The Heartbeat of the Cruel Elves

Whoever you mention will come.

The black spot in the distance continued to grow larger, and then gradually turned blue in Li Yin's field of vision. After a while, a towering blue crystal "mine" appeared in front of Li Yin and slowly descended to the ground.

"Good morning, two little bugs." The dragon greeted in a loud voice.

"I didn't expect that we were destined to meet so soon. I really mean what I say." Its voice was filled with obvious joy.

Li Yin suddenly felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"By the way, why are you still here?" It waved its four legs and strolled around leisurely, asking casually. "And you came to this place?"

"We are looking for a way out, Lord Dragon." Du Feiya, who had long wanted to ask it about this, immediately replied attentively, "But we have been searching for so many days and still have found nothing."

"Could you please tell us the exact location of the exit?"

"Exit?" The dragon's two sapphire eyes turned and it stopped its four legs. "Hasn't the exit been sealed by me?"

It opened its mouth and pointed at the distance with a loud bang, and obvious ripples appeared in the air. It seemed to be simulating the scene of collapsing the cave with its breath. The corners of its huge mouth were slightly grinning, and the corners of its eyes and eyebrows were soaked with joy, looking very amused.

"No, not that one." Du Feiya paused, then said carefully, "We inferred that... that cave is not your usual entrance and exit. You should have another main entrance and exit."

"That's a good guess." The dragon nodded, "That place is indeed only used for entering and exiting my snack room."

"Snack room?" Du Feiya was a little confused, and Li Yin was also slightly stunned.

"Those scarlet spiders." The dragon opened its mouth wide, and its rows of teeth that looked like Yue-shaped heavy swords emitted a cold and cold light. "They taste sour and spicy, and they jump one by one in my mouth. They are delicious."

"Okay," Li Yin couldn't help but wipe his forehead and said silently in his heart.

He finally understood why those insects that devoured the sky and the earth were so afraid of this place. It turned out that there was a creature here who could eat more than them.

Du Feiya also looked a little embarrassed.

She tried to imagine putting those tiny spiders into her mouth. The bitten spiders exploded in her mouth, and the unbitten spiders were still jumping in her mouth... She didn't have time to taste the "sour and spicy taste" that the dragon mentioned. She just felt her throat tighten, and something was rising from her stomach.

But she finally held back, suppressed her nausea, maintained her smile, and continued to ask carefully:

"What about the other passage, your usual exit, could you please tell us where it is located?"

The dragon closed its wide mouth, then gently opened it again, and said casually: "It's no use telling you. Didn't I tell you that it's already sealed?"

Du Feiya's eyes widened, somewhat bewildered. Li Yin, on the other hand, looked at the dragon's carefree appearance, and his ominous premonition grew stronger.

"I'm talking about... the other one." Du Feiya reminded the dragon carefully.

"I know," the dragon replied casually, "it's the one I always use."

"I told you it's closed."

"That one was closed even earlier than the one in the snack room, because I wanted to concentrate on studying chess and didn't want to be disturbed by inexplicable visitors."

Du Feiya was stunned.

She and Li Yin looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Well," she said after a moment's silence, "do you have a shovel or a pickaxe or something like that that you could lend us?"

"Do you think great dragons need those inferior things?" The dragon waved its crystal blue claws and asked unhappily, "Besides, what do you want to do?"

"Are you planning to dig a new passage?"

Du Feiya was slightly stunned again, and an expression of "what else" appeared on her confused little face.

"I'm warning you." Unexpectedly, the dragon turned around, and its huge body, which was full of oppression and deterrence, faced the two people head-on, and said in a rumbling voice, "Although I have an agreement with you, I will not hurt you casually again."

"But that is based on the premise that you no longer deliberately provoke and infringe upon my interests."

"You are in my home now. If you wantonly destroy my property, such as destroying my front door or something, I will be furious!"

Du Feiya was speechless for a moment, as if she was completely shocked by the dragon's inexplicable yet impeccable words.

Li Yin took over the conversation and continued to ask:

"Could you please open the door and let us out?"

He tried to maintain the last ounce of respect, as he didn't expect much from the answer.

And the dragon did not disappoint his "expectations".

"I will be in seclusion and thinking hard for a while," the dragon said confidently, "How can I open the door to welcome guests if I refuse to receive them during this period?"

"You are not 'waving guests off,'" Li Yin reminded it calmly, "you are seeing them off."

"Who cares about greeting guests or seeing them off?" The giant dragon shook his head and said impatiently, "Anyway, I will be in seclusion for the time being and will never open the door!"

This time, Li Yin also fell silent...

After a while, Du Feiya spoke again cautiously.

"In that case, can you please return my package and magic book to me?"

