Shunk!

Chang Long's sword pierced the chest of a weakened light green mantis, which was already heavily wounded by countless slashes from her blade. Although Chang Long's attacks did only minor damage and were not fatal, her sword was so sharp that it nearly split the creature's prized hard wooden pestle in two when it tried to block her directly.

With a forceful yank, Chang Long pulled her sword out and stabbed the same spot once again, sending the light green mantis to its final rest. Catching her breath, she turned to watch Kitsune's battle with the dark green mantis, finding a suitable spot to sit, rest, and enjoy the fight of her faithful pet.

The dark green mantis swiftly slashed at Kitsune with its front legs, but it could not land a hit on its nimble opponent. Kitsune continued to dodge effortlessly with a smile, further infuriating the creature as its yellow eyes began to redden slightly. However, Kitsune did not notice the change and kept provoking it by dodging and striking back faster.

Glancing at Chang Long and seeing that she had finished her battle, Kitsune decided it was time to end the fight. Suddenly, he cried out in pain when the dark green mantis' saw-like leg sliced into his arm. Its eyes glowed a fierce red, a stark departure from its usual demeanor. Startled by this transformation, Kitsune leapt back in shock.

"Kitsune!"

Chang Long shouted, alarmed, and immediately rushed to her bleeding companion.

"I'm fine, Master. Just got a bit careless!"

Kitsune reassured her, pressing his other hand against the wound.

The dark green mantis beast, with its intensely red eyes, lunged at Kitsune with astonishing speed, slashing its razor-sharp legs. Kitsune barely managed to block the attack with his python fang sword in a near miss. The mantis, now in berserk, leapt back before charging at Kitsune again with increased speed.

Clang!!

Chang Long's sword met the mantis's front legs just in time to protect Kitsune. The force of the mantis's sharp legs, meant to cleave the young fox in two, sank deeply into Chang Long's blade instead. Struggling to free its legs without success, the creature found itself caught.

"You... have some nerve to mess with my pet!"

Chang Long spoke with a cold voice, a faint black mist slowly emanating from her body. For a moment, Kitsune saw a shadowy figure superimposed on his master's form, which then disappeared swiftly.

"Master... I'm not seriously hurt, I assure you!"

Kitsune, sensing the danger, quickly spoke up to calm Chang Long down.

Chang Long, who appeared to still be in control of her anger, fell silent for a moment. She slightly lowered her sword, which had the front legs of the mantis stuck to it, then suddenly flicked her sword upwards with swift and fierce motion, severing the grasshopper's front legs.

"Screeeech!!"

The mantis shrieked loudly, its clear blood spurting from the wound. It glared at Chang Long with resentful eyes before attempting to flee in the opposite direction.

Swish!

Kitsune's python fang sword decapitated the mantis, sending its head flying, due to his swift movement to intercept it. Despite losing its head, the mantis did not die immediately. Chang Long quickly pursued it and with a powerful thrust of the Sovereign sword through its back, the mantis was killed instantly.

Exhausted and bleeding, Kitsune collapsed to the ground. Chang Long hurriedly took out the bandages she had obtained from Davy Jones' treasure cave (wondering if they might actually be wrapping cloth for the dead) to dress his wounds, and then she stuffed two blood crystals into his mouth.

"Player Chang Long and her pet have killed 5 level 40 Rice Pounding Mantis Beasts, receiving 20,000 experience points and 7,600 coins."

"Player Chang Long has fufilled the basic requirements for a beginner profession Swift Movement Skill has advanced to level 12, Evasion Skill advanced to level 19, and Swordsmanship Skill advanced to level 7..."

"You rest here for a bit. I'm going to check that giant mortar over there to see what's inside,"

Chang Long instructed after treating Kitsune's wounds.

"Yes, Master," the young fox replied compliantly, watching his master approach the giant mortar that belonged to the rice pounding mantis beasts with interest.

Climbing onto the stone platform used by the mantises for pounding rice, Chang Long peered inside to find finely pounded white rice powder emitting a fragrant aroma. Touching it, she found the powder incredibly soft to the touch. She then proceeded to find a silk bag (from the treasure cave) and a wooden ladle (surprisingly found in the Pirate King's treasure room) and used the ladle to fill several silk bags with the rice powder.

