Chapter 31: Woke Up Too Fast, Thought I Saw Senior Sister Ascend

“This is really strange.”

“Did the mountain temple bug out?”

“Where’s that giant worm Gu Wanglan raised?”

“That thing’s entire body is a treasure! Killing it drops a pile of Life Scales, which can be used by Myriad Moons Cult blacksmiths to craft high-tier soft armor…”

He Yimo paced around the dungeon, inspecting every mechanism and even triggering all the traps. Yet, he still couldn’t find the conditions to summon the boss.

Now standing once again before the Nine-Colored Deer’s cage, He Yimo dragged his face in confusion.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the dungeon, the Nine-Colored Deer grew increasingly anxious as He Yimo made no move to rescue it. The deer shook its chains desperately:

“Bleat! Bleat bleat—!”

Look at that—it was so anxious it had turned into a bleating mess.

He Yimo ignored it, furrowing his brows in thought.

He wasn’t heartless; he knew the Nine-Colored Deer was the most valuable thing in this dungeon.

But the problem was, without defeating the boss guarding it, the seals on the deer’s cage couldn’t be broken!

“Baa! Baa baa!!”

Seeing He Yimo remain unresponsive, the deer switched to another strange cry.

Veins popped on He Yimo’s forehead—

“Hey, you dumb deer, quiet down! Can’t you see I’m trying to figure out how to save you?”

“I’m stumped too.”

“I was planning to let that fox deal with the boss guarding this place, then sneak you out during the chaos…”

“But now the boss is bugged and won’t show up, and Jiang Jinyue has mysteriously disappeared!”

“What do you want me to do?”

He Yimo raised an eyebrow and pointed at the deer in its cage, scolding it like a teacher reprimanding a naughty student.

The legendary Nine-Colored Deer wasn’t all that special—it was just an albino deer.

If it had any connection to “nine colors,” it was probably its antlers, which shimmered in nine hues.

He Yimo wasn’t sure if it could understand human speech, but he wasn’t in a good mood and wouldn’t coddle it.

“Bleat… bleat bleat…”

The deer whimpered pitifully, lowering its head with watery eyes.

“Not bad for a divine beast—you at least know some shame.”

Seeing its obedient demeanor, He Yimo’s anger subsided.

He stared at its nine-colored antlers and asked curiously: “Say, can you use those antlers to sense Jiang Jinyue’s aura?”

“In the original story, regular deer spirits had a skill called Natural Resonance…”

“As a top-tier divine beast among deer, you should be better than ordinary deer spirits, right?”

Narrowing his eyes skeptically, He Yimo stared at the little deer.

Hearing this, the deer stood up straight despite its chains. Its intelligent eyes burned with determination as it let out a proud cry:

“Bleat!”

It closed its eyes, and under He Yimo’s watchful gaze, its nine-colored antlers began to glow with a radiant brilliance.

However, it was clear that using this skill took a toll on the deer.

Thinking of something, He Yimo casually pulled out a few fasting pills Mo Yuyan had given him and tossed them into the cage with perfect aim.

“Take it easy—these pills are potent. My Senior Sister said eating too many could damage your kidneys.”

“If you keel over from overeating, my trip to this mountain temple will have been for nothing.”

Hands on his hips, He Yimo spoke with exasperation.

Before he could finish, the Nine-Colored Deer had already devoured the pills in one gulp.

Lifting its head proudly, it let out a soft exhale before closing its eyes again to resume its Natural Resonance.

Though He Yimo’s cultivation wasn’t high, he could still sense the spiritual energy waves rippling through the air—it was almost scientific, like ultrasonic radar.

“Baa! Baa baa!”

Suddenly, the deer’s eyes snapped open as it called out urgently to He Yimo.

Raising an eyebrow curiously, He Yimo observed its gestures and followed its gaze to the floor beneath him.

“You’re saying that fox is below us?”

He asked aloud.

The deer nodded repeatedly: “Baa! Baa baa!”

“Are you sure you’re a deer and not a goat?”

Amused by its strange cries, He Yimo couldn’t resist teasing it.

But jokes aside, he focused intently on the ground beneath him.

Below this dungeon lay the boss room where the Breeding Worm resided.

In the original story, the Breeding Worm would burst through the floor after the protagonist unlocked the stone door and entered the dungeon. It would then engage in an epic boss battle with the protagonist…

Now, however, the Nine-Colored Deer claimed Jiang Jinyue’s aura was below them.

When did she go down there to fight the boss?

