The Princess's Smile (17)
The farmer said, "I also heard that..."
"I can give you the diamonds first, but if the news is false, I will come back and take them back."
Next, Jian Tanxi gave the diamond to the farmer, and then rode the magic carpet to Mushroom Mountain.
She spent several days staking out Mushroom Mountain, but didn't see any particularly bright stars; the starlight was dim for several nights in a row.
On the fifth night, she finally spotted a very bright star.
She initially thought it was the moon, but the moon was on the other side and its light wasn't very bright.
The brightest star wasn't very big, only about twice the size of the others, but its light shone like a searchlight, directly onto the ground.
However, the light shone on a huge rock. Only part of the rock was visible above the ground; the rest was hidden by wild grass and flowers, so its size was unknown.
Is the Dream of the Stars hidden inside this large rock? Do we need to lift the rock to see it, or break it apart?
But if it were that simple, why didn't anyone take Star Dream before?
Just as Jian Tanxi was feeling confused, she suddenly saw a flock of owls fly over and flutter around the strongest beam of starlight, looking quite happy.
Then, a little boy dressed in a black robe ran over and looked up at the flock of owls.
Jian Tanxi said to the child, "Little brother, do you live around here?"
The child in the black robe said, “No, my home is far from here. But I keep a flock of owls, and they need to bask in the stars. The starlight is strongest here, so I brought them here.”
Have you heard of the gem called 'Star Dream' that lives here?
"I've heard of it, but no one can take it away."
"Why?"
"Look at this strongest beam of starlight shining on this big rock. Legend has it that the Dream of the Stars is here. But it's not on the surface, nor inside the big rock, but more than a hundred meters down from this rock. That place is the dwelling place of the subterranean giants. They are very xenophobic, and if they see someone trespassing, they might kill that person."
"Does the Dream of the Stars belong to the subterranean giants?"
"No, actually the subterranean giants don't know it exists. It should be hiding in a place that's hard to find. Almost no one on the surface has ever seen the Star Dream. The legend of the Star Dream has been passed down from generation to generation. Actually, I don't know if it's true or not."
"I see... So how do we get into the underground giant's dwelling?"
The child exclaimed in surprise, "You're going in? That's dangerous!"
How tall is the subterranean giant?
"More than three meters."
"In that case, if I become small enough, they might not be able to find me."
“That makes sense, but they won’t come out easily. The door from underground to the surface changes frequently, and I don’t know where to go in.”
When will they come out?
"I've never seen them come out in my entire life. However, legend has it that they came out together once decades ago. Before that, people didn't know that there were subterranean giants living here, and they held a Christmas celebration on this patch of grass."
The noise of the celebration was so loud that it may have reached underground, so the giants came out to join in.
However, they were too tall and trampled many people to death. Others who couldn't escape became their dinner.
Since then, few people have come here to play, and no one has held celebrations here anymore.
"Since the giants live more than a hundred meters above the ground, how do they hear the sounds on the ground?"
"It seems that there is a kind of grass here that can transmit sound. Its roots are very deep, extending all the way to the vicinity of the underground giants, and the sound can also travel along the roots."
Jian Tanxi observed the grassland under the moonlight and indeed found a kind of grass that looked like butterfly wings, which she had never seen before.
Perhaps this grass is the sound-transmitting grass.
Jian Tanxi asked, "If the subterranean giants come out, will they run around and harm humans?"
The little boy said, "They can only move around in this area, as if someone has placed some kind of restriction on them. If the giants leave the Mushroom Mountain area, they will be torn apart by an invisible giant net."
Jian Tanxi nodded.
She devised a way to lure the subterranean giants out and confirmed that they couldn't leave.
There are no residents near Mushroom Mountain, and the child came from a very far place. Once the child leaves with the owl, I can carry out my plan.
Jian Tanxi asked the little boy, "How long does your owl bask in the stars?"
"Half an hour is enough."
"Then you should quickly lead all the owls away; I want to lure the giant out."
"You're going to retrieve the Star Dream from underground?"
Jian Tanxi felt there was no need to hide it from the little boy, since he had just told her a lot of useful information and probably had no ill intentions.
Therefore, she said, "Yes, I must get the Star Dream."
"Why? It's very difficult to succeed, and it's very easy to lose your life."
"If I don't get the Star Dream, I'll have to be a servant to witches for the rest of my life."
"I see, then we should definitely give it a try."
"Do you know how long the subterranean giants would stay on the surface if they came up and found there was no celebration?"
"I don't know either. Maybe they'll go back soon. If you can't find the Dream of the Stars in a short time, you might be trapped in the underground world and probably won't live much longer."
