The two-headed serpent towered over the street, both mouths dripping thick purple mucus that sizzled on the asphalt.
Lin Fan's legs were shaking. Blood still seeped from his stomach wound, but he couldn't pass out now. Not with half the city watching.
Bai Yuling was glued to his back, fingers clutching his torn shirt so tightly the fabric was starting to rip.
"Master… it's leaking… from both heads…" she whimpered, voice tiny. "If even one drop touches me, I'll… I'll never be clean again…"
Zhantian Jian roared in Lin Fan's head like an angry grandpa.
"Host! This is the perfect moment to display true courage! Command her! Lead the charge with honor and—"
"Honor isn't going to stop that thing from melting the sidewalk," Lin Fan snapped under his breath.
The Young Master from earlier laughed loudly, arms crossed.
"Hah! So the so-called 'Master' can't even control his own bodyguard? Pathetic. Step aside, trash. My party will handle this elite monster. Miss, watch how a real Hunter fights."
He waved his hand. His four teammates charged forward with confident smiles.
The serpent hissed. One head whipped down and sprayed a stream of acid straight at them.
Two of the teammates screamed as their armor started melting on contact. They rolled on the ground trying to wipe it off.
The Young Master's face twitched but he forced a smirk. "Tch. Minor setback. We've got this—"
"Master!" Bai Yuling suddenly tugged Lin Fan's sleeve harder. "Look! That arrogant guy's armor is now covered in acid residue! So disgusting… but at least it's not on me yet…"
Lin Fan's brain clicked.
He turned to her, eyes serious.
"Yuling. Listen to me very carefully."
She looked up at him with teary, hopeful eyes.
"If that serpent keeps spraying, its mucus is going to splash everywhere. On buildings. On me. And eventually… on you."
Bai Yuling's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
"On… me?"
Lin Fan nodded slowly. "A lot of it. Everywhere. You'll be swimming in it."
For three full seconds, the Fairy of the Frozen Heavens went completely silent.
Then her aura detonated.
The temperature around the entire street dropped so fast that frost formed on nearby windows.
"NO. WAY."
She stepped out from behind Lin Fan, silver hair whipping wildly. Her beautiful face was no longer scared.
It was furious.
"You filthy oversized worm! You dare threaten to dirty my Master and my clothes?!"
She raised one hand.
Sword intent surged like a blizzard. The air itself screamed.
In a single flash she was airborne, right between both of the serpent's heads.
The monster roared and lunged.
Bai Yuling didn't dodge.
She slapped both heads at the same time with open palms.
CRACK!
Freezing qi exploded outward. Both heads were instantly encased in thick layers of ice.
The serpent thrashed wildly, cracking the ice, but Bai Yuling was already spinning mid-air.
"Disappear."
One clean horizontal slash.
The frozen heads shattered like glass. The massive body collapsed, twitching once before going still.
Purple mucus sprayed in every direction.
Lin Fan dove behind an overturned car just in time.
The Young Master and his remaining teammates weren't so lucky. They got absolutely showered in sticky, sizzling serpent juice.
The crowd gasped.
Bai Yuling landed gracefully in the middle of the street, looking satisfied for exactly two seconds.
Then she noticed several drops of mucus on her left sleeve and the edge of her dress.
Her face went from victorious to traumatized in record time.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeek—!!!"
She dropped to the ground and started rolling, trying to wipe the filth off while making high-pitched noises that no SSR should ever make.
The civilians stared in dead silence.
Someone's phone camera was still recording.
Lin Fan slowly stood up, clutching his bleeding stomach, and muttered, "I'm going to need so many headache pills…"
[Ding! C-Rank Elite Boss defeated!]
[You have obtained 3 Abyssal Cores.]
[Bonus reward for first public Dungeon Break contribution: 500,000 Hunter Credits.]
The system notifications kept coming, but Lin Fan ignored them.
He limped over to Bai Yuling, who was now sitting on the ground hugging her knees, looking like the world had ended.
"Here," he said softly, pulling out the last two wet wipes from his pocket. "Last ones. Use them."
She looked up at him with glassy eyes and accepted the wipes like they were diamonds.
"Thank you… Master…" she whispered, voice cracking. "You're the only one who understands…"
[Ding! Bai Yuling's Affection has increased by 20 points.]
Zhantian Jian sighed dramatically in Lin Fan's mind.
"Ah, youth and its foolish attachments. In my day, a cultivator would never—"
"Old man, I'm two seconds away from using you as a back scratcher," Lin Fan growled.
The Young Master, now covered head-to-toe in purple goo, pointed a shaking finger at them.
"You… you cheated! That woman is clearly overpowered! This doesn't count! I demand a proper—"
He never finished.
Because the dungeon hole behind them suddenly glowed brighter.
More monsters started pouring out. Bigger ones.
The system voice rang loud and clear for everyone nearby to hear through the emergency broadcast speakers.
[Warning: Dungeon Break escalation detected. Estimated threat level rising to B-Rank within five minutes.]
Lin Fan stared at the new wave of monsters, then at his still-crying SSR waifu who had just soloed an elite boss but was now having an existential crisis over two drops of mucus.
He rubbed his face with both hands.
"…System, I'm starting to think you gave me the world's most expensive headache."
The monsters roared louder.
The crowd began screaming again.
And Bai Yuling peeked out from behind her hands, eyes wide with fresh horror.
"Master… that big one over there… it's hairy AND slimy…"
Lin Fan looked at the incoming horde and let out a long, tired breath.
"Great. Just great."