Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Medusa immediately recognized Gao Peng as soon as it saw him poke his head out from behind Fourth Baby. Even though it had been three whole years, to someone who spent most of their time in a labyrinth, Gao Peng was someone who was worth remembering.
“Want me to take care of this guy for you?” said Gao Peng, pointing at the Mountain Giant.
The Mountain Giant was a Rock-type monster. Immunity to Petrification was one of its passive skills. Petrification had little to no effect on it, as its body was already made of stone. Trying to turn it into stone would be like trying to drown a fish.
Medusa hurriedly nodded. It wasn’t opposed to some help at this point. It knew that it was no match for the Mountain Giant, while the latter knew that it outmatched it, as well. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been there trying to usurp the title of labyrinth master.
Being on the weaker side of the Emperor-tier spectrum, the Mountain Giant would probably have a lot of trouble trying to take control of any other labyrinths. It had physical strength to spare, its skin was nigh impenetrable, and it was especially immune to Earth and Rock-type attacks. However, it had a glaring weakness: its overall lack of agility, thanks to its huge, cumbersome body.
Medusa’s petrification attack had no effect on it. As physical attacks weren’t its specialty, it could only rely on its innate agility as it spun circles around the Mountain Giant. Medusa was already thinking about letting the Mountain Giant have this place if it meant that its heart could still beat a little longer. After all, it could always look for other labyrinths to call home. It just needed to take the stone sparrow statue out of the labyrinth first.
“Fourth Baby, take it from here,” Gao Peng said. He didn’t see the need to summon any other familiars to take on the Mountain Giant.
Fourth Baby was essentially Gao Peng’s glorified riding familiar. Unlike his other familiars, it didn’t have a strong presence in the team. Gao Peng had no reason to let it fight his battles most of the time.
Fourth Baby’s eyes lit up. Its master only ever let Da ZI and the others take care of his enemies. This was the first time he had let it enter the battlefield. I can’t disappoint Gao Peng now.
A silver light exploded from Fourth Baby’s Aurora Wings, which now looked like two huge swords slicing the air. Boom, boom, boom!
At that moment, the Mountain Giant was enveloped by its Aurora Wings. Its body was being slashed repeatedly by something sharp. Letting out a roar, the Mountain Giant rushed at Fourth Baby, ready to beat it to a pulp. However, the latter had flown out of its reach. No matter how hard the Mountain Giant tried, its fists couldn’t reach Fourth Baby.
Fourth Baby’s Aurora Wings continued lashing out at its opponent like a pair of whips. In the end, the Mountain Giant couldn’t take it anymore, and it ran off with its hands over the back of its head.
Upon seeing the Mountain Giant’s fleeing form, Medusa heaved a sigh of relief.
Gao Peng ordered Fourth Baby to descend to the ground. He then jumped down from its back and said, “Long time, no see. I’ve been abroad for some time, but now I’m back. You look just as ravishing as the last time I saw you three years ago.”
Medusa blushed. Gao Peng snapped his fingers, summoning Stripey to him in order to protect himself from Medusa’s gaze.
Gao Peng and the others were now standing so close to Medusa that they could basically make eye contact with it. Fourth Baby was the only one who couldn’t resist Medusa’s petrifying gaze. It turned away hurriedly, not daring to meet its eyes.
Medusa curiously looked at Stripey. It seemed to have grown a lot since Medusa had last seen it. It then turned to Gao Peng, inviting him to its labyrinth to rest for a bit.
Gao Peng graciously accepted the invitation. Along the way, he summoned Fatty Big Sea into the open with another snap of his fingers. It was in its shrunken form. “We’re in a labyrinth, albeit a rather ordinary one. See if you can sense anything in it.”
As soon as it was summoned into the labyrinth, Fatty Big sea immediately picked up on a strange smell in the air. Frowning, it said to Gao Peng, “This place was passed down by that elephant. No wonder it looks so familiar.”
Gao Peng then watched as Fatty Big Sea pressed itself against the labyrinth’s wall, sucking on it like a leech.
“What’s it…” started Medusa, giving Gao Peng a worried look. It had never seen such an odd spectacle in all its life.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing,” said Gao Peng casually. He walked over to Fatty Big Sea and pulled it off the wall. “Let’s go deeper into the labyrinth. The scent’s stronger there.” Upon hearing this, Fatty Big Sea stopped struggling and simply let Gao Peng drag it away by the tail.
“No other monster has passed through these corridors in a long time,” said Medusa, who was leading the way in front of them.
The labyrinth was silent. Unlike other labyrinth masters, who had taken it upon themselves to groom their own servants, Medusa preferred living there alone.
Even if it wanted to take on another monster as a servant, it would be hard-pressed to find one that could resist its gaze. Most monsters would simply be transformed into stone ornaments for the labyrinth.
After some time, they finally reached the deeper parts of the labyrinth. There, Gao Peng could see that there was a bamboo forest. Sunlight passed through the bamboo leaves, beneath which the ground looked mottled. Stone statues of various shapes and sizes were gathered in the center of the place.
“These are the stone statues I’ve collected so far,” said Medusa cheerily.
“This is a golden boar. It was the first monster I encountered after leaving my mother’s labyrinth and also the first monster I petrified,” it explained, nostalgically caressing the life-like statue of a boar.
Gao Peng nodded as he gazed at the statues around him, all of which seemed to have been carved by an expert hand. He knew that these weren’t statues that had been carved by hand, but rather, monsters that had been frozen into stone for eternity.
“And this here is…” Medusa began giving Gao Peng a grand tour of the place. Gao Peng nodded, listening to its every word attentively and even occasionally giving his own opinion on something.
On the other hand, Fatty Big Sea was left to scamper about on its own the moment they entered the place. “That damn elephant’s scent is faint here. This place definitely has its architectural sense written all over it, but it has never been here, that’s for sure. I don’t think this place was even built by it,” muttered Fatty Big Sea.
“Still, there is the matter of its scent… Could this place have been built by its divine artifact?” it said, visibly excited. The thought of desecrating its sworn enemy’s grave by relieving it of its divine artifact excited Fatty Big Sea greatly.
“Have you ever thought about leaving this place? You could come along with me. There’s nothing interesting to do here in the labyrinth. There’s a more beautiful place out there waiting for you, you know,” said Gao Peng.
Medusa shook its head. “The outside world’s a bit too noisy.”
“But the Mountain Giant’s still out there. You couldn’t even fend it off yourself back there,” said Gao Peng, sighing. “Once I’m gone, it’ll definitely come back to challenge you again. It’s obvious that you’re at a disadvantage against it,” he explained.
Medusa closed its eyes as it pondered this for a good while. Opening its eyes, it said, “If it comes to that, I’ll just let it have my labyrinth and find a new place to stay.”
“Don’t you think that’s a bit too troublesome? Will you be able to take all your possessions with you?” said Gao Peng, pointing at the pile of treasures and trinkets in the middle of the labyrinth.
Medusa fell silent again.
“You and I both know that the Mountain Giant won’t let you take your sweet time to pack up when it comes back here again.”
“Even if I choose to leave with you, there’s no way you can take all this with you,” said Medusa, sensing an obvious flaw in Gao Peng’s suggestion.
Gao Peng smiled. “That’s what you think.” With a snap of his fingers, the amazingly convenient storage space that was Silly appeared in front of them.