Hearing what the little boy said, Jian Tanxi also became nervous.
But she had no other choice.
She absolutely had to get her hands on this dream of stars.
After the little boy left with the owl, Jian Tanxi took out the Walkman Meng Yuening had given her and silently recited a Christmas carol. The Walkman then played the carol.
Jian Tanxi turned the volume up to the maximum and deliberately placed the Walkman near the sound-transmitting grass.
Not long after, she heard a rumbling sound coming from underground, like an earthquake or like elephants walking underground.
The sound grew closer, and Jian Tanxi guessed that the underground giant was about to emerge.
So she took out the last bottle of shrinking potion and shrunk herself to the size of a cricket.
Shrinking potions can shrink you by any number of times; just think about the size you want in your mind.
Once Jian Tanxi successfully shrank, a large gate appeared on the ground.
The door opened outwards, and several giants emerged from underneath.
These giants were entirely blue, with crimson hair, a gaping maw, and terrifying expressions.
Jian Tanxi thought to herself that they must have heard the Christmas carols and thought that a Christmas celebration was being held on the ground, which is why they came up here one after another.
Without hesitation, she quietly jumped through the door.
Inside the door was a long staircase that wound its way down.
The underground was originally very dark, but the giants each carried a small lamp, illuminating the steps. So Jian Tanxi jumped down effortlessly, and the giants didn't notice her.
At this moment, the giant who had already stepped onto the ground said, "There is no celebration! Nobody! Nothing at all!"
The giants below didn't believe it and insisted on going up to see for themselves. Meanwhile, the giants already on the ground wanted to come down, and suddenly, many giants blocked the entrance, creating chaos.
Taking advantage of the commotion, Jian Tanxi had already jumped over many steps.
She was too small, and the steps the giant was climbing were very high, so she had to jump down.
About twenty minutes later, she finally arrived at the kingdom of the underground people.
The bungalows here are three times the height of ordinary human houses, and all kinds of items are several sizes larger than human sizes.
Their candies were as big as mice, their toothpicks as thick as fingers, their stools were several heads taller than Jian Tanxi, and their women's handbags were big enough to fit a human.
Most of the underground giants have gone up, so this place feels quite empty. There are streetlights along the road, so it's not dark.
Jian Tanxi tried to avoid bright places, running from one dark corner to another.
She needs to find the location of the Star Dream.
Just then, she saw a dilapidated house in front of her with a sign that read, "Haunted house for sale, price negotiable."
However, the sign is quite old, and the writing on it has gradually weathered away, indicating that no one has ever bought this haunted house.
Jian Tanxi suddenly noticed that the location of this haunted house was directly beneath the large rock on the ground. That large rock was the one illuminated by the starlight.
Could it be that the Dream of the Stars is hidden in this haunted house?
Jian Tanxi decided to go in and take a look.
The house had three floors, which was too tall and spacious for Jian Tanxi.
She could only start by checking the floor, then move on to the kitchen, sofa, coffee table, bookshelves, and other areas on the first floor.
If the Dream of the Stars is hidden here, it must have some special features.
The Heart of the Sun and the Soul of the Moon are both large and bright, and the Dream of the Stars should be similar.
Unless, something obscures its light.
After a while, the shrinking potion wore off, and Jian Tanxi returned to her normal size.
A lot of noisy footsteps came from outside; the underground giants must have returned.
They ran while complaining:
"Honestly, I clearly heard Christmas carols, so why isn't anyone having a celebration on the ground?"
"Could those humans have run away after hearing our voices?"
"But surely not everyone could have run away? And shouldn't there be food, bonfires, lots of stalls, balloons, and the like at a celebration? There's none of those things here either. Something seems strange."
"Did we hear wrong? There were no Christmas carols playing on the ground?"
"Surely so many people misheard? I'm exhausted, I need to go home and sleep."
Jian Tanxi observed carefully that the giants had all returned to their own homes, and it seemed that no one would enter the haunted house to look around.
But then, the door to the haunted house was opened.
Jian Tanxi quickly ran upstairs to the second floor and hid herself under the furniture.
There are no lights on the second floor, so she should be able to hide quite well.
A blue giant walked in and lay down on the sofa, seemingly to rest.
Jian Tanxi thought to herself that the giant must be a real estate agent, which was why he came in.
Now, she can only search for the Star Dream even more carefully.
She glanced at the second floor but couldn't tell if there were any hidden gems.
If she rummages through drawers or moves furniture, the giant downstairs will definitely hear her.
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