Chapter 78 The Spear of Courage Still Presses Forward (Part 1) Our Mission...
A young man came to the village.
She has a white bob haircut, is tall and slender, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist.
A large sword hung from her slender waist, and she held a snakeskin bag in both hands.
Apples, red dates, and Xifeng liquor.
A large quantity of local specialties.
Ji Yinxiu entered the Feng family and first visited Feng Ye and several respected elders of the Feng family. She sat obediently among the adults, listening to their long-winded discussions about their ancestral origins and the grim situation.
Feng Ye looked Ji Yinxiu up and down, becoming more and more pleased with him. He asked him if he was willing to defect from his family and come to Taihao. With his delicate skin and tender flesh, he could be tempered in the fields. He was already tired of seeing the last one as fair and tender as him, Feng Mian.
Then, Feng Mian, who was unaware that his mother had already disliked him, led him to pay homage to the Jianmu tree. Feng Feng insisted on joining in, so the seven of them, like elementary school students on a spring outing, strolled along the stream, through the maple forest, and slowly made their way to the meadow where the Jianmu tree was located.
Throughout the entire process, Ying Huo reluctantly followed behind Xia Zhu, dragging his feet. One minute he complained of being hot, the next he said he was tired. Feng Feng meaningfully sized him up and down between him and Ji Yinxiu, who was calm and composed, radiating a silver glow. Ying Huo was so angry that his face turned pale, and he wished he could throw tons of gold at her to knock her unconscious.
Jianmu and Xiazhu were no different from when they last came.
Upon closer inspection, one discovers that its once sturdy and robust trunk, resembling a long-dried riverbed, has developed several noticeable cracks. However, this does not prevent it from spreading its canopy, where small birds perch and chirp merrily.
Ji Yinxiu said that she had seen a picture of Jianmu in the school in Xuanyuanqiu before, but it was far less shocking than seeing it with her own eyes.
A towering tree, spring comes and autumn goes, its leaves turn green and then yellow.
The thought that millions of years ago, birds also perched on the branches, grew up under the shade of the trees, and several generations passed away filled him with a deep sense of melancholy.
All things are but a temporary lodging, a fleeting visitor through a hundred generations.
Feng Feng chuckled and joked, "Alright, alright, now's not the time for sentimentality. We know life is incredibly short, and time flies by in the blink of an eye, so let's get moving!"
So everyone returned home and briefly explained the results of yesterday's discussion to the newly joined Ji Yinxiu at the "Unnamed Base" next door.
The name "Unnamed Base" was chosen by Feng Feng, who called it a "plain description" style, simple and easy to understand.
Since no one voted against it, she happily went to beg Old Man Jiang to have a nameplate engraved on the base so that it could be hung at the entrance, showing passersby that this was a house with an owner.
After much fuss and arrangement, everyone decided to rest for the night and go to sleep at the base early the next morning. Fengmian would not participate in this operation, saying that a team of seven was too large and that it wouldn't be fun if everyone bumped into each other and caused a traffic jam during the escape.
"As the logistics captain, I will stay behind and wait for everyone to return in triumph so we can have a good meal together."
And so it was decided. Feng Mian busied himself preparing a welcome feast with Lao Jiang. A large group of people chattered noisily around two tables pushed together, making Xia Zhu's head spin. Ying Huo, that sly and lazy person, didn't even come to eat in order to avoid doing housework, staying alone in the next room. Before eating, Xia Zhu stood in the yard for a long time, hesitating, but ultimately didn't go upstairs.
After the banquet ended and the night grew quiet, everyone returned to their rooms to rest. Ying Huo, as if possessed, opened the door to his room and found a letter of shaqima lying quietly in the moonlight.
He pondered for a long time with a blank expression, and finally picked up the sachima with a look of disgust, then closed the door.
Early the next morning, Fengmian delivered breakfast to the unnamed base.
Fengmian's dishes are nutritious, with a balanced mix of meat and vegetables, and a wide variety to suit everyone's needs. He pulled Feng Feng aside and gave him a few instructions, then told Ji Wuchou and Xia Zhu to be careful and not to charge recklessly just because they were strong.
He acted like a thoughtful housekeeper, arranging everything before closing the door for them.
