Chapter 131 Helping you is helping ourselves
Shu Xin was looking up, and the voice was coming from above, but she couldn't see anyone at all.
A cold and calm female voice continued to drift down from the sky: "I'm sorry I can only meet you in front of the Eternal Stairway, Shushuxin. My name is Erinaka Shuangyue Ying Gessol Jing. You can call me Erinaka."
The Eternal Staircase? Is that the name of this spiral staircase? Wait, just now the Snow Clan said that these stairs are the remains of their dead people?
The icy path beneath Shu Xin's feet slowly came to a stop in front of a set of steps, and then a snow-white figure materialized out of thin air before Shu Xin's eyes.
The snow tribeswoman who called herself Irina had translucent skin and snow-white eyes. However, her tall and slender figure was incredibly imposing. If Veranika, who was over three meters tall, appeared in front of her, she would look like a child. If it weren't for the icy road surface that lifted Shu Xin to be directly in front of the other woman's face, Shu Xin would have had to strain her neck to talk to her.
"Good afternoon, Irena," Shu Xin greeted politely.
Unlike Veronica, Irina's figure was exceptionally ethereal and elusive. Both had translucent skin and snow-white eyes, but Veronica felt very real to Shu Xin, while Irina seemed like a phantom that would vanish at any moment. If it weren't for Irina's overly sacred aura, Shu Xin would have found it hard not to associate her with the dead…
"Good afternoon, Shushuxin. Your thinking is correct. I am indeed only a spirit now, so I cannot enter the Eye of the Storm. I can only ask you to meet me before the Eternal Ladder. My body has been frozen, and my time will also freeze. I am glad to see Fusu, the Riverside Elf, before the day I merge with the Ice Spirit arrives." The ethereal Snow Clan member spoke somewhat apologetically. "Please understand, I did not intend to capture your thoughts. My soul is dissolving, and I cannot control my magic."
Shu Xin was at a loss for words. The magical races of the magical world were truly beyond her imagination. The fact that the other party could see into her thoughts was indeed a bit unsettling. Shu Xin could accept Irina's explanation, but the problem was that Irina couldn't control her magic, and she couldn't control her thoughts either! What if she thought of something very impolite? That would be so offensive!
"Leave it to me, darling~" Xi's voice suddenly rang in my mind.
Shu Xin didn't know what Xi had done, but Irina acted as if she had just discovered Xi's presence. Her gaze fell on the lamb in the flower fairy's arms, and her calm eyes revealed a hint of surprise: "By the twin moons... has the river elf chosen to cooperate with the demons?"
Smoothing the lamb's fluffy, soft fur, Shu Xin corrected, "To be precise, it was I who chose to cooperate with the demons. I can only represent the land of sin, not the river elves."
Irina fell silent.
Shu Xin had already realized that the Snow Clan's invitation to her was not simply about the snow elephant.
Veranika, the Snow Clan member who came to greet them, had obviously already learned from the "Wind and Snow" that the Snow Elephant was safe and sound. However, Veranika still led her to the "Stairway to Eternity," which was equivalent to their clan's cemetery. This was simply because the Snow Clan's leader, Erina, could not leave this place. What could be so compelling that the Snow Clan's leader would want to see her even when she was on the verge of death?
Although Shu Xin knew nothing about the Snow Clan and had only met two members so far, she vaguely sensed that something was wrong within the Snow Clan—a very serious problem.
The River Elves have always lived on the Garnar Plains, and the Snow Clan has always lived on the Twin Moon Snowfield. The Garnar Plains are adjacent to the Twin Moon Snowfield, so the two races must know of each other's existence and may have even had contact before. Their relationship is probably lukewarm. Judging from the River Elves' past ways of doing things, the reason for this relationship is obviously the Snow Clan.
From the moment they met until now, Shu Xin could sense what kind of personality the Snow Clan had. They probably didn't have many friends, and they probably wouldn't make any friends. They had a very aloof and independent vibe.