Before, Li Yin covered her escape, and the dragon got up and chased her. When he captured her again, he also looted her magic book and storage bag.

If she could get the magic book back, it would be fine. Even if she didn't use tools to dig, and didn't ask the dragon to open the door, she could still use space teleportation to get herself and Li Yin out.

"I am shocked by your request, little dark elf bug," the dragon spoke in a rumbling, very calm voice.

Chapter 182: A Reunion Not Too Far Away

The next second, the dragon's powerful voice suddenly became unusually angry, even containing a hint of grievance.

"You said you were sorry for your trespassing and vandalism and that you wanted to make it up to me."

"So I symbolically took some of your belongings as compensation."

"But I didn't expect that my generous behavior would lead to further encroachment."

"You are not even willing to pay this little symbolic compensation and try to get it back. And you shamelessly talk about guilt and compensation."

"Why, do I look like someone who is easy to bully or easy to fool?"

"Your Excellency, the Dragon," Du Feiya said with a pale face, "I have absolutely no such intention!"

"Then can you give us a way out?" Li Yin had already seen through its true colors and asked bluntly.

The dragon raised its huge crystal head, looking righteous and confident.

"Whether you stay or go has nothing to do with me. Why should this dragon care? I am being very polite by not arguing with you for barging in rashly. This dragon advises you two little bugs to take care of yourselves and not be ungrateful."

"You don't care about it?" Li Yin was furious. "In the final analysis, you just want to trap us here."

"Trapped?" The giant dragon opened his eyes wide. "You actually used words to describe this luxurious residence of mine as a prison. I have been very generous, and I will not do it again."

"You can make malicious speculations, but the great dragon only does what it wants to do and does not care what the ants think." The dragon snorted.

Then it opened and closed its eyes, and its crystal clear nictitating membrane quickly swept across the azure eyeballs: "It's time for morning tea."

It flapped its wings, creating a hurricane again, its thick legs left the ground, and its huge body slowly rose in the hurricane.

"Anyway," it said in a lazy and cold voice from high above, "you two little bugs can do whatever you want, but remember one thing: don't destroy my property and facilities at will."

"Otherwise, don't say that you didn't predict what you said!"

"Get out of here!" Li Yin cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted angrily.

He was not worried at all that the dragon would rush down to take revenge, because he could see that the dragon was just trying to make things difficult for him and to anger him. If he was not angry, it would be unhappy.

Sure enough, the air was filled with the dragon's undisguised laughter, rumbling like a rolling thunder, and gradually disappeared in the distance.

"What should we do now?" After a moment of silence, Du Feiya looked at Li Yin and asked.

Li Yin only realized at this moment what the dragon meant when he said that they would meet again in the future and that this day would not be too far away. That guy had been plotting against him since then...

There was no point in continuing to look for the exit, Li Yin thought. Even if they found it, they couldn't get out. Moreover, he suspected that the exit was actually in the place they had been looking for, but they didn't recognize it because it was sealed by the dragon.

But if they don't look for an exit, what else can they do? Just sit here and wait? Even if they sit there until their buttocks are worn out, they still won't be able to find any purpose.

and……

Li Yin took out the leather bag, took a sip, and found that the water was almost gone.

"Let's go back to the lake first." He sighed, "Refill your water, have a good rest, and then make a long-term plan..."

It took them half a day to return to the underground lake.

Standing on the shore and looking into the distance, it is not difficult to see the collapsed entrance of the crystal cave on one side, and the rows of chess pieces on the huge chessboard on the other side.

Li Yin walked slowly a few steps and came to Du Feiya. They had built a fire on the ground, propped up a rack with a few spears, and were roasting a few fish on the fire.

Du Feiya flipped the grilled fish, and the tempting aroma of meat filled the air. Li Yin watched the fish skin turn from snow-white to golden, cracking to reveal the delicious fish meat inside, and couldn't help swallowing his saliva.

Du Feiya handed a grilled fish to Li Yin.

"The seasonings are in my storage bag, but they were all taken away by the sapphire dragon. Just make do with it."

Li Yin smiled and nodded. He said it was okay, it didn't matter, but he couldn't wait to reach out to take the fish and took a big bite.

Du Feiya's eyes showed surprise, and her lips slightly opened, as if she wanted to remind him of something, but it was too late. As soon as Li Yin's lips and tongue touched the surface of the burnt fish skin, a fierce heat suddenly hit him, burning him so hard that he grimaced and screamed.

"Be careful," Du Feiya looked at him in pain, tears streaming down his face, and couldn't help but chuckle, "It's just been baked, it's very hot."

Li Yin nodded with tears in his eyes. He stretched out his lips and retracted his tongue, and when the pain and high temperature gradually subsided, he carefully brought the fish meat to his mouth again.