Ying Huo didn't join the others; instead, he stayed in his room. Xia Zhu couldn't help but suspect that his method of entering dreams might be different from other mysterious officials. The closer she got to him, the more bizarre everything about him seemed. She had never really been sure if having Ying Huo by her side was the right choice.
The interior of the Dream Eater was no longer what it used to be; few officials remained, and their expressions were somber. The bell's clappers clanged back and forth a few times, and when it opened its eyes again, the world had been transformed.
*
"Long, long ago, on the distant planet Little Fish Beach Continent, there were seven different countries. They were: the Elf Kingdom, located in the secret forest in the east of the continent, inhabited by a group of kind, hardworking, and skilled elf fairies who were good at gathering and planting, but also a bit clumsy; the southernmost country of the continent was the Half-Beast Kingdom, a humid and resource-rich swamp country, dangerous and mysterious, the homeland of the legendary half-human, half-beast creatures;
The Northeast Ice Plains are a land without water, with a frigid climate and thousands of miles of ice. The entire country is enveloped by cold currents, and rain from the sky never falls to the ground. The inhabitants of the land without water possess magic bestowed by the ice.
In contrast, the northwestern desert was the domain of the Yan Emperor. Legend has it that the Yan Emperor was merely an ordinary human who, on a whim, decided to forge a sword for himself. While bending down to forge the iron, he accidentally singed his hair with the flames. Although the flames didn't take his life, they would never be extinguished. Fearing to harm his loved ones and to be ostracized by the world, he chose to leave his homeland and wander alone. Eventually, in the desert of Xiaoyutan, he met a woman who, like himself, burned with passion. The two fell in love, married, had children, and eventually established the Yan Yan Kingdom, standing tall above the desert.
The former homeland of Emperor Yan was the only human-inhabited city-state in the west, the richest place on the entire continent—Ophir. It was said that gold was everywhere there; viewed from the high mountains surrounding the city, the mountains of Ophir shimmered, as if gold were flowing down the rivers from the mountaintops. In the Golden Kingdom, there were no poor people; if there were, they wouldn't deserve to be called "human."
Five nations surround a sacred land. That is the holy land of the Great River in the Central Plains, the place where the clergy descended. Legend has it that these clergy were originally guards of the God of Life. Because of a debate between the God of Life and the God of Time regarding whether the continent of Little Fish Beach had many fish, the God of Life, in a fit of anger, sent them to the mortal realm to find the answer. The guards transformed into water snakes and swam along the Milky Way to the continent of Little Fish Beach. They discovered that it not only had fish but also all sorts of other creatures. Unable to immediately conclude whether there were many fish, and fearing the God of Life's punishment, they dared not return to the universe. Thus, they remained at Little Fish Beach, establishing a religious faith that connected the four directions on this continent.
The six nations originally lived in peace, and the continent of Xiaoyutan was thriving. However, the frozen sea in the far north came into view of all the races. A demon king named Ares was born in the center of the frozen sea. He was lustful and blasphemed the gods. In order to exert his tyranny, he kidnapped the human princess who had just been blessed by the priests and chosen as a saintess.
Therefore, the Papacy, in conjunction with the Land of Ophir, offered a vast amount of treasure and sacred artifacts as a reward for the capture of the Demon King Ares. Any hero, regardless of race, who could successfully rescue the princess from the frozen northern sea would become the supreme and glorious king of the Little Fish Beach continent. He would possess the wealth of the world, even the secret to immortality, and a noble princess…
Young hero, the god of life will bestow upon you the diligence of the East, the cunning of the West, the spirituality of the South, and the remaining reason and composure, courage and strength… Fame and fortune may be vulgar, but a beautiful woman still sheds tears at the ends of the earth; how can you stand still…”
Feng Feng finished reading the summary of the events with great emotion, and then slammed the parchment scroll in his hand onto the wooden table with a "thud".
The six people looked at each other, speechless.
A muscular man wearing an incongruous apron deftly sidestepped through the crowd and tables and chairs, carrying a huge tray toward them.
"Guest, six cups of silver grass root water with ice, a large piece of swamp bread, that'll cost... three gold coins. Please enjoy."
The man placed six small brass cups filled with ice in front of everyone, and finally left a long, fish-shaped tray in the middle, on which was a bread-like food emitting an unknown green glow.
