Chapter 76
Xing Nuo looked at the little boy with dark hair and watery eyes crouching in front of him, his face filled with confusion.
He didn’t even know this boy. How could they be best friends?
He scratched his still-slightly-foggy head, but, being the sweet-tempered child he was, didn’t argue.
“Xiao Qi, you see my fwiends? Two little girls…and one little chubby boy.”
Xing Nuo gestured with his hands.
“This much chubby.”
Lu Qi, still crouching, shook his head.
“Haven’t seen them. I came to find you.”
He had sensed Xing Nuo’s distress from his glowing brooch and had run all the way here.
He had even lost one of his shoes along the way and was now barefoot.
As for the others, Lu Qi didn’t care about them.
He sat down beside Xing Nuo, his gaze fixed on him, his chin resting on his hand, his head tilted.
Xing Nuo sighed, hearing that Lu Qi hadn’t seen Qingqing, Little Fatty, and Yiyi.
He rubbed his dusty curls, stood up, and thanked Lu Qi softly.
“Xiao Qi, thank you for saving me. But I need find my fwiends now.”
Lu Qi’s eyes widened, and he jumped up.
“Why? Being Xing Nuo’s fwiend not good?”
Why did Xing Nuo need other friends?
He frowned, his lips pressed together, clearly unhappy.
Xing Nuo couldn’t answer. He walked out of the tent and saw the same barren, dry landscape.
The endless expanse of yellow earth, the sunless sky, made him sigh sadly.
Lu Qi followed him out, limping slightly, his bare foot leaving bloody footprints.
He followed Xing Nuo’s gaze and, suddenly grinning, pointed in a certain direction.
“I came from there. Found Xing Nuo there.”
Xing Nuo, looking at the vast wasteland, wondered how Lu Qi had managed to find him.
He couldn’t help but ask:
“Xiao Qi seen me before? Why come find me?”
Lu Qi’s smile was still strange and stiff, as if he was trying very hard but wasn’t quite sure how to do it.
“Of course have to find Xing Nuo!”
Lu Qi’s only reason for existing was to be with Xing Nuo forever!
Unfortunately, his current power level was too low to leave the dungeon world. He could only bide his time, devouring smaller monsters to replenish his energy.
Seeing Xing Nuo’s distress, although he didn’t like the friends Xing Nuo mentioned, he still said:
“Where are Xing Nuo’s friends? I can help you find them.”
Xing Nuo’s eyes lit up, shining like gems in the dusty landscape.
“They with sunflowers! But sunflowers bad…wanna sell my fwiends!”
He clenched his fists, his expression determined.
“I have to save them!”
Lu Qi, looking at Xing Nuo’s resolute little face, chuckled softly.
“You’re always like this.”
So passionate and full of life.
Blue lines flickered in Lu Qi’s dark eyes, the path they had taken shrinking into a small map in his vision.
His voice cold and mechanical, he said:
“Sunflower Garden is a D-level dungeon, located on the western edge of the desert. We need to go back that way.”
He turned to Xing Nuo, his eyes glowing blue, looking even more like a little robot.
“I suggest we don’t go back. It’s been a whole day since your friends were taken. There’s a ninety percent chance the sunflowers have already sold them.”
The remaining ten percent meant they had been eaten by the sunflowers or other monsters.
If they went back now, Xing Nuo wouldn’t find his friends.
Xing Nuo gasped, his face filled with anxiety, his curls drooping.
“Then what we do? We go find Qingqing? But I don’t know where they are.”
The sunflowers had attacked him, and he hadn’t heard where they were planning to take his friends. His ears had been ringing from the noise and the attack.
Lu Qi’s eyes flickered.
“We’ll go to Shepherd’s Town and ask. It’s the closest market to the Sunflower Garden.”
If the sunflowers were selling the children, they would have contacted the merchants in Shepherd’s Town.
Xing Nuo nodded.
“Thank you, Lu Qi. You so amazing!”
He seemed to know everything, always appearing just when Xing Nuo needed him.
The blue light in Lu Qi’s eyes intensified, and he blinked, his mechanical voice tinged with happiness.
“You’re welcome. I’m always on Xing Nuo’s side.”
He wouldn’t question Xing Nuo’s decisions, only follow him unconditionally.
The two small children left the tent and walked across the desert.
The sand stung Xing Nuo’s face, making him even dirtier, his fair skin completely obscured by grime.
Lu Qi wasn’t much better. His bare foot was bleeding, leaving a trail of bloody footprints.
