In Sunset Valley, a massive search was launched almost without stopping.
Hot Spring Village assembled 36 defense members and 18 outside adventurers, and under Li Si’s leadership, they launched a step-by-step search operation.
“Xi Er, you seem to really dislike Dictator Li Si.”
At a high tree where they were hiding and keeping watch, the Dwarf Hammerer looked curiously at her teammate. She was an Elf Archer who seemed very disapproving of Li Si during the earlier meeting.
Xi Er remained silent, her long elven ears twitching rapidly. This was a characteristic of intense emotional fluctuation among elves.
The Dwarf Hammerer found it even stranger. Although she also didn’t like the Dictator, Li Si’s strength was recognized by the whole village—that was beyond doubt. Even if she didn’t trust Li Si’s judgment, there was no need for such strong emotions.
The Hammerer was about to ask again when she suddenly saw a message appear in the area channel.
[Hot Spring Village Area]
[Liewata: Found them! They’re hiding underground!]
The Dwarf Hammerer’s eyes sharpened. She quickly looked toward the center of the valley, where there was a crack like a ground fissure. A team was giving warnings there.
“They’re actually here…”
The Dwarf Hammerer exclaimed, then suddenly heard a dissatisfied sigh from beside her.
“Damn it…”
Xi Er’s ears twitched rapidly, her gaze fixed tightly on the entrance of the fissure. At the entrance, that silver-haired girl was carefully checking her teammate’s body, her right hand gently tidying her hair with unusual tenderness.
‘Even though when she was partying with the Princess before, she was strict like a demon, now she’s deliberately being so gentle. This guy… how infuriating!’
Xi Er clenched her fists tightly. Seeing that person lead the way into the underground lair, she quickly jumped down from the treetop to follow.
“Xi Er… don’t be rash…”
The Dwarf Hammerer was a bit nervous. She had never seen her elf teammate like this. Uh… actually, come to think of it, she seemed to have seen it before when they were leveling up in Border Town. At that time, they happened to meet the Princess’s party clearing a dungeon, and this elf teammate had been exceptionally agitated. She remembered that Dictator Li Si was also in the Princess’s party back then.
The Hammerer suddenly shuddered. Xi Er seemed to have always liked the Princess, and the Princess and Li Si often clashed when they were partying together. She suddenly felt as if facing a great enemy. Watching her teammate follow aggressively into the underground fissure, she said nervously, “Xi Er… You’re not planning to get back at her, are you…”
Xi Er had no intention of listening. In a flash, she had already run into the rift valley. As soon as she entered, a wave of blood smell hit her.
Xi Er froze. The path ahead was already filled with Minotaur corpses. Those Minotaurs seemed to have still been asleep, showing no signs of struggle at all. She couldn’t believe it as she caught up to the team ahead, then saw another unpleasant scene.
At the intersection ahead, that silver-haired guy was again hypocritically caring for her teammate. Her teammate should be named Lili Ya. That famous incompetent priest from the Beginner Village seemed to have injured her hands in the fight entering the lair. At that moment, the two were holding hands, and Li Si was re-bandaging them.
“That guy…”
Xi Er was grinding her teeth in hate. Dictator Li Si, in order to salvage her reputation, deliberately found a teammate who needed care to put on a show in front of others.
“Ah… completely different from the rumors…”
“She seems like a very gentle person…”
“She’s really good to her teammates… Why would the Brave Princess and the others…”
The oblivious Hot Spring Village people had already started praising her.
Xi Er wanted to shout out loud about this person’s true face. She had made the Princess cry, injured the Dragon Knight, used brute force on Miss Hilla, and cold-shouldered Mei Lin. But as soon as she left them, she immediately changed her appearance. How infuriating!
“This place already has the beginnings of a dungeon. Further down are Magic Beasts above level 15. Those with levels below 10 should stay here and stand guard.”
Li Si’s voice echoed eerily from ahead. As she finished speaking, her figure once again led the way into the next level.
Xi Er’s fists tightened the more she listened. ‘This guy really knows how to act.’
She decisively stepped forward to follow. ‘I absolutely have to catch the Dictator red-handed!’
“Ah-choo!”
Li Si sneezed, feeling like someone was cursing her as a beast of burden.
‘I’m also helpless. I was just following my intuition to find a cultivation target, and ended up running into this kind of thing.’ ‘But it’s fine to take down the Minotaur’s underground palace as a side task. This underground palace would become a fairly powerful dungeon in the later plot. Removing it early is like paving the way for the main party, making it easier for them to save the world, and letting myself lie back more comfortably.’
Going further down, the dark tunnel suddenly lit up with firelight ahead, and an underground hall appeared before their eyes. In the hall, passages were staggered, each connecting to different rooms.
Now they would have to split up to search.
Li Si quickly divided the search paths for each team in the area channel. Just as she was about to enter her own team’s search path, she suddenly turned around in confusion. Behind her, an Elf Archer was staring fixedly at this side, with no intention of following the arrangement. The Dwarf teammate beside her looked very nervous, as if trying to persuade her about something.
Li Si frowned. Seeing that everyone else had split up according to orders, she decided to ignore her.
‘This Elf Archer has seemed to have a grudge against me ever since we met last night. Probably my anti-fan.’ ‘As someone called the Dictator, I’m used to it.’ ‘As long as safety is ensured, if the other party doesn’t follow the arrangement, I can’t be bothered to interfere.’
“Xi Er… what exactly are you trying to do? We’re supposed to go to another route…”
The Dwarf Hammerer was tearing her hair out. She had never encountered such a troublesome situation. Her elf teammate had suddenly become obsessed, completely ignoring orders.
“Ao Dai Er, don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. There are so many routes here, and there’s no search restriction. We can totally follow her first.”
Xi Er’s gaze was calm, and she quickly sped up her pace, unwilling to fall behind even a bit.
Ao Dai Er grabbed her hair and said painfully, “But… why follow Li Si… I always feel the route she picked is very dangerous…”
“Hmph!”
‘Hmph! Why? Of course, to catch Li Si’s flaw and make her reveal that detestable true nature!’
“Huh?”
Xi Er’s eyes moved. A very important chat channel on the Adventurer Panel suddenly updated with a new message.
[Gold and Silver Flower Team]
[Jian (Vice-Captain): (Li Si checking Lili Ya’s hands at the underground palace entrance.jpg)]
[Jian (Vice-Captain): Flowies! Today I risked it and followed into the battle area!]
[Zhu Di Si: Is it okay for a life occupation to go into a dungeon?]
[He Na: Life occupations can’t enter dungeons. This should be an outdoor map. Recently many outdoor Magic Beasts have been building special structures in the wild. It’s very dangerous. Vice-captain, be careful of your safety.]
[Lanni: I think… life is more important… after all, we can’t revive now. Judging from the photo angle… it seems no one noticed the vice-captain… That’s very dangerous…]
‘Vice-captain?’ ‘I had nearly forgotten. Recently, there was a vice-captain in the fan club who had been following Li Si!’