Birds and Beasts

The leader seemed not to notice Pika's stiffness, and just casually greeted him as if he was passing by. The little green skin saw his idol, the Forgotten High Priest, and happily followed the leader, forgetting what Pika had asked him before.

Pika didn't dare to say anything, and greeted the leader humbly. The latter looked at him twice, and took the initiative to pat Pika on the shoulder and praised him, saying: "Not bad, teach them more, and try to train more priests!"

Pika nodded repeatedly, secretly observed for a long time, and even walked for a while with the leader when he was going back. On the way, he tried every means to touch the other's hand a few times.

The coldness just now seemed like an illusion. The hobgoblin's hands were rough and broad, with the distinct warmth of a living creature. Pica touched them again, unconvinced, and when he looked up, he met the hobgoblin's meaningful gaze.

The goblin's heart skipped a beat when he heard the leader's voice with a hint of pity: "Give up, little goblin. There are so many female goblins who like me, as many as the stars in the sky. I am not interested in males. Even if you like me and go through so much trouble to get close to me, I will not be moved by your persistence."

Pika was shocked by this sentence, and it took a long time for him to come back to his senses. When he reacted, the hobgoblin had disappeared. Pika stood there in a daze for a long time, thinking that the whole world seemed to be drugged, and it looked strange no matter how he looked at it.

It walked back in confusion, and halfway through it suddenly realized that the goblin had not answered its previous question. How could this be? The greenskin slapped his thigh and immediately wanted to find a familiar goblin nearby to ask. It looked around, but couldn't find a target. Pika pondered for a while, and always felt that something was wrong. It walked around the nearby roads, but really didn't see any familiar goblins.

The pickup's steps became slower and slower, and it finally stopped. It swallowed tremblingly, turned around suddenly, and looked behind it stiffly.

There was no one behind it.

But among the mud houses built by the goblins, there were vaguely pairs of quiet eyes staring at it.

Crowded and silent.

All of them are hobgoblins from the tribe.

Pika didn't know how he got home. His mind was blank, and the first thing he did when he got home was to lock the door. He was sweating all over, and his eyes were dazed. He always felt that countless eyes were watching him from the corners of the wall and the cracks in the window. The goblin blocked the door and window in a panic, and then sat down on the ground with the power off.

"What should I do? What should I do? Can the pickup truck still get out? Has the pickup truck been discovered?"

Pika kept repeating this to himself nervously. After an unknown amount of time had passed, he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

The goblin was startled and almost screamed: "Who is it!?"

A familiar voice answered it, and Pika recognized that it was the follower assigned to it by the goblin. Both of them were ordinary goblins, which made Pika feel much more at ease.

"High Priest, we are here to bring you food."

Pica took a look outside and realized that it was already night. Hesitantly, he moved the furniture blocking the door and carefully poked his head out. Two goblins were carrying food and looked at their high priest's sneaky appearance in confusion.

"High Priest, what happened to you?"

"No, nothing. Where's the leader?"

The goblin handed the meat wrapped in leaves to Pika. The delicious smell made the two goblins swallow their saliva. "It's getting dark, the leader must have gone back to the house. He also asked us to remember to bring you food. This is the bird beast we hunted today. It's hard to catch and it takes a lot of effort. The hunting team finally caught a few, and we immediately sent you the most delicious ones."

"oh..."

Hearing that this was the meal sent by the leader, Pica felt a little uncomfortable. "Tomorrow it's time for me to go out and practice magic. Can I go out?"

The goblin who brought the food replied in confusion: "Of course, who in our tribe dares to stop you? You are a goblin as noble as the chief!"

After confirming that the other party was not bluffing, Pica took the meal and sent the two goblins away. The next morning, he ran down the mountain without hesitation. When he saw the silver-haired young man, he burst into tears and threw himself at his feet with sincerity.

"Sir! Pica really missed you!"

Mason, who was waiting for the other party, was stunned. What stimulated this?

He helped Pika up, and without waiting for any questions, the goblin wiped his tears and told him everything about the strange things he had encountered in the past few days. At the end, he began to sob and choke: "My lord! Does Pika have to go back? The tribe has become so scary, Pika doesn't want to go back!"

This series of strange things did challenge the goblin's fragile heart. I'm afraid that the whole land is in trouble. Mason washed the fruit and put it in his mouth: "Is there any movement with the totem column?"

Pica shook his head. "The totems are the same as before, but their leaders have become strange. No matter where I go, Pica always feels like someone is watching me."

The silver-haired young man suddenly stopped moving. He had just taken the first bite, his snow-white teeth piercing the surface of the fruit, chewing the plump flesh. Rich red juice overflowed from under the thin skin, wetting the slightly pale fingertips of humans. Then, drop by drop, it slowly slid down the fingertips, spreading a dazzling red.

The young man was completely unaware and looked straight at the pickup truck: "What about now?"

These four simple words made Pika suddenly feel a little breathless. He widened his eyes and said, "Pika was very careful when he came! He definitely won't be discovered! He won't be tracked. Pika just brought some food, and the goblins won't find it, definitely not the goblins!"

