Calamity Messenger

Chapter 385 - 316: The First Time Hurts a Little

Yan Qing dreamt of himself sinking into the deep sea, trapped by a giant octopus. The tentacles filled his mouth, just like some magical girl doujinshi, and the saliva dripping from its oral organs fell onto his pants, making them wet... Wait, how could there be such a wet feeling underwater? It’s as strange as a fish feeling like it’s drowning.

Yan Qing opened his eyes and found himself being hugged, his pants a bit damp, and his nose stuffed with something very rounded. Instinctively, he sniffed, and his whole body went numb.

"Murong! Hui!"

"Ah?" Murong Hui rubbed her eyes, stretching her toes reflexively, "Is it breakfast time?"

"Next time if I sleep with you again, I’ll be a dog!" Yan Qing, exasperated, kicked her off and rubbed his nose, "You’ve poked my nose sore."

Murong Hui nonchalantly waved her hand, "Oh, the first time can be a bit painful, you know."

Yan Qing: ??? You damn...

It was one thing to be hugged till half his body went numb while sleeping, but how the hell did she manage to spin around while asleep? And how did she drool? Drooling was one thing, but how did her foot end up perfectly fitting into his nostril? The worst part was that Yan Qing only realized it upon waking up. Did the Shadow Dance Messenger have some kind of stealth assassination trait?

Murong Hui yawned and went to wash up, while Yan Qing went to the kitchen to see what there was to eat. After all, since Murong Hui cooked last night’s midnight snack, it was his turn to handle breakfast. But Yan Qing didn’t plan to go all out; since they had bread and milk, they could just make do with that, perhaps fry an egg and some bacon at most.

Looking at the glassy transparent egg in his hand and the lava-patterned bacon, Yan Qing thought these ingredients must be graded, right? If it were another Messenger with chef traits or creation techniques, they could probably whip up buffs using these ingredients, but in Yan Qing’s hands, he could only make two quite filling sandwiches.

No wonder there are no local Messengers benefitting from the Secret Realm called Demon Gathering Land, as just packing these ingredients and books away would be quite a treasure. Although they don’t help the Messengers’ abilities, the pursuit of pleasure is always paramount in people’s hearts. Even the most diligent seeker of the Tao, like Pharmacist’s Wish, had a penchant for fine wine. Those ascetics wholly dedicated to the pursuit of power and immortality are only found in novels.

Yan Qing put together two breakfasts and placed them on the countertop, calling, "Hey, come and eat!"

"Coming!"

Murong Hui was in front of the living room’s floor-length mirror, combing her hair. Hearing Yan Qing, she responded, grabbed a ribbon with her lips, gathered her waist-length hair, exposing a long caramel-colored neck, then crossed the ribbon to tie a sleek weasel-like high ponytail. It took awhile as her hair was long. Only at this time did she have a bit of a noble lady’s demeanor. Yan Qing didn’t rush her, standing by the countertop and watching quietly, his mood like white clouds meandering in the sky.

She walked over barefoot, grabbed a sandwich, and bit into it, her eyes lighting up, "This way of eating is nice, simple, and tasty. I want this for breakfast tomorrow too!"

"If you handle lunch and dinner," Yan Qing sipped his warm milk, "I want to discuss today’s plans with you."

"You’re quite lazy, one meal of yours for two of mine," Murong Hui grunted, "Where do you want to go today?"

"I’m undecided, need your input," Yan Qing said. "As you saw, I can summon two puppets. So our first option is to go kill a powerful Third-Turn Demon Fiend and turn it into my puppet."

Murong Hui pondered for a moment, saying, "Third-Turn Demon Fiends often travel in packs, at least four together. With me, you, and two Dragon Attendants, that equals four units of Third-Turn Combat Power. Victory is quite likely, but it won’t be easy."

Yan Qing lightly tapped the countertop, nodding, "Second option is to gather more Dragon Servant Puppets. You know the characteristics of Dragon Attendants; the more you summon, the higher their attributes will be, so—"

"If within a day we can gather enough Dragon Attendants, we could strengthen them to Third-Turn or even Fourth-Turn Combat Power!" Murong Hui quickly followed Yan Qing’s line of thought. "Also, dealing with Second-Turn Demon Fiends like Dragon Attendants poses almost no risk, and once they’re stronger, we’ll be more confident tackling Third-Turn ones!"

