Bat Cave

"Excellent, with you as an expert, we should be able to complete the task."

"My name is Qingzhu, pleased to meet you."

"Hello, I am the lord of Stone City."

"Haha…" Qingzhu laughed again.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Stone City, what a peculiar name. Why not just call yourself Stone, more friendly."

"…" Speechless.

"I just received a task from an old man made of stone and met you, the lord of Stone City. It's all related to stone."

"Stone old man, who are you?"

"Follow me."

I followed Qingzhu to a giant tree where even the red-haired lions we encountered became our experience.

"This is the stone old man."

Qingzhu pointed to the stone-carved old man under the giant tree and said to me.

"The stone man gave you the task." Really?

"Hey, hello."

I greeted the stone old man, but there was no response.

"The stone old man said he was petrified by someone using the 'petrification' skill and needs to find 'Cloud Root Water' in the Bat Cave ahead to remove the petrification effect. The stone old man took fifty years of practice to be able to speak for three minutes, and he just spoke to me, so he can't speak anymore."

"Oh. Then let's go and take a look at the Bat Cave."

"I don't know where the Bat Cave is. I was discovered by that red-haired lion when I was looking for the Bat Cave earlier."

"I know, come with me."

I opened the map of the Dongfang Xing and saw that the Bat Cave was at the source of a nearby stream, where it was dim and gloomy, and many bats gathered.

"Should we not do this task?"

Qingzhu looked at the dark Bat Cave and heard strange sounds coming from inside. She became a bit timid, shrinking her body and not planning to enter.

"It's okay, I am with you." Joke, this is a hidden task, we absolutely cannot give up.

"But…"

"It's okay, just follow me."

"Okay."

Upon seeing my resolute demeanor, Qingzhu acquiesced and bestowed upon me the "Power Spell" and the "Defense Spell." She followed closely behind me as we ventured into the bat cave.

Qingzhu unconsciously believed in this knight and deemed him trustworthy. Otherwise, she would never have entered such a dark and gloomy cave with this unfamiliar knight.

As we entered the bat cave, a swarm of level 20 bats immediately attacked us. However, they were no match for us and only served as valuable experience points.

"Stone, what level are these bats? Why are they only dealing such insignificant damage to you?" Qingzhu asked in surprise as she saw my health only decrease by 20 or 30 points.

Qingzhu had prepared the "Healing Spell" but found herself with nothing to do. She couldn't understand why everyone called me "Stone." Wasn't my "Stone City" a good name? I regretted not choosing a better name.

"I am a knight with high defense," I replied confidently.

"Mm-hmm," Qingzhu responded.

"He is no fool. There's no need to worry," she thought to herself.

Although high defense was normal for a knight, the defense this knight had was abnormally high. Additionally, his "Stone City" had a higher attack than even her elder brother's full strength warrior attack.

However, Qingzhu did not ask further as she was a smart woman. Although she couldn't articulate it, she felt a sense of loss she had never experienced before.

As we chatted and delved deeper into the bat cave, the dark and dry surroundings became increasingly black. Qingzhu moved closer to me, and a refreshing scent of bamboo emanated from her, refreshing and soothing my senses.

Qingzhu's scent was so fresh and alluring that it left me both entranced and clear-headed. It was a strange feeling.

This was the territory of level 25 giant bats. They posed little threat to me until we reached the area of the level 28 dark bats. Facing a group of dark bats became somewhat difficult, but Qingzhu began to demonstrate her usefulness. She continually used the "Healing Spell" on me, leaving me with no concerns.

At this point, Qingzhu had complete faith in my abilities. As long as she followed me closely, she would be safe. Standing behind this man was incredibly reassuring and comforting for her, leading her to become even more dependent on him.

Qingzhu watched as this man fought valiantly, filling her with immense pride. She watched him quickly dispatch the annoying bats with his sword, filling her with immense joy. She no longer felt hesitant or afraid like she had when they first entered the cave. Instead, she felt incredibly happy to be embarking on her first adventure with a man.

Despite the dark and gloomy surroundings of the bat cave, this man's presence made it feel bright, warm, and comforting. Qingzhu became more frequent in using the "Healing Spell," which was her best chance to touch this man.

As we continued on this path, standing behind the broad and virile back of this man would be such a beautiful thing.

After slaying the group of dark bats and reaching the end of the skull cave, a green light flickered in the corner of the bat cave, catching the attention of both myself and Qingzhu.

"What is that? Let's go see. Follow closely behind me and be careful of the boss."

"Okay."

Qingzhu softly agreed with me, entrusting her safety to me. Observing Qingzhu's obedient nature, a strong sense of masculinity surged within me, making me proud.

Upon entering the end of the mountain, there was a groove containing over fifty milliliters of clear, shimmering water with a green light. This should be the "Yun Root Water."

"Squeak."

Just as we were rejoicing, a loud noise sounded behind us. A giant golden bat, over a person's height, appeared and charged directly towards myself and Qingzhu.

"Be careful."

I pulled Qingzhu behind me and used the knight's "Shield Defense" to prepare for the attack of the giant golden bat with an "Insight Technique."

Dark Golden Bat King: Level 33 Silver Boss, 6000 HP, a dark bat that has consumed "Yun Root Water" with extremely high agility.

Skills: Bloodsucking, 10% of damage is converted into HP; Bat Cloud Body, double speed; Bat Sound Attack, group damage with stun effect.

Boss, I like it.

I conveniently switched back to the Skeleton Blade and launched an attack towards the Dark Golden Bat King.

MISS, MISS, -300. This Dark Golden Bat King is simply a nightmare for soldiers. Its agility is too strong.

My current agility is similar to that of a level 30 assassin, and it appeared very high due to the influence of high luck. This shows how abnormal this Dark Golden Bat King is.

120, MISS, MISS, -100, -150, MISS. I'm not bad either. My passive skill, "Dream Body," provides physical immunity, coupled with the evasion and physical immunity of the Ghost Shadow Cape, which fully demonstrates its effect. Most of the physical attacks of the Dark Golden Bat King missed, but its attack speed was too fast. I only managed to attack it three times while it attacked me six times.

"Ah…"

Qingzhu saw the damage dealt by both myself and the Dark Golden Bat King and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

As a knight, it's normal to have low agility and low hit rate, but how did this Dark Golden Bat King miss so many attacks on the knight? Qingzhu couldn't understand it, but seeing the knight's HP decreasing as Stone City was being attacked, Qingzhu quickly used "Recovery Magic" to heal the knight.

"Be careful."

Suddenly, the Dark Golden Bat King flapped its wings, opened its bat mouth, and a black light rushed towards myself and Qingzhu like circles. This was the Dark Golden Bat King's Bat Sound Attack.