108 - Dungeon Growth Log

The dream began to fade, becoming increasingly obscure. Tiny droplets of water fell upon Xia Ge's face, the dampness making her quite uncomfortable. Slowly, Xia Ge opened her eyes to complete darkness. The serene, picturesque dreamscape dissolved into nothingness, harsh reality hitting her hard. With a slight headache, Xia Ge tentatively reached out, feeling her way around uneven and somewhat slippery stone walls. Grasping onto a protruding rock, she struggled to stand, feeling momentarily dazed. Waking from the dream had restored much of her lost soul power, though she still felt an ache from overexertion. Memories slowly returned: she had been sucked into the White Dream Cave, but not before tossing Mao Qing out... Mao Qing... she should be alright? "Little Puppet?" She called out to her system, but the only response was the drips of water echoing in the damp cave. Unfazed, Xia Ge drew her scythe from her Silver Stream Ring, though with such force that two sakura candies she had hidden inside tumbled out along with it. The candies, wrapped in crinkly paper, made a soft thud as they hit the ground. Xia Ge: "..." Silver Stream truly was a malfunctioning ring... Had she been looking for the candy just now? Stooping to pick up the candies, Xia Ge decided against stowing them back in the ring, instead slipping them into her pocket. There, her hand encountered something unusual: a piece of neatly folded rice paper. For a moment, her mind went blank before she remembered. It was Mao Qing's drawing of the White Dream Cave, intended to be taken to her after drying, but she hadn't had the chance before being swept into the real White Dream Cave. Gazing into the pitch-black White Dream Cave, she recalled Mao Qing's words about the ethereal clouds in the dream. Xia Ge sighed. "... Dreams are indeed deceiving." She unfolded the paper, though in the dark, she couldn't see its contents clearly. In her mind, she compared Mao Qing's drawing of a mist-filled, dreamlike White Dream Cave with this reality, a cave littered with bats and damp walls, making the painted scene seem even more surreal and far-fetched. Initially, she had held some fascination for the White Dream Cave. But now... Call her a mere dabbler, say what you will, but the disappointment was real. Stowing the drawing away, Xia Ge grasped her scythe and felt her way forward along the rough stone walls. Occasionally, she startled a few bats with green eyes hanging upside down. They would screech and flutter towards her face but, reacting instinctively, she swung her scythe, hitting her target each time. Treading on the corpses of bats, her eyes gradually adapted to the darkness after a short distance. As she walked, Xia Ge reflected on the dream she had just had. They say dreams reflect one's daily musings, a collage of real experiences. But in reality, she had never visited any bamboo forest or met such a pretty girl in a red dress. Wait a minute. Xia Ge's steps faltered, as she looked up at the dripping rocks overhead. Such a pretty girl... What did the girl in her dream look like? She couldn't quite recall. All she remembered was the lush bamboo forest, the azure sky, mushrooms hidden among the bamboo shoots, and the girl's crimson dress hem. "... Why did I dream of a child," Xia Ge massaged her temples, "Shouldn't it have been a handsome guy instead?" Even if she couldn't dream of a handsome guy, why dream of a girl younger than herself? Could it be she was destined to take care of others? With these aimless thoughts, she walked cautiously over the uneven, rocky ground, using her scythe for support. The narrow cave gradually became more spacious, the path ahead seemingly getting brighter. But just a few steps later, she stopped abruptly. Tightening her grip on her scythe, she stared intently at a protruding rock not far away. It didn't look much different from the surroundings, except a half-winged silver butterfly, faintly glowing, rested on it. Xia Ge: "..." She instinctively touched the drawing in her pocket. ... So there were butterflies in the White Dream Cave after all. Though it seemed a bit uglier than she had imagined. The silver butterfly appeared weak, clinging to the rock almost lifelessly. With caution, knowing the dangers of the White Dream Cave, even though the butterfly had a broken wing, Xia Ge didn't let her guard down. She approached slowly, gripping her scythe tightly. When she got close enough to reach out and touch it, there was no reaction. It seemed safe. Upon closer inspection, the butterfly looked oddly familiar. ... Not just familiar. Crouching down, she rested the scythe on her shoulder and reached out to touch the butterfly. Its wings trembled slightly under her touch, and Xia Ge realized her fingers passed right through it. The butterfly was merely a thin illusion. But she'd recognized it. It was just like the ones she'd crushed in her senior sister's hot spring that day. "... Could it be?" Xia Ge murmured, "Could it be her?" ... It mustn't be. Definitely not. She decided to pretend it didn't exist. Yet, fate seemed to play a trick on her. Resolving to ignore the illusion of the silver butterfly, Xia Ge continued through the narrow cave and arrived at a spacious rock pool, only to find someone she was not keen on meeting in such a place. It wasn't out of dislike for this person. She just didn't want to encounter her in the White Dream Cave. To put it