Chapter 31: Feeding the Dragon with Gold Coins

Russell had never been an outgoing person. He wasn’t in his past life, and he certainly wouldn’t be in this one.

“My Lord, what do you intend to do?” Charles had quietly changed his form of address without Russell noticing, no longer calling him by his name directly.

Eric frowned and said, “This person is cunning; he’s hard to subdue.”

“Why bother to subdue him? He’s already given me enough reason to kill him by enticing the Snow Ghosts to invade my estate,” Russell said in a deep voice. “Both of you and Knight Commander Chris, my current goal is to figure out how to kill him.”

The Lone Wolf Lisbon had already crossed the line.

By luring the Snow Ghosts to invade and disregarding the safety of the estate’s property and serfs, he was essentially asking for death.

“Killing him won’t be easy either,” said Knight Commander Chris. “If he dares to show himself, I can help Young Master Russell kill him. But he’s a cunning man, and if he stays hidden in the underground tunnels, it will be very difficult to find him.”

The tunnels surrounding Dusklight River Valley are interconnected, forming a vast network of secret passageways that may be larger than the valley itself.

Once someone hides within it, it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack.

“Is it really that difficult?”

“If the Baron takes action, puts pressure on the underground forces, and sends a squad of knights to block the roads, it should be much easier.”

“Then forget it. If I have to trouble my father for something so simple, what right do I have to govern my estate?” Russell quickly dismissed the idea of asking the Baron for help. Relying on the Baron for every little problem would only harm his reputation.

A good lord must be capable of handling matters on his own to attract worthy followers.

Knight Commander Chris smiled. “If you need any help, just let me know.”

Russell thanked him, “If it becomes absolutely necessary, then I’ll trouble you… Well, enough of this depressing business. Let’s get on with the party!”

The celebration didn’t last into the night.

By the afternoon, Knight Commander Chris had left, riding his Nightmare Ghost Horse and disappearing along Charcoal Ash Road. After all, he was the Knight Commander of the castle, not Russell’s personal one. A prolonged absence would surely displease the Baron.

“My Lord, do you really want to kill the Lone Wolf Lisbon?” Charles brought up the matter that had been left unfinished earlier.

“Of course.”

“If you really want to kill Lisbon, I think the Wildcat Sisters are the key. Perhaps we could use them to lure Lisbon out.”

“Let’s not rush. This matter can be carefully planned,” Russell had calmed down. “Lisbon must die. If I don’t kill him, my thoughts won’t be clear. But I can’t let this interfere with my plan to subdue Resounding Water River Cave, so it must be handled meticulously.”

Eric suddenly said, “My lord, let me infiltrate Resounding Water River Cave and gather information first.”

“No, there is no need to take such a risk.”

“Then…”

“Let’s wait. Wait for the Wildcat Sisters.” Russell smiled slightly, showing that he had already demonstrated his strength. Now, he would see if he could attract the right attention.

Charles was confused. “Are the Wildcat Sisters really coming? Didn’t Catherine say she would return before leaving?”

“If she wasn’t interested, she wouldn’t have come on a rainy night to deliver a message. Since she wants to form an alliance with me, it makes sense to do so when I’m still weak,” Russell felt quite confident that he understood the Wildcat Sisters’ thoughts. “Don’t you agree, Teacher Charles?”

Charles sighed in admiration. “My lord, you’re becoming more and more like the Baron.”

“You flatter me; I am still learning from my father.”

“The Dragon watches over you, my lord. I believe you’ll soon surpass him, and the Fluorescent Mushroom Family will flourish under your leadership.”

“That is my elder brother’s responsibility.”

“But you can make your own way. The Black Waist Snake Estate is too small for you; it’s merely the starting point for your rise.”

“Well, that’s true. Teacher Charles, Teacher Eric, let’s work together towards this goal.”

Charles bowed respectfully: “I will follow my master’s lead!”

Meanwhile, observing Charles fawning over Russell, Eric restrained the urge to roll his eyes, then slapped his chest and muttered, “I’ll follow my lord’s lead!”

Nightfall

Russell spent the night in the outbuildings of the estate. The wormgrass had grown safely, so there was no need to camp in the wild under the pretense of guarding it. After the battle earlier, he also needed some time to rest and recover.

“Gah!”

The familiar Dark Dreamscape, the familiar Little Dream Dragon.

“What is this, Snowcone? Are we only meant to meet in dreams?” Russell asked, pondering a new question.

Little Dream Dragon didn’t understand. It just chirped happily and carried Russell in circles around the manor.

“Sigh, it’s no use asking. You’re such a fool,” said Russell, raising his middle finger.

Little Dream Dragon found this amusing and waved its tiny forelimbs, lifting a matchstick-like claw: “Gah gah gah!”

“Stop that. Let’s go check out my bedroom and see what kind of light the Ice Hail Pearl is giving off.”

Together they returned to Russell’s room. In addition to the dark gold ceramic armor, the Green Ceramic Sword, two small beads, and the gem lamps, a faint blue light was emanating from the drawer of the nightstand.

The light gathered into a cluster, clearly from the Ice Hail Pearl.

Seeing the light, Little Dream Dragon suddenly began to scream loudly: “Gah! Gah! Gah!”

“What is it? Do you want it?” Russell asked in surprise.

“Gah!”

Russell, intrigued by Little Dream Dragon’s rare intense reaction, gestured immediately. “If you want it, take it!”

In an instant, Little Dream Dragon dove into the drawer. For the Dark Dreamscape, except for magical items that emitted light, everything else was intangible. Little Dream Dragon passed through the drawer and brought its head to the Ice Hail Pearl.

Opening its mouth, it curled its tongue and swallowed the Ice Hail Pearl.

Then, it let out a burp comfortably: “Gah-eh…”

“You can eat things in the Dark Dreamscape?” Russell was amazed. He then tried to touch the Green Ceramic Sword, but his arm passed right through its glow without touching the physical sword.

This was consistent with his previous experiments.

“Snowcone, come here. Can you touch the Green Ceramic Sword?” Russell patted Little Dream Dragon’s head and guided it toward the sword.

Little Dream Dragon didn’t understand, but mimicking Russell, it extended its claws to grab the green ceramic sword.

However, just like Russell had experienced, its claws passed right through the sword’s glow and didn’t touch the physical object.

“Hmm?” Russell was confused.

He thought carefully: “Although the Dark Dreamscape is a phantom world based on reality, Snowcone seems to interact with reality through it… It exhaled and nurtured the birch worm – that was one interaction, and now eating the Ice Hail Pearl is another.”

But since these interactions were so rare, Russell couldn’t quite determine which actions fell within the scope of them.

“Forget it. I’ll figure it out later.”

There was plenty of time, and Russell was confident that he could uncover the mysteries of the Dark Dreamscape.

He looked closely at the Little Dream Dragon: “After eating the Ice Hail Pearl, I don’t see any changes in you… Tsk tsk, I’m getting extravagant now, feeding coins to a dragon.”

The Ice Hail Pearl was actually a gold coin.

Most serfs probably never saw a gold coin in their lives-silver and copper coins were enough for their daily needs.

“Let’s take off. We’ll fly around a bit and then go to sleep,” said Russell, getting into the Little Dream Dragon for another adventure.

But after flying for a while, he noticed something strange: “Snowcone, is the Dark Dreamscape bigger now? Before, only half of this tree was inside it, but now there is a much larger portion!”