DDDV Ch 67 Part 2 – The Mixed-Race Settlement (II)

Not long after, other residents of the settlement who had been vigilantly keeping a certain distance from Shen Changyuan came back and surrounded the rat.

“Rat, why did you bring them here?”

“You broke the rules.”

Although they were companions, the nature of the Abyss made them unable to fully trust each other. Because of this, many strict rules were set in the settlement, one of which was that they could not bring anything dangerous to the settlement — and the rat had violated this rule.

Facing the hostile gaze of his companions, the devil rat stretched his claws, revealing a fruit on his palm, “They gave me this as a reward.”

Seeing the fruit, everyone’s eyes lit up instantly. The sound of swallowing sounded one after another, full of desire.

Very calmly, the devil rat continued, “The cub said that she would pay a fruit to whoever told her a new story she didn’t know.”

The devil rat originally didn’t trust the promise. But in front of the Tyrant, his only choice was to be obedient. Now, not only was his life safe, but he even had the reward.

In the entire Abyss, who didn’t know the value of a fruit?

…

When Lu Yaoyao woke up, she was lying on Shen Changyuan’s abdomen, with his warm tail gently covering her body. They were on the lee side on the top of a hill. When Lu Yaoyao was sleeping, countless dangers passed by, but Shen Changyuan was keeping vigil all night long without sleep. He could sense the dangers lurking around them everywhere. With Shen Changyuan releasing his violent aura in warning, no creatures dared to approach, but they would immediately pounce in attack as long as he showed even the slightest carelessness.

Lu Yaoyao hugged Shen Changyuan’s tail and said in a daze, “Brother Yuanyuan, good morning.”

Shen Changyuan replied in a low voice, “Morning.”

It took a while for Lu Yaoyao to fully awake. She looked at the unfamiliar scenery around her and chirped, “Brother Yuanyuan, let’s go back and listen to more stories!” There were still many more stories!

“Eat your breakfast first,” Shen Changyuan said firmly. The cub had yet to enter the inedia state¹ and needed to eat more to grow up.

“Okay!”

Lu Yaoyao’s pouch was very useful. After Shen Changyuan cooked the meat the last time, a small portion was kept in Lu Yaoyao’s pouch for her to eat later.

Lu Yaoyao touched the remaining seven fruits with a linger, but only ate one of them. The rest had to be kept as a reward.

After Lu Yaoyao had her breakfast, Shen Changyuan brought her back to the mixed-race settlement. This time, what greeted the two was not vigilant gazes, but passionate ones.

Lu Yaoyao: “???”

Before Lu Yaoyao had time to be puzzled, a half-demon half-human resident stepped up boldly, “Do you want to hear stories, Sir? I have a lot of stories and don’t need precious rewards. Just a piece of meat is enough…”

“Huh?”

Before Lu Yaoyao could react, the devil rat hurriedly rushed to them, “Sir, you are here! I have been waiting for you two. Please come with me, so we can continue from where we left last night…” At the same time, the rat secretly glared at his companion who was trying to snatch his job.

Lu Yaoyao followed the rat in confusion. The number of the residents in the settlement was obviously much higher than last night. Because of their line of jobs, it took them no time to hear about a cub who exchanged precious food for stories.

Such an easy way to obtain food; who wouldn’t want to seize it? Even if they suspected a foul play, many would still desperately come to try the chance.

Lu Yaoyao, who was unaware of their thought, felt like she was dreaming. These people were so hostile to her and Brother Yuanyuan before, but after she slept one night, their attitude changed 180 degrees. Could it be that she was still dreaming?

“Let’s continue from last night…” Maybe because he felt a crisis of losing this job, but the devil rat’s attitude was much more flattering than last night.

Lu Yaoyao listened carefully, and soon she knew the reason for the change in attitude. Lu Yaoyao thought — no matter what, this matter was good for her. Now that they were flocking to her, she would be able to gather many more stories without paying a too high price.

The residents of the mixed-race settlement didn’t ask for fruits, as they were willing to accept anything edible, more preferably meat. Because they were not strong in combat, it was difficult for them to hunt for meat. When Shen Changyuan killed a beast for the reward, they cheered in joy.

Lu Yaoyao and Shen Changyuan stayed in the settlement for half a month, during which each resident racked their brains to tell Lu Yaoyao any strange rumors and other similar information they knew. For example, the topographical terrain of the Abyss, its history, and many strange things they heard and encountered — whether it was useful or not, they still mentioned. Lu Yaoyao wrote everything they said, kept a careful record of every rumor, and summarized some repetitions. Calligraphy was one of the subjects taught by her fathers, so she kept brushes, ink, and papers in her pouch.

It took half a month for all the residents to tell everything they knew and could think of. Having gained a lot of information, Lu Yaoyao and Shen Changyuan finally left the settlement. Next, they use the compiled notes to look for the places where those strange rumors were said to happen.

In Lu Yaoyao’s hand was a rough map drawn together by the residents of the mixed-race settlement. As information gatherers, they roamed around the Abyss most of the time, and thus were very familiar with the distribution of power and the topographical structure of each territory. However, there was a limit to the places they could explore, and some parts of the map were left blank as a result.

Lu Yaoyao looked at the map and said, “Brother Yuanyuan, shall we start exploring the surrounding area first?”

“Yes.”

It was not very effective to look for places where unusual things had happened based solely on rumors that weren’t necessarily true, but it was currently the only way. Lu Yaoyao and Shen Changyuan visited a few places, perfecting the map and exploring further, but failed to find anything unusual.

Lu Yaoyao couldn’t help feeling discouraged. How long would it take to find the exit? Fortunately, she had Brother Yuanyuan with her.

Along the way, they encountered many dangers, most of which were solved directly by Shen Changyuan, but Lu Yaoyao also helped occasionally. As a result, her actual combat experience had improved by leaps and bounds, and she was now very skillful at smashing beasts with her small body.

Having just visited another place in the rumors, Lu Yaoyao crossed out the place from the map and said, “Brother Yuanyuan, when will we find a way out?”

“One day, definitely.”

Suddenly, a group of beasts appeared from nowhere and slowly began to encircle them.

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