another way, it was like coming home with groceries only to find your diligently raised child at a cyber cafe—a sudden surge of frustration mixed with disappointment. ... Of course, although Chu Yi wasn't a child she'd raised for years, and the White Dream Cave was far from an easy exit, she couldn't just grab her by the ear and scold her. This area, unlike the narrow and low cave, was much more expansive. Looking up, she could see stone pillars crisscrossing the "ceiling" some ten meters high, and in the center was an irregularly shaped stone pool, filled with green luminescent water bubbling ominously. In the pitch darkness, only the green water offered some light. Xia Ge couldn't gauge the size of the stone hall, but there were multiple stone passages like the one she'd exited. Chu Yi leaned against one of these passages, eyes closed, clothes and hair slightly damp, with a few faintly glowing silver butterflies flitting around. Their glow seemed subdued, their light flickering sporadically. Xia Ge stood at the entrance, torn between approaching or not. Her system was still unresponsive, leaving her without anyone to consult. "Should I help to the end, sending Buddha to the west..." "But people need to be independent... I can't keep helping her." "But if I just walk away, I'll regret it, won't I?" "..." After a mental tug-of-war, Xia Ge sighed, recalling Chu Yi's attitude towards "Xia Wuyin". Whether out of guilt or something else, she silently pulled out a mask from her ring and donned it, then sauntered over. Her steps faltered briefly. Was it her imagination, or did she feel something observing her? A deep, chilling gaze, carrying a hint of murderous intent. Pausing momentarily, Xia Ge then continued nonchalantly towards Chu Yi. She seemed unconscious. Long eyelashes framed her closed eyes; her youthful, delicate face appeared fragile under the eerie green light of the stone pool. Xia Ge stared at her face, momentarily forgetting the potential dangers. She was transported back to those years— A small child with bloodstained white cloth over her eyes, refusing assistance despite being on the verge of collapse from hunger, stubborn and aloof. Her damaged eyes too injured to even cry. But back then, she was just a five or six-year-old kid. Thin and frail. Xia Ge couldn't fathom what kind of cruelty would blind a child's eyes and abandon her to the streets. Nor could she recall what pity made her, a poor little beggar herself, take in the blind and stubborn Chu Yi. Those memories slipped away like water; coming back to reality, Xia Ge sighed and nudged Chu Yi. Clearly, she couldn't just leave her there. "Wake up, hey, wake up." Xia Ge nudged her, "It's broad daylight." No response. Xia Ge: "..." Fine then. With her natural strength and Chu Yi's light frame, it took little effort for Xia Ge to lift her. She surveyed the area: the menacing, deep green stone pool and the maze-like interconnecting passages, making it hard to discern an exit. "... My luck... can't be that bad?" Xia Ge mumbled to herself, "... Just wandering around should lead me to the right place, right?" An oppressive gaze suddenly deepened! Just as Xia Ge was about to head towards one of the stone passages, a tremendous splash erupted behind her, accompanied by a chilling, ear-splitting roar! "Roar——!" In an instant, a ferocious wind howled, and a water column shot skyward! Carrying Chu Yi on her back, Xia Ge didn’t have time to turn around before green, eerie water from the violent blast drenched Chu Yi. Thankfully, most of it missed Xia Ge due to Chu Yi's presence. Xia Ge: "..." This was an unexpected twist. She turned her head swiftly, her eyes widening in shock. What she saw was an enormous... jiao?! She had never eaten pork, but she had sure seen pigs run. In other words, she might not have seen a real jiao, but from descriptions in books, it wasn't far off. This jiao was covered in fine scales, with antlers on its head, a long neck like a snake, tightly clenched front claws, a robust body, and protruding fangs. Its fierce eyes glared at Xia Ge, panting heavily, its colossal form too vast for the ten-meter-high ceiling. It stared intently at Xia Ge, eyes filled with brutality. That stinging gaze on her back? It came from the jiao's ferocious eyes. A green light flashed in Xia Ge's eyes, and almost instinctively, she scanned its attributes. 【Green Jiao: A jiao on the verge of becoming a dragon, forever trapped in the Abyss due to the fall of the gods and divine prohibition. Level: You cannot defeat it. Attributes: You cannot defeat it. Other: No other information, you cannot defeat it.】 Xia Ge: "..." What kind of joke is this attribute?!! Her system awoke: "Not a joke, its level is too high to gauge." Xia Ge: "..." Are you freakin' kidding me? The author has something to say: Sorry for the late update (scratches head) = = White Leaf tossed 1 landmine, time: 08-09-2018 00:20:03 Gu Gui tossed 1 landmine, time: 08-09-2018 00:22:29 ? de xinyang_xin tossed 1 landmine, time: 08-09-2018 00:24:22 Gu Qingzhang tossed 1 landmine, time: 08-09-2018 01:57:05 Seku Sekong tossed 1 landmine, time: 08-09-2018 07:09:56 Seku Sekong tossed 1 landmine, time: 08-09-2018 07:12:56 Seku Sekong tossed 1 landmine, time: 08-09-2018 07:13:34 Wu tossed 1 landmine, time: 08-09-2018 08:51:30 Luo Ling tossed 1 hand grenade, time: 08-09-2018 18:48:19 Thank you, little angels, for the grenades and landmines! Love you all