The Princess's Smile (14)
The bar-headed goose replied, "It's not far; it only takes a month to walk there."
"A month is too long, I don't have that much time. How can I get there faster?"
“Our chieftain is very large and can carry you there; it will only take two days. However, he may not be willing to carry you, so you can try to negotiate with him first.”
"OK."
The bar-headed goose paddled forward, and Jian Tanxi followed its steps on the bank.
Soon, it arrived at a large reed bed and summoned the clan chief.
The chieftain was a very old and large bar-headed goose. It appeared to move slowly, but its noble demeanor commanded respect.
Its wings were as big as a table, big enough for Jian Tanxi to sit on.
It asked Jian Tanxi, "Human girl, I heard you want me to give you a ride to Haha Country?"
Jian Tanxi replied, "Yes, King Yan. I wonder what it would take for you to give me a ride?"
The old voice of the Goose King came over: "As you can see, I am very old, and my voice is also very old. But when I was young, I had the most beautiful voice in the whole flock. Back then, many of my fellow bar-headed geese, as well as animals from other flocks, liked to come and listen to me sing, or simply listen to me talk."
I desperately want to regain my youthful voice, even if only for a moment. Can you help me?
Jian Tanxi thought for a moment, then took out a voice-changing pill and said, "Prince Yan, this is a voice-changing pill. After taking it, you can make any sound you want, including your own voice from when you were young. However, the effect only lasts for 20 minutes. Is that alright?"
Yan Wang said happily, "That's wonderful! I know youth can't be relived forever, but being able to regain your youthful voice for 20 minutes is already very good. I accept your gift, and I'll send you to Haha Country now."
So, Jian Tanxi handed the voice-changing pill to the Goose King, who then let Jian Tanxi sit on its back.
Then, the King Goose took off and flew towards Haha Country.
It appeared slow to move, but once it took flight, its speed rivaled that of an airplane. Jian Tanxi was so close to the clouds that she couldn't see it clearly, so she had no idea which direction it was flying in.
Two days later, Jian Tanxi arrived in Haha Country.
After delivering Jian Tanxi, the Goose King flew away.
Before leaving, the Goose King plucked a feather from his own head and gave it to Jian Tanxi.
Jian Tanxi discovered that this goose feather could also be stored in her personal space.
She walked toward the city gate of Haha Kingdom, but was stopped by the guards.
The guards said, "According to the rules, you must be amused by our jokes before you can enter."
Jian Tanxi nodded: "Okay, please go ahead."
One of the guards said, "Do you know what you can eat with watermelon to cause poisoning?"
Another guard: "I know, eating it with poison will cause poisoning, hahaha..."
Jian Tanxi: "..."
Jian Tanxi forced a smile.
The guard said, "That doesn't count; you weren't really laughing. We're going to continue with the joke. A hospitable human often invites small animals to his home, but he never invites birds. Why is that?"
Another guard: "I know, because he can't stand it, hahaha... What a hilarious pun..."
Jian Tanxi: ? ? ?
The first guard continued, "Summer vacation has started, and the grandson is coming to his grandparents' house for the summer, but the grandparents are very scared. Why is that?"
The second guard: "Because they have more than twenty grandsons, hahahahahaha..."
Jian Tanxi: "..."
The first guard: "Are you kidding me? This is so funny, and you're not laughing? Then I'll have to pull out my best joke. Little Ming has a feather duster, but recently he found that the feather duster has become flat. Why is that?"
The second guard: "I know, because this feather duster has been stored away for ages, hahahahaha..."
Jian Tanxi: "..."
Jian Tanxi stood at the city gate for an hour but didn't go in.
She was really trying her best to smile, but the two guards judged that she wasn't genuinely trying to smile, so she couldn't get in.
So she could only listen to the two guards tell those incredibly lame jokes.
She suddenly realized that the princess of the Red Strawberry Kingdom never smiled because she thought the jokes told by the players weren't funny at all, just like she felt now.
After another two hours, Jian Tanxi finally laughed when she heard the 99th joke.
The two guards finally let them pass.
After entering the city and resting briefly, Jian Tanxi began to inquire about the one-eyed barber with three tumors on his head.
She didn't have to put in much effort to find out that the barber had no fixed address and that he seemed to be shaving people's heads in the Hundred Fruit Forest these past few days.
She walked for half a day and arrived at the Hundred Fruit Forest, where she indeed saw a strangely shaped barber sitting under a tree.
The three tumors on his head were as big as half his head. From a distance, it looked like he had four heads.
His left eye is blind, and he wears an eye patch.
Jian Tanxi walked over and asked, "Barber, I heard you have a treasure here?"
The barber said, "My treasure is my scissors; they can help you create many beautiful styles. Miss, would you like a haircut?"
