The night was dark and windy.
In a wilderness of weeds, several figures darted through the barren land, punctuated by the occasional "kaka-ka" sound, which was particularly jarring in the quiet night.
"Can you stop making noise?"
Chen Yu raised his hand and patted the back of the skull warrior's head.
The skeleton warrior felt nothing from the slap, but the stone-hard bone actually made Chen Yu's hand ache.
The patted skeleton warrior tilted its head slightly, the blue firelight surging in its eye sockets seemed to dim a little, and it pointed to its joints with a somewhat wronged gesture, shrugging.
"You're acting wronged now."
Seeing the dimmed flames of the skeleton warrior, Chen Yu sighed slightly.
"Forget it, when we get back, I'll get you more to devour, and try to make you grow some flesh sooner. Even if you can't grow flesh, at least let the joints grow some padding, so they don't make that 'kaka-ka' sound, alright?"
"You'll probably have to spend a fortune for that," the demon girl whispered.
"Simple, I'll borrow some spring water from Kuka when we get back, so he can summon a skeleton army sooner. Then my skeleton warrior can go in and eat."
"Borrow?"
The demon girl's eyes widened in surprise, then she looked admiringly.
"Only you could think of that."
"What do you know? This is to motivate them to strive forward. If they rely on me for everything, what if they become lazy? People are afraid of living off handouts, understand?"
"Oh~"
"Alright, alright, stop arguing," Sona whispered from the grass, "We've entered the cave where the monsters reside, don't get discovered."
"What are you afraid of? Let Chen Yu deal with them instantly."
Although Barbara said that, her voice was still lowered a few decibels.
A gentle breeze stirred.
The weeds in the wilderness rustled in the breeze. Chen Yu and the others lay hidden in the weeds. After walking for a while, they didn't feel any sense of danger.
"There's nothing."
Chen Yu frowned, having circled around without seeing any monsters.
"Eh, it seems there really aren't any monsters. I don't sense anything either," the demon girl whispered, looking at Sona. "Do you sense anything?"
Sona shook her head.
Although their strength was not as it used to be, their senses were still present, which was why Chen Yu had received their timely warnings at the beginning.
However—
Upon entering the cave, neither of them sensed any danger.
"Wrong coordinates?" Chen Yu instinctively raised his eyebrows. Sona pondered for a moment and nodded, "It's not impossible. Maybe the coordinates were wrong, or perhaps the monsters are mobile and have already left. It seems our exploration has to end here, and we should head back."
"Damn it, wasted effort."
Hearing this, Chen Yu plopped down on the ground.
"Wasted six invitation letters for nothing. My money, my hard-earned money, gone just like that. No, even if I have to go back, I'm going to cut down the trees here."
"Where are the trees?" the demon girl whispered.
Only then did Chen Yu look around. The wilderness they were in was not a forest area. Not only could they not see trees, but there wasn't even any ore.
Gritting his teeth, Chen Yu reached out and grabbed a handful of soil from the ground.
"I'll take 20 portions of soil, is that alright?"
Hearing this, the demon girl and Sona were both stunned, looking at Chen Yu's gritted teeth expression.
"Only you, Chen Yu."
They each owned a city-state, had tens of millions in gold, and made a fortune daily, yet they were still haggling over the excavation limit of 20 portions of soil per cave. Truly, there was no one else like him.
Sona and Barbara silently watched Chen Yu dig for soil.
Just then—
"Get down!"
The demon girl pushed Chen Yu's head down. Chen Yu, who was digging, looked sideways in confusion and saw the demon girl's serious expression.
"There's movement. Sona, do you sense it?"
"No~"
"They really are from the Holy See. Their crisis awareness is too poor," the demon girl said softly. "Northwest, about 200 meters away."
Everyone followed the direction the demon girl indicated.
About half a minute later—
"Patrolling, always patrolling." In the distance, a shadow flickered incessantly, and grumbling curses could be heard from time to time. "There's not a single ghost around here, yet we still have to patrol. Pure insanity."
"Boss, say less."
"Hey, you dare to tell me what to do?"
*Pia~*
A sound, possibly a slap, reached Chen Yu's ears, and he couldn't help but glance over.
"Got hit?"
Just as he was about to whisper, he heard further exclamations from ahead.
"Back at the stronghold, that old guy controlled me. Now you dare to blabber at me? Do you want to die? Besides, did I say anything wrong? We're not in our original position anymore. We don't even have natural enemies, so why patrol? I think that old geezer is just bored and has nothing better to do."
The curses continued. Chen Yu, craning his neck to look out, furrowed his brows slightly.
"They can talk. What kind of creature is it?"
"Can't see clearly," the demon girl whispered. "They're speaking the human language, and their enunciation is so clear. Could they be humans? Hiss, how strange."
"Doesn't seem like it."
Chen Yu whispered, his voice serious.
"Where are there such short humans? Dwarf race?"
"How is that possible? Dwarf races live in caves. They wouldn't set up camp in a place like this. Their dwellings are usually attached to mountains," the demon girl whispered. "Besides, dwarf races speak with a barbarian accent and wouldn't speak so clearly. Their voices are generally louder, and they are sturdier than that shadow."
"Then—"
"Let's wait a bit longer. I don't feel these guys are a threat. Let's see when they get closer,"
the demon girl whispered.
Hearing her say that, Chen Yu also felt relieved. Or rather, he hadn't felt any concern from the beginning.
It couldn't be helped; he was too arrogant.
He was incredibly confident now. Monsters in his eyes were like weaklings, unable to withstand a single blow. No matter who came, he'd greet them with a fireball for a barbecue.
"One last warning."
"If you dare to blabber at me again, I'll strip all your fur off!"
???
Stripping fur?
Hearing this again, Chen Yu instinctively looked sideways. Not receiving a response, he could only squint and focus intently ahead.
What kind of creature could mention fur?
And be able to strip it off?
Just as Chen Yu squinted and looked forward for about another half a minute, the demon girl beside him suddenly couldn't help but exclaim.
"Woah, a screaming chicken!"
"Huh?"
Screaming chicken?
Are there such creatures in the caves?
Chen Yu was also stunned by the exclamation and, after staring intently for a while, exclaimed in surprise.
"Damn, it really is a screaming chicken!"