Seeing his master's disappearance into the mortar and the ensuing cloud of white dust, Kitsune approached for a closer look. He saw his master diligently scooping the rice powder into silk bags, her body covered in white dust from the powder.

"Player Chang Long has obtained 50 bags of fragrant rice powder," the system announced immediately after Chang Long tied up the last bag full of fragrant rice powder.

Chang Long immediately headed back to their camp because Kitsune was injured, and the sun was about to set. Upon arrival, she heard a cacophony of groans and complaints coming from inside the tent, prompting her to rush in. There, she found a large white fabric ball rolling around inside the tent.

"Hmm... Why do we have a giant ball in our tent? And where did those two brothers go to?"

 Chang Long gently pushed the giant ball with curiosity. As soon as the ball rolled, a voice immediately protested loudly.

"Ed ad an! Aa ee an ed ee aud i ow! (Wet Trash Can! Hurry up and let me out right now!)"

Startled by the voice, Chang Long immediately let go of the giant ball.

"Who's there?"

Chang Long asked as she walked around the tent.

"Oo ae? (Who's there?)"

The voice asked back.

Chang Long circled the not-so-large tent but found nothing unusual except for the giant fabric ball. Since the Wet Trash Can did not wrapped his friend's face thick enough to obstruct Oliang's vision, when he saw Chang Long approaching, he called out again immediately.

"Am ere, in id all! (I'm here, in this ball!)"

Oliang voiced hopefully.

"There it is again! Could it be... aliens? Are there aliens in this game too? I'd love to see one."

Chang Long murmured, continuing to search for the source of the voice, half-expecting to encounter an actual alien.

"O a ere, ed, ua ed ing oo aa!! (Over here, yes, you're getting closer!!)"

Despite wanting to cry over the newcomer's intelligence, Oliang kept calling out persistently.

"Oh! Why does this fabric bulge and collapse?"

When Chang Long was right in front of Oliang, she noticed the fabric puffing in and out with his breathing; she curiously covered it with her hand, causing the fabric to stop moving.

"Oob ua an! I an eed!! (Move your hand! I can't breathe!!)"

Startled by the sudden outcry from beneath her hand, Chang Long leapt back several steps, and the fabric began to bulge and collapse more rapidly.

"Oh my God! There's an alien in there."

Meanwhile, the Wet Trash Can, who had left his dear friend in the tent to hunt beasts for dinner, managed to catch two bunny girls but decided against cooking them because they resembled human women too closely. Initially, he had no intention of killing them, but they attacked first. After killing the bunny girls, he felt immense guilt, adhering to his belief that beautiful women are a national treasure. He mourned the two bunny girls for a minute before hunting a large sharp-horned deer beast, which took a considerable amount of time and left him slightly injured.

"I wonder how Oliang's doing. I've left him alone for so long. I better hurry back before something happens to him."

After butchering the sharp-horned deer and storing its meat in a material box, Wet Trash Can hurried back to Chang Long's camp.

Before he even reached the tent area, the delicious aroma of food wafted towards him, making Wet Trash Can's gulp and hurried towards the tent.

In front of the tent, Wet Trash Can saw Oliang sitting on a large cloth spread on the ground, surrounded by various dishes. Beside him were two good-looking players. One was dressed in a black snake leather outfit, with long, sleek hair, pale skin, and black eyeliner. The other wore a novice adventurer's outfit obtained from the system, with long, golden-orange hair and fair skin, looking like a delicate young master.

"Uh..."

Wet Trash Can approached the group timidly, not recognizing the two players who were having a lively conversation with his friend.

"Hey, Trash Can! You're back? This is Chang Long and Kitsune. Guys this is my dear friends, Lidded Wet Trash Can,"

Oliang introduced his friend to Chang Long and Kitsune in a friendly manner.

"..."

Chang Long thought, 'Is that really his name!?'

"..."

Kitsune wondered, 'What's wrong with his name?'

"Ah! Uh, hello Lidded Wet Trash Can, I'm Chang Long,"

Chang Long greeted Wet Trash Can quickly, seeing his unappreciative expression.

"Hello, my name is Kitsune,"

Kitsune followed.

