18: Chapter 18 The Empress's "Gratitude"

The two returned along the original path, and the journey back was much smoother.

The elite monsters in the corridor had been mostly cleared out by Shen Ruoxi, and the few Shadow Bats that occasionally respawned were dealt with by her in a single, clean strike each.

Chen Ergou followed behind, feeling wonderful.

He had obtained the star-shattering sword, his system had leveled up, and he had jumped 7 levels all at once; this haul was an absolute steal.

As he walked, he opened his system panel to study the newly upgraded myriad worlds stall system.

[myriad worlds stall system Lv.2]

[New items unlocked: elastic shoes, clairaudience potion]

[Item upgrade condition: collect specified materials to improve item quality]

[New feature: stalls can set a "signboard" to attract more customers]

"elastic shoes?" Chen Ergou became interested and clicked to view the details—

[elastic shoes: After equipping, jump height is increased by 10 times for 5 minutes. Side effect: landing point is randomly offset and cannot be controlled. Price: 30 gold coins/pair.]

Chen Ergou chuckled: "This thing is interesting; it will definitely sell well later."

He then looked at the clairaudience potion—

[clairaudience potion: After drinking, you can hear all conversations within 200 meters for 10 minutes. Side effect: you will simultaneously hear the NPCs' inner monologues. Price: 20 gold coins/bottle.]

"Not bad either." Chen Ergou nodded with satisfaction.

The two finally walked out of the Shadow Nest and returned to the surface.

The sky had already darkened, and a huge red moon hung over the Novice Village, illuminating the entire village as if it were a horror movie.

Chen Ergou stretched and let out a long sigh: "Finally out."

He turned his head to look at Shen Ruoxi, preparing to say "Thanks for today," but Shen Ruoxi spoke first.

"...Thanks."

The voice was very soft, so soft it was almost blown away by the wind.

Chen Ergou was stunned.

He stared wide-eyed at Shen Ruoxi, thinking he had misheard.

"What did you say?"

Shen Ruoxi had her back to him and repeated it expressionlessly: "I said thanks. Don't make me say it a second time."

Chen Ergou opened his mouth, unable to speak for a long time.

This was Shen Ruoxi! The guild leader of the top guild in the entire server! Shen Ruoxi, known as the "Iceberg Empress"!

She actually said thanks to him?

He subconsciously looked at Shen Ruoxi's profile and discovered her ear tips... had turned red.

It wasn't an illusion; they were really red.

Under the illumination of the red moon, that hint of red was particularly obvious.

A strange feeling suddenly welled up in Chen Ergou's heart; he couldn't put his finger on what it was, but he just felt... a little sweet.

He scratched his head and chuckled: "What are you thanking me for? You helped me much more than that. If you hadn't brought me into the Shadow Nest, I wouldn't even have been able to find the door by myself. Besides, you were the one who fought that BOSS; I only used two moves, and combined, they didn't even deal as much damage as one of your critical hits."

Shen Ruoxi didn't turn around, just said indifferently: "Your substitute scarecrow... is indeed useful."

Chen Ergou puffed out his chest proudly: "Of course! That's a signature item at my stall! substitute scarecrow, attracts aggro for 30 seconds, comes with random AI behavior, guaranteed to make the BOSS doubt its life!"

The corners of Shen Ruoxi's mouth moved slightly, but she quickly returned to her cold expression.

"Alright, stop spouting nonsense."

The two walked towards the Novice Village, one after the other.

They encountered many players on the road, who were all extremely excited to see Shen Ruoxi and greeted her one after another: "Hello, Guild Leader!" "Big Sister Xiguang!" "Did you go to grind dungeons again today, Guild Leader?"

Shen Ruoxi nodded in response to each one, but her pace didn't stop.

Chen Ergou followed behind, feeling like a lackey.

No, he was a lackey to begin with.

A level 1—no, now level 8—noob following the guild leader of the top guild in the entire server; wasn't he just a lackey?

When they reached the Novice Village square, Shen Ruoxi suddenly stopped.

"Chen Ergou."

"Huh?"

"If there are dungeons that need help in the future, you can find me."

Chen Ergou was stunned again.

He looked at Shen Ruoxi's back, unable to react for a moment.

"...Are you making friends with me?"

Shen Ruoxi turned her head, the moonlight shining on her face, making her look unnaturally cold and beautiful. But in her eyes, there seemed to be a trace of imperceptible warmth.