“I don’t get haircuts. I want to buy another treasure from you: the Soul of the Moon.”
The barber looked at her warily: "What is this? I've never heard of it. If you're not going to get a haircut, leave."
"Respected barber, although the Soul of the Moon is precious, it won't be of much value to you if you keep it. Why not use it to exchange for something you truly need? What do you think?"
The barber thought for a moment and realized Jian Tanxi's words made sense. So he asked, "I do indeed possess the Soul of the Moon, so how much are you willing to pay for this gem?"
"I...I don't have any money. Could you exchange it for other valuable items?"
Jian Tanxi then remembered that she was just a student with only a few thousand yuan in savings. Moreover, she couldn't withdraw money from the instance. Even if she did, it wouldn't be the same currency used here.
She suddenly realized that she had survived for so long without spending a single penny.
The barber said, "I am a barber, and your strange tools are useless to me. Either give me a lot of money, or give me a very, very long head of hair."
Jian Tanxi asked, "How long do you want it to be?"
She has long, smooth hair; if all else fails, she can cut it off and give it to the barber.
The barber glanced at her hair and shook his head, saying, "Hair like yours definitely won't do. What I want is 30-meter-long hair, cut from the same person's head, and without any splicing. Each strand must be over 30 meters long. Moreover, this hair must be very smooth, without any roughness."
Jian Tanxi asked in surprise, "30 meters long? Are you sure you didn't misread it? Is it 3 meters or 30 meters?"
"It's 30 meters. Haven't I made myself clear enough? If you don't have it, don't waste my time."
"No one in the world has hair that is 30 meters long."
"Then please go ahead, don't delay my business."
Jian Tanxi was somewhat disappointed. Was she really going to miss out on the Moon Soul?
Suddenly, she remembered that she had a prop: hair growth serum.
This hair growth serum can make hair grow 10 meters quickly and can be used a total of 3 times.
If she uses it all three times, wouldn't her hair be over 30 meters long?
She initially thought hair growth serum was a useless tool, but it turned out to be quite useful.
So she said to the barber, "Please wait a moment, I will find you 30 meters of hair right away."
Jian Tanxi walked into a grove of trees, took out hair growth serum, and sprayed it on her hair.
After a while, her hair grew wildly, dragging on the ground, reaching a total length of ten meters.
Jian Tanxi sprayed it twice more, and her hair grew 30 meters longer. Including its original length, it's now over 30 meters long.
She held her hair in her hands and went to the barber, saying, "Do you think my hair is alright? It's long enough."
The barber glanced at it and said, "No, this hair isn't smooth enough."
Jian Tanxi herself could also feel that these newly grown hairs were rather rough.
Because hair also needs nutrients, if it grows too long at once and doesn't get enough nutrients, it certainly won't be smooth.
At that moment, she remembered the tool Huo Zimu had given her: a skin softener spray.
The smoothing spray makes hair smooth and can be used a total of 5 times.
She sprayed it once, but found that only part of her hair became smooth.
It seems that because the hair is too thick and long, one application of the spray is not enough.
So she simply sprayed it all five times.
After spraying, all her hair was shiny and smooth, without any frizz, as silky as silk.
The barber was very satisfied: "That's right, this is the 30-meter-long hair I wanted."
As he spoke, he used scissors to cut off Jian Tanxi's long hair and put it into a large backpack.
His backpack seemed to be made of a special material; hair wouldn't poke a hole in it, but instead stayed neatly inside.
Then, the barber took out a palm-sized gemstone and handed it to Jian Tanxi.
This gemstone looks like a full moon, emitting a soft glow, as if the moon had been plucked from the sky.
Just holding it made Jian Tanxi feel her mood become gentle, quiet, light, and joyful, as if she were truly nourished by the spirit of the moon.
Besides regulating her mood, this gem must have other uses, but she didn't know it.
No wonder the witch wanted this gem; it must be very useful.
Jian Tanxi put the Moon Soul into her personal space, and then she asked the barber, "Excuse me, do you know where the Sun Heart and Star Dream gems are?"
"I have no idea."
“I am willing to exchange something else for information about the other two gems.”
"I'm not lying this time, I really don't know."
"Alright, thank you for giving me the Moon Soul. Goodbye."
"Wait a minute, here, this is for you."
The barber took a rusty pair of scissors out of his box and handed it to Jian Tanxi.
Jian Tanxi didn't know what use it was, but she accepted it anyway.
She continued walking, hoping to find out the whereabouts of the other two gems.
Although few people have heard of them, if enough people ask, someone will eventually be able to answer them.
After walking for a day, Jian Tanxi hadn't encountered many people, and none of them knew the whereabouts of the other two gems.
Suddenly, she stepped into a trap, was caught in a large net, and was hoisted into the air.
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