Chapter 404

After popping his head out from the reeds and looking at the sea of white reeds before him, Leon couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction.

Though it wasn’t as good as flying outright, this was still pretty decent. At the very least, there were no major issues with observing the surroundings.

“Stand up straight!”

After unconsciously petting the Snow Maiden’s cool and slippery hair while patting her head, Leon gave his order:

“Don’t move around! Stabilize yourself! And… turn half a circle to the left so I can check what’s going on over there!”

“…”

Annoying human! With her face flushed red from anger after hearing the command from above, the Snow Maiden could only grip onto Leon’s mud-covered thighs tightly and turn half a circle to the left with some difficulty.

How dare he ride on my head… you cursed pervert! May you fall off me and die when you dismount! After abandoning the unnecessary reed sandals, Leon found a much better new mount—riding atop the gritting-teeth Snow Maiden’s shoulders, he began to observe the situation in the desolate wasteland of reeds with his naked eyes.

In this boundless desolate marsh, apart from pitch-black silt and pale reeds, there was no third color to be seen. Occasionally appearing small puddles reflected the purest black and white colors.

Still can’t see anything…

After commanding the Snow Maiden beneath him to turn a full circle and still finding no abnormalities, Leon’s eyebrows furrowed once more.

It seems that the range of this black-and-white marsh is much larger than I expected. Forget about finding the Scorpion Bureau Director; just confirming his position is an extremely difficult task… What should I do? Just as Leon was at a loss, the damp and cold wind of the wasteland of reeds, carrying the scent of earth and floating reed flowers, swiftly and finely swept over the top of the reeds, passing by his side.

Seemingly sensing something unusual, Leon wrinkled his nose slightly and then forcefully took a deep breath.

This wind… its smell seems subtly off? Relying on the heightened senses brought by 8 points of Taint Value, far surpassing those of ordinary humans, Leon detected the abnormality in the wind and immediately reached for his sleeve, summoning the Puppy from the Mirror World.

“You’re a dog, right?”

“Woof?”

“Here, use your snout to sniff this wind and tell me what smells are in it.”

“Woof…”

After nodding her tiny doggy head, the Puppy held by Leon wiggled her pink little nose, trying hard to sniff against the wind, and then sneezed several times adorably due to the reed flowers carried by the wind.

“Woof woof! Woof woof woof!”

Burnt smell? And a trace of blood scent? Understanding the meaning of the Puppy’s barks through the Poop Shoveler Badge, Leon couldn’t help but narrow his eyes slightly, identified the direction from which the wind blew, and then instructed the Snow Maiden beneath him:

“Go to your right hand side, there seems to be something over there.”

Right hand side…

Following Leon’s instructions, the Snow Maiden, full of resentment, turned to the right side, exhausted and panting heavily, she couldn’t help but ask:

“How… how far do we need to go?”

“At this wind speed, the scent won’t spread too far… so… roughly two or three kilometers?”

What? Two or three kilometers?! First dragged out of the snowy nightmare by Leon, then having her nightmare core crushed, losing double buffs, the Snow Maiden’s constitution was even weaker than that of an average human. If Leon weren’t relatively lean, she might not have been able to carry him at all.

Hearing that she had to carry him for another two or three kilometers, the Snow Maiden who was demoted from the Dream Realm by the Nightmare King and turned into a mount, felt her legs go limp, almost falling flat on her face.

Please, just kill me quickly! You cursed pervert! Who knows what kind of torment I’ll endure if I survive any longer!

“…”

It does seem somewhat inappropriate… She’s moving too slowly! Feeling the rather modest strides and the stability of swaying three times for every step of the Snow Maiden, Leon paused briefly, then flipped down from her thin shoulder. In front of the Snow Maiden’s shocked gaze, he grabbed her skirt.

“You! What are you doing?”

“Not doing anything.”

It didn’t sink in.

Looks like it’s the same as I thought. The Snow Maidens in stories are always dressed in white, so this set of skirts on her should also be part of the “Nightmare Messenger,” with the ability to resist the rules of the nightmare world.

After confirming his guess was feasible, Leon immediately turned around, crouched slightly, facing away from the Snow Maiden who was retreating in panic, and directly ordered:

“Get on!”

“…”

“Hurry up! Don’t dawdle! I’m in a hurry!”

“…”

You cursed human!

First riding my neck! Then tearing my skirt! And now showing me your back! Absolutely disrespectful! Cursing violently in her heart with the most brutal foul language she knew, the Snow Maiden, who secretly sighed in relief, climbed onto Leon’s back with a pale clean face dirtied with some black mud, wrapping her smooth little legs tightly around his waist.

I’ll strangle you!

Not a single word of content inside 69 Book Bar isn’t here!

“Move up a bit higher!”

Lifting the Snow Maiden on his back a little higher, placing her in a position that wouldn’t hinder his running, Leon bent his spine slightly and ran off in the direction the Puppy smelled out.

The situation afterward was much better than Leon expected. Before they had run less than eight hundred meters, a deep, bottomless large passage appeared, slanting straight into the depths of the swamp hidden behind the tall reeds.

This looks like… something dug out by a giant creature? After examining the marks resembling scale scratches on the “ground” of the passage, Leon narrowed his eyes slightly, realizing this should be the trace left by the Swamp King Snake after drilling through the mud.

That’s right, since it’s a big snake, the swamp definitely can’t support its weight, so most of the Swamp King Snake’s activity range should be underground. If the Scorpion Bureau Director clashed with it, the battle would likely have taken place underground as well.

Standing beside the passage, checking the parts of the passage scorched at high temperatures, partially crystallized, and still slightly warm, and smelling the relatively “fresh” bloody smell, Leon made his judgment immediately.

The Scorpion Bureau Director should have been here not long ago, battling the Swamp King Snake underground.

But since there’s absolutely no sound now, and after I “invaded” the wasteland of reeds, the “landlord” Swamp King Snake hasn’t come out, they’ve probably already left here and gone to another dream.

“I’m asking you.”

After patting the Snow Maiden’s tensed thighs, Leon asked:

“How are these six layers of dreams distributed? Arranged layer by layer from top to bottom, and then connected end to end?”

“Hmph!”

“If I hear you huff again, you’ll get down and let me ride you instead!”

“…”

Cursed human! Faced with the terrifying threat of becoming a human mount again, the Snow Maiden couldn’t help but bite her teeth forcefully and answer through her refined yet icy face:

“Yes! And the person you’re looking for has probably already slain the Swamp King Snake and gone to the next layer of the dream!”

Has he already gone down?

After hearing the Snow Maiden’s response, Leon pondered briefly and then gave instructions:

“Well then, let’s go up! Take me to the upper layer of the dream!”

“???”

(End of Chapter)