An Angry Fern

The three of them walked through the winding maze, moving forward and turning one bend after another.

They quickly advanced through the maze, but no danger ever appeared.

Frieren, Fern, Dugu Qing became increasingly relaxed, and like they were on a spring outing, they enthusiastically began searching for treasures.

In the corridor, in front of the tall hero sculpture, a pale red treasure chest stands quietly.

Frieren's eyes lit up. She quickly approached, slowly crouched down, gently patted the treasure chest with her palm, and a sweet, confident smile appeared on her face.

"Based on my experience, there's definitely treasure inside this box!"

Dugu Qing warily surveyed his surroundings, summoned his silver-white magic wand, and activated his magic detection to scan for magical fluctuations within a thirty-meter radius.

A faint magical frequency emanated from the red treasure chest.

A glint flashed in Dugu Qing's eyes as he reminded Frieren, "This box is very likely Mimic."

Frieren looked at the treasure chest suspiciously, her fingers itching to reach for the lid.

Fern tapped the ground with his wand, casting a spell to identify the treasure chest, and reminded Frieren, "Ms. Frieren, I've checked it too, this is Mimic."

Dugu Qing and Fern's reminder was righteous and stern, full of concern.

Frieren patted the treasure chest, her mind wandering. She thought the chest was so cute, full of hope, how could it be Mimic?

She glanced at Fern, "That spell is 99% accurate!"

So what?

Fern frowned. The probability had skyrocketed to 99%, wasn't that enough to prove the point?

Frieren gently stroked the lid of the box, saying expectantly, "It's precisely because a great mage was able to see through the remaining 1% that this historic discovery was made. My intuition tells me that this contains an extremely precious Grimoire!"

The next moment, Frieren lifted the lid of the box, bent down, leaned forward, and searched eagerly at the bottom of the box for the miracle item.

The treasure chest suddenly came to life, opened its mouth wide, and its snow-white sharp teeth emerged. Its tongue wrapped around Frieren's neck and swallowed Frieren's upper body into the chest.

"It's so dark! It's so scary!"

The surprise turned into horror. Frieren's vision went dark, and she arched her back and shook her legs in terror, trying to pull herself out.

Dugu Qing and Fern exchanged a glance, feeling utterly speechless.

Jian Ze finally understood why Frieren hadn't gotten bored after living for over a thousand years! It turned out she had her own little hobbies! No wonder.

Frieren struggled violently as her body was gradually swallowed by the Mimic, her voice choked with sobs.

Dugu Qing and Fern stepped forward simultaneously, grabbed her slender legs, and gently applied force.

The Mimic's tongue was locked on Frieren, refusing to let go.

Dugu Qing Fern dared not use too much force, fearing they might break Frieren's neck, so they could only keep changing positions and slowly pull.

Frieren let out a bloodcurdling wail, venting her emotions. After she had her fill of fun, she calmed down and suddenly remembered a way to deal with the Mimic.

"Hey! I've got it! In this situation, we have to push it in the opposite direction. The Mimic can't digest it, it'll feel nauseous, and it'll give up biting."

Dugu Qing and Fern turned the tables and pushed Frieren into the box.

The Mimic's mouth was about to burst, and it disgustedly released its tongue, spitting out Frieren.

Dugu Qing examined Frieren and found nothing wrong, but still cast a healing spell to heal any potential injuries.

Fern stepped forward and unleashed a normal magic attack, piercing the Mimic and preventing it from deceiving those who came after.

"We're finally saved."

Frieren, her legs smeared with Mimic saliva, her hair disheveled, knelt on the ground, breathing softly, enjoying the rare tranquility as her mind gradually calmed down.

Dugu Qing used Cleansing Magic to remove the saliva from Frieren's body.

How do you manage when you're alone?

Fern took out a towel and fixed Frieren's hair, retying her pigtails and combing her bangs.

Frieren, recalling the past, closed her eyes and said somewhat embarrassedly,

"I would use offensive magic to blast it from the inside, but my hair would get blown up and curled up, so I don't really like that."

Upon hearing this, Fern recalled the scene where he had once seen Frieren suddenly turn into a frilly bob.

At that time, she asked her curiously, but Frieren hesitated and refused to answer. It turned out she had been critically hit by Mimic!

The three of them took out the food they had bought in advance, replenished their energy, and set off again.

Continue along the dark and deep corridor.

Before the main entrance to the middle corridor, a group of Gargoyles that had been perched on the archway suddenly came to life, baring their fangs and claws as they charged forward.

Dugu Qing and Fern used normal attacks to eliminate the monster.

They stumbled upon a secret room, discovered some treasure chests, and retrieved some valuable gems from them.

Frieren was overjoyed and collected everything, searching for the treasures like a lark.

"This is a proper road, let's turn back!"

Time flew by, and the four were about to reach the deepest part of the maze.

Frieren, however, felt she hadn't had enough fun, so she took Dugu Qing and Fern and continued to return to other paths, searching for treasure chests that held boundless hope.

The four of them descended the old wooden stairs, passed through a long, winding stone corridor, and suddenly a spacious and magnificent hall appeared before them.

"I have a feeling that it must be a vault inside!"

Dugu Qing stretched out his hand and pushed open the heavy stone door.

Frieren and Fern, peering through the narrow crack in the door, felt their hearts stop. They saw a tall, slender figure standing silently in the center of the hall, with delicate features and an icy expression. His appearance and figure were exactly the same as Dugu Qing's!

"This! How is this possible!"

Fern was shocked, his fists clenched, as if he were witnessing something utterly impossible.

"It's my clone!"

Dugu Qing looked through the crack in the door at the gray replica and quickly accepted the reality.

Fern's knuckles turned white from clenching his fists, his chest heaving violently. "Unforgivable! To violate someone's image without permission is truly unforgivable!"

She was furious, her purple hair flowing, her aura imposing, her fingers pressed against the crack in the door as if she were about to rush up and fight the clone.

Dugu Qing pulled Fern back, "Fern, calm down."

Fern pushed the door forcefully, once, twice, but the door didn't budge...

Dugu Qing breathed a sigh of relief. "I wonder if this clone has my full strength. If it does, then only if Frieren and I work together can we quickly deal with it."

Frieren smiled faintly at Dugu Qing, "A philosopher from the mythological era once said that man's greatest mission is to know himself. Now that a clone has finally appeared before you, don't you want to have a proper conversation with him?"

Dugu Qing waved her hand, "That was something I did when it was safe. Now, I just want to send him to heaven."

Frieren nodded knowingly.

Fern sighed in disappointment, knowing his own inadequacy and that rushing in would only hinder Dugu Qing and Frieren's performance, so he made way for them.

Jian Ze looked at the dejected Fern, wondering why she was angry about the appearance of a clone of Dugu Qing in the hall.

Could it be? Good heavens!

Jian Ze parted his lips slightly, his gaze quickly shifting between Dugu Qing and Fern, as if he understood something.