Chapter 258: Chapter 258

Qian Qi didn’t know the level of this thorny demon plant, anyway, it was just a bit faster than herself.

Afraid of being caught by Qian Qi, the thorny demon plant ran in a panic, almost rolling into a tumbleweed shape to get as far away from Qian Qi as possible.

"Damn it." Seeing that she was running off course, Qian Qi grudgingly stopped and sighed at the fleeing thorny demon plant, "I thought I could have a free mount."

System: [...Aren’t you afraid of getting pricked in your butt?]

Qian Qi chuckled: "I’ll use you as a seat cushion, then I won’t get pricked, right?"

Slightly adjusting herself, Qian Qi continued towards the direction of the Wind Snow Ape boss. This B-level dungeon was several times larger than the Full Moon Street instance, and the night here lasted much longer than Qian Qi had imagined. When it got completely dark around, the only thing that allowed a blurry advancement in the darkness was the silver lightning in the clouds.

Qian Qi was not quite used to the night vision function of the defense helmet. She crouched behind a rock, her gaze like that of a hunting leopard, staring at a D-level fiery firebird sleeping in a sand pit not far away.

This was the twelfth fire element magical beast she had targeted along the way and the only one whose sense of smell wasn’t so keen, a fire element magical beast that didn’t run at the sight of her.

The size of that fiery firebird wasn’t large, resembling a pink flamingo, but it had dark orange feathers all over, and two medium-length sand-colored wings that couldn’t fly. Its legs were shorter and thicker than a flamingo’s, making it blend in easily with the sand pit while it slept.

Finally, at one moment, Qian Qi used her "Speed Charm" skill, pouncing on the fiery firebird in the sand pit like a long-awaited leopard, using an A-level long rope to tightly strangle the fiery firebird’s neck.

"Tweet——" The fiery firebird was startled awake, immediately lifting its wings and screeching. Its commotion instantly alarmed the surrounding fiery firebirds, which jumped lightly out of the sand pits, opening their slender, pointed beaks, screeching at Qian Qi warily.

"Don’t be afraid, I’m just borrowing your fire." Qian Qi tightly wrapped her legs around the fiery firebird’s neck, skewing a thick black wooden stick she had prepared into the fiery firebird’s throat.

"Tweet——" Treated so rudely, the fiery firebird immediately lifted its foot in anger, spitting out a flame skill that instantly ignited the wooden stick. Qian Qi hurriedly withdrew the stick, and the scarlet flames on it immediately lit up the surrounding night.

"Good thing I’m smart and used Phoenix Perch Magic Wood, otherwise, it couldn’t have withstood the energy of this D-level flame and would have burned to ashes directly." Qian Qi was glad she hadn’t wasted her efforts. She collected the fire plunder and was about to leave, only to find the surrounding fiery firebirds raising their pointed beaks, running towards her to peck.

"Oops! Sorry, let me borrow your legs then!" Qian Qi tightened the rope around the fiery firebird’s neck in fright, slapping its rear end with her small hands, causing the fiery firebird to run forward in pain.

"Tweet——" This fiery firebird was not stupid, it ran straight towards its companions, yet the constant pain on its bottom prevented it from stopping, forcing it to rush through the group of fiery firebirds and continue running forward.

Qian Qi was pecked several times by passing fiery firebirds, but fortunately, she had defense armor and wasn’t injured.

But the fiery firebirds did not let Qian Qi off, persistently following her and incessantly pecking her with their beaks.

"Ouch, stop pecking me, you can’t peck through!" Qian Qi waved her hands to push away the fiery firebirds pecking at her. After a while, they realized Qian Qi was like a rock-hard bone that couldn’t be pecked through, so they simply followed behind Qian Qi and the fiery firebird, trailing along with their short legs.

A group of fiery firebirds followed the fire stick held high by Qian Qi, bustling towards the front. Along the way, they inevitably encountered other magical beasts, which all turned pale and retreated, unwilling to come close.

Why were these fiery firebirds chasing such a smelly thing?

The magical beasts couldn’t understand and were greatly shocked.

The fiery firebirds were initially panic-stricken when they saw high-level magical beasts, afraid they would be eaten like food. However, when they found out the magical beasts didn’t dare approach a step closer, they assumed the high-level magical beasts were afraid of them. Instantly, they puffed out their chests with pride and followed Qian Qi menacingly with a grand air, as if they were fearless and invincible.

Until, Qian Qi rode the fiery firebird to a place where two environments alternated.

At this moment, beneath the fiery firebird’s feet, one side was a desolate desert wilderness covered with dust, while the other side was a steep glacial snowy terrain suspended in mid-air. The fiery firebird stood at this boundary, refusing to step into the glacial snowy terrain despite any encouragement from Qian Qi.

The fire stick in her hand had already been extinguished by the glacial cold, but the snowy mountain environment here wasn’t dark, with white clouds emanating a faint white glow, making the world distinct in black and white on both sides.

Qian Qi had to jump off the fiery firebird, giving it a pat on the wings, "Alright, you can go."

The fiery firebird rolled its eyes, wanting to chew Qian Qi to pieces and swallow her, but she appeared harder than a rock. After a moment of silence, the fiery firebird reluctantly spat a ball of fire from its mouth onto Qian Qi’s face before scampering off.

"..." Did it always have to end with that? Is this unique to the magical beasts in this dungeon?

Qian Qi wiped her face and took a step toward the snowy mountain, the cold quickly consuming all the flames on her body.

[This way ↑.] The system panel hovered in front, guiding Qian Qi towards the depths of the snowy mountain.

"Coming~ system lord~" Qian Qi lifted her small foot, hurriedly following the system. For the first time entering the ice and snow environment in the dungeon, she curiously surveyed the surroundings. The snowy mountains here were unlike the seamless triangular green mountains outside the instance, each seemed to have its own aesthetic and grew uniquely. Some extended sideways like spiky ice cones, some stretched upwards into a flat jade platform, others bridged between two mountains, with steep walls and numerous mountain cavities, difficult to traverse due to the snow.

"What’s that?" As she walked, she suddenly pointed at a mountain section in astonishment.

At the center of that snowy mountain, on the iced cone mountain body extending into mid-air, stood a black building shaped like a thatched hut. At first, Qian Qi thought she was seeing things, but upon closer inspection, it appeared indisputably like a man-made structure.

"Are there humans here?!"

She squeaked in disbelief. Read full story at novelꞁire.net

That shouldn’t be the case! Ever since she arrived in this world, she had never heard of humans existing in dungeons other than demons!

The system panel hesitated slightly, [There’s no way there are humans here, what are you imagining?]

No humans? Then why is there a structure that looks like it was built by humans? Could magical beasts build houses?

"I have to go check it out!" Qian Qi made a decisive decision and ran straight towards the thatched hut.

What exactly is the essence of the dungeon, how exactly does it operate, and where exactly do these dungeons come from... She wasn’t sure why, but she felt that this house might hold some answers!

Qian Qi grasped the A-level dagger with both hands, stabbing it into the mountain, tying one end of the rope around her waist and securing the other end to the dagger before climbing up the snowy mountain step by step.