Chapter 135: Ethereal Glow

"Sir, what is the purpose of your journey? Is there anything I can help you with? Please, just give your orders!" Fiona followed closely behind Luo Yong, her tone tinged with eagerness. She was already determined to get her hands on the kind of magic-powered battle puppet Luo Yong had used earlier.

"Hmph! Shameless..." Susie muttered under her breath. She had intended to slip away quietly, but after a moment's thought, she followed along in silence.

The trio had only traveled a short distance before entering a relatively spacious hall. The surrounding walls were adorned with ancient patterns, paintings, wall lamps, and more.

"Wow, I wonder what kind of people lived here?" Fiona exclaimed in admiration.

"Rich ones, obviously," Susie chimed in.

"I wasn't asking you. Why are you butting in?"

"I wasn't answering you. I was just talking to myself. What does that have to do with you?"

As they bickered, they started arguing again, unable to keep quiet for even a moment.

"There's no danger here now; you can leave," Fiona said.

"I... of course I'm leaving! Who would want to stay with you two? Hmph!" Susie turned to leave.

Before her lay several corridors, and she had no idea where they led. Faintly, the roars of monsters echoed from within those tunnels.

"Roar..."

Susie’s steps faltered, and she retreated, glancing at Luo Yong and then at Fiona. Stamping her foot in frustration, she chose a corridor that seemed relatively quiet, devoid of those monstrous cries.

"Goodbye... or rather, let's not meet again!" Fiona waved, watching Susie depart.

"Hmph!"

Susie let out a heavy snort. She glanced at Luo Yong, and seeing his indifferent expression, she felt inexplicably angry. With a flicker of her figure, she vanished into the corridor.

Luo Yong wandered around for a while, waiting, but heard no further cries from Susie. It seemed that one couldn't always count on a wave of monsters appearing.

"Could it be that I really have to go out and team up with those people?"

Tsk, tsk.

At the thought, Luo Yong shook his head. If he were to form a party, why would he ever leave his beautiful team members? Wouldn't it be better to just bring them here to grind monsters and gain experience?

With this thought in mind, Luo Yong headed into a corridor. As he walked, a faint, ghostly singing reached his ears—he knew not who sang it, nor for whom it was intended.

Soon, ghostly blue energy entities appeared before him, drifting over like specters.

*Swish!*

Luo Yong drew the great gun from his back and swung it forcefully. The barrel passed through the specters' bodies, leaving a chilling sensation; it seemed to carry a freezing effect.

"Sir, do you need help?" Fiona drew her holy sword, asking with a touch of uncertainty.

"You take care of it," Luo Yong said, stepping aside to make room.

"Alright, watch me!" Fiona replied happily, stepping forward and brandishing her holy sword.

*Zzz!*

With a slash of the holy sword, several energy-based specters were obliterated.

Fiona looked at Luo Yong beamingly and said, "Sir, am I not impressive? Our partnership certainly has a bright future!"

"Let's go."

Luo Yong remained noncommittal and continued walking forward.

In truth, it wasn't that he had no way to deal with these specters; it was simply that many of his methods could not be used lightly. For instance, the Fear spell from necromancy, or his Death Domain... However, there was no need to use ultimate techniques against a few mere spirits. Or, he could simply blast them with tactical scrolls. Powerful energy could directly disperse and shatter such specters.

The two walked to the end of the path. In the darkness, a faint, ghostly light shimmered, like a pair of eyes staring at something.

*Swish, swish, swish!*

Fiona slashed away the specters that drifted by from time to time, and by the light of her holy sword, they saw the source of the ghostly glow.

"It's a stone statue."

"Don't act rashly!" Luo Yong stopped Fiona before she could touch it, poking the statue with his spear instead.

*Clatter...*

The statue shattered instantly, as if it had endured an eternity of time. The ghostly light transformed into two blue crystals. They looked ordinary, yet they seemed to hide a formidable power.

"Take them," Luo Yong said indifferently, clearly showing no interest in such things.

"Eh? Me? Oh... alright!" Fiona was surprised for a moment, then, realizing the implication, her face lit up with joy. "Sir, are we officially a team now?"

"Only for the time being," Luo Yong replied.

"Yay!" Fiona jumped for joy. She then solemnly put on her helmet, gave Luo Yong a crisp salute, and said, "Reporting to the captain, team member Fiona reporting for duty!"

"Good, good..." Seeing her like this, Luo Yong’s mind wandered for a moment, and flashes of memory crossed his mind. He shook his head, remembering his mission, sighed deeply, and waved his hand before turning to walk back.

