.