Qiong’s heart pounded like a war drum!
He had just escaped the claws of the Chiss, only to fall instantly into the hands of unknown captors.
He had thought the dragonkin was an outsider. Only now did he realize—it actually lurked in the mid-layer, just like the Chiss!?
What made his chest tighten further was that this dragonkin seemed to… coexist with a whole swarm of bizarre mushroom creatures!?
The far northern cold should have wiped out all fungi. Qiong had never even seen Pujis before.
Judging by their soft, frail appearance, he instinctively classed them as weak monsters.
But if they could live in the same layer as the brutal Chiss… then clearly they were far from what they appeared!
Yet none of that mattered as much as what he had just witnessed—those mushrooms had scattered some strange substance onto Shou, and now those things seemed to be growing into his body!
Without doubt, these fungi meant to devour them as living feed!
Qiong shoved a few Pujis away in panic, struggling desperately. But a cold, unyielding hand slammed him back down against the ground.He turned his head—towering figure, skin pale as paper, and… blood-red fangs flashing from her lips!
“A vampire!?” Qiong’s voice broke in shock. “You… you’re from the Empire!?”
His mind reeled. Why would imperials be in the Stone Fort Dungeon mid-layers? Why capture them?
Louisa rolled her eyes. She couldn’t be bothered to explain.
Lin Jun had originally wanted the Pujis to drug this magic-born with hallucinogenic spores and then cripple him before parasitizing. But since he’d fought back early—well, this way was faster.
She seized the struggling Qiong, locking his arms, then sank her fangs deep into his neck.
“Uhh—”
His blood rushed out, strength draining. His struggles weakened, vision blurring.
Across from him, Louisa reveled in the taste.
How long… how long had it been since she’d savored such exquisite blood?
This wasn’t like the crude blood of cave-dwellers or minotaurs. This was rich with the unique essence of a demonkin. Her crimson eyes narrowed in bliss.
“You don’t mean to drain him dry, do you?”
Lin Jun’s voice fell like ice water.
Louisa snapped out of her daze instantly, pulling her fangs free.
She wiped the corner of her mouth, straightening with a solemn look—she had restraint.
On the ground, Qiong’s vision dimmed completely. His last strength dragged his arm toward the unconscious Shou—
Puff—
A Puji’s short foot pressed lightly to his chest. A cascade of spores drifted down like snow, blanketing him.
He thought dimly—so I’ll be eaten too, just like Shou…
—
“Ahh, I see. No wonder you ended up here.”
Lin Jun gestured for the two wounded demonkin to be brought in, while ordering Norris and Gray: “Run back once more! See if that meat-ball you stomped is still around. If it is, bring it. Something the Chiss treasured that much has to be valuable!”
When Qiong woke, he was stunned to find that neither he nor Shou had died. In fact, Shou had recovered from his grave injuries!
Though his hands were destroyed beyond repair, his life was no longer at risk. Even his lesser wounds were sealed by that strange parasite.
What consequences this healing might bring, Qiong didn’t know—but Shou lived. That was something.
Shou himself was far more cautious.
Judging from the Chiss’ strange behavior, this so-called Puji race was hardly “harmless.”
He tried several times to lie in conversation, but every vague twist was caught and corrected by the other side as if by accident.
In the end, he could only give vague answers—never revealing his tribe’s location.
Luckily, his captors seemed uninterested in the demonkin tribes. They pressed no further.
“Ahh, so you too were forced by the Chiss, huh? Survival leaves no choice!” The Puji leader bobbed about, sighing as though commiserating. “We Pujis, too—we’re a peace-loving family! But those Chiss, always jealous, always raiding, smashing, burning! Fighting back is just self-defense, truly…”
Qiong’s hand drifted to his neck. Two puncture marks throbbed faintly there.
Lin Jun noticed. He explained readily: “Ah, my little piggy got greedy, but she knew her limits. Just think of it as ‘blood payment’ for saving you.”
“Little piggy…” Qiong’s gaze shifted uneasily toward Louisa.
She immediately turned away, feigning interest in a shadowed wall.
“Life-saving grace deserves some payment. We don’t mind,” Shou said evenly, smoothing things over.
Soon after, the Pujis brought them two bowls of glowing soup.
“This is…?”
“Mushroom soup, of course. Aren’t you hungry?”
After so many brushes with death, of course they were hungry.
But… being served glowing mushroom soup, by a bunch of mushroom monsters?
The strangeness of the scene was hard to stomach.
Shou braced himself and drank first. Their lives were already in these creatures’ hands—what choice was there?
Warmth spread through his battered body. Energy filled his exhausted frame. His eyes flickered in surprise.
Qiong even asked for seconds, embarrassed.
“Don’t worry, eat all you like. Mushrooms—we’ve got plenty!”
After the meal, Shou cautiously asked about leaving. To his surprise, the Pujis agreed at once.
“You’re too weak to travel. Rest a day or two more first,” they even advised, sounding genuinely concerned.
“Thank you for your kindness, but after all this, our tribe must be waiting anxiously,” Shou said.
“True, true. Then take these!” Lin Jun nodded.
A Puji waddled up with a bulging pouch, stuffing it into Qiong’s hands. Inside, it was packed with mushrooms. “Snacks for the road.”
On their way out, Shou glimpsed Pujis carrying Chiss corpses.
Norris passed by, empty-handed from another trip—by then, the Chiss had retrieved all remains.
Escorted up to the surface by a friendly troop of Pujis waving their mycelium tendrils, the two demonkin finally left.
—
“Shou,” Qiong said softly, glancing back at the fortress’ shadow, “those Pujis… they seemed almost friendly to us.”
Shou didn’t answer at once. He exhaled heavily, the sigh steaming white in the frigid air.
“…Let’s hope so.”
“What do you mean?”
He lifted the stump of his arm. Mycelium threads wound through the etched demon-marks and flesh.
“Qiong,” his gaze pierced northward, into the endless snowfields, “maybe what we ought to do now… is just keep walking north. Find a place with no kin, and… die there quietly.”
He paused, voice uncertain: “But what we’ve seen, what we’ve learned—about the Chiss, those mushrooms, this dungeon… these things must be told to the tribe.”
Qiong’s answer was far simpler. He declared firmly: “Shou! Wherever you go, I’ll go. Even if it’s death—we’ll face it together!”
Shou stopped. He looked at him for a long moment, then couldn’t bear to drag him into death without reason.
“…Let’s meet the elders first. If nothing else, the tribe should migrate south quickly…”
A little late though, perhaps.