In the shadow of the entrance to the Purple Crystal Dungeon, the air always carried an enduring scent, a mix of damp soil and a faint whiff of decay.

Vera tightened the curved saber at her waist, her gaze sweeping over her two companions. The mage Fei Yin was nervously adjusting the cuffs of her magic robe, while her twin sister, Fei Ling, appeared much calmer.

"Vera," Fei Yin's voice carried a trace of unnoticeable tremor, her gaze fixed on the entrance resembling the throat of a giant beast, "Are we… really going down now? Didn't the expedition team just…"

"Just return in failure?" Vera finished for her, yet her gaze remained unusually calm, "Exactly, but precisely because of that, now is the best time to go down."

Vera turned to Fei Yin, patiently explaining, her voice lowered to ensure other adventurers nearby couldn't overhear, "I've been asking around, just yesterday, a small team reached the third level and came back unscathed. According to them, the Puki inside have returned to 'normal.'

The expedition team failed; the Puki still occupy the dungeon, but life for adventurers must go on.

The daring ones have started exploring deeper gradually, while the cautious are still observing the Puki's situation.

"We all know that Puki have the habit of stuffing loot into the belly of the fat Puki, and when the expedition team came out, they were stripped bare!"

Fei Yin suddenly understood: "Are you saying the equipment of the expedition team might now be inside some fat Puki's belly? Waiting to be... retrieved?"

"Exactly!" Vera snapped her fingers, "Before others realize, let's gather more demon corpses for exchange, maybe we'll strike big!"

Saying this, he winked at Fei Yin, whose tense face broke into a slight smile of agreement.

As the three were about to enter the dungeon, Vera's gaze was caught by two other figures at the entrance.

Their mismatched attire was clearly not that of adventurers—

A sturdy, weather-beaten middle-aged man in mud-stained coarse clothes, clutching a shining, old pitchfork tightly, his eyes full of tension.

Beside him was a boy of about twelve or thirteen, also dressed in patched old clothes, carrying a huge, empty basket almost half his size on his back.

The boy's face, youthful and curious, was peering into the dungeon inquisitively.

They seemed to have stood at the dungeon entrance for a while, just now finally entering.

Vera quietly asked a tall, skinny adventurer leaning against the wall, wiping a dagger: "Hey, do you know what's with those two?"

Annoyed at being disturbed, the tall adventurer raised his head but upon seeing Vera, his brows relaxed: "Oh, it's Vera, thanks for the potion last time."

Vera waved it off with a smile.

The tall adventurer continued: "You mean those two who just went in? I don't know them, but judging by their attire, they're probably farmers from Mura Village."

"Farmers? Doing what in the dungeon?" Fei Ling couldn't help but ask.

The dungeon's first level is hardly dangerous, but that's for adventurers.

Gaining adventurer status at least requires reaching Copper Level, which is Level 20.

Level 5 demons pose no threat naturally.

But it's different for farmers.

Adult humans generally can reach Level 10 or above, but without combat skills, a stroke of bad luck in meeting two or three demons at once means life-threatening danger.

So farmers entering the dungeon is quite strange, and...

"The guild doesn't stop them?" Vera looked at the two guards stationed at the gate in confusion.

Normally, without adventurer status, the guards should have stopped them.

"Well, can't exactly deny others a chance to survive, right?" The tall adventurer spat on the ground, "Heard their village suffered a disaster. Some troublemaker started a big fire, burning all the crops to ashes! Seeing no way to survive, they mustered the courage to come to the dungeon to gather mushrooms, these two aren't the first."

Vera nodded silently, feeling such stories have become more common recently.

Without further words, she signaled Fei Ling and Fei Yin to follow, stepping into the dungeon.

Upon entering the first level, the light dimmed abruptly, with only some mushrooms on the walls emitting a faint fluorescence.

Though mushrooms had taken over the dungeon, the fungal mats mainly grew in corners, on walls, and the ceiling, leaving the paths adventurers commonly trod surprisingly clean.

It was quite unnatural; with the recent rampant rumors about Puki possessing advanced intelligence, Vera somewhat believed them.

Believing but not thinking it affected him in any way; intelligence wasn't just born today, adventurers and Puki could coexist harmoniously before, couldn't they?

Just needed to follow Puki's not-so-strict rules.

To be safe, although Fei Yin could use spells for light, they rented a lighting Puki, somewhat a voluntary protection fee.

Not far into the entrance, they saw the farmer and his son.

The boy was squatting on the ground, excitedly trying to pull out a bunch of gray mushrooms growing in the corner.

The middle-aged man seemed ready for battle, holding a torch and gripping the pitchfork, alertly scanning the surrounding passages.

"Wait!" Vera's voice was clear and cold, standing out sharply in the silent passage.

She rushed forward in an arrow-like move, decisively grabbing the boy's wrist before he could pull the mushrooms out by the roots.

The boy was startled, jerking his hand away: "What are you doing?"

The middle-aged man also turned nervously, pointing the pitchfork slightly forward: "Sir…?"

Only farmers would call ordinary adventurers "sir."

Vera didn't explain immediately, merely parted the larger gray mushrooms, revealing a hidden blue mushroom among them.

"Though it won't kill you, unless you want to fall asleep after every meal, you'd best pick these blue mushrooms out."

Amidst their thanks, Vera bid farewell to the farmer and his son.

...

Descending to the second level, Vera noticed the lighting Puki actually didn't return to the fungal mat this time, instead swaggering along with them.

However, stairs were too much for its short legs, forced to move step by step down in big strides, its whole body wobbling, making Vera fear it might suddenly roll down like a ball.

Fei Ling couldn't help but roll her eyes, unable to watch any longer.

She bent down and scooped the struggling lighting Puki up securely in her arms.

"Let's go, little short legs." The lighting Puki curled up gently in her arms, its glow steadily illuminating their path.

When they finally carried demon corpses to the fat Puki's lair on the fifth level, the sight before them made Vera raise her eyebrows slightly—

The lair wasn't empty.

A pile of weapons and armor, obviously just "extracted," was tossed carelessly in a corner, reflecting a metallic cold light under the glow of the lighting Puki.

Vera's gaze scanned, quickly identifying from that pile many weapons and armor with church emblems and distinct forging styles!

Not hiding their presence, their arrival naturally caught the team currently drawing loot's attention, casting cautious glances back—

It was Horn!

His rugged face still beamed with the thrill of his gains and a hint of caution, but once recognizing Vera, the caution vanished instantly, replaced by a smile full of "you actually came too."

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