"Don't overthink it," she said, "It's just that your items... are still somewhat useful."

After speaking, she turned and left, her white cloak fluttering in the moonlight, and she soon disappeared into the night.

Chen Ergou stood where he was, watching the direction she left in, the corners of his mouth curling up unconsciously.

"Still somewhat useful?" He muttered to himself, "Is this a compliment or an insult?"

He shook his head and laughed, cursing: "This woman, her mouth is really stubborn."

But he knew in his heart that for Shen Ruoxi to say something like "If there are dungeons that need help in the future, you can find me" was equivalent to entrusting half her life to him.

For a person with Shen Ruoxi's personality, this was probably the greatest kindness she could offer.

Chen Ergou took a deep breath and turned to walk toward his stall.

The stall was still in the old place, with a piece of tattered cloth laid on the ground, displaying a few bottles of potions and some strange little props.

Although no one watched the stall when he was away, the Stall System had an automatic vending function; as long as the customer paid, the item would be automatically delivered to their inventory.

He opened the system panel and took a look at today's turnover—

[Today's turnover: 387 gold coins]

[Items sold today: regret potion ×5, substitute scarecrow ×3, shrinking cookie ×2, rebound wristguard ×1]

"Not bad, not bad." Chen Ergou nodded with satisfaction.

Although he had spent most of the day in the Shadow Nest, the stall had still automatically sold quite a few things.

He was just about to pack up the stall and go back to the inn to sleep, when suddenly—

"Ding—"

A system announcement popped up, with golden text scrolling across the screen:

[System Announcement: Congratulations to player "Xiguang" for leading a team to clear the Shadow Nest hidden dungeon—Lair of the Shadow King—for the first time!]

[The first team in the entire server to clear this dungeon! Reward: Dawn Guild reputation +5000, server-wide announcement!]

Chen Ergou widened his eyes.

Server-wide announcement?!

He hurriedly opened the world channel, and sure enough, it had already exploded—

[World] [Kuangzhan Tianxia]: Holy shit! Someone cleared the Lair of the Shadow King?!

[World] [Little Sweetie]: It's Big Sister Xiguang! It's her again!

[World] [Iron-Head Qiang]: I told you Big Sister Xiguang is awesome! Killing a level 40 BOSS just like that!

[World] [Passerby A]: Wait, I see the announcement says "team," who did Xiguang bring?

[World] [Gossip Little Prince]: I just saw Xiguang walking with someone called "Ergous Stall" in the Novice Village!

[World] [Kuangzhan Tianxia]: Ergous Stall? That street vendor?

[World] [Iron-Head Qiang]: That's him! The one who sold me the regret potion last time! That guy is interesting!

[World] [Passerby B]: A level 1 noob street vendor following Xiguang to fight a level 40 BOSS? What's going on?

[World] [Gossip Little Prince]: Could it be Big Sister Xiguang's boyfriend?

[World] [Kuangzhan Tianxia]: Bullshit! How could Big Sister Xiguang possibly fall for a street vendor!

Chen Ergou looked at the discussion on the world channel, his mouth twitching.

Boyfriend? Him and Shen Ruoxi?

The difference between him and Shen Ruoxi was about... a hundred and eight thousand li, right?

But for some reason, when he saw the words "boyfriend," his heartbeat seemed to skip a beat.

He hurriedly shook his head, throwing this dangerous thought away.

"What are you thinking! She's the guild leader of the top guild in the entire server, and what are you? A street vendor!"

He closed the world channel and was about to log off when he suddenly received another private message.

It was sent by Shen Ruoxi.

[Private Message] [Xiguang]: Don't take what's on the world channel to heart.

Chen Ergou was stunned, then smiled.

This woman, looking ice-cold, is actually quite thoughtful.

He was just about to reply when another message popped up.

[Private Message] [Xiguang]: Also, you owe me one. Next time I need items, give me a friends-and-family price.

Chen Ergou: "..."

Sure enough, this woman was still the calculating Shen Ruoxi.

He smiled and typed a line—

[Private Message] [Ergous Stall]: Alright, I'll give you a 20% discount next time.

After sending the message, he closed the game interface, took off his helmet, and lay down on the bed.

Outside the window, the moonlight was like water.

Chen Ergou closed his eyes, his mind flashing with the image of Shen Ruoxi's slightly red ear tips when she said "thanks," and the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously again.

"Iceberg Empress..." he muttered to himself, "she's not that cold after all."