In the swamp that had buried countless corpses, mosquitoes buzzed chaotically today as well, presenting a scene of vigorous vitality.
A massive mushroom cap suddenly appeared at the swamp's edge, and a chubby puffshroom dragged its heavy body forward, relying on its mycelial tendrils for assistance as it barely managed to climb up.
Then came the second one, the third... a total of seven chubby puffshrooms!
After reaching shore, they rolled around on the ground several times. Though they still reeked, at least they were no longer dripping with filthy water.
Afterward, they lined up in formation and headed toward the sixth floor's stairway.
Not far away, from a small hole, a knight puffshroom emerged with the main body, spread its wings, and flew onto one of the chubby puffshrooms' caps.
These chubby puffshrooms' bellies were stuffed with Lin Jun's belongings: magic crystals, equipment, books, gold coins, and various miscellaneous materials.
While Little Black was sleeping, Lin Jun had packed his luggage, preparing to move to his new home.
The new home's location was on the sixth floor, beside the chasm. A new storage room had already been excavated there in advance, and he'd asked the surrounding monsters to help clear out space.
The web passages connecting the upper and lower parts of the chasm had been dug through—and not just one route.
This position meant he wouldn't have to worry about the cracks covering the ground everywhere, while also allowing him to choose to slip directly into the deeper zones at any time. Safety was guaranteed.
And if humans discovered Lin Jun and wanted to pursue him, they'd either have to bungee jump in the chasm or honestly climb down the stairs floor by floor before turning around to reach him.
By the time they made it down there... Lin Jun could run back up to the sixth floor along the web passages.
Of course, this was just an emergency escape measure. If it really came to the point where his main body was being chased by humans, the situation would be quite dire indeed.
The move wasn't rushed, since the humans hadn't come charging down either, but had first issued a public quest instead.
Though Lin Jun couldn't directly observe the guild's internal situation, he could gather quite a bit of information from the adventurers' drunken chatter.
---
Mute Wind Town, the Rotten Willow Tavern.
The air was thick with the smell of cheap liquor, stew, and sweat—as noisy as always.
But today's noise carried something different: an unusual hesitation and somber discussion.
"What do you all think about the guild's latest quest?" Horn asked his regular teammates, rotating his empty mug in his hands.
Old Hammer, a dwarven shield warrior with graying beard, experienced but scarred all over, sipped his murky ale.
Hearing the question, he shook his head, his graying beard trembling with the motion: "Here we go again. Why do people always obsess over those puffshrooms?"
Ranger Aime played with a worn gold coin, making it roll nimbly between her fingers with soft clinking sounds.
"The reward's thick enough," she said concisely, her voice flat but her eyes gleaming shrewdly. "Silver rank gets a full thirty gold coins as base pay—that's worth how many dungeon runs? Plus they're only recruiting ranged professionals. I heard this time there'll be church warriors and other experts holding the front line. Those who take the quest just need to provide ranged support from the safe rear—practically free money."
Suddenly remembering something, Aime turned to the priest in their party: "Noah, aren't you also from the church? Do you know any special intelligence?"
Noah looked troubled: "I'm only an apprentice priest in the church—what could I know? How many official priests become adventurers anyway..."
"Good point."
Seeing the ranger's eager expression, Horn couldn't help but remind her: "Aime, have you forgotten about the Iron Heart squad incident? Four Gold-rank, twenty Silver-rank—all wiped out just trying to subjugate one big black mushroom. And this time the guild quest is to clear the entire fifth floor!"
Old Hammer beside them also nodded heavily, setting down his mug, his fingers unconsciously tapping the scar-covered table.
"Not just Iron Heart," his voice dropped lower, carrying the weariness and wariness that only comes from experiencing too much death. "Who knows how many skilled people have fallen to puffshrooms before and after! You've been in Mute Wind Town so long—have you heard of anyone bringing back news from the mushroom forest or swamplands? No news is the clearest news of all!"
Horn nodded in agreement: "When it comes down to it, the puffshrooms are staying put just fine. As long as you don't provoke them, there's no danger. Why must we subjugate them?"
For Horn, puffshrooms weren't dangerous at all—the chubby lottery draws were an indispensable part of his dungeon experience. He genuinely opposed the guild's plan to eliminate the puffshrooms. If they wiped out the puffshrooms, wouldn't monster corpses become worthless again?
But he was just an ordinary adventurer with little influence. All he could do was not participate.
"Yeah, why must we subjugate the puffshrooms?" Noah looked toward the copper-rank adventurers at the next table eating glowing mushroom porridge, his face full of confusion. "After eliminating the puffshrooms, won't they have to destroy the fungal carpets and mushrooms too? Doesn't that mean cheap mushroom porridge will disappear as well?"
Old Hammer snorted: "Do the bigwigs above care whether us adventurers eat cheaply or not! Even adventurers themselves don't care. The guild issues quests, gold coins jingle—that's the greatest 'should' and 'shouldn't.'"
At the end, Old Hammer gave Aime a meaningful look.
Aime tucked the gold coin into her chest and patted her leather armor: "Exactly, gold coins are the greatest reason. Thirty gold coins are enough for me to live carefree for several years. As for risk? Adventurers make their living off risk!"
After standing up, she looked toward Noah: "Those two are melee fighters—they're not qualified to grab this money. You coming?"
Horn and Old Hammer both silently drank their ale without speaking.
Though they were teammates, everyone was free. Adventurers only answered for their own choices—others shouldn't interfere.
Noah looked around uncomfortably, but finally shook his head in refusal. Though he also wanted that money, the examples mentioned earlier had somewhat frightened him.
Aime sighed disappointedly.
Then Old Hammer suddenly said: "If you want to go, go ahead. Don't worry about us replacing your spot. Actually, I'm planning to rest for a while until this storm passes. What do you say?"
Horn shrugged indifferently—resting for a period wouldn't be bad either.
Noah also nodded.
Before the ranger left, Noah instinctively reached out, gently grasping her wrist, whispering the customary blessing: "Aime, may Iksion's radiance bless your journey."
"Don't worry!" Her face broke into a hearty smile, her voice carrying its usual vitality. "When I return, I'll treat you all to the tavern's new honey-glazed catfish belly! All you can eat!"
Aime's figure had barely disappeared behind the tavern's wooden door when, accompanied by the creaking of hinges, Vera entered with Felin and Fein.
Horn greeted them: "Hey, Vera, haven't seen you in a while—where'd you run off to?"
Long-term adventurers in Mute Wind Town generally knew each other to some degree, mostly having the kind of relationship where they'd exchange greetings when they met.
Vera was about to say they'd taken Felin to the city for dental work when she felt someone kick her shin hard.
She could only say vaguely: "Went to the city to handle some business."
Horn nodded knowingly and tactfully didn't ask further.
The tavern's clamor wrapped around them again. After just a few casual remarks, the topic was drawn back to that "latest quest" as if by a magnet.
"Vera," Horn leaned forward slightly, "you saw that 'big job' the guild just posted, right?"
"Mm, took a glance." Vera picked up the drink the tiger-folk server had just set down, picked out a few hairs, her tone flat.
"What's your take? Any interest? Felin and Fein both qualify, right?" Horn probed, his gaze sweeping over the twins sitting quietly behind Vera.
Hearing this, Vera immediately waved her hands vigorously, her face showing an expression of "thanks but no thanks," even carrying a hint of lingering fear: "Don't even mention it! Last time with Iron Heart, we almost got dragged in and killed! This time? We'd be afraid we couldn't hide fast enough!"
She took a drink, her tone tinged with regret: "If we'd known it would turn out like this, we would have stayed in the city a few more days!"
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