Judging from the ice crystal staircase of the "Eternal Staircase" that is over ten meters high and Irina's similarly tall stature, adult Snow Clan members should be giants over ten meters tall. However, Veranika is only over three meters tall. This height means she is either a minor or severely underdeveloped. More importantly, Veranika is a merchant who travels outside the home. Whether Veranika is a minor or underdeveloped, this is very strange.
It's not that minors or people with dwarfism can't be businesspeople, but under normal circumstances, it's not children or disabled people who become businesspeople, right?
That said, is Veranika really a merchant? It's really strange that Nonori managed to get bitter wheat, a crop that can grow in extremely barren magical environments, from the Snow Clan so easily and conveniently!
Shu Xin suddenly realized something even more important: Veranika had clearly seen Nonori as a flower fairy, yet she wasn't surprised at all when she saw Nonori as she was now! Oh, and there was also Irinaka's earlier comment about how happy she was to see the river fairy, Fusu—
The Snow Clan had witnessed firsthand how the River Elves had fallen to the point of near extinction, but the Snow Clan offered no warnings or assistance in the early stages, simply watching coldly from the sidelines. Now, however, they had suddenly sent an invitation, and the clan leader himself was coming to meet them. Shu Xin pondered the meaning behind this, wondering if the Snow Clan's problems could only be solved by asking the River Elves for help.
Looking up at Irina, who was still silently contemplating something, Shu Xin suddenly realized that Irina's position as leader was itself full of ominous symbolism.
Irina's life is already counting down; she can only stay in the "Stairway to Eternity" and wait for death to come. But she is still the leader of the Snow Clan. Surely she can't stay in office just because the Snow Clan is particularly suitable to be the leader before they die...
Shu Xin waited quietly without urging him.
If her speculation is correct, the Snow Clan will be the River Elves' most reliable ally—the Snow Clan did not lend a helping hand when the River Elves were on the verge of extinction, but they also did not take advantage of their misfortune or kick them when they were down. Given the River Elves' current situation, having one more friend is always better than having one more enemy.
After an unknown amount of time, Irina finally spoke. She seemed oblivious to the passage of time, calmly continuing her previous statement:
"In my past experience, demons are not a good partner, but your demon companions have carefully isolated you from my magic. I think you can lead the river elves on the road to revival, while my tribe is sliding into the abyss of decline. My suggestion is that, like the third moon of the Twin Moon Snowfield, it would be better if you did not appear."
After making a slightly lame joke, the dying Snow Clan chief sighed, "Even though you say you can't represent the River Elves, I still want to convey to you this belated and useless apology from the Snow Clan."
Shu Xin listened quietly without making a sound.
Irina lowered her long, snow-white eyelashes: "We always thought that as long as the wind and snow of the Twin Moon Snowfield never stopped, the Snow Clan's Eternal Ladder would continue indefinitely. So when the humans invaded the Garnar Plains, we did nothing. We could hear the weeping in the wind, and we could see the bloodstains on the snowflakes, but we still did nothing. We thought it was just a calamity for the river elves, and had nothing to do with us."
“I’m sorry, we were wrong,” she said softly. “We soon paid a price for our indifference far beyond what we could have imagined.”
"So, the snow elephant mentioned in the invitation is just an excuse to contact us?" Shu Xin asked.
Irina shook her head gently: "No. Without snow elephants, there would be no Snow Clan. Snow elephants are the cornerstone of the Eternal Ladder. In fact, we have always been searching for Gothor."
Through Irina's calm yet sorrowful narration, Shu Xin gained a basic understanding of the Snow Clan's situation and clarified the causes and consequences leading to their current predicament.
The Snow Clan's newborns are born within snow tornadoes, but initially they are merely formless, ignorant spirits. Only after ascending the Eternal Ladder do they acquire the Soul Flame, and through their mother's nurturing, do they gain physical form. It is because of this tradition that the entire Snow Clan is female. The Snow Clan is also a long-lived race, with a lifespan of around three hundred years. They slowly grow by absorbing the magic power within the snow and wind. When they reach about one hundred years old, and their magical power reaches its peak, they travel to the Eternal Ladder to receive a wisp of Soul Flame and begin to conceive.