Feng Feng unconsciously swallowed, and the five of them looked in unison at Ying Huo, who was dressed in a respectable manner.
Five sharp, piercing gazes seemed to burn holes in him. Ying Huo couldn't help but roll his eyes. He bent down, pulled out the stone from the corner of the stacked table, and placed it back on the table. It had turned into a heavy, gleaming gold ingot.
The old, round wooden table, having lost its balance, tilted violently to the left, spilling some of the silver cogon grass water.
The man beside him, his eyes gleaming, held the gold ingot in his palm, looking Ying Huo up and down. He thought to himself, "As expected of a human from Ophir, so generous." He happily put away the gold, then turned and nimbly slipped away from the crowded tavern. With his back to everyone, he made no attempt to hide the long brown wolf tail behind him.
The six people had just opened their eyes in this world when they found that their clothes had all changed, along with some unspeakable details. Fortunately, they still had their important items, such as their respective talismans, Xia Zhu's small sword, Ji Yinxiu's Xuanyuan, and Feng Feng's seed bag.
Each of them also had a parchment scroll on them, the first part of which was the text that Feng Feng had read aloud earlier, but there was another part that shimmered with gold below the text.
"The main quest to become the ultimate hero of Little Fish Beach: rescue the princess and defeat the demon king. Isn't this just a game?" Feng Feng picked up the parchment scroll again and read the quest log below the story summary.
"I have another side quest here..." Ji Wuchou said softly, as she unfolded her parchment scroll. The main quests were the same, except that she had one more.
"What?! Let me see!" Feng Feng reacted like a puppy seeing a bone at the slightest sound. "The Wanderer's Side Quest: Bring Water to the Waterless Land..."
Feng Feng looked at his own copy again, "What the heck, why don't I have any side quests..."
“I don’t have any either.” Xia Zhu unfolded the sheepskin roll in her hand on the table.
"Little crow, what about yours!"
Just as Feng Feng was about to peek over, he saw that Ying Ya had crumpled the parchment into a ball and hidden it behind his back.
"I...I didn't..." He stammered, trying not to make it too obvious! But Feng Feng just smiled and stared at him, patting Ying Ya's shoulder with a look of satisfaction, "Good lad, you've grown up, you have your own little secrets now."
Ying Ya's pale face immediately turned bright red.
"I also have a side quest here, but I don't understand what it means." The honest Ji Yinxiu handed his parchment scroll directly to Feng Feng, and then passed it around the round table to read it aloud.
When the message was passed to Xia Zhu, she noticed that there was indeed a line of smaller text below the main quest.
"The Abandoner's Side Quest: Teach swordsmanship to the first woman you meet after entering the desert."
"Hehehe!" Feng Feng let out a strange cry, "What's so hard to understand? Let me explain in detail..." Before she could finish speaking, a skeletal arm weakly rested on her wrist.
"What?" Feng Feng stared back with dissatisfaction, his pout so wide it could hang a kettle on it.
Ying Ya: "..."
"Fine, shut up then." She pulled her hand back, hands on her hips, looking angrily at Ying Ya, who seemed like a spy sent by Feng Mian!
Xia Zhu returned the parchment to Ji Yinxiu, then looked at Ying Huo with a sincere expression.
The man leaned back lazily in his chair, arms crossed, and said indifferently after receiving Xia Zhu's gaze, "Why are you looking at me? I'm not."
"Oh." Xia Zhu lowered her head dejectedly, drawing circles with her finger on the spilled water from the silvery grass root on the table.
Ying Huo stared at the top of her head and pursed his lips.
"OK! The situation is clear now!" Feng Feng touched the two pale green, fern-like tendrils that had grown on his head, feeling a little itchy. "I must be the kind, hardworking, and simple fairy! Please, brave warriors, introduce yourselves!"
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Author's note: The most outrageous episode, but also the most enjoyable to write... Believe me.
P.S.: Why Sachima? When I was little, I would visit my grandparents for Chinese New Year, and they always prepared lots of similar snacks and pastries. My grandfather's favorite was Sachima. I think it fits the image of Aunt Wang next door bringing it out to entertain guests after the New Year, and also reflects Xia Zhu's mature demeanor.
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