"Squeak squeak squeak".

The Rat King refused to meet Kazel's gaze this time. Tonight was its last chance for revenge, and it couldn't afford to waste any more time.

It called out a few times, attracting several little mice.

Kazel got goosebumps when he saw it open its mouth and make a sound, but the next second, several small mice suddenly surrounded it from all sides.

For some reason, the fog wasn't as thick today, and he could even see the little mice walking towards him.

Although those little mice weren't as big as this fat mouse, they were still disgusting to look at.

A purple light flashed in his eyes. Kazel was on high alert, staring at one of the little mice. His mental energy emanated from his eyes, and the little mouse being stared at squeaked, rolled over, and fell to the ground.

Seeing the little mouse lying on the ground with its paws facing up, the Mouse King panicked, ignored Kazel, and rushed out.

Surrounded by fragments of Mu Qingyunbu's ruins and protein powder, the Rat King, unaware of its footing, charged forward and trampled the protein powder.

Once the protein powder supply is cut off, the formation collapses without a fight.

"Click-click-click—"

As soon as the formation was broken, a strange laugh immediately rang out from all around. The laughter grew louder and louder, echoing in the silent air, and every sound could be heard.

Oh no.

Kazel frowned and quickly stood up. The Rat King and several little mice also realized that something was wrong. The mice huddled together, trembling, and hid behind the Rat King.

Mu Qingyun, who was cultivating in her sea of ​​consciousness, suddenly opened her eyes and turned to look around.

Although there was still a layer of gray fog, she could actually see everything around her clearly!

The stench of blood in the air, the eerie laughter, and the feeling of being able to see things but with a layer of gray fog obscuring your vision—all these things inevitably send chills down your spine.

"What's going on?" She frowned and looked up at Kazel.

Although she could only vaguely make out a human shape, she could see the general outline of the body and accurately locate Kazel.

"I don't know." Kazel shook his head, his face serious, his eyes flashing with purple light, ready to transform into his fishtail form at any moment.

A rustling sound came from behind, and several little mice followed the Mouse Queen to her side.

"What's wrong with my formation?" she asked coldly.

It was working perfectly fine before, so why did it suddenly stop working now?

"Ask your rat friends." Kazel glanced at the group of rats hiding next to Mu Qingyun and snorted disdainfully.

Upon hearing this, she looked down at her formation and, sure enough, found small footprints among the trampled protein powder.

The anger welled up in her heart, but she swallowed it back down.

Well, after all, the Rat King led them to the exit and worked hard for several days. He deserves credit for his efforts.

Don't scold the rat, don't scold the rat...

“If they don’t attack first, we shouldn’t attack either. Let them make the first move.” She took a deep breath and silently walked to Kazel’s side. The two of them stood back to back, watching their surroundings warily.

However, after being on guard for a long time, when the gray fog dissipated and night fell, the eerie laughter around them disappeared.

The fog had lifted from their sight, and they could see everything clearly, yet they found nothing unusual.

"Is this just a scare tactic?" Kazel had been on guard for a while, but now everything was calm, and there wasn't even a rabbit in sight.

For a moment, he felt a strong sense of being deceived.

"I don't know." Mu Qingyun was also quite helpless. She lifted her foot and was about to take a few steps forward to see what was going on, but before she could take a few steps, her ankle was grabbed by something inexplicable.

"Whoosh—"

The thing dragged her down, and the ruins beneath her feet vanished for a moment as if by magic, only to reappear after she had been completely dragged down.

Kazel hadn't expected this to happen. He quickly walked to where Mu Qingyun had fallen, slammed his foot on the ground, but the ground was fine. Instead, his foot was sore from the force of the impact.

No way, what's going on here?

He frowned. This second level was truly a place teeming with demons and monsters; here, you had no idea what would happen next.

Coincidentally, as if they had heard his inner monologue, countless insectoids crawled up from the ground in the silent, deep night, staring at him menacingly.

I'm impressed.

A hint of impatience flashed across his face. He immediately turned his head, stared at the rats, and used his mental energy to knock them all unconscious.

...

Mu Qingyun was forcibly dragged down into the underground passage, but the thing pulling on her ankle still wouldn't let go.

Looking down, flames rose from her right hand, and in the dim light, she could see what was pulling at her ankle.

It is a thick vine.

That's strange, why are there vines here?

She frowned, stopped thinking about it, squatted down, and the flames drew closer, pulling at her vines.

The Samadhi Fire is extremely hot, and ordinary plants simply cannot withstand it, yet the vines still clung tightly to her, showing no intention of letting go.

It's no use. If I get any closer, my skin will get burned too.

She withdrew the flame from her hand, stared at the green vines, and suddenly had another idea.

With plant-related energy emanating from her left hand, she raised her hand and slapped it onto the vine, rapidly transferring energy into it.

The vines received the energy she transmitted and then fed it back to her with even stronger plant energy.

"After many years, I have finally met another plant-based superhuman."

Suddenly, she heard an ancient and profound voice.

"Who are you?" She stood up and looked around, but saw nothing.

"Don't be afraid, the vines will guide you forward."

The ancient voice came again, and as soon as it finished speaking, the vines that were pulling on her ankles suddenly loosened, and another vine stretched out from the stone wall. The two vines intertwined and slammed forward.

"boom--"

A loud crash was heard, and the stone wall in front of them was smashed open, revealing a small passage that could only accommodate one person at a time.

Should we go in?

Mu Qingyun looked at the passage in front of her and hesitated. The future was unknown, and she didn't know who the person who had just spoken was or whether they had any ill intentions.

Having obtained both raw stones, and with only one more day to go before exiting the second level, she really didn't want to take any risks at this crucial moment.

"Sigh, each generation is worse than the last. As the only person with plant-based superpowers in all these years, don't you even have the adventurous spirit to face the unknown?"

The ancient voice came again, "If you don't try, you'll never know whether what's in front of you is honey or poison. Some opportunities are given to you by heaven. If you seize them, they are your opportunities."

If you don't even have the courage to step forward, you deserve to live a mediocre life.

The courage to step forward?

Mu Qingyun's eyes turned cold. She had plenty of courage in her past life. From an unfavored prince whose gender was unknown even to her father, to finally sitting on the throne, every step of her journey required courage.

Does her courage even need these random people to question and ridicule her?