Chapter 127: Disappearance

Liu Liu said, "Level 1 Elite requires 200 Hate Points; Level 2 Common requires 500; Level 2 Elite requires 600; Level 3 Common requires 1,000; Level 3 Elite requires 1,100. Since you are Level 40 and have over 1,100 Hate Points, you should be facing a Level 3 Elite monster siege on your dwelling."

A Level 3 Elite siege would flatten her dwelling completely; she might as well start from scratch. Yun Qing guessed, "When the monster siege was triggered, I was only Level 39."

"That explains it."

"Then, can I handle this Level 2 Elite?"

After some analysis, Liu Liu replied, "Your level is high, though your cultivation foundation is not very solid. Fortunately, you have reached the Xiantian realm, which gives you a slight advantage in level. If you give it your all, it shouldn't be a problem."

"How is 'Unknown Hate' generated?"

Liu Liu checked the data and projected the text explanation before her eyes.

Yun Qing studied it carefully and concluded: Unknown Hate means neither side knows the other's identity. Once one party identifies the other—even without knowing their name—the name will appear on the hate list. Even with Unknown Hate, if you encounter such an entity, the text above them will appear in red, while those in a state of suspicion will appear in yellow.

Favorability is much harder to earn; it requires the other party to know who she is before it can be calculated. Just like in Ye Village, the villagers were saved by the "Immortal," and even those like Ye Shu, who were personally fed the antidote by the Immortal, had no intention of finding her to express their gratitude. Hate, however, is different; those who harbor hatred naturally have the intent to find the person they despise.

She had already realized the nature of favorability back in Ye Village; that was why she had introduced herself when saving Xiao Haoran. Yun Qing found the red-name and yellow-name features for Hate Points quite useful; even if both parties were strangers, she could identify someone who hated her just by the color of the text.

With the mystery of Unknown Hate resolved, Yun Qing had a thought and retrieved her handy tool for rapid dungeon farming—the mosquito swatter.

Mosquito Swatter: Usable at Combat Level 31, Attack Power 1, Durability 3/35.

On the surface, the swatter looked fine, but its adhesive function was failing. Liu Liu had once mentioned that once durability drops to zero, the adhesive function cannot be repaired. As it was currently her most efficient weapon, she decided to fix it now.

Yun Qing took out the Heavy-Duty Cleaner and, following the instructions, dripped it onto the mesh of the mosquito swatter. Soon, the mesh, once covered in grime, was as clean as new, and the swatter's durability was restored to 35/35. However, the cleaner was now empty.

"Liu Liu, is the Heavy-Duty Cleaner a one-time item? What will I do if the mosquito swatter breaks again?"

"You are already in the Xiantian realm; it is time to upgrade from your Houtian-grade weapon."

Yun Qing looked at the convenient weapon in her hand. It hadn't even been two days, and she hadn't had enough fun swatting mosquitoes—was it really going to be obsolete already?

Whether or not to retire the weapon could wait. A mother insect had just died here, and since it was kept by a high-level cultivator, it was not wise to linger.

Time to slip away!

Yun Qing wiped away her tracks. Lacking escape techniques, she had no quick way out. She recalled being sucked into this place from beneath the water. There were no other exits here, so the way out was likely back through the water. She decided to try exiting the same way she came.

Yun Qing jumped into the water, summoned her axe, and dove in, intending to swim out from where she had entered. However, she found the currents at the entrance churning violently. Swimming against the flow was difficult, and after several attempts, she was repeatedly washed back into the mother nest.

The water here was flowing; if there was an entrance, there had to be an exit. Yun Qing stopped trying to swim against the current and decided to find another way out. Following the flow made swimming much easier; she barely needed to exert any effort to move quickly.

Before long, she passed through a long, narrow passage and emerged from the mother nest's space. The underground river was dim, but thanks to the system, she could see numerous red labels on either side of the riverbank: Insect Egg, Level 6, with tiny health bars, numbering in the thousands.

Though the mother insect was dead, if these eggs hatched into adults, they would still harm the villagers. While she couldn't kill every single mosquito, she felt compelled to kill as many as she could.

Yun Qing pulled out the newly repaired mosquito swatter and channeled her internal energy into it.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!..." Countless slapping sounds rang out around her.

-6; -6; -6; -6; ...

She received no combat experience points, likely because she was already Level 40; the breakthrough from Xiantian to Qi Refining was a significant threshold. Since the eggs were of too low a level, there were no item drops, so Liu Liu didn't need to work.

As she drifted with the current, Yun Qing continued to use the swatter. Most of the eggs she passed were cleared, with only a few surviving.

The underground river network was sprawling. After drifting for a while, several streams converged, the water volume increased, and the current grew faster. She was no longer swimming; she was being swept away by the water.

As she moved with the current, Yun Qing felt the riverbed widening. The light was very faint, and she could no longer see the red-name prompts for insect eggs. Occasionally, she could spot a few creatures with white or red names—fish, snakes, and the like.

She put away the mosquito swatter and activated the Qiankun Luck Technique, using her outer perception to sense her surroundings and judge her location. Her senses confirmed that she was still underground.

Above the river surface, there were occasional rock formations. Her forehead had stopped bleeding since she fell into Qin Yan's illusion, and fearful of bumping her head again, she only surfaced occasionally for air, spending most of her time submerged, drifting with the current.

Drifting was her only option. Even if she climbed ashore, finding a way out would be difficult; she couldn't use earth-escape techniques and couldn't dig deep tunnels, so she could only hope the current would eventually lead her out of the underground.

After being swept along for over half an hour, she sensed something different in her perception.

She surfaced and opened her eyes. Yun Qing saw that the area around her had faint traces of light; it seemed she had finally exited the underground river.

As the water splashed against her, she sank back down, her head slipping beneath the surface again.

In the river, staying on the surface to observe the surroundings was incredibly easy for her. With a thought, a piece of firewood appeared in her hand. Without needing any effort, the buoyancy of the wood kept her head and shoulders above the water, making it hard to sink.

The riverbanks were covered in flowers, grass, and trees. Concentrating her vision, she could see labels: "Wood, harvestable"; "Hemostatic Herb, harvestable," and so on.

She had escaped the mother nest and the underground, but she had no idea where she was.

She looked up at the sky; a few sparse stars were visible, and one was brighter than the others. Yun Qing guessed it was the morning star in the east; it must be just before dawn.

But the morning star belonged to the modern world, not this alien one—she was truly lost.

"Liu Liu, where am I?"

"I cannot answer that question at the moment. I will study harder, or perhaps you could try asking in a different way."

"Liu Liu, we have definitely left the range of the mother nest, and likely the range of Rizhao Town as well."

"That is very possible. After all, Rizhao Town is a place where sun-shine grass grows, and there are mountains all around here."

"I'm going to head ashore."