The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 16 This bard is too cautious
"Huh...huh..."

The tunnel was eerily quiet; Tang Qi, dragging the jackal's carcass, could barely hear his own restless heartbeat.

The feeling of killing for the first time is not pleasant.

He just threw up.

However, given the jackal's repeated predicaments, he would never allow himself to be in danger.

So after the jackal fell, Tang Qi, suppressing his nausea, stabbed it several more times with his longsword, only daring to relax after confirming it was truly dead...

The premise of taking risks is to minimize all risks.

Otherwise, it's called throwing your life away.

Tang Qi is not afraid of death, but he also wants to live a wonderful life.

"Take his sword; it'll be good for self-defense... Forget about the armor, lest Black Snake become suspicious."

Tang Qi pondered his next move and, without realizing it, had already reached the entrance of the tunnel.

Just as he expected, he didn't encounter any other kobolds along the way.

This is certainly not because Tang Qi has any ability to foresee the future.

Rather, he deduced a possibility from the clues he discovered along the way in the cave environment.

Now, taking advantage of the darkness of the campfire in that area, Tang Qi lay low as quietly as possible.

It took a lot of effort to remove the jackal's chainmail.

He couldn't move the body without doing that.

As he threw it forcefully towards the campfire, he also got a clear look at everything around it—

Most of the dog-headed corpses scattered in the open space had disappeared.

All that remained were scattered small skeletons, about the size of a bone chair, lying beside a campfire.

Beside the skeleton, a pool of yellowish-green liquid slowly crept up in the firelight.

It's like yellow phlegm stuck in your throat, accumulated over many years, or snot—or simply, a huge combination of the two.

As soon as the body was thrown away, the liquid seemed to gather up the slime that had spread across the floor, forming an irregular, trembling sphere.

Its outline extended, unfurling a long, slender tentacle that lashed at the flying carcass of the jackal—

"Snapped!"

The jackal was whipped and thrown back to the ground; he had probably broken two or three ribs, but he couldn't feel them anymore.

The liquid paused for a moment, seemingly realizing that it was not a surprise attack, but rather... a gift from nature, before slowly rolling toward the corpse.

As it drew near, the sphere opened its viscous maw and swallowed the corpse whole.

The yellowish-green, translucent pus was secreted with countless milky-white bubbles.

The gurgling sound gradually replaced the sound of Tang Qi's heartbeat.

Tang Qi finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the jackal's skin begin to dissolve, revealing scarlet flesh and bones.
"It really is the Ochre Frost Monster."

Ochre Frozen Monster, a mud monster lurking in the dungeon.

It can be roughly categorized as one of the so-called "slimes".

But it is not weak.

Its fluidity makes it immune to all cutting.

In the makeshift squad, perhaps only a rock-crushing mace would have a negligible effect on it.

Furthermore, it is composed of tiny activated protoplasm.

The shattered parts may attract each other and form small ochre-frozen monsters.

Dealing with the Ochre Frozen Monster using non-physical methods without a spellcaster present can be quite tricky.

But this is precisely why Tang Qi was able to determine that it existed in this cave—

Kobolds are natural-born digging experts.

The tunnels they dug were narrow and cramped, often leaving medium and large-sized invaders with nowhere to use their strength.

For example, when wielding a jackal's standard three-foot-long sword, the blade would often scrape against the earthen wall, restricting its movement, making it far less efficient than a short sword or a short spear used for piercing.

Assuming there are no loose stones in the makeshift squad, the kobolds only need to line up in the tunnel, use their spears to stab from a distance, and then harass from a distance with their bows and arrows.

Even someone as powerful as the Black Serpent would find himself stretched thin.

Yet, the weapons they often carry are crude bone hammers, simple blunt instruments obtained by dismantling the skeletons of wild animals. This clearly doesn't make sense.

After all, their trap-making techniques meant that carving the skeleton into a bone spear was not a difficult task.

Moreover, there are clearly many natural cone-shaped stalagmites above this grotto.

Why go to such lengths and spend so much time hanging up such a huge rock?
This only means that 'they need blunt instruments'.

However, considering that the kobold had sounded the alarm before he died, the jackals at the end of the line were not attacked for a long time.

This leads to the conclusion that 'something exists that makes them fear and attack blindly'.

After that, along the way, you could see small, corroded skeletons everywhere.

All the signs led Tang Qi to only consider one possibility—

As predators in dungeons and caves, the Ochre Frost Monster feeds on the flesh and blood of living beings.

In fact, they often digest the unattended corpses after adventurers have cleared out a nest.

Their soft and flexible bodies also allow them to infiltrate and lie dormant in narrow crevices.

It's likely that those kobolds knew it might devour its dead companions, which is why they hesitated to peek out of the cave.

Tang Qi didn't want to get into trouble either.

Based on the force with which that ochre-frozen monster whipped the corpse with its pseudo-legs, if I had taken even two hits, I would have been sent to heaven one after the other.

Given that the Ochre Frozen Monster acts entirely on biological instincts and has little intelligence, it generally will not attack proactively while feeding.

Not wanting to stay put, he quickly grabbed his longsword and slipped into another nearby tunnel.

"It's a shame about that chainmail; I'm definitely still missing a piece of armor..."

Feeding the jackals to the Ochre Frozen Monster was mainly to cover up their own killings.

Although Black Snake knew about the conflict between the two, Tang Qi couldn't figure out what kind of status Jackal held among the mercenaries.

What if they're just pretending to dislike each other, but actually have a deep brotherly bond?

If you try to defend yourself by saying "he did it first," it will be too weak.

It would be safer to fabricate an excuse that 'the Ochre Monster attacked them, the Jackals were digested, and they survived by sheer luck'.

The chainmail that remained in place also served as proof of the 'fact' that the jackals had been digested.

Moreover, the chainmail somewhat restricted his movement.

"Also, be careful of those kobolds' ambushes."

Tang Qi, holding a torch and a long sword, slowly explored the area.

But a question mark lingered in his mind; he wasn't sure if he was skilled enough to escape the kobolds' gang attack.

So, in the network of tunnels, besides making sure there were no more roadblocks or traps around, Tang Qi had to be as cautious as possible when he reached a turn—

At the end of those narrow passages, in the alleys connecting the cubicles, behind the walls, or even overhead in the darkness... there might be some lewd kobold hiding there, lying in wait to ambush you.

The cautious Tang Qi would never give them the slightest chance.

Unfortunately, after outsmarting the air all the way, they only found a few simple traps.

Such as bear traps hidden in the soil, tripwires intended to trip Tang Qi, and repeating iron nails embedded on both sides of the earthen wall...

Skipping over them, I didn't see any kobolds.

It wasn't until the black snake's cries echoed from the end of the tunnel that Tang Qi finally confirmed his location.

The shouts sounded very urgent, making one wonder if the black snake had run into some trouble.

Tang Qi quickly took a deep breath, gripped his longsword tightly, suppressed his restless thoughts, and slowly moved to the exit.

They found themselves in a nest that was even more spacious than their previous camp.

By the firelight, he saw the black snake sitting on a stone step, brandishing a curved knife and behaving arrogantly towards a kobold-headed man in a long robe.
"Tell your people to hurry up, I need to get back before dark. If you're late, you'll be the first one I kill!"

The dog-headed man, as if terrified, brandished his long staff and shouted angrily at his tribesmen:
“Hurry, hurry!”

Tang Qi blinked.

and many more.

This kobold...

Are they speaking the common language?

(End of this chapter)