Prohibit Certain Players from Contacting the Dungeon NPC!

Chapter 18: The Misty Fishing Village

Before Yu Chen's arrival, Yu Village was frequently attacked by sea monsters.  When building their houses, villagers would specifically use the strongest materials to construct sturdy basements, providing refuge during times of danger.

At this moment, only three people remained in one such basement.  Under the dim candlelight, Li Cong was tightly bound with a thick rope, a gag preventing him from shouting.

Liu Xitu had a gash on his forehead, blood covering half his face.  With his ferocious expression, he looked like a desperate fugitive.

Er Yang's left arm was broken.  The intense pain caused him to be delirious, his face pale from blood loss.  His coarse cloth clothes were stained with dark blood and grime, dirty and disheveled.

His lips were pale, his dark hair disheveled. He huddled in a corner, his body curled into a ball. This fifteen-year-old boy was near death.

Liu Xitu glanced at Er Yang, gruffly calling out, "Dead yet?  If not, make a sound."

Er Yang struggled to open his heavy eyes, weakly responding, "Brother Liu… it hurts so much…  Waa…"

He cried out in pain, reaching out to Liu Xitu, who was his only hope of salvation.

Liu Xitu's gaze flickered. He wasn't indecisive, knowing that Er Yang was just a burden.  Normally, he would have abandoned him without a second thought.

But when he met Er Yang's hopeful gaze, the last vestiges of his conscience gnawed at him, preventing him from making a decision.

Lin Anqu walked in, carrying Mu Miao, and casually tossed him onto the ground.  He scanned Er Yang, callously stating, "If he's dead, throw him out.  A rotting corpse will attract monsters."

Er Yang was terrified by his words, forcing himself to sit up, weakly pleading, "I… I'm still alive. Please, sir… please don't throw me out!"

The thought of the terrifying monsters outside made his body tremble violently, his already pale face becoming even whiter.

Lin Anqu, hailing from a star-faring era of equality, found Er Yang's subservient attitude jarring. He ignored Er Yang, squatting down to lift the sack from Mu Miao's upper body, examining him.

Liu Xitu's fingers curled. He turned to Lin Anqu, "Haven't you found Su Hanxia yet?"

Lin Anqu saw through his intentions. "Don't bother. Su Hanxia's abilities aren't healing; she can't save him."

"However…" he changed his tone, looking at Liu Xitu with a smirk. "Shouldn't your copied skills include healing? Use it on him."

In this instance, the system wouldn't offer players any help. Players could only learn abilities through their own efforts, mastering them to survive.

Liu Xitu had indeed obtained the ability to copy skills in another world, but each copied skill could only be used once. He hesitated, looking at the weak Er Yang.

The light of survival in Er Yang's eyes was so bright; Liu Xitu seemed to be burned, shamefully lowering his head and silently sitting back down.

Lin Anqu saw this and smirked mockingly.

Ignoring the two, Lin Anqu continued to examine Mu Miao.

Since he was classified as a god-level NPC by the system, he must have something extraordinary about him. Lin Anqu frowned thoughtfully, his gaze sweeping over Mu Miao's entire body.

This NPC was undoubtedly the most beautiful he had ever seen.  His small face and delicate features blurred the lines of gender, and even the dust on his face couldn't diminish his beauty.

He looked like an ethereal being, suddenly appearing before him, touched by a hint of earthly dust.

He pinched Mu Miao's soft wrist with two fingers, dangling it in the air. Lin Anqu couldn't help but question it.  Could it be that this little NPC was simply too handsome, causing the system to classify him as god-level?

Was the system a beauty-obsessed control freak?

Lin Anqu strongly suspected this.

Li Cong on the ground, seeing the familiar face, widened his eyes in shock, his heart pounding rapidly.

It was Mu Miao! Mu Miao wasn't dead!

He struggled excitedly, looking sideways at Lin Anqu, who was touching Mu Miao, filled with anger.  Unable to speak due to the gag in his mouth, he could only make meaningless sounds, "Mmm! Mmm!"

Damn it, you good-looking bastard! Don't touch Mu Miao's face with your dirty hands!

Li Cong silently cursed in his heart, wishing he could break Lin Anqu's hands.

His unusual behavior caught Lin Anqu's attention.  Seeing the anger in his eyes, Lin Anqu raised an eyebrow, his gaze flitting between Li Cong and Mu Miao.

Lin Anqu looked down at Li Cong from above. "I can untie you, but don't cause trouble. Nod if you understand."

Li Cong glared at him in humiliation, finally closing his eyes and nodding haphazardly.

A moment later, Li Cong was freed, but Mu Miao's small body was bound with the thick rope, the exposed skin showing alarming red welts where the rope had dug in.  It was the same rope used to bind Li Cong.  Li Cong watched helplessly as Lin Anqu, after untying him, went straight to Mu Miao and tied him up.

Unsurprisingly, Li Cong fought Lin Anqu again, only to be easily subdued.

Li Cong, his face bruised and swollen, squatted beside Mu Miao, staying close.  Seeing the marks left by the rope, his heart ached.

Mu Miao's skin was so delicate; how could he be tied with such a rough rope? Li Cong glared at Lin Anqu, who was now fiddling with his ring. If looks could kill, Lin Anqu would have been a thousand times dead.

Even unconscious, Mu Miao felt a dull ache in his neck. After what seemed like a long time, his consciousness gradually returned. His long eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes.