"Uh... hello."

Wet Trash Can replied with a slightly brighter expression, relieved that they did not laugh at his name.

"Come sit! Let's have dinner together. Chang Long is treating us,"

Oliang quickly changed the subject, knowing his friend disliked sharing his name.

Wet Trash Can soon warmed up to Chang Long and Kitsune. They all enjoyed a lively conversation. Chang Long did not forget to bring out honey liquor to celebrate the new friendship. They continued to enjoy each other's company well past midnight before retiring for the night.

"Master,"

Kitsune, who was lying next to Chang Long, spoke up.

"Hmm?"

Chang Long responded groggily.

"Do you have any plans for tomorrow, Master?"

"I'm returning to the town,"

Chang Long replied succinctly.

"Why are we returning to the town, Master? Aren't we going to hunt beasts to level up anymore?"

Kitsune asked curiously, recalling that Chang Long had invited him to hunt beasts just that evening.

"I have some errands to run. Plus, I want to stock up on various medicines, so we won't have to go to town often. More importantly, I plan to buy a high-level outfit for you. That way, you won't get as injured as you did today when attacked,"

Chang Long replied in the same sleepy tone.

Kitsune was so moved by Chang Long's response that tears streamed down his face. He felt incredibly fortunate to be this human's pet. Meanwhile, his master, unaware of her pet's deep gratitude, had already fallen asleep immediately after mentioning going to town, leaving Kitsune to quietly admire her.

Wet Trash Can and Oliang set up their tent not far from Chang Long's. Both were in a merry state, faces flushed and eyes gleaming from drinking several bottles of Chang Long's sweet honey liquor. Oliang even vowed to hunt a drunk honey bear to get some honey liquor for themselves.

"Hey Oliang, you asleep yet?"

Wet Trash Can whispered softly.

"Not yet, what's up?"

Oliang replied.

"Where did you find Chang Long?"

Wet Trash Can asked, knowing Oliang was still awake.

"Right here. He helped us when something fell on us, and we got seriously injured. Then he brought us here to rest,"

Oliang answered nonchalantly.

"Did he say what fell on us? It felt like a person, but it all happened so fast I'm not quite sure,"

Wet Trash Can asked, knitting his brows. He recalled Chang Long's bandaging skills that turned them into mummified sausages.

"Nope, I didn't. But he's awesome, you know? He had all sorts of delicious food in his bag and lots of that hard-to-find honey liquor from drunk honey bears!"

Oliang spoke admiringly.

"Uh-huh, I thought so too. But I think he's hiding something from us. There's also Kitsune, who keeps calling Chang Long 'master,'"

Wet Trash Can brought up his suspicions.

"I'm also curious, but I don't dare to ask him. We just met. Let's just keep an eye on things,"

Oliang agreed.

"Have you seen the sword at his waist? It's incredibly beautiful, adorned with a red gem that looks like a flame right on the blade. I really want to know how he got it,"

Wet Trash Can, who was enamored with the Sovereign Sword at first sight, continued.

"I was planning to ask about it at the weapon shop in town. But don't you think there's a chilling aura around him? Sometimes, I feel like there's a dark shadow behind him, but it disappears the moment I blink,"

Oliang said, his voice tinged with fear since he was somewhat afraid of ghosts.

"You saw that too! I thought I was seeing things. Oh man... I hope his profession doesn't have anything related to summoning ghosts!!"

Wet Trash Can, who was equally frightened of ghosts, exclaimed.

"There's a ghost summoning profession in this game!?"

Oliang was shocked.

"I don't know! I'm just guessing. There are many professions in this game where people haven't found the profession change npcs yet, right? So far, I've only seen players who are wandering martial artists, mages, samurais, ninjas, archers, warriors, knights, priests, and thieves. I haven't seen other professions yet."

Wet Trash Can listed the professions that had been discovered.

"Let's hope there's no ghost summoning profession, that'd be utterly horrifying. Ugh!!"

Oliang shivered, pulling the blanket up to his neck.

"But I have a feeling there might be, ha-ha. We might just encounter our first ghost in the game!"

Wet Trash Can laughed at his friend's reaction. Then, they decided to change the subject because it was becoming too spooky, and soon after, they fell asleep.

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