The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 151 The Mouse and the Cat (5k1w)

Tang Qi was about to leap when Hope suddenly shouted:
“Wait, wait!”

"If you don't want to go down, you can go back by yourself."

Tang Qi could not possibly let those robbers escape—

Leaving aside the assassins from that night, even the body that Chenxi had just repaired with 800 gold coins was almost ruined again because of these villains' interception.

We must get that loss back from them no matter what!
"No, I mean there's another body here."

Hope pointed to the headless warlock and reminded him,
"He might have something useful on him!"

Tang Qi then realized, watching the 'flying squirrels' gradually fall into the abyss and disappear from sight, that even using the [Feather Fall Technique] to slowly jump to the bottom of the valley seemed impossible to keep up with their gliding speed—

The Featherfall spell is not about floating, but about slow descent, allowing them to fall vertically.

Thinking about it this way, it seemed pointless to be anxious, so Tang Qi could only nod:

"Since we know they're heading deeper into the valley, let's strip his clothes off first."

These Red Scarf Gang's standard flying squirrel suits can completely conceal a person, making it almost impossible to distinguish one another with the mask on. Collecting a set of these suits is always useful.

After stripping the sorcerer of his outer garments and removing his mask, Tang Qi was able to see the sorcerer's appearance clearly—a human male, quite handsome, probably the type who frequented brothels and could be served at half price by the older women.

Generally speaking, the spellcasting of sorcerers, bards, and even charismatic magicians is linked to their personal charisma—which gives them confidence and makes it easier for them to unleash the full power of magic.

This is reflected in their appearance, which means they are generally not ugly.

Even that old goblin in the Dusk Forest was probably a lovable girl among all the goblins when she was young.

Tang Qi's anxiety eased slightly after he took the money pouch on Tang Qi's body—containing over three hundred loose gold coins.

"Is this the short sword that symbolizes your Red Turban Gang's identity?"

He weighed his last 'spoils' and found the short knife to be extremely sharp and light. He drew it from its sheath, and the sharp blade gleamed with a chilling light. At the junction of the blade and the hilt, the word 'Nolan' was engraved in Common.

“It has the holder’s name or code on it,” Hope explained.

"Is that the [Hope] mark on your knife?"

"Of course not, who would reveal their real name? Otherwise, if people find out you're a gang member, wouldn't it be easy for them to find you? Besides, I'm a Typhoon!"

This 'Nolan' is a pseudonym, just like my knife."

Hope shook his head, unfolded the warlock 'Nolan's' flying squirrel suit, compared it to Tang Qi's physique, and said:

“Just right.”

"Wearing this outfit now is somewhat restricting my movement."

The robe was too loose and looked rather cumbersome. Tang Qi thought it would be more comfortable to wear his own leather armor before deciding on the disguise.

"But we don't know what's at the bottom of the cliff. Those people must have had their reasons for using 'gliding' to fall into the deep valley."

"If you could glide down in this suit, you might see some hidden corners that you can't see from the bottom of the cliff."

As expected of a dungeon guide, what she said makes a lot of sense.

But there is a crucial oversight:

"I've never learned wingsuit flying."

This thing isn't something you can master just by wearing a flying squirrel suit.

He was hardly agile; without any practice, facing strong winds and air currents, and even struggling to maintain his balance, was something a bard could never do.

"You seem quite agile, why don't you try?"

Tang Qi looked at Hope.

Although this Tyflin always presented himself as a guide, in the previous battle against the Witch, he basically only served as a spell-consuming unit.

But a guide without any support wouldn't risk recording the terrain of the third-level dungeon.

She was at least a wanderer.

It leans towards the side of [investigator] and [scout].

That would be far more agile and flexible than I, a poet.

"I'm afraid of heights!"

Hope shook her head frantically, her legs trembling as if she had some kind of 'shaking disorder,' and the muscle spasms didn't seem fake.

"I can do it."

Chenxi picked up the helmet from the suspension bridge, covered his neck with it, which was shrouded in black mist, stepped forward, and straightened his back.

