Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 318 - 310: Sightseeing

"What’s that?" Xiao Lan pointed at a white, small demon in the distance.

"That’s a rabbit," Puki replied from his shoulder.

"Rabbit?" Xiao Lan’s huge wolf head was full of confusion. "How can that be a rabbit?"

"Why isn’t it a rabbit?" Puki retorted.

Xiao Lan gestured as he spoke: "Rabbits should be twice as tall as me! Their teeth are sharp enough to crush stones, and their hind legs can propel them to great heights...."

As he described it, Lin Jun immediately understood he was talking about the ferocious demons called "Split-tooth Beast" found on the tenth level.

"Oh, you’re talking about the big rabbit," Puki said amicably, shaking his fungal cap. "This is a small rabbit, a different breed."

In reality, neither of them are rabbits.

"I see." Xiao Lan nodded his wolf head; the Big Mushroom knows so much.

He looked around, observing the various Puki scattered around the cave, and couldn’t help but exclaim, "Come to think of it, I never knew you had so many kin!"

"That’s quite normal," Lin Jun said matter-of-factly, "For weak creatures like me, survival naturally depends on the advantage of numbers!"

Xiao Lan nodded in agreement; he understood the reasoning. He

extended his massive wolf paw, gently patting Puki’s mushroom cap: "Don’t worry! I’ll cover you in the future! Except for those few old folks, no one in the tribe can beat me!"

As they walked, Xiao Lan tilted his head up, looking at the clusters of mushrooms emitting a faint fluorescence on the cave ceiling, and raised a new question: "Speaking of which... why can’t we see the sun and moon here?"

"Because we’re still deep in the Underground City, so of course we can’t see the sun and moon."

"Here... still in the Underground City?!" Xiao Lan exclaimed in shock, eyes wide as he surveyed the vastness of the space, "It’s this big?! I thought..." He obviously had always believed the entire underground world was only as large as the tenth level where he lived.

Clearly he thought the Underground City was just the size of the level he lived on.

"No hurry, we’ll let it go this time. Next time there’s a chance, I’ll take you to see the sun and moon. By the way, are you afraid of the cold?"

"Cold?" Xiao Lan seemed to hear a joke, proudly patting his thick and slightly disheveled chest hair, "Never been afraid!"

Lin Jun glanced at his panel showing level 6 [Cold Resistance], responding noncommittally with a hum.

Suddenly, Xiao Lan gently placed Puki from his shoulder onto the ground, and instantly fell into a complete battle stance, with four limbs sprawled and his back arched high!

His nostrils flared: "It’s the smell of humans!"

The long-standing bounty for werewolf fangs is hanging in the guild hall’s task board; the werewolf’s attitude toward humans naturally goes without saying.

But this time is clearly different.

"Wait, that’s not..."

Xiao Lan had already charged forward, running on all fours at breakneck speed through the passage. He immediately spotted the silver humanoid figure reflecting light ahead, and instantly launched himself with his hind legs, bursting forth with the momentum to seize prey!

As he was about to pounce, Norris’ companion Gida stepped forward, the left arm slamming toward Xiao Lan.

Xiao Lan had not considered Gida, who was about the same size as a big rabbit, intending to tear it apart directly.

[Ahhhhh!]

"Aooo!"

Xiao Lan’s wolf paw collided forcefully with the seemingly unassuming square yellow shield, snapping two claw-tips instantly, and blood surged out!

What surprised him even more was that upon stopping, he realized this creature emitting human scent wasn’t human at all!

"What are you?!" He yelled in pain.

The opponent’s entire body covered in silver scales looked from afar like the reflection of human armor!

"Werewolf?" Norris recognized the werewolf and did not panic.

Though Norris was only Silver Level in strength, with a myriad of skills and alongside Gida, if it came to a fight, this werewolf may not be his opponent.

Moreover, he quickly realized that such an occurrence on home turf is likely due to the chief cooking up some trick.

Sure enough, Puki flew over, landing on top of the wolf’s head.

"I told you to wait!" Puki rubbed the wolf head with his behind, "This is a friend, Half-Lizardman Norris!"

Norris muttered softly from the side: "Today it’s a Half-Lizardman again...."

"Half-Lizardman?" Xiao Lan sniffed, still confused, "But the scent is clearly human!"

"Have you ever encountered a Half-Lizardman before?"

Xiao Lan honestly shook his head. In fact, he wasn’t sure what a "Lizardman" even specifically was.

"Exactly," Puki summarized with righteous confidence, "This means Half-Lizardmen naturally smell almost like humans!"

Despite the messages from his nose still feeling off somewhere, Xiao Lan was eventually convinced, nodding his wolf head.

"Stop being so surprised anymore," Puki constantly tapped Xiao Lan’s nose tip, "Keep doing that, and I’ll just send you back."

"Sorry, I thought it was those cunning humans...."

"All right, just pay attention in the future. Just as well, you can make a friend."

After some brief introductions, Lin Jun promptly handed the "touring Xiao Lan around" task over to Norris.

Thus, Xiao Lan lingered in this strange and colorful underground world for a full three days!

During these three days, he seemed to have endless "whys"; gorging on incredibly delicious mushrooms; he swiftly bonded into a shoulder-patting friendship from awkward initial meetings with Norris; and even fought against all sorts of unfamiliar demons.

Happy times always fly by, and as he stepped onto the staircase returning to the tenth level again, he surprisingly felt somewhat reluctant to leave.

But, as Puki mentioned, he could come down anytime in the future, and in a few days, he’d come to spend time with the Big Mushroom and Half-Lizardman again!

"You’re alive! We thought you’d been eaten by rabbits!" Upon returning to the settlement, a few familiar werewolves gathered around.

"Can you say something nicer...." Xiao Lan grumbled, wagging his tail, then solemnly corrected, "Besides, that’s called ’big rabbit’!"

"What?" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

...

In the werewolf settlement, Xiao Lan excitedly gesticulated with all four limbs, describing his experiences in the "below" — the incredibly vast world, curious demons, glowing delicious mushrooms, and the "Half-Lizardman" friend.

His chaotic yet passionately enthusiastic storytelling attracted many young werewolves, eyes gleaming with curiosity and longing.

Gradually, even some aging werewolves with grey hair furrowed their brows were drawn in.

They erupted into heated arguments with Xiao Lan, which escalated into physical combat.

Finally, Xiao Lan was knocked unconscious, dragged back like a dead dog.

Lin Jun, having watched the entire process with interest, didn’t rush to intervene on Xiao Lan’s behalf.

He understood clearly that Xiao Lan at most would have his movements restricted, but wouldn’t face any real life-threatening danger.

Given the circumstances now, it was long anticipated for Lin Jun who had monitored werewolves for a while.

Xiao Lan was merely the first werewolf to step outside from the tenth level....

-----------------

Level five.

Horn knelt on a fungal mat with Puki figures, staring at the dagger shimmering with magic power in his hand, making his final mental preparations.

"Horn... maybe let it go..." Priest Noah covered his mouth, counseling with concern.

Old Hammer and Ai Mei were silent, but their eyes clearly disapproved of Horn’s intention.

However, Horn just shook his head: "Three hundred gold coins of gambling debt... I can only do this! Noah, I’ll leave the rest to you!"

With that, he closed his eyes, and stabbed the dagger into his own abdomen!