Chapter 87

Chapter 88: The Egg Thief: Qian Qi

A Dungeon is a strange thing. For a long time, humans still have no idea where it came from or why it keeps refreshing new monsters. But it has clearly changed how people live. New energy, new tech, superpowers, and Beast Taming have made humans, who are always curious and eager to grow stronger, long for Dungeons. Even with danger and challenge everywhere, they still want to seize the chance to enter and live a different kind of life.

[So this is why you went into a Dungeon to steal bird eggs?] System Panel stared at Qian Qi with a look that was hard to describe.

On the ground, Qian Qi ran wild while hugging three giant eggs, and behind her a quasi E rank Fire Qilin Mother Eagle chased after her. It shrieked and cursed at the egg thief in the most vicious bird language.

Qian Qi yelled as she ran, “I only want to taste the difference between a Magibeast egg and a regular egg. I don’t have bad intentions,” then she grumbled, “it should feel lucky I’m not curious about the difference between roasted Magibeast eagle and roasted regular eagle.”

[You say that like you’ve eaten a regular eagle before,] System muttered.

“Ahhh my gosh,” Qian Qi cried as the huge Fire Qilin Eagle eggs blocked her view. She tripped on a stone, rolled twice, and only the egg’s tough shell kept her from turning into egg drop soup Qian Qi.

The Fire Qilin Mother Eagle screeched and dove for the egg that had rolled from Qian Qi’s arms, trying to snatch back its not yet formed child. It didn’t attack Qian Qi, probably because when she rubbed it against the ground earlier, she left a big shadow in its birdy heart.

Qian Qi sprang up and clawed at the egg with the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle: “Don’t fight me for it. I already left you two eggs. As a bird you should learn to be content.”

Furious, the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle stabbed at her with its sharp beak, but whenever Qian Qi raised her little fist, the eagle chickened out, scuttled back three steps, and even tucked in its neck.

“I’ve never seen such a cowardly bird,” Qian Qi said, speechless. She picked up the three eggs and returned to her simple “hut,” which was really just an iron pot with water boiling.

“I’m starving,” Qian Qi said as she set the eggs down. When the water was almost ready, she breathed on her fist for luck, then cracked one egg without mercy.

The Fire Qilin Mother Eagle, huddled nearby, trembled and watched with grief as its not yet formed child was stirred into slurry and poured into the boiling water.

Qian Qi could not finish it all. She pushed the extra egg liquid toward the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle and said, “Here, drink.”

The Fire Qilin Mother Eagle looked at the rich egg liquid and swallowed hard. It held out for a moment, but at last drank the egg liquid with tears in its eyes. [Sob sob, it’s really good…]

[Devil…] System sighed again.

“If it doesn’t drink, it will starve,” Qian Qi said. She blew on the hot egg soup in her bowl, added a little salt, took a sip, and let out a satisfied “ah.” “This Dungeon is so depressing. Safe, edible Magiplants are too few. Most Magibeasts live alone and can’t even have offspring.”

“And the ones that can will often get eaten with their babies during the weakest time,” she added. “If I hadn’t stolen those eggs, the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle and all five eggs would have ended up in the mouth of that Blackwind Leopard that had been stalking them.”

As for why she helped the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle instead of helping the Blackwind Leopard in this survival game: of course it was because of the eggs. Also, if she tamed the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle, it could take her into the sky to find the hidden Dungeon boss.

Thinking of the Dungeon boss made Qian Qi angry. She had stayed in this Dungeon for nine days. The first times she killed the boss, the Three headed Thunder Lion, things were normal. But on day seven, when a new Thunder Lion refreshed, it started playing hide and seek. She finally found it, but the moment it saw her, it ran faster than a rabbit and vanished.

That was strange. After a refresh, a boss usually finds the last boss’s nest, looks for useful things, or just settles in. So she always went to the lair and shouted at them to come out, then killed them for the Strength Buff. Normally the new Thunder Lions had never seen her. But the one on day seven acted like it knew her, showed zero will to fight, and ran on sight.

Even with System’s guidance, Qian Qi’s short legs simply couldn’t catch a Thunder Lion. Without noticing, she burned three days on this chase. Stuck in the Dungeon, she had no choice but to find her own food.

“Next time I should bring carrot seedlings and plant them outside,” she said, “so I don’t end up starving in a Dungeon.”

After finishing the soup, Qian Qi doused the firewood and stomped out the last sparks: “It’s so darn weird. I look weak, and unless I strike, no one would know I’m D rank in Strength. Why does it run the moment it sees me?”

Maybe the souls of the previous Thunder Lions were clinging to her, warning the newcomer. Qian Qi grabbed at the air a few times.

[What are you doing?] System asked.

“I’m wondering if Thunder Lion ghosts are around me,” Qian Qi said.

[ …(??_?) ] System replied.

“What kind of look is that?” Qian Qi snapped.

[The look you give a dummy,] System said.

“???” Qian Qi stomped System into the wood ash. System flew up dirty and not at all angry: [Oh, my dear Qian Qi, the sky is so clear and yet you are so cranky. How about we spend a little money to relax?]

Qian Qi gave it a strange look.

[Aren’t you curious why the Thunder Lion boss runs as soon as it sees you? Pay 300 coins, and you can get the answer,] System sang.

Qian Qi rubbed her chin. Three hundred coins was so cheap that the answer must be simple. But what kind of simple answer could explain why the Thunder Lion avoided her?

No, more important than that… Qian Qi glared at System and said, “Since you know the answer, why didn’t you tell me three days ago?” She suspected it was delaying on purpose to jack up the price.

“One hundred,” Qian Qi said as she held up one finger. “I’ll pay 100 coins, or I’ll ride the Fire Qilin Eagle and just beat it. I don’t believe the next refreshed Thunder Lion will run from me too.”

[Then go find it on the Fire Qilin Eagle,] System replied with a smiley.

Since System refused to bargain, Qian Qi eyed it with doubt. Maybe she had guessed wrong. She still could not figure it out, so she decided to ride the Fire Qilin Mother Eagle to hunt the hidden Thunder Lion.