"I once fought a griffin alone, and when my sword pierced its spine, it soared through the sky, trying to throw me into the abyss."

But I forcibly maintained my balance, and after circling it in the air for a long time, I finally slit its throat and plummeted off the cliff.

Hope's eyes lit up, and she handed the flying squirrel suit to Dawn:

"Then you're more suitable."

Chenxi took the robe, looked at Tang Qi, and repeated:
"I spent a long time maneuvering with it in the air."

Tang Qi could easily see through her 'showing off', and quickly clapped his hands and said:
"Even the sky can't stop your journey? Dawn, you're unbelievably strong!"

The joyful black mist erupted and blew off her helmet. Just as she was about to fall off the cliff, Kuru's [Mage Hand] pulled her back in time.

"Then let Dawn Glider scout ahead, and we'll follow closely behind."

As Tang Qi spoke, he helped Chenxi remove her armor.

To reduce her burden as much as possible, they eventually even put the inner chainmail shirt into their dimensional bag, leaving the coarse cloth shirt to outline her perfect curves.

"You were a woman all along?"

Hope exclaimed in surprise, only then realizing the truth.

Although she wasn't sure whether the headless horseman could be considered a 'person'.

"Your team is even more outrageous than I imagined."

As she sighed, she waited for Tang Qi to use the [Restoration Glue] to repair her body, and finally dressed Chenxi in the flying squirrel suit.

"This time it cost two hundred gold coins."

Tang Qi muttered with heartache.

"Feather Fall Technique!"

With everything ready, Kuru immediately raised his wand, and a feather-like phantom emerged from its tip, like a semi-transparent spirit.

The feathers cast a soft halo of light, which cascaded over the clothes of the others, making them feel as light and agile as birds.

"Jump!"

The Feather Fall Technique has a one-minute duration, and Tang Qi, unwilling to waste any more time, took the lead and stepped onto the cliff.

The feeling of weightlessness followed, but suddenly he felt like a leaf falling in the wind, slowly descending with the help of a gentle breeze, which gave him a great sense of security.

"Ahhhh!!!!"

But this sense of security doesn't seem to be something everyone can have.

Tang Qi looked up and glanced past Kulu, who was wide-eyed and covered his ears in fright.

Looking at the female guide who was covering her face and screaming desperately, she wouldn't even open her eyes, yet she still had to shout for help.

Everyone has flaws.

Tang Qi thought to himself,

"Maybe I should be more tolerant of her."

He turned to look down at his feet, where the abyss remained as dark and deep as ever. The ring on his hand could not penetrate the light, allowing him to glimpse even the slightest bit of information.

As he sank into the darkness, the sound of rushing water gradually reached his ears, evolving from a soft murmur to a powerful roar as he descended...

A minute passed quietly, and he felt his body growing heavier and heavier.

Startled and confused, he quickly looked up:

"Kuru—where is he!?"

It was still pitch black!
He felt as if he had fallen into endless darkness, with only the glow illuminating his body, allowing him to see his clothes and physique.

The feeling of falling suddenly came over him; he was like a heavy boulder, suddenly plummeting downwards!
Io, who was sleeping peacefully in the hood, was also awakened by the feeling of weightlessness. He quickly grabbed Tang Qi's collar to slow his fall.

The sound of the rushing water grew even more intense. Tang Qi knew he was about to fall into the water, so he hurriedly pulled up the hood of his cloak to cover his entire body.

The hood then snuggled close to his ears, covering his mouth and nose.

"thump!"

He fell into the swift-flowing river!
As Tang Qi slapped his buttocks against the water, splashing up a thick spray, he almost instinctively held his breath, but a subtle breeze still inexplicably crept into his cheek.

He seemed to have developed gills, instinctively breathing in the air from the water without worrying about drowning.

[Manta Cape (Non-Standard): While wearing the cape and hood, you will gain a faster swimming speed and be able to breathe underwater.]

The cold water flowed over Tang Qi's eyes, and he was initially not used to it. But when he slowly opened his eyes in the water, he found that apart from a stinging sensation, his eyes were not as painful as he had expected.

