Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!
Chapter 204: Since We Are Already Here

Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Since We Are Already Here

Chan Yu looked at the strange "person" who came to rescue her, then at the groggy old dragon, and finally at the poison in her hand, feeling troubled.

Pouring the poison into the old dragon’s mouth, if the poison doesn’t kill him, won’t it implicate the friend who came for her?

But if the poison can’t be neutralized, no one will be able to leave!

Surely, they couldn’t rely on the "friends" entrusted by the jeweler to fight off the old dragon.

[Nameless Deadly Poison: In a panic, Chan Yu used a variety of heavenly materials and earthly treasures to create a unique and unreplicable top-tier poison, which can be refined and decomposed.]

Jiang Yuan’s eyes focused on the large sea bowl in the other’s hands and his eyes brightened as he signaled her to put it down, "Elder Dragon, I have a method that can temporarily alleviate and suppress the strange poison in your body. May I let my friend leave first? She’s skilled with poisons but not with detoxification."

Though the system didn’t indicate any threats and the old dragon’s analysis didn’t look like that of a bad person, Jiang Yuan still didn’t dare retrieve the paper mache figures hiding behind the elephant. Using a steady tone, he responded as seriously as possible to sound more reliable.

"Friend?" Chan Yu had never heard any cultivator call her a "friend" before. Her emotions were complicated, and tears flowed, "Boohoo... I actually have a friend now..."

Worried the old dragon might get angry and fearful Chan Yu might accidentally spill the contents of the precious bowl, Jiang Yuan moved forward a few more steps, lowered his voice, and said, "Put the bowl down slowly and come over, gently, don’t spill it."

Irreplaceable means if it’s spilled, it’s completely gone!

"Hmm?" The old dragon lazily opened his eyes for less than half a second before his heavy eyelids drooped again, murmuring in a dreamy voice, "Young one, who are you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he began to snore again, seemingly asleep.

Chan Yu gently placed the medicine bowl down, lifted her skirt hem, and quietly walked over. Her poor eyesight finally revealed that the newcomer was a young man of fair and handsome appearance, surrounded by "animals" with tiger heads and leopard tails.

Yet, these animals seemed a bit strange, looking not very smart.

"Are you a beast tamer?" Unable to touch due to poor eyesight, she pointed to the stairs not far away and whispered, "As long as I don’t leave the position of those steps, it’s okay. Once I try to leave, I’ll be bounced back by the array."

Jiang Yuan noticed, aside from some dust making her look a bit disheveled, she wasn’t injured, indicating the old dragon hadn’t used any excessive force.

"When I came in, I didn’t find any array blocking me."

"The key is you can enter but can’t exit." Chan Yu, with a sob, said, "Sorry, I should have warned you not to come in, now... we can’t leave, can you really detoxify the old dragon?

I’ve never seen such a bizarre poison before, tried concocting various potions, but the old dragon just looked and said they were useless, I don’t know what to do.

I’ve been captured for several days without food, thirsty, hungry, and scared..."

Seeing the old dragon sleeping soundly with no intention of waking up, Jiang Yuan took some food from his storage bag for her to fill her stomach, then quietly approached the old dragon, storing the "spoils" along with the medicine and bowl in his storage bag.

When playing wild, one has to seize opportunities to gain some benefits; coming here shouldn’t be for nothing.

"Delicious, so tasty!" Starving, Chan Yu suddenly received an entire fragrant, hot roast chicken, and didn’t care about her manners, gobbling down a big bite.

The golden oily chicken skin and the tender, flavorful chicken made her feel a sudden sense of satisfied happiness.

Though her life was bitter, friendless, and she was abducted to an underground palace, misfortune unexpectedly introduced her to a friend who treated her as a friend, and she enjoyed such delicious roast chicken, better than dying alone and silently of hunger here.

"Sniff sniff!"

The old dragon’s large nose twitched a few times, slowly opening his eyes, "What a delicious smell..."