At the same time, Du Feiya also began to nibble and swallow.

Although the fish without any seasoning tasted delicious, it would become tasteless if you ate a few more bites. However, this was not the time to be picky. Besides, Li Yin had never been picky about food. When the temperature of the fish meat gradually subsided, he quickly swallowed it in big mouthfuls...

After eating and drinking a few sips of water, Li Yin lay on the ground contentedly, with his hands behind his head, staring at the high and dark dome above his head, and suddenly felt an indescribable sense of comfort and relaxation.

He felt a long-lost taste of...freedom.

Strangely enough, although they were now trapped in this lost underground cave by the dragon "on some pretext" and were like prisoners, he did feel a sense of freedom, relaxation and laziness.

At least... it was easier than in Nevre. He didn't have to be cautious and on edge, worrying that he would be harassed or killed by some dark elf who didn't like him, or that Cassia, whom he had enchanted, would suddenly wake up, or that a high-ranking priest in the Borgia family would notice something strange happening to her... and so on...

During his time in Nevre, Li Yin lived in worry every moment. What worried him most was not when he was awake, but when he was asleep. He was afraid that he would say something inappropriate in his sleep under the tension and expose his secret. Therefore, he couldn't sleep peacefully. Fortunately, the situation that worried him had not happened until now.

Now, here, Li Yin at least doesn't have to worry about her own survival - the dragon just trapped them here, if it wanted to kill them, it could have done so long ago. The most basic needs of life are guaranteed, Li Yin suddenly feels safe and worry-free, without desires or demands...

"Li Yin, Li Yin..." It was not until Du Feiya woke him up that he realized that he had fallen asleep, and that he was sleeping very soundly and peacefully.

He hasn't had such a sound sleep in a long time.

Just as Li Yin was still savoring his sweet sleep, Du Feiya spoke again:

"What do we do next?"

"Ah?" Li Yin responded subconsciously and confusedly.

He really hadn't thought about this issue for a while.

How to do?

Go back? How?

No, I should say, why go back?

Going back, of course, means going back to Nevëvere - of course, it would be a bit of a pipe dream to start imagining returning to the surface world now.

But the problem is, isn't he quite comfortable here now? At least much better than Nevre. The dragon doesn't care about him at all except for not letting him go out. He is also a typical "magician personality". In normal people's words, he is a "fool" and a "weird guy". He has no material desires, is not obsessed with socializing, has no demand for group activities, and is more accustomed to immersing himself in his own spiritual world, focusing on exploring and extending his inner self... In short, even in this deserted underground, he can stay there happily. After all, in the surface world before, he often came and went alone, and even his senior brothers and sisters who were also mages commented that he was terribly lonely, like the "male protagonist of a third-rate novel who was born with a star of misfortune".

Besides, even if he went out, as a human being in Nevre, there were no high-quality social activities for him to participate in. As for the material aspect, under Cassia's care, it was indeed much better than here. But as mentioned before, this was not the main point for him.

In short, if he had to choose, he would definitely want to return to the earth and regain his true freedom. But if he could only choose between returning to Nevile and staying here, Li Yin would rather stay here for the rest of his life and embrace this "compromise freedom" alone.

Besides, he is not alone at the moment.

Li Yin turned his head and looked at Du Feiya. Wasn't there a smart, gentle, and kind-hearted dark elf girl by his side? She alone was enough to be worth millions of hypocritical friends.

However, Li Yin sighed inwardly. This was too cruel to her. As a dark elf, she definitely wanted to return to her city, to her home.

Just as Li Yin was immersed in his own thoughts, Du Feiya also tilted her head, staring at him with her bright lavender eyes.

She didn't know what Li Yin knew or thought at the moment, but seeing that he looked cheerful and excited, as if the clouds had cleared and the sun was shining, she thought that he had recovered from the blow of being restrained by the dragon and had regained his strength, so she was silently happy for him.

Then, noticing that he frowned slightly, she naturally assumed that he was worrying about the future of the two of them, and she couldn't help but become anxious as well. She was also silently thinking about whether there was any feasible solution.

"For now, there is nothing we can do." Li Yin was silent for a while, sighed softly, and said.

This was not a lie, he really thought about it for a while. He felt that it was not fair to trap his friends in the dungeon with him because of his own selfishness, so he tried to think about whether there was any way out.

The answer is no.

Of course, since he was not very motivated to go out, he stopped forcing himself to think after thinking for a while without any results, and gave the answer directly to Du Feiya. After that, he emptied his mind and returned to the previous state of leisure, relaxation, and freedom.

"Anyway," he thought silently in his heart, and he actually felt an indescribable joy, "If there is really any way, I can go out anytime I want, but let's talk about it later. Before that, let me enjoy some peaceful days first."