His increased speed wasn't enough to propel him upstream, so he could only try to surface to check on the others.
"Kuru, Hope, Dawn—!?"

"Rua!"

The kobold's response then entered his cochlea.

Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw that Kulu and Hope had fallen into the turbulent current between the cliffs and were struggling to get out.

"Kuru, can't swim!"

The kobold thrashed about in the water, nearly choking, but Hope, who had finally gotten into the water, quickly swam forward and shouted to the kobold:

"Relax, relax! Don't struggle!"

But the kobolds, who had lived in the cave all along, clearly did not know how to call for help in the water, flailing their arms and legs, and even trying to drag Hope down with them.

"Ugh!"

The only one with the ability to fly, Iu, quickly flew over Tang Qi's head, grabbed Kuru's robe with its tender tiger teeth, and used the upward gravity to pull its entire head out of the water, finally calming the kobold's panic.

Seeing that they were all safe and sound, Tang Qi looked up at the darkness above:
Where is the dawn?

"She's right there, can't you see her?!"

Hope, maintaining his balance in the water, shouted towards Tang Qi's front.

Tang Qi turned around and realized that the darkness had disappeared from his sight.

Even when gazing up at the cliff, he could see the flickering candlelight on the suspension bridge connecting the two cliffs in the distance—

This made him realize in an instant:
"Is the so-called 'Abyss' actually an illusion? Is it meant to instill fear in adventurers and discourage them from following the Red Scarf Gang downstream?!"

Because he failed to recognize the hallucination immediately, he mistakenly believed that his companions had disappeared during the fall.

"This reason alone is not enough to justify spending a huge sum of money to set up such a vast illusion. There must be some secret hidden at the end of this river!"

Tang Qi made his judgment and shouted towards Chen Xi, who was gliding in the air using his wingsuit:
"Keep an eye on your surroundings and look for any trace of the Red Turban Gang!"

As dawn glided through the air, maintaining her balance was not difficult for her, allowing her to stay focused and observe the cliffs on both sides and the central river channel with her soul—she could only tell that the slope was downward, but she couldn't see its end.

Since gliding cannot be sustained for very long, this means that the gang members' destinations cannot be too far apart.

As she rounded a bend in the river, she instantly spotted an inconspicuous cave entrance in the cliff face—

A stone slab extended from the edge of the cave entrance, seemingly engraved with a magic circle, radiating a continuous repulsive force that caused her to crash head-on into it.

When she was about ten meters away from the magic circle, she realized that the inertia on her body seemed to be exactly canceled out by the repulsive force.

This allowed her to land safely at the entrance of the cave, which served as her 'landing point'.

So much so that the black leopard and his companions, who were cursing and swearing inside the cave, looked at each other in bewilderment.

"what!?"

After Black Panther and his companions landed, they did not immediately venture into the cave, but instead first checked the injuries of their fellow members—

A person was hit on the head by a [Colorful Ball], and their face was covered in ice shards, requiring immediate treatment.

One of them was severely wounded in the chest by a broken sword, and was about to cough up foul blood from his lungs.

Another person had their forearm grazed by Tang Qi's scimitar; the wound wasn't deep and only required simple bandaging.

They were all veterans of the gang, having done the "mouse-catching" job many times, and had run into the "cat" before, managing to escape in time.

Not only on cliffs, but occasionally in a cellar—but because only they are familiar with the special escape routes, adventurers rarely catch up with them.

Not to mention that this time they used gliding to escape sight.

Black Panther believed that no normal person would jump off a cliff without any preparation!
After all, it was the Red Turban Gang that suffered losses and setbacks!
Just like this time they failed to plunder the carapace worth 1000 gold coins.

Why are these adventurers relentlessly pursuing us despite suffering no losses?

But all of that is irrelevant now.

Black Panther sized up Dawn, who was dressed in a flying squirrel suit, and confirmed that this headless creature could not possibly be equipped with heavy armor or a greatsword—otherwise, it would be difficult for him to glide to this cave.

