The singing mushroom folk

Niuniu backed away a few steps, and Xin Jiu advanced a few steps.

Niuniu was speechless. "Are you a masochist? Doesn't it hurt?"

Xin Jiu thought for a moment. "It does hurt a little."

Niuniu breathed a sigh of relief. Good, she was afraid of pain. That meant she wouldn't keep going.

It wasn't that it didn't want to get away from Xin Jiu, but the red clothes she wore were far too eye-catching. On top of that, she liked bouncing around. Whenever that flash of red swayed back and forth, it couldn't stop itself from charging.

Now that she had stopped moving, it was much easier on the eyes.

"If you don't want to fight, that's fine. Take me to find the Tibetan fox."

Niuniu's expression changed in fright. Of course, Xin Jiu couldn't make out the change in its expression; she could only see his bovine eyes suddenly widen.

"I'm not going!!!"

Such a strong reaction?

"Then we'll just have to keep practicing."

Seeing Xin Jiu about to start bouncing again, Niuniu hurriedly said, "It's not that I don't want to take you. That Tibetan fox is too fierce. I'm scared."

"Wait, a Tibetan fox is only so big. You're a bull. How can you be afraid of it?"

With its size, it could squash four or five Tibetan foxes to death just by sitting on them.

Besides, a Tibetan fox... Thinking of that comical face, Xin Jiu simply couldn't associate it with being fierce.

"Its skill is too powerful. I can't beat it. Even if my older brothers and sisters came, they couldn't beat it either."

Niuniu sounded aggrieved.

Xin Jiu tried negotiating with it. "Then you don't have to fight it. Just take me there."

"Nooo! If it finds out I brought you there, it'll come after me once you're gone!"

[Feels like Niuniu is about to cry.]

[I just looked up pictures of Tibetan foxes. I'm dying laughing. You all need to go look. Seriously, they're hilarious!]

[I can't understand why a bull would be afraid of a Tibetan fox.]

Xin Jiu grew a little irritated. "Why won't this work or that work?"

Niuniu thought for a moment and said, "Then can I give you a skill card in exchange?"

A skill card?

"Then tell me what skill card you're offering first. If it's lousy, you'll still have to come with me."

A skill card appeared before Xin Jiu's eyes.

[Skill: Niuniu Berserk (A-rank)]

[Skill description: Each use of Niuniu Berserk grants 100% of an adult Niuniu's combat power. Uses ×3. Duration: thirty minutes.]

[Tip: Don't underestimate Niuniu. Its adult form is pretty powerful!]

"..." If it was handing over such a useful card, it really must be terrified of the Tibetan fox.

Forget it. Bullying a little bull wasn't right.

Xin Jiu accepted the card, then found some gauze and fitted the severed piece of horn back into place. When she finished, she even tied a bow on it.

Niuniu said, "Does this really look good?"

"Guaranteed."

After letting Niuniu go, Xin Jiu could only look for the Tibetan fox herself.

Niuniu told her that the Tibetan fox was no longer in this little maze. She had to head south.

The maze's exit would also appear to the south.

It took Xin Jiu two days to get out of the little maze.

Over those two days, she encountered quite a few little NPC beasts. Some were neutral, and others were friendly. With those, she mainly asked for directions. Any hostile ones she encountered, she killed.

Her points reached 8,000.

When she walked out of the little maze, the Cyprus morpho butterflies gathered around her again. Xin Jiu smiled. "I'm leaving now."

The butterflies beat their wings hard, as though saying goodbye.

Xin Jiu continued forward. Before she had gone far, she heard very faint chirping and burbling sounds, rhythmic, as though something were singing.

She carefully approached, pulled aside the weeds, and saw a group of Mushroom People.

Their caps, in all different colors, were their hats. Their stalks were thick, with chubby hands and feet growing from them.

They held hands and spun in circles.

So cute!

Xin Jiu couldn't resist reaching out and poking one of the Mushroom People's caps. It was soft and felt wonderful!

The mushroom person she poked let out a cry.

Then all the Mushroom People looked up, their little eyes glossy black. At the sight of Xin Jiu, they all began screaming.

Two of the Mushroom People clenched their fists, closed their eyes, and cried, "Yah!"

[Oh no, the Mushroom People are about to use their ultimate!]

[On guard! Get on guard!]

[What's there to guard against with the Mushroom People?]

Over the past few days, they had followed Xin Jiu and seen all sorts of bizarre NPCs, with equally bizarre ultimate moves. Now they were looking forward to seeing what ultimate the Mushroom People would unleash.

Several white, fuzzy gelatinous balls suddenly sprouted from the Mushroom People's caps and shot straight at Xin Jiu.

Hallucinogenic spores?

Xin Jiu extended a finger and flicked the gelatinous balls away with a few pew-pews.

Seeing how powerful this human was, the Mushroom People scattered with a chorus of cries. Xin Jiu caught one of them. "Don't be scared. I just want to ask whether the Tibetan fox is nearby."

At the mention of the Tibetan fox, the other Mushroom People ran even faster.

The mushroom person she had caught seemed to be a girl and looked on the verge of tears.

A sudden wave of guilt rose in Xin Jiu's heart, and she set it back on the ground. Its little companion took its hand, and they vanished without a trace.

"..."

She could only keep walking.

As she passed a lake, she heard fighting again. It sounded as though players were fighting an NPC.

Xin Jiu hid behind a tree and poked her head out to look.

[Holy crap! A giant snake!!]

[It has horns. That should count as a flood dragon, right?]

Xin Jiu was startled too when she saw that it was a flood dragon. How had this group of players dared to provoke one? The horns on its head were already quite large.

She reckoned it would become a true dragon in another two or three hundred years at most.

"Humans, I'm going to eat you."

The flood dragon spoke in human language, its emerald slit pupils fixed intently on the players before it.

A dozen or so people were enough for a hearty meal.

Of course, Xin Jiu didn't want to provoke this flood dragon. She turned to leave, only for a player to spot her. He pointed at Xin Jiu and told the flood dragon, "Eat her. She's pretty, so she must taste good!"

Xin Jiu: Gee, thanks.

The flood dragon turned its body to look over, its emerald eyes growing brighter.

This human smelled so good. Eating her would be greatly nourishing.

Seeing that Xin Jiu had drawn all the flood dragon's attention, they immediately turned and ran in different directions. They didn't need to run particularly fast, either. They only needed to outrun the slowest person.

The flood dragon hurtled toward Xin Jiu. In the blink of an eye, it was less than fifty meters away.

Xin Jiu could only draw her bayonet to meet it.

The flood dragon wasn't a true dragon yet, after all. That distinctive snake stink still hadn't faded, and it wafted over on the wind.

Xin Jiu covered her nose. What a stench.

Just as the flood dragon approached, Xin Jiu called up an item.

[Item: Beast Claw Light Boots (D-rank), permanent]

[Tip: Not much use, except for jumping high!]

Killing players allowed her to seize their skills and items. These boots had come from Li Tao, along with a bottle of poison.

It was the poison he had put on the grilled mushrooms.

These boots might not be much use normally, but against a flood dragon, they could still come in handy.

For instance, when the flood dragon came close.

She could jump straight onto its head.