A Snow Clan member typically only gives birth to one offspring in their lifetime. When the magical power within a Snow Clan member begins to dissipate, usually around the age of 280, they enter old age. At this time, they will once again travel to the Eternal Ladder and never leave again, remaining there until death. Their bodies will transform into the steps of the Eternal Ladder, and their souls will merge with the Ice Spirit. The power of the Ice Spirit is the power used and possessed by the Snow Clan.
Therefore, under ideal conditions, the Snow Clan's Eternal Ladder will continue to grow, and the Snow Clan's Ice Spirit will continue to grow stronger. This seemingly completely independent strength makes the Snow Clan indifferent to the tragic fate of the Riverside Spirits, watching from the sidelines.
As for the snow elephant, strictly speaking, it should be a companion magical beast of the snow tornado. This magical animal with a huge body and a gentle temperament feeds on the snow dragon fruit that grows in the snow tornado. When it is young, it will create and chase the snow tornado to obtain food. When it grows up, it will use its racial talent to anchor itself to the eye of the snow tornado, control the snow tornado and fix it in one position so that it will no longer move.
The Snow Clan and Snow Elephants, born from the snow tornado, have a symbiotic relationship. The Snow Clan carefully cultivates Snow Dragon Fruit to provide for the Snow Elephants, while the Snow Elephants, after anchoring to the snow tornado, obtain a continuous supply of food by carrying the Eternal Ladder for the Snow Clan.
Snow elephants are a short-lived species, with a lifespan between thirty and fifty years. They are all female, and once they reach physical maturity, they will split into offspring. The first to encounter problems are the snow elephants.
After the River Elves narrowly escaped extinction, the magical environment of the Garnar Plains deteriorated rapidly, and soon the magical environment of the Twin Moon Snowfield was also affected, followed by a sharp decline in the birth rate of snow elephants.
Without the snow elephants to support the Eternal Ladder, the Snow Clan's steadily increasing population came to a standstill, and this was only the beginning—
With fewer snow elephants, the number of snow tornadoes created by snow elephants has also decreased. As snow tribes, who mainly draw magic power from snow tornadoes, find it difficult to grow to adulthood at a normal rate, the number of adult snow tribes decreases, and the birth rate of snow tribes also decreases. On the one hand, many snow tribes die before they can have offspring, and on the other hand, many spirits dissipate before they can obtain a physical form.
Worse still, before the Snow Clan could even realize this, the remaining River Elves established the Kingdom of Garnar, completely sealing off the Garnar Plains and refusing any visitation or contact from the outside world.
After being sealed off, the magical environment of the Garnar Plains continued to deteriorate, and the magical energy in the air became violent. Eventually, the remaining snow elephants were affected, becoming irritable and even refusing to eat until they starved to death.
When the birth rates of both the Snow Clan and the Snow Elephants plummeted below a certain limit, the Snow Clan's Eternal Ladder began to crumble and disintegrate. Many Snow Clan members chose to end their lives prematurely to maintain the existence of the Eternal Ladder.
Three thousand years have passed, and now only the Nightingale tribe remains of the Snow Clan. This is also the Snow Clan tribe farthest from the Garnar Plain. Only one adult Snow Clan member remains: Erinaka. As for the Snow Elephant Gosol, who was captured by the Demon Clan, it was a baby Snow Elephant born to the Nightingale tribe's Snow Elephant. It was also the only baby Snow Elephant, but it went missing two months ago due to mental instability.
“I don’t ask for your forgiveness. In fact, I’ve been feeling guilty and upset about contacting you. I’m so sorry…” Irina’s figure became increasingly ethereal. “I can’t help but think, if we had helped the river elves who were suffering, would the Snow Clan have been spared such a long and desperate ordeal…”
“I know it’s laughable to try to help you now, but when I sensed the change happening, I knew I had to do something this time. You said you can’t represent the River Spirits, and I understand, but that’s not important, Shushuxin. I can represent the Snow Clan and offer you help. Please let me know if there’s anything we can do for you.” The last surviving adult of the Snow Clan sighed again. “After all, helping you is actually helping ourselves, it’s just a pity we realized this far too late…”
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