Yan Qing nodded. Actually, there were many intricacies involved, like replacing the old Dragon Attendants with new ones before acquiring another Dragon Servant Puppet Card.

Moreover, does Demon Gathering Land truly have that many Dragon Attendants?

If it were in a game, the Dragon Attendant summoning strategy might be hard to execute because of the many players, and the demons, despite a refresh mechanism, would quickly get divided among everyone. Collecting a large batch of Dragon Attendants wouldn’t be easy. Officials likely don’t encourage such a ’foolish’ playstyle. Just like Yan Qing’s "Resurrect from Death" mutation or the revival effect added by the "Yellow Springs Old Guard" mutation card, Demon Gathering Land has various ways to summon puppets consecutively, cleverly using these mechanisms is the way to go.

But now, there’s only one player in Demon Gathering Land, Yan Qing, plus a secondary character, Ye Si, stuck in a warehouse, meaning no competition for the demon treasure, a perfect fit for them to invest time and resources into growing puppets like the Dragon Attendant which have low entry but high maximum potential!

Yan Qing only planned to stay here five days. The target for the second day was to have two puppets near Fourth-Turn Combat Power. Only then would they qualify to hunt for Third- or even Fourth-Turn core puppet cards.

With the plan set, they swiftly dressed, just as they were about to head out, Murong Hui suddenly remembered something, "Today is the fifth day, you know."

"Hm?" Yan Qing was tying the shoelaces of his Wave-Riding Boots.

"Even though Demon Gathering Land forces people to stay five days, you can actually leave on the fifth. I arrived on the second day, so I can’t leave today, but I can contact friends within Demon Gathering Land to send messages out, and have family representatives from the camp come in to protect me," Murong Hui jumped in front of Yan Qing. "They’d be more than happy to do the Murong Family a favor."

Yan Qing finished tying his boots, stood up, tapped them, and asked, "So, are you leaving?"

Murong Hui thought for a bit, shook her head, "No, since it’s just one more day, and the assassin’s accomplices might be in the camp. Knowing I’m safe might make them desperate enough to send in more assassins. Safer to stay with you."

"Should I feel honored?"

"You should know, you’re entrusted with the safety of the Murong Family’s next Foundation Establishment Zhenren." Murong Hui patted Yan Qing’s shoulder in a matter-of-fact manner but then giggled, "Were you reluctant when you heard I’d leave? A little lost? Was there—"

"There was," Yan Qing said, "You’re so pretty and capable, of course, I’d hate to see you leave."

Murong Hui widened her eyes, pointing at Yan Qing but speechless, her caramel-colored cheeks flushing lightly in a stammer, "You, you... You’re not like this yesterday! I must’ve mistaken you for a playboy type! Shameless, deceiving me, I’ve misjudged you. Next time I won’t introduce you to Little Fox!"

Yan Qing’s mouth twitched, "We only met yesterday, not quite familiar. Do you think everyone warms up this quickly as you do?"

"But you were quite rude to me yesterday!"

"I was more civil after, wasn’t I? Initially, I thought you were just a pretty vase, didn’t know you were actually a great help. Otherwise, you think I’d propose to let Dragon Attendants protect you?"

Murong Hui blinked, covering her face with her hands—her expression both smug and coy, "Aww, not as beautiful as you say~"

Yan Qing’s mouth twitched, I spoke that long, and all you heard was pretty vase? And even upgraded the adjective... Haji Hui, you...

Murong Hui took the lead, with her hands behind her back, walking with a cat-like gait, sighing, "Alas, I know my charm grows, but it feels too easy this time. Little Fox took me a year to become true friends, now just an overnight and I win a close friend under my skirt... Life is lonelier than snow... What are you doing!"

Yan Qing kicked her butt, annoyed, "Stop bragging and lead the way."

He somewhat regretted complimenting Murong Hui so forthrightly, this cheeky cat really basked in sunshine when given and overflowed when flooded. However, thinking about how serendipitous their time in Demon Gathering Land was, Yan Qing felt he didn’t need to disguise too much. Plus, he also somewhat understands why Ying Rushi, who frequently spoke of the common folk’s struggles, would have only Murong Hui as a friend.

Staying with someone like Murong Hui might be annoying and noisy, but never boring.