9: I will not allow you to make such unfounded speculations about Lord Baiye.

Ronan immediately turned around and sprinted back along the original path.

He wasn't worried that the four-legged creature would take the opportunity to catch up and strike him from behind.

Looking at its body that had yet to be fully repaired, it would probably take quite a while.

However, if an unknown accident occurred on Shield Mountain's side, the entire passage might be blocked, and then there would truly be no way out.

Holding a torch, Ronan hurried out of the passage entrance and returned to the main road of the cave.

The situation wasn't so bad that the passage was blocked, but it was still far from ideal.

The Eldest Miss and the Maid were nowhere to be seen, replaced by Shield Mountain and the other two running back from the depths of the cave.

And, behind the three of them, a sturdy figure was constantly giving chase.

"A Bear Goblin?!"

Ronan screamed in surprise, almost thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him, before blurting out,

"How is there another one?!"

Shock aside, questions aside, his movements were very swift, and in an instant, he was running ahead of the three of them.

"This is the original one!" Evil Axe spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, closely following Shield Mountain in front. "Damn it, what bad luck..."

"The one we encountered when we first entered the cave was this Bear Goblin."

Shield Mountain explained while running, his breathing still relatively steady. "It's not the one that attacked us in the camp."

"No wonder this cave is so deep; it turns out there are two Bear Goblins living here..."

Eagle Eye habitually analyzed the situation, but at this moment, it was clearly a case of being a Monday morning quarterback.

"Did you get the treasure?" Ronan asked without looking back.

"No! Damn it, we couldn't beat it the first time, so of course now..."

At this point, Evil Axe suddenly paused and came to a screeching halt.

"Wait, why are we running? Isn't Lord White Night right here?"

Hearing this, Shield Mountain and Eagle Eye also stopped. They had almost forgotten that activating the adventurers badge was to inform Ronan: Get ready, everyone will deal with the Bear Goblin together.

As a result, when Ronan saw them running over, he started running too, and the group instantly went from seeking help to a collective escape.

The strength of this Bear Goblin in the cave was much lower than the one that attacked the camp.

Although they were no match for it, if they included the powerful White Night, who was suspected of having obtained a class as a Mage, it would be a different story.

"White Night, stop running. This Bear Goblin is no match for us," Shield Mountain shouted at the still-running Ronan.

However, Ronan didn't even stop, only throwing back a sentence from afar,

"Follow me if you don't want to die."

Shield Mountain and the other two looked at each other and, without a word, took off after him.

"What's going on? Does it have something to do with that passage?" Shield Mountain accelerated to catch up and asked cautiously.

"Yeah, there's a big fellow in there that can't be killed."

Ronan's tone was flat, concisely pointing out the core danger.

To Shield Mountain's ears, these words were like a thunderclap, and he almost tripped.

"Can't be killed..."

When Eagle Eye and Evil Axe, who were catching up from behind, heard this, their backs were instantly drenched in cold sweat.

Eagle Eye, regardless of whether it would annoy Ronan, asked with a dry throat and a trembling voice,

"What... what kind of monster is it?"

"It's the Second Young Master."

Ronan paused and briefly explained what had happened, omitting the parts related to himself and emphasizing the characteristics of the Second Young Master after his mutation.

"It's a cur—"

Evil Axe almost blurted out the word 'curse', but managed to hold his tongue just in time.

However, as he spoke, the three of them very subtly pulled away from Ronan.

"White Night, you didn't... come into contact with that thing, did you?"

Although he thought it unlikely, Shield Mountain still asked.

"No, it couldn't get near me."

Ronan found it a bit strange why they would ask that. After thinking for a moment, he added, "A Mage only needs long-range attacks anyway."

Seemingly finding Ronan's words reasonable, Shield Mountain and the others all breathed a sigh of relief.

But the distance between the three and Ronan remained within a certain range. It looked as if they were very afraid of getting close to him, yet worried it would be too obvious, so they tried their best to minimize any sense of offense.

Ronan noticed the abnormality of the three, especially the word 'curse' that Evil Axe had almost blurted out earlier.

He felt like asking, after all, he only retained memories related to magic, while the rest of the original host's memories had disappeared.

But out of caution, he eventually gave up on the idea.

Perhaps there was a rule for curses: if you spoke information related to a curse in a place where it appeared, you might be directly cursed yourself.

Ronan truly believed in such a possibility. He had, after all, explored dangerous patterns of wish-making and always maintained a sense of awe for the unknown.

After running for a while, the group found that the Bear Goblin behind them had gone quiet.

Realizing this, Ronan took the lead and stopped.

"Is it safe?" Evil Axe immediately spoke up.

He didn't know if it was safe, but Ronan couldn't run anymore.

This body was even weaker than he had imagined. Traditional Mages clearly didn't care about having the body of an athlete.

As soon as Evil Axe finished speaking, a shrill scream came from deep within the cave, followed by a chaotic sound of fighting.

Judging by the sound, the Bear Goblin must have run into the four-legged creature that the Second Young Master had mutated into.

"The worst-case scenario happened after all." Shield Mountain's face was as grim as water.

If it were only the Bear Goblin, the four of them working together could kill it in minutes.

But with the addition of a bizarre source of curse that could neither be killed nor touched, if the Bear Goblin were also cursed, the few of them would basically have no way out.

"Then... should we go help... the Bear Goblin?"

Evil Axe asked uncertainly, instantly causing everyone to look at him.

"How? By filling its stomach?" Eagle Eye's eyes nearly rolled to the back of his head.

Evil Axe uncharacteristically didn't retaliate with Dwarven slang, but instead looked at Shield Mountain.

"Captain, the cave passage is so deep, the rock walls shouldn't be that sturdy, right?"

"Evil Axe, I didn't think you'd actually use your brain for once!" Shield Mountain's eyes lit up. Suppressing his excitement, he asked Ronan,

"White Night, can you..."

Shield Mountain pointed at the thick stone pillars hanging from the cave ceiling, his meaning self-evident.

He and Evil Axe were close-range fighters, and Eagle Eye's Corrosive Arrow wouldn't be very effective. Only Ronan, who possessed powerful magic, could do it.

"Just destroying this one pillar probably won't be enough to block the passage," Ronan pointed out the problem.

"This whole section of the road is full of these pillars. If we destroy a few more, it will definitely cause a collapse!"

Evil Axe danced with excitement. Dwarven wisdom was not only reflected in forging but also permeated every aspect of life.

"This requires extremely precise directional destruction. After each spell, I'll need to meditate for a moment to recover. I'm afraid there isn't enough time..." Ronan's gaze fell on Evil Axe.

"Unless someone can carry me and move while I meditate. That would save a lot of time."

Hearing this, the bodies of the three stiffened simultaneously, and the color drained from their faces visibly.

"Evil Axe, since it was your suggestion, this important position belongs to you." Shield Mountain spoke first, striking before anyone else could.

"Captain, I won't allow you to make such groundless speculations about Lord White Night."

Evil Axe said with a serious and righteous expression, "If Lord White Night wanted to do something to us, would he even need to resort to such tricks?!"

"Huh? Why would I want to do anything to you?"

Ronan felt like he was being targeted for no reason. He just couldn't run anymore and wanted someone to carry him out.