16: Not the same person?

What's more, he had seen before that Du Ruo, as a Dragon Knight, had very weak resistance to poison, even reaching negative levels.

The poison gas released by the Silver Vine Demon Realm Flower's self-detonation at this moment was accumulated over its entire life; even Du Ruo couldn't withstand it!

Thinking of this, the Consultant subconsciously ran back to Du Ruo's side.

"What are you doing? Hurry and leave!"

Du Ruo hadn't expected the Consultant to return.

As an experienced Awakened One, she had long since come to terms with it.

She had seen too many deaths resulting from battles with demonic beasts.

If she were to die here, it would be a normal occurrence.

Similarly, it was commonplace for the Consultant to ignore her and choose to flee directly.

But at this moment, he had returned.

The Consultant had no idea what Du Ruo was thinking; he just didn't want to see anyone die in front of him.

No matter who it was!

"I'm not leaving!"

The Consultant showed a rare determined expression as he turned and looked into the distance.

The body of the Silver Vine Demon Realm Flower was already swollen like an inflated balloon, in danger of exploding at any moment.

"Are you crazy? Get out of here!"

Du Ruo also grew anxious. She had never seen anyone like the Consultant. While there was a hint of emotion in her heart, she was mostly puzzled.

"You are a Beast Tamer, and although your level is weak, this world hasn't seen a Beast Tamer in many years. As long as you survive, you will surely become a powerful Awakened One in the future!"

"You don't need to die here with me, understand?!"

Du Ruo's voice rang out behind him, but the Consultant didn't look back.

"I don't understand, I just want to save you!"

With that, the Consultant looked at the growing Silver Vine Demon Realm Flower, a hint of fear on his face, yet he didn't retreat.

He held Bing Dwen Dwen in his arms, thinking about how to respond.

But in this critical moment, unable to come up with a solution, his thoughts began to wander... "System, can you send two coffins as you mentioned before? I don't think one will fit me, Du Ruo, and Bing Dwen Dwen."

This time, the system's response was quick—

“You truly are a ‘hero,’ but here’s a small tip for you...”

“This poison gas is highly corrosive. You might not leave a corpse, so no coffin is needed.”

“However! Given that the system has detected that if the host dies in this place, it will likely affect the dignity of this system, this system has decided to provide some hints.”

“Hint: You are not alone.”

"Isn't that obvious?"

The Consultant's mouth twitched, but he quickly understood the meaning of the words and promptly lowered his head.

In his arms was the wobbling Bing Dwen Dwen, its wise, black-bean-sized eyes looking up at him.

Right, Poison Dance!

At the same time, the distant Silver Vine Demon Realm Flower's body swelled to its limit.

Hiss... Boom!

A faint cracking sound appeared, and the next moment, the corpse exploded!

Large amounts of dark purple gas began to spread, sweeping over like a sandstorm—

The Consultant quickly took a few steps back with Bing Dwen Dwen in his arms, then shouted, "Bing Dwen Dwen, use Gigantification!"

"Gurgle..."

Bing Dwen Dwen quickly responded, using the ability it gained after initially eating Zuo Dao's 'Virility Pill'.

The Consultant felt his hand sink, and realizing the skill had activated, he quickly placed Bing Dwen Dwen on the ground.

In just a few seconds, Bing Dwen Dwen's pale purple body expanded as if inflated, looking like a giant bubble!

"What is this... ability?"

Du Ruo, as an experienced Awakened One, had never paid attention to the lowest-level demonic beasts like Slimes.

Seeing the Consultant's beast cub begin to grow, she was momentarily stunned.

The Consultant looked at Du Ruo's surprised expression, feeling a bit smug, but he didn't have time to show off right now.

"Bing Dwen Dwen, it's up to you, use Eat!!!"

After saying this, the Consultant turned and lunged at Du Ruo.

"What are you doing..."

Du Ruo hadn't expected the Consultant to suddenly pounce on her. Unable to dodge, she was knocked to the ground.

Meanwhile, Bing Dwen Dwen, following the Consultant's instructions, wobblingly opened its sticky mouth and covered the two of them lying on the ground... Whoosh!

At the same time, the Silver Vine Demon Realm Flower's poison gas swept over!

Inside Bing Dwen Dwen, the Consultant nervously glanced at the situation outside.

He saw the poison gas quickly cover Bing Dwen Dwen, but not a single bit seeped in. Instead, a lot of the dense poison gas was absorbed by Bing Dwen Dwen.

"Indeed..."

The Consultant's heart was filled with joy!

Just as he had thought, his Bing Dwen Dwen was now poison-attributed, and because of the poison hemlock flower it had eaten earlier, it had gained complete poison immunity and absorption abilities!

The purple mist obscured their vision, slowly dissipating a few minutes later... After the remaining toxins were absorbed, Bing Dwen Dwen's Gigantification ability deactivated, and it waddled back to the Consultant's side.

"Phew... well done!"

The Consultant let out a sigh of relief, a smile involuntarily appearing on his face as he looked down at Du Ruo beneath him.