"Don't get too excited. Let's put the team benefits on hold for now!"

"Yes, Captain!"

Fiona replied, only then realizing what she had said, and muttered to herself, "What are the team benefits? Magic-powered battle puppets, maybe..."

The two soon returned to the hall, where they encountered an acquaintance.

Pang Ding was holding an object emitting a blue glow, observing it intently.

"Fatty, what are you looking at?" Luo Yong asked.

"Eh? Why are you here?" Pang Ding had been deep in focus. He possessed strong self-confidence in his own strength, believing he could roam freely even in this dungeon. He didn't care if others eyed the treasure in his hands, so he had been observing it openly, only to be caught in the act by Luo Yong.

"Nothing much. I found this at the end of a corridor, near a glowing stone statue," Pang Ding said. "This thing looks familiar. I think I saw similar patterns back at the Magic Academy, and I've read related records..."

"Is that so? About that matter?" Luo Yong leaned in close and asked in a low voice.

"If nothing goes wrong, that should be it." Pang Ding was slightly annoyed by Luo Yong standing so close, as he had to tilt his head up to look at him, otherwise, he could only see the man's belt...

"By the way, who is this little sidekick? Where did she come from?" Pang Ding put away the item and pointed at Fiona, who was standing not far away.

"A temporary team member," Luo Yong said coolly.

"My name is Fiona. I am a Holy Sword Knight. Pleased to meet you!" Fiona said earnestly.

"Not bad, Luo... Zorro, you've managed to pick up a new teammate pretty quickly!" Pang Ding remarked with a strange, sarcastic tone.

"Cut the nonsense. Why aren't you out there helping me instead of running around in here?" Luo Yong asked.

"Of course I am—" Pang Ding started, then suddenly remembered something and said indignantly, "You have the nerve to ask!? You tricked me into posing as some guy named Wenman, only to use me as cannon fodder! I was chased and hunted down by people! I nearly lost my life!"

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Luo Yong waved his hand and said, "Don't be so dramatic. Didn't you just run away? Who was chasing you? Besides..."

Luo Yong lowered his voice intentionally. "Isn't it normal for you to be chased? Who told you to insult people's faith to their faces for no reason?"

"..."

Pang Ding’s breath hitched; he found he couldn't refute that.

"It wasn't... at that time... I was trying to save someone... but they had no solution and kept telling me that the dead cannot return to life and that I should let go! Let go of your sister! Calling them names was the least I could do!"

As Pang Ding spoke, scenes from the past surfaced in his mind. The events of that day, even after so long, remained clear as day...

"Alright, alright, let's talk business. The secret realm—are you going?" Luo Yong held up the key to the Skeleton Secret Realm.

"I'm in no mood for death!" Pang Ding glared at him. "Don't you know the situation? Stonehenge is already packed tight. There are countless people lying in ambush, both in the open and in the shadows. Even if we go, there's no way to open the secret realm."

"Then what do we do now?" Luo Yong asked.

"How should I know? Maybe go somewhere further away. It's not like this is the only Stonehenge," Pang Ding replied.

"Then let's go!" Luo Yong immediately produced a teleportation scroll.

"Wait, wait! Haven't you noticed there are a lot of monsters here?" Pang Ding gestured randomly around the room.

"Where?" Luo Yong looked at him emotionlessly. The surroundings were empty; not only were there no monsters, but even the roars had ceased for quite some time.

"Ah!"

Just then, the girl's scream echoed again from one of the corridors. A figure flashed out—it was Susie, who dashed over and hid directly behind Luo Yong.

"And who is this?" Pang Ding asked.

"What's wrong now?" Luo Yong asked.

"Huh? Where did this ball come from?" Hearing Pang Ding, Susie turned around, startled, and hid on the other side of Luo Yong, tugging at his cloak. "Mister, where did this ball come from? And how can it talk? ...By the way, I just ran into lots and lots of monsters again..."

"Hmph!" Pang Ding snorted. He didn't want to engage with Susie; in fact, apart from Luo Yong, he didn't want to deal with anyone or waste time on useless matters.

"Where are the monsters?"

Luo Yong looked suspiciously at the corridor Susie had just emerged from. It was empty, sitting right next to the one he had just explored. At most, there were only a few specter-type monsters...

"Roar!"

Suddenly, a massive roar erupted. The ground began to shake, and from the various corridors in front of them, a sea of monsters poured out simultaneously.

"There really were some..."

Luo Yong, Pang Ding, and Fiona all looked at Susie with strange expressions.

"It seems you are far more than just an ordinary fleet-footed thief!"