The shrill shout echoed in the air, weakly trying to prove something. The empty ending faded away silently, and the only response to the goblin was silence. The young man did not reply. He unconsciously fiddled with the gold brooch on the hem of his clothes and suddenly asked, "Do goblins often eat birds and beasts?"

Pika shook his head. "Although they are delicious, birds and beasts are too hard to catch. They can fly. Rabbits and mice are easier to catch than birds and beasts. You can survive by eating anything, so why do you need to catch birds and beasts?"

It suddenly realized, "It's not that food is particularly scarce. The tribe generally doesn't organize hunting for birds and beasts. But Pica has seen the tribe's warehouse. There are a lot of edible things. The old goblins are collecting food every day."

Mason shook his head. “People don’t hunt just for food. They also hunt animals when something is harmful.”

"That's not necessary." Pica said in confusion. "Even though goblins can eat what orioles eat, the mountain is so big that it's impossible to kill every oriole. And some species of orioles hold grudges, so it's no good if you mess with them."

After much thought, the two of them still couldn't come up with a solution. It was time to turn back, but Mason didn't intend to let the other party leave alone this time.

According to Pica, there might be something wrong with the entire goblin tribe. The young man stood up and put the [Disguise] on his face, and his face became ordinary.

"Come on, I'll go with you."

Pica firmly objected: "No! If you are caught by the leader, you will definitely die!"

Mason raised an eyebrow. "Isn't this a good thing for you? I remember you were always afraid of me."

The goblin cried and grabbed his sleeve tightly. "But if you die, Pika will definitely die too! You promised to protect Pika!"

"Okay, okay, I will definitely not abandon you. Don't worry, I have a secret weapon. You just need to tell me where the birds and beasts near the tribe live."

If this scene is put in a horror movie, it would be a perfect opening. But other movies start with students committing suicide or childhood sweethearts, but why is it that everyone has the responsibility to cherish the goblins in this movie?

Mason sighed helplessly, soothed the goblin's mood, and set off on the road back with it. The goblin, who was going back to the tribe, pointed out the way and said goodbye to him reluctantly. He looked back every two steps, showing his reluctance to part.

Mason was like the tough second male lead in a romance movie. He immediately went up the mountain after identifying the direction.

Lush green trees meander along the mountain ranges, forming a vast forest. Tall trees are covered with vines, and the grass is covered with thick layers of rotten leaves. From time to time, you can see traces of wild animals passing through. On the haphazardly distributed bushes, you can see traces of picking or wild animals gnawing on most of them, and the remaining fruits are mostly half-ripe.

Mason raised his hand and pulled off a small piece of withered vines, and after testing its toughness, he tied up the troublesome long hair. [Disguise] only covers the face, it does not mean that the bone structure has changed. Although the appearance seems to have changed, when walking, the hair that should be entangled by the branches will eventually be entangled. In order to prevent his vest from falling out at a young age, Mason walked very hard.

Near the goblins' settlement, there is a picking area where wild bushes grow in large numbers.

Birds, beasts and goblins all like to pick their fruits, so this is the most likely place to see birds and beasts. In the days of surviving alone in the wild, the city youth of the previous life has mastered some wilderness survival skills. Although it is not as easy as walking on flat ground, it is enough for him to distinguish which way he should go.

The only problem was that the closer they got to the goblin settlement, the more signs of greenskins appeared. If the goblins hadn't made very crude traps and didn't care too much about guarding each other, Mason would have been discovered halfway through.

Even so, after walking a distance, Mason had to stop. He found a tall tree with lush branches and leaves nearby and climbed up using his hands and feet.

Not long after, there was a rustling sound in the grass ahead. Through the cover of the tree canopy, Mason saw a few strange goblins walking by with fruits in their hands. These dwarfs didn't pay attention to the top of their heads and whispered to each other in goblin language. The human didn't understand much, so he stayed quietly on the tree, watching the goblins coming and going below.

It was not until night fell that the busy goblin tribe quieted down. After nearly half an hour without any goblins passing by, the young man who had been hiding in the tree for half a day first used [Heaven] to heal his paralyzed legs, thus avoiding the problem of falling and getting injured when he got down from the tree.

The weather tonight was not very good. Thick clouds blocked the light overhead. Under the dense branches of the forest, the shadows were even more blurred and indistinct. Everything was swallowed by darkness, like a huge mouth waiting to welcome its prey.

Facing the darkness that seemed to be real, the young man raised his index finger and suddenly said, "Let there be light."

The [Heaven] realm expanded in response, and the energy materialized into a tiny butterfly in the air. Its translucent wings sprinkled fine light powder, becoming the only source of light in the darkness.

But it was not alone. Soon, more butterflies were born from the void. These little elves hovered around the young man in an inconspicuous manner, obeying the will of the shaper and illuminating the dark road ahead.

In fact, I have always wanted to act cool like this.

Mason withdrew his hand with satisfaction, followed their light, and set out on the road to his destination.