But strangely, Du Ruo's face held no smile; instead, it was slightly flushed, and her eyes carried a hint of coldness.

The Consultant blinked. Hmm... he admitted that the posture was a bit ambiguous, but there was nothing he could do; he was only trying to save her. It wasn't as if she needed to look like she wanted to kill him, right?

Wait, uh, the position of his hand seemed a bit off.

The Consultant realized something... but as a professional at talking nonsense, the Consultant quickly removed his hand from her breastplate, feigning a look of disdain as he smacked his lips and said, "Tsk, Sister Du, your armor is like a hedgehog, it almost poked right through me!"

This was a classic case of blaming the victim!

Du Ruo, who had a belly full of curses, had no choice but to swallow them. She gave the Consultant a glare, then composed herself and asked, "I told you to leave just now, why didn't you? Aren't you afraid of death?"

"Death? Heh!"

The Consultant snorted. His previous dignified demeanor completely vanished, returning to his usual carefree self, and he bluffed, "Didn't I say before that I was here to help you!"

“...”

Du Ruo looked at the Consultant in silence, completely unable to reconcile the grinning man before her with the man who had just spread his arms to shield her.

"Move!"

Du Ruo felt inexplicably annoyed. She pushed the Consultant away and quickly stood up.

Her stamina had now recovered, and she leaped to the side of the Silver Vine Demon Realm Flower, which was now reduced to wooden fragments.

She rummaged through the wood chips with the Dragon Wing Spear in her hand, her gaze finally settling on an object.

With a light flick of the spear tip—

Clang!

With the crisp sound of a stone being flicked away, the Consultant noticed a purple stone flying towards him... "Ouch!"

The stone hit him squarely on the head.

Du Ruo looked at the Consultant's pathetic state, a hint of a smile appearing on her lips, but it quickly vanished.

The Consultant naturally didn't notice. He rubbed his head, with Bing Dwen Dwen perched on top, and casually picked up the stone, scanning it with the system—

“Silver Vine Demon Realm Flower Core: The magic core from a Tier 4 demonic beast—the Silver Vine Demon Realm Flower. It possesses extremely strong magic power and corrosive toxins, and can be used for crafting, alchemy, and more.”

“If you use this item to strengthen your beast, it will greatly increase your beast's level and strength. Digestion is estimated to take 10 days.”

"That detailed?"

He hadn't expected the system to specifically mark the digestion time required for his beast to consume the core this time.

"Greatly increase, huh..."

The Consultant was overjoyed. He then looked up at Du Ruo, and just as he was about to say something, Du Ruo waved her hand and said coldly, "I know what you're going to say. It's not necessary."

"I won't tell you that I'm giving you this core to thank you for saving me."

"I also won't tell the Bounty Hunter Guild that this mission was completed by you and me together."

"Nor will the Dragon County officials announce this matter to the entire city."

"As for the reward for this mission, I certainly won't give you half!"

Listening to these familiar lines, the Consultant was stunned, then realized... Du Ruo was imitating what he had said when they first met.

Seeing the Consultant's dumbfounded expression, Du Ruo finally couldn't help but let out a laugh.

Looking at the woman's smile at that moment, the Consultant rubbed his head and also smiled.

"Gurgle? Gurgle?"

The Slime on his head, with its wise eyes, looked at the Consultant for a moment, then at Du Ruo, making strange sounds.

Just then, footsteps approached from nearby. Several guards wearing Dragon County insignia walked towards the two... They were the same guards who had let the Consultant in earlier.

After inquiring about the Consultant at the Bounty Hunter Guild, they realized they might have allowed a 'Junior Awakened One' into a four-star difficulty area.

Not to mention the rarity of the Consultant's 'Beast Tamer' profession, even if he were an ordinary person, rashly intruding and potentially hindering other hunters, leading to an accident, the consequences would be more than these guards could bear!

At this moment, the guards finally found them. One of the guard captains ran forward and saluted Du Ruo—

"Lady Du Ruo, I apologize, there was an error in our work. I hope this person did not hinder you!"

Azure Dragon Knight Du Ruo was famously ill-tempered, and the guard captain was even prepared to be scolded.

But to his surprise, Du Ruo's face showed no anger; instead, she had a rare, faint smile.

"It's alright, he's my friend. Your letting him in actually helped me a great deal!"

Upon hearing this, all the guards present were stunned!

They had learned from the Bounty Hunter Guild that the Consultant was only a Level 1 Beast Tamer.

A Level 1 Awakened One could help the Azure Dragon Knight?!

"Is there a problem?" Du Ruo noticed the guards' suspicion, and her face immediately turned cold.

"No... no!"

The soldiers dared not ask further, nor dared to think too much. They immediately shook their heads, then lined up in two rows, escorting Du Ruo and the Consultant.

"Two Bounty Hunters, congratulations on successfully completing your mission. We will now personally escort you out!"

The Consultant looked at the guards' respectful attitude, and also noticed Du Ruo's occasional meaningful glances at him. He smugly revealed a smile and, swaying to the rhythm of the Slime on his head, waddled towards the outside...