Chapter 38 Cave Dweller's Nest

Lu Kuan felt a bit puzzled. He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but Qingyi’s attitude had grown noticeably colder. Where once she would blush when their eyes met, now her gaze was sharp as a blade. Fortunately, Lu Kuan was used to her temperament and didn’t take it to heart.

Following the tracks, the four of them continued westward. As the altitude increased, patches of snow began to appear on the ground, and the forest gradually thinned. In the distance, a large swath of grayish-white stood out on the mountainside, its dull color incongruous with the brilliance of the snow. Only as they drew closer did they realize it was a barren, rocky slope, devoid of any vegetation.

At the center of the stone slope was a massive gorge. A small stream flowed from its end. Looking upstream, the gorge was deep and shadowy, studded with hanging icicles and caves. Near the gorge’s entrance, two cave-dwellers crouched by the water, drinking, their quarrelsome cries occasionally echoing out.

Cave-dwellers were creatures of the night, so it was no surprise that only two could be seen. But as Lu Kuan surveyed the valley from this vantage point, a flash of realization struck him—an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

“Strange? I’m sure I’ve never been here in my previous life. Could it be something I saw on a forum or a strategy guide?”

He racked his memory. There had to be more to this place than just a cave-dweller den if it had left such a vivid impression on him. But what was it?

As Lu Kuan strained to recall, A Kui’s worried voice broke the silence: “Could this be the cave-dwellers’ nest? With such a huge gorge, there must be at least a thousand monsters in there…”

Lu Kuan snapped out of his reverie and replied, “Looks like we’ll have to go in.” Noticing the girls’ hesitant expressions, he smiled reassuringly, “Don’t worry. The mission’s only rated B+. They won’t have us fight hundreds of cave-dwellers head-on. It’s probably stealth work.”

That made sense to the others—if brute force were required, they’d need a hundred more people. Lu Kuan had everyone fan out to confirm there were no other threats nearby, then stepped out of the woods alone, stopping a hundred meters from the gorge. He nocked an arrow and fired at an upward angle.

The shot far exceeded his hunting bow’s effective range, but lobbed arrows could travel great distances. The feathered shaft traced a graceful arc through the air, landing squarely in the back of one cave-dweller.

“-1!”

A forced damage number popped above its head. The creature whirled around, alert, scanning the horizon until it finally spotted the distant figure of the human ranger.

“Hopelessly blind, these things,” Lu Kuan sighed, shaking his head as he led the two furious cave-dwellers into the woods.

Howls and the thuds of combat rang out, then silence returned. Moments later, the four party members emerged from the trees, skirting the edge of the rocky slope toward the gorge’s entrance.

As Lu Kuan expected, the cave-dwellers' defenses were slack; aside from the two “guards” at the entrance, the gorge lay wide open. But the terrain inside was far more complex than they’d imagined: karst-like, dotted with massive stone pillars and chasms, some linked by gullies, others dropping into bottomless caverns.

After dispatching a few drowsy cave-dwellers, they reached a sheer wall pockmarked like a wasp’s nest, blocking the gorge.

“How are we supposed to search this place…” A Kui groaned, tapping his smooth forehead with his staff.

That familiar sense tugged at Lu Kuan’s mind again. Ignoring A Kui, he focused intently, searching his memory. Meanwhile, Qingyi remained calm, methodically looking for clues. The other two girls soon joined in; after all, not every problem could be left to Lu Kuan.

Suddenly, he remembered. “Of course!” he thought, excitement bubbling up, “This is it!”

He’d seen this exact place in a massive forum post about in-game treasures, written by a data fanatic who catalogued nearly every known treasure in the game. After being reborn, Lu Kuan had attempted to record as many treasure locations as he could, but memory had its limits—he’d forgotten about this one.

Unlike the treasure at Courage Cliff, the main challenge here was concealment; it was so well hidden that few ever noticed it.

Lu Kuan couldn’t help but laugh—who would have thought a simple quest would lead him to a treasure, and for someone familiar with the guides, this was as easy as breathing.

“Over here!” Qingyi’s delighted voice called out. Lu Kuan turned to see the warrior girl holding a scrap of cloth, stained with black mud but seemingly red beneath. Her face was alight with joy.

“This is Atom’s cloak—his mother made it for him. He wears it almost every time he goes out,” Bai Keke said confidently, turning the red cloth over in her hands.

The cloth was found right at the entrance to a cave. Lu Kuan walked over, smiling, “Well done, that’s an impressively hidden clue. This must be the way.”

Praised by Lu Kuan, both Bai Keke and A Kui lit up with excitement. Only Qingyi maintained her cold expression, but Lu Kuan acted as if he hadn’t noticed, waving the group onward.

…

Within the pitch-black cave, a faint yellow glow began to appear—a cat made of translucent light, moving nimbly through the jagged tunnel.

After scouting the area, the cat sat and looked back. Lu Kuan and the three girls emerged from behind a stone pillar.

“This ‘Spirit Ally’ is amazing! It works as a scout, too!” Bai Keke exclaimed, eyes fixed on the yellow cat.

The beautiful feline was an elemental creature summoned by the priest’s class skill, “Spirit Ally.” Following Lu Kuan’s suggestion, Bai Keke had just used her spare skill points to learn it.

Being an elemental, the yellow cat was immune to physical attacks and made almost no sound, but was extremely vulnerable to magic—any spell damage over ten points would banish it, and its master would take double damage.

“But isn’t the side effect a bit much?” Qingyi asked, concerned.

Lu Kuan answered with confidence, “Maybe for other classes, but not for priests and shamans. Twenty points of damage can be healed in a heartbeat—trust me, it’s fine.”

Naturally, Lu Kuan didn’t mention that, when shamans advanced and chose the healing path, several major schools would develop, and his favorite was the one centered on “Spirit Ally.”