His vision was blurry. Someone was talking near him, but he couldn't understand. He frowned, murmuring softly, "Dizzy… want to vomit…"

Seeing Mu Miao wake up, Li Cong excitedly jumped up, unsure of what to do with his hands and feet.  Hearing Mu Miao's words, he panicked, "Why are you dizzy? Do you have a fever?"

He immediately placed his large hand on Mu Miao's forehead. The skin beneath his hand was cool and smooth, so pleasant to the touch that Li Cong couldn't resist stroking it a few more times.

Li Cong looked down and met Mu Miao's questioning eyes. His emerald green eyes reflected Li Cong's current expression. Li Cong's face flushed, his head steaming, and he quickly withdrew his hand, tucking it into his bosom.

He shyly explained his actions, "I… I just wanted to see if you had a fever."

Even though they were both boys, Li Cong felt that touching Mu Miao was incredibly presumptuous.

Mu Miao thought the person looked familiar.  "…Who are you?"

"You don't remember me?!" Li Cong was shocked, pointing at himself. "It's me! I'm Li Cong! We just met last night!"

Mu Miao remembered. "It's you. Your candle…  Hmm? Why did you tie me up?"

He realized he was bound and glared at Li Cong, the closest person to him.

He was inherently captivating. Even with a frown and a pouty expression, he was breathtakingly beautiful. Li Cong stared, speechless.

Mu Miao wriggled like a clumsy snake, trying to free himself from the ropes.  However, he only managed to get himself dirty and his clothes even more disheveled.

Mu Miao was angry. His watery eyes glared at Li Cong, seemingly fierce. "Bad guy! I hate you!"

Li Cong was jolted back to reality by the scolding.

"It wasn't me!" Li Cong felt it was unfair to take the blame. Seeing Lin Anqu, who showed no intention of explaining, he immediately distanced himself. "It was Lin Anqu! He's the one who captured you and tied you up! He did all the bad things!"

Lin Anqu coldly scanned him.

Just as Li Cong was about to continue badmouthing him to Mu Miao, Lin Anqu took a long stride, forcefully separating the two and standing between them. He lifted Mu Miao with one hand.

Li Cong, surprised, reached out to stop him. "What are you doing?"

A small, silver robot jumped from Lin Anqu's shoulder onto Li Cong.  The tiny robot, only a few centimeters long, suddenly became incredibly heavy.

With a "thump," Li Cong cried out as he was pinned to the ground by the robot. He struggled, shouting at Lin Anqu, "Don't touch him!  Come at me, Lin Anqu!"

Lin Anqu gestured to Liu Xitu, who tore a piece of cloth from his clothes and stuffed it into Li Cong's mouth.

Liu Xitu: "Consider this repayment of a debt.  Help me find Su Hanxia."

"Tsk." Lin Anqu was speechless. "I've told you hundreds of times, Su Hanxia's abilities have nothing to do with healing; she can't save your little follower."

Liu Xitu insisted, word for word, "I don't care."

Lin Anqu understood. Liu Xitu wasn't willing to use his healing skill on Er Yang, deluding himself that Su Hanxia could save him.

If Er Yang died, he could justify his death by blaming Su Hanxia, thus easing his guilt.

But what did it matter to Lin Anqu?

Lin Anqu gave up. "Then keep your ragged clothes. Let him shout; we'll die together."

To go find Su Hanxia?  Ridiculous!  Facing that lunatic, he'd lose a layer of skin.

Liu Xitu: "...You!"

Lin Anqu simply ignored him.

Mu Miao worriedly called out to Li Cong on the ground, "Li Cong…"

Lin Anqu lightly lifted his chin. "He's fine. You, on the other hand…"

Mu Miao's tail had transformed into legs, significantly shortening his overall length. The feeling of his feet dangling in the air made him uncomfortable, and he swayed slightly.

Lin Anqu's face was still stained with blood, making him look menacing, a far cry from the refined gentleman he had seemed at first.

This person looks so fierce. Will he hit me?

Mu Miao thought fearfully, not daring to meet his gaze. He lowered his fluffy head, pretending to be interested in the ground.

"Heh."

Lin Anqu chuckled softly, the sound unusually clear in the quiet basement.

Lin Anqu bluntly stated, "Such a coward."

"I… I'm not a coward!" Mu Miao bristled. He straightened his back, his cute little face stern.  "Do you believe I'll bite you? I'm very powerful. In the sea, I'm second only to the boss! You dare treat me like this? I'll make you regret it!"

Mu Miao searched his mind for harsh words, unleashing them all on Lin Anqu.

His blustering was endearing. He didn't look like a fish, but more like a domineering yet adorable kitten, raising its pink paw pads, pretending to be fierce, actually only making people's hearts tremble with affection.

Lin Anqu pinched his cheek, seeing the two sharp teeth in his mouth, and laughed. "Which boss in the sea would let you climb on their head, little thing?  Your strength is weak, but your ambition is not."

Mu Miao puffed out his cheeks, turning his head away, ignoring him.

"In that case," Lin Anqu grabbed his neck with one hand and untied the rope with the other. "Come with me. Let me see your strength."

He looked at Liu Xitu and Li Cong. "You two are coming too."

Liu Xitu frowned. "You're going out again?"

Lin Anqu asked back, "Can we complete the mission without going out?"

"But we don't even know what the mission is!"

"Who says we don't?" Lin Anqu tied the rope around his and Mu Miao's wrists, glancing at the exit. "The mission has been with us all along."

Under Liu Xitu's questioning gaze, Lin Anqu slowly said, "Find Wen Fansheng.  The key is the box he's carrying."