It seed the Adventurers’ Guild had changed leaders.
Not long after Fal arrived in Windless Town, Lin Jun noticed him.
It was impossible not to—his carriage was etched with dazzling arrays, so bright that Lin Jun, who was still only studying basic formations, couldn’t even look straight at it.
【Na: Fal Isaacs】
【Race: Human】
【Level: 28】
【Na: Lilian】
【Race: Half-Elf】
【Level: 55】
That familiar vibe of a useless young master with an overpowered battle maid…
At present, most of Windless Town lay within Lin Jun’s field of vision. Not because he had deliberately expanded it—his mycelium carpet only reached a little beyond the dungeon gate.
It was simply that the townsfolk ca to harvest mushrooms from the dungeon daily, and naturally spores spread to their wooden houses, sprouting into hyphae and mushrooms.
Once the mushroom count in an area reached a certain threshold, vision naturally ford.
Only, since it wasn’t connected to the main carpet, the delay was much greater.
Places like the Adventurers’ Guild, where mushrooms couldn’t grow, remained blind spots in Windless Town.
But Lin Jun had no intention of spying on the entire town anyway.
His attention was still focused on the deeper levels of the dungeon. As long as the guild didn’t provoke him, he didn’t care who their guildmaster was.
By now, the deeper levels had been conquered in sequence—eight caverns taken, which Lin Jun had numbered Cavern 1 through Cavern 8.
Since each cavern required Pujis to guard, every new conquest reduced the number of Pujis available for the expedition. By now, Louisa’s expedition team was down to half its original strength.
With reduced firepower ca slower progress. The latest cavern, occupied by a nest of basilisks, had been locked in stalemate for two days.
And the dungeon core still showed no sign of itself. Lin Jun figured it wouldn’t be found anyti soon.
That made the importance of the cave-dwellers even greater.
Yet Huang Pishu, who was tasked with locating them, hadn’t produced a single lead.
It was ti to apply so pressure…
…
…
…
[“Norris, you betrayed !”]
The words carved themselves into the book’s pages like knife marks, brimming with Huang Pishu’s disbelief.
“I… I didn’t…”
[“Then why did you close just now?”]
[“Why?”]
Norris glanced at the defeated minotaur being dragged away and explained helplessly:
“Boss told to! If I didn’t close you, you’d suck the minotaur’s soul again—like last ti!”
Indeed, last ti Norris had cleverly beaten a minotaur by commanding two puppet minotaurs and so Pujis, while Huang Pishu provoked the enemy into a rage.
The minotaur had been left barely alive—until Huang Pishu suddenly stole its soul, finishing it off!
Rembering the boss’s orders, Norris had shut the book early this ti, just before the minotaur fell.
So the minotaur lived, but Huang Pishu was furious…
[“Boss’s orders? What, am I supposed to starve? Norris, I’ve gone hungry for so long—I just wanted a little taste! And last ti I didn’t forget to share with you, did I?”]
Norris scratched his head, embarrassed. Huang Pishu had indeed given him a share of the soul last ti, and that intoxicating boost in stats still lingered in his mory.
“But… boss said—”
[“Norris, you fool! We fought hard to kill that minotaur. What’s wrong with eating one once in a while? Besides, who tells you stories every three days? Do you know how many pages I secretly sacrifice to make those stories for you? And you won’t even let eat a little? Haven’t you ever gone hungry? You know how empty and painful it feels! That’s what I suffer all the ti, forever, without even the release of death! Can’t you understand? Boohoohoohoo…”]
Reading those words, Norris was struck speechless.
Arrogant and cheeky as it usually was, Huang Pishu really was good to him.
The stories every three days were joys he’d never known before.
It chatted with him like a friend.
In battle, it helped him too—scouting dangers in advance.
Most of all, he knew that gnawing hunger firsthand. To think Huang Pishu endured that constantly…
“Well… next ti, maybe just one…”
“Eh? Not… starve… also ans… no need… eat…”
The harsh, rasping, echoing distortion ca from Norris’s chest.
It was the voice-Puji Lin Jun had given him, hanging at his neck like a scarf, rarely used until now.
Norris froze, face stricken, realizing he had nearly broken the boss’s orders.
The words on Huang Pishu’s pages were instantly erased, leaving them blank within half a second.
Too late.
Lin Jun had long since diverted part of his attention to Norris. Huang Pishu’s every move was under his gaze—he had only chosen to tolerate it until now.
Suddenly, one of Norris’s Pujis slipped from his control.
It walked forward, tendrils extending to take Huang Pishu from Norris’s hands.
Norris dared not resist, while Huang Pishu frantically scrawled across its own pages:
[“Boss! It’s a misunderstanding! I wasn’t trying to sneak food! I was just teasing little Norris, testing whether he rembered your orders! See? He didn’t obey perfectly, did he?”]
Norris: ???
“You co down here… no results… and you still play tricks?”
The Puji rolled Huang Pishu up and started toward Cavern 1—clearly to return it to Xiao Hei.
[“Boss! Wait! Give a chance! If I get results, can I redeem myself?”]
A pause.
“…Can… consider.”
[“I-I-I have clues! I have intel! The main passage from Cavern 3 leads toward the kind of creatures you described, boss!”]
It hastily described the cave-dwellers it had scouted—their appearance, numbers, and behavior—insisting it wasn’t lying.
The Puji nodded its cap.
“…Noted.”
Then carried it away.
[“Why!? I gave you leads! I contributed to the mushroom garden! You promised! How can you do this?”]
“The sin… of tempting Norris… is pardoned. But now… you are guilty… of hiding information!”
[?!]
Two days later, Norris received a much slimr Huang Pishu—and a voice-Puji that, though still grating, could now speak fluently.
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