However, what first reflected in his eyes was an unfamiliar young man, he drowsily asked, "Who are you?"

Unexpectedly, the aroma of food could wake up the old dragon. Jiang Yuan quickly handed over a portion of bee venom from his storage bag, "Elder, the strange poison within you can’t be fully neutralized yet. Using poison to attack poison may relieve it somewhat, would you like to try?"

The old dragon, suppressing sleepiness, slightly moved his eyes toward the small golden liquid emitting toxin in his hand, sensing the contained poison, and nodded, "Hmm, let’s try it."

With the other’s agreement, Jiang Yuan worked hard to pry open the old dragon’s mouth, placing the small clump of bee venom, insignificant even compared to a sugar bean, inside.

"Gulp!"

The small clump barely entered the mouth before causing a sharp pain, the old dragon endured the burning pain and swallowed it. From the tongue to the throat and then to the stomach, an intense pain exploded, as if he’d swallowed a swarm of stinging bees relentless in every inch of flesh.

"Wheezing! Wheezing!"

Watching the old dragon’s eyes suddenly widen, his lip curling exposing tightly clenched fangs, the vision displayed red threat warnings, Jiang Yuan took off running, pulling along the distractedly eating Chan Yu, "Quick, hide!"

It wasn’t fear of the old dragon harboring murderous intent; rather, his massive size meant any movement was catastrophic for fragile, tiny creatures.

"What’s wrong with him? Did you feed him poison?" Chan Yu was bewildered, mumbling with mouth full of chicken, "Get down, quickly get down!"

The two dashed to the stairs only to be bounced back by the array. Seeing the other didn’t hear, Chan Yu urgently pressed him to the ground, her plump body suddenly swelling into her original form—a giant, towering, and fat venomous toad, shielding Jiang Yuan under her soft white belly.

The paper mache figures obeyed Jiang Yuan’s command, swarming over, shielding Chan Yu tightly.

"Buzz!"

It’s hard to describe what sound pierced the eardrums, as the soundwave impact caused the underground palace to tremble violently.

The old dragon suddenly felt his mind incredibly clear, fully awakening to know his breath would instantaneously turn the two little friends into ashes, immediately raising his head to expel the poisonous essence pent up for years up towards the underground palace dome.

Jiang Yuan just felt the earth tremble, hearing countless dirt clods falling, pelting the paper figures, and after a while, it quieted down.

"Are you hurt?" Chan Yu cautiously looked back, noticing the old dragon staring with large, bright eyes, panting. She moved her massive body slightly and asked quietly.

"I’m not hurt, are you?" Jiang Yuan, protected by the soft white belly, was completely unscathed.

The red threat warning in his sight had vanished, he slowly crawled out, turning to look at Chan Yu in her true form.

"My original form is tough and thick-skinned, a few stone hits couldn’t harm it, but these..." She could perceive that the small creatures on the outermost layer protecting her took most of the damage, now missing limbs, with collapsed heads, yet all bouncing around resiliently.

Her poor eyesight and large body made her curious, saying to herself that despite their dire state, they didn’t whimper or bleed; how miraculous?

"Whew! Much more comfortable!" The old dragon sighed in relief as his massive form quickly shrank, turning into an elder with dirt-yellow long robes and white beard, looking kindly, "Thank you, young friends, for your help. I was poisoned and deceived by villains, facing stagnation in confusion within the underground palace, patiently gathering strength over years, snatching here and there any passing poison expert, hoping for a cure which never came."

With a flick of his finger, a bright light shot into Chan Yu’s bosom, "Capturing you wasn’t intentional, merely confusion from the poison clouding my senses, dragging me between reality and illusion. My apologies, accept this token of gratitude as my recompense."

Then, he snapped his fingers, making the underground palace instantly bright with lit candles, "The array has been lifted. You may leave the underground palace now to reunite with the two friends awaiting outside. I wish to speak further with this young one who temporarily suppressed my strange poison."