Xing Nuo wanted to give him his shoes, but Lu Qi, seemingly impervious to pain, refused, continuing to run ahead.
“I don’t need shoes!”
He ran in front of Xing Nuo, then, seeing him cough from the dust, chuckled.
“Xing Nuo, we walked through a much bigger desert before!”
Back then, the conditions had been even harsher, the wind stronger, the sand sharper, stinging their skin.
Xing Nuo, not hearing him clearly, mumbled and looked up, his eyes widening as he saw the outline of a town in the distance.
“We there!”
After walking for so long, they had finally reached the end of the desert!
Xing Nuo, his exhaustion forgotten, ran towards the town, hand in hand with Lu Qi.
They reached Shepherd’s Town, looking like two little beggars, their clothes and faces covered in dust and grime.
The town’s residents looked at them with disgust.
Lu Qi stopped in front of a small inn and took out two coins.
“These are Star Coins. Currency used in multiple Shen Group dungeons. Most larger towns accept them.”
The Star Coins, containing the unique energy of this world, were made of a special material by the Shen Group factory.
Currently, they were the only currency used in the horror world.
Xing Nuo, looking at the familiar star pattern, nodded.
“Looks like…stars Zaizai dwaw.”
The lines were rough, the star’s points almost nonexistent, the overall shape flat and round, but still cute.
And there was a fluffy little cloud on the other side of the coin.
Lu Qi glanced at Xing Nuo, tilting his head, lost in thought.
Xing Nuo looked up at the inn and followed Lu Qi inside.
The inn was bustling with monster merchants from all over.
The innkeeper, seeing the two little beggars, didn’t even look up, tapping his pen on the counter.
“No money, get out. Or I’ll eat you.”
In the monster world, there weren’t many rules. If the owner didn’t like you, they could just swallow you whole.
Lu Qi placed a Star Coin on the counter, his voice flat and monotonous.
“We want a room for one night.”
The Star Coin, worth fifty, was just enough for one night.
The innkeeper’s ears twitched at the sight of the coin, and he smiled.
“Alright! Your room is number 127. Down the hall.”
Another monster, emerging from a room, saw the two children and was about to grab them when he sensed the aura emanating from the curly-haired, dirty child.
Holy crap, this kid has the aura of a high-level monster!
And an S+ level prop?!
He quickly closed the door, hiding his face, his expression panicked.
Xing Nuo, seeing the fish-headed monster open and close the door, tilted his head, puzzled, then continued following Lu Qi.
They found room 127, and Xing Nuo, walking inside, collapsed onto a chair, exhausted.
He had been walking for two days, his lungs filled with dust, his little body aching.
Lu Qi, seemingly tireless, ran the bath and produced two small loaves of bread.
“Xing Nuo take bath. Eat bread after.”
Xing Nuo nodded and entered the bathroom, startled by his reflection in the mirror.
He scrubbed his face, removing layers of grime.
After changing the bathwater several times, Lu Qi, a towel wrapped around his head, stood behind Xing Nuo and helped him scrub his back.
The two little dirty cubs helped each other, scrubbing and scrubbing, until they were finally clean.
Xing Nuo, a towel wrapped around his wet curls, giggled, covering his mouth.
Lu Qi, not understanding, but seeing him laugh, also grinned.
After their laughter subsided, Xing Nuo, wrapped in a towel, waited for his clothes to dry.
He sat on the bed, happily eating his bread.
Lu Qi wiped the breadcrumbs from his chin, then, seeing him finish one loaf, offered him the other one.
“Xing Nuo eat.”
Xing Nuo shook his head vigorously, pushing the bread towards Lu Qi.
“Xiao Qi eat. I full.”
He wasn’t actually full. After two days without food, one small loaf of bread had only silenced his rumbling tummy.
Lu Qi tore the bread in half and put it in Xing Nuo’s mouth.
“Both for you. I no eat.”
If he was hungry, he could just find a few small monsters outside and snack on them.
Xing Nuo, his mouth full, mumbled, but, worried about Lu Qi, tore off half the bread and offered it to him.
“Have to eat. Otherwise…no energy.”
They had to gather information tonight and continue their search for his friends.
Lu Qi mumbled “Oh,” took the bread, and quickly ate it.
Xing Nuo, his tummy half-full, lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling, and, before drifting off to sleep, thought:
I wonder how Daddy and Big Brother are doing. Zaizai misses them.