This means that she is now unarmed:
The 'Black Panther' hidden beneath the mask grinned maliciously, and with a flick of his wrists, two nimble daggers flashed into his hands.

The others who were still able to move also took out their weapons from a dimensional bag.

"There are even 'cats' that come to your door on their own initiative?"

The black panther shook its head, and a crisp "crack" sound came from its neck.

"I admit you have some ability. If it were just me alone, I'm afraid I really wouldn't be able to take you down."

But you've probably never heard the saying, "Even a cat can be killed by a bunch of mice."

Otherwise, you wouldn't have had the guts to chase after me.

Black Panther narrowed his eyes, and the two daggers gleamed coldly under the torches on either side of the cave.

Its legs suddenly shot up, as if it had truly torn away the mouse's disguise and transformed into a cheetah that had fled into the darkness, baring its fierce claws at the unarmored, empty-handed dawn!
……

With a clang, Tang Qi planted his snake-like snout into the cliff face, securing his body and preventing it from being swept deeper by the rushing water.

"catch me!"

He reached out his hand to Hope, who had swum over first, and instantly grasped her warm palm. Then he called out to Kulu:
"Quickly, use the clay sculpting technique!"

Kuru can't swim, but with Iu's help, he drifted towards them.

Upon hearing the command, he quickly extended his wand and used the Clay Sculpture spell to dig a deep pit in the rock wall above Tang Qi's head, large enough to accommodate himself.

Then, with the strength of Io, it climbed onto Hope's shoulder, stepped on the curved blade that Don Qi was using as a support, and finally squeezed into the deep pit in the wall.

Catching its breath, it continued digging deeper pits, allowing it to climb all the way to the cave on the cliff.

Hope also clung to Don Qi's arm, wrapped her arms around his neck, and climbed onto his shoulder.

When the two were close together, Tang Qi even felt the water become warmer.

Is Tifflin's body surface temperature really that high?
What about body temperature?

"What are you standing there for? Get up here!"

Hope's anxious call pulled Tang Qi back to reality.

He quickly used the other person's arm to climb up the deep pit and slowly made his way towards the cave halfway up the mountain.

"Your companion—she's so reckless, she shouldn't run into any trouble, right!?"

As he climbed, Hope said with some concern,
"She just barged into the cave like that. What if she ran into the Red Scarf Gang?"

"Don't worry about her. Even if she runs into trouble, she can solve it with a single Holy Slash..."

Tang Qi, who had always trusted Chenxi, didn't think much of it, but then realized that Chenxi's heavy armor and broken sword were stored in his dimensional bag.

"Oh no—she's unarmed!"

"What!?"

Hope was startled, and together with Kulu, they quickened their pace. Even Iu quickly hovered in the air and flew towards the depths of the cave.

Seeing that Xiaolong was gone and never returned, Tang Qi couldn't help but become even more worried:
"If we can't beat them, we can't beat them, we won't die anyway—just whatever we do, don't let her demolish it!"

I don't have enough healing glue left!
"Rua!"

Kuru finally reached the cave entrance, then suddenly let out a strange cry and froze on the spot.

Tang Qi followed closely behind, panting heavily as he glanced at the horrific scene inside the cave entrance—

The headless woman wore a robe torn by a knife.

Like a statue, he sat upright on his knees with his blood-stained hands, his back straight, atop a pile of twisted and broken corpses.

Seeing Tang Qi panting heavily, she stood up briskly and waved to the incompetent captain:

"I spared one life!"

"It seems the gap is still too big..."

Tang Qi finally felt relieved.

"Even a cat without claws is no match for a bunch of sewer rats."

Seeing that Tang Qi did not respond, the black mist around Chenxi's neck deflated slightly, but she still kept the only survivor—

A dazed, spotted cat-man whose black panther mask had been forcibly removed, but whose fur was still jet black.

They dragged him out from among the corpses by force:
"I spared one life!"

she repeated.

What else could Tang Qi say?
All I could do was applaud and say:
"One person taking on seven robbers? Chenxi, just how much potential do you have that I haven't been able to see?"

The mist on my neck intensified.

(End of this chapter)