Did she use some kind of burrowing technique?

Eyes widening in realization, He Yimo exclaimed:

“Could it be that Jiang Jinyue triggered some punishment mechanism by breaking down the door violently and got teleported directly into the boss room?”

“——Damn!”

“If that’s true, it explains why both Jiang Jinyue and the boss are missing!”

Like waking from a dream, He Yimo sat up straight.

No wonder he’d been stuck—he’d tried every solution in his past life except brute-forcing the door. Naturally, he hadn’t known about any punishment mechanisms for doing so!

Leave it to Jiang Jinyue to pull off something so audacious.

She’d gone full throttle breaking down the door—only to get immediately apprehended afterward.

“Now I have two choices.”

“I could stay here and wait for Jiang Jinyue to kill the Breeding Worm, then waltz through this mountain temple without lifting a finger…”

“But what if she can’t beat it?”

“If she dies and feeds the worm instead—its power will skyrocket. If it comes up here to kill me next, I’m screwed.”

“Or I could trigger the punishment mechanism myself and go down there to help her fight the boss.”

“But that’s a boss room—who knows what else might be lurking down there? We could both end up dead.”

Weighing his options rapidly in his mind—He Yimo’s body had already started moving toward the shattered stone door.

There was one safer option: run away now and leak information about this place. Let Gu Wanglan return to clean up—and leave Jiang Jinyue to her fate.

A few days ago—He Yimo wouldn’t have hesitated to choose this option.

But now…

He didn’t want Jiang Jinyue to die here.

Partly because he’d softened—and partly because he wanted to gamble for maximum benefit.

If he helped Jiang Jinyue defeat the Breeding Worm, not only could he repay her earlier life-saving favor—but he’d also have a legitimate reason to claim more loot from this place.

And who knows? If their relationship improved—he might even use her against the protagonist later!

The enemy of my enemy is my friend!

With this thought—He Yimo stood before the shattered stone door. Hands in his pockets—he reviewed his memories of fighting this boss in his past life.

“The Breeding Worm itself isn’t too scary—I memorized all its combos and weak points back then. As long as I deal enough damage—I could clear it blindfolded…”

“If it hasn’t mutated—I can handle it. But what if Gu Wanglan hid something else down there?”

“And I can’t waste Mo Yuyan’s protective token here.”

After a moment of contemplation—

He Yimo placed his palm on the broken stone door and channeled his spiritual energy into it.

Feeling resistance from the formation—it began to activate as white light enveloped him—

From deep within the dungeon—a mournful deer cry echoed once more—

“The Nine-Colored Deer’s blessing?”

He turned back briefly toward its cage.

But before he could process further—he was swept into a chaotic spatial rift.

……

……

……

“Where is everyone?”

In an ominous underground chamber—a sword-wielding boy emerged from a white light portal.

Surveying his surroundings—he heard only faint squelching noises nearby. The air reeked of blood—and there was no sign of Jiang Jinyue or any other life forms…

Meanwhile—the massive Breeding Worm coiled nearby turned its eight grotesque red eyes toward him—fixating on him menacingly from within shadows…

Its scales were stained with blood…

“You ate her…?”

Expressionless—the boy’s black pupils flashed with icy resolve…

The worm didn’t understand human speech—but responded by flicking off blood from its body before burrowing underground. The ground cracked ominously as it charged toward him—

Squelch!

Bursting forth—the worm missed its target—and instead found itself impaled by a dagger directly into one of its compound eyes…

The searing pain sent tremors through its massive body as it thrashed violently…

It lashed out with its tail—but missed again as He Yimo dodged effortlessly…

The battle continued—a relentless cycle of attacks and counters…

For hours—they fought tirelessly until finally—the worm collapsed in exhaustion—its eighth eye blinded—and strange runes glowing faintly on its abdomen…

He Yimo approached calmly—prying open its scales before driving his sword into those runes…

With one final convulsion—the Breeding Worm fell silent…

Exhausted—He Yimo slumped against its lifeless body…

“Guess I’ll have to perform surgery now… Wonder if Jiang Jinyue’s still salvageable.”

Ruffling his hair in frustration—his gaze grew complicated—tinged with regret…

If only he’d acted impulsively like she had when saving him earlier—perhaps he’d have reached her in time…

As he sighed deeply—a pair of familiar blood-red enchanting eyes appeared above him in the darkness—

“Holy crap!”

Startled—he shot upright instantly—

“Woke up too fast—I thought I saw Jiang Jinyue’s ghost ascending!”