"She's ugly. What does that have to do with me?!" Xue'er wasn't known for her good temper, and she had been holding back, but hearing this, she couldn't hold back any longer: "I'm only 11 years old this year, while Mi Fen'er is at least in her thirties. Her appearance is determined by her parents, not by me making her look like that!"
That makes sense.
Not only Stone and the others, but even the elven elder hiding in the tree nodded in agreement. She was merely instinctively afraid of orcs, not an unreasonable elf. After thinking for a moment, she hesitantly asked, "You promise you won't harm us elves?"
Xue'er gritted her teeth fiercely: "Yes, I promise I won't hurt the elves!"
"And they won't forcibly take us there to have your babies?"
Puff puff puff!
Everyone except Xue'er couldn't help but burst into laughter. Are these elves paranoid? They're even trying to rob us!
Then look at Xue'er; her beautiful face had already turned ashen. "Why would I forcibly take an elf? There are orcs in this world! Besides, I told you, I'm not an adult yet!"
"Oh right, underage orcs can't mate!" The elven elder was finally relieved and climbed down from the tree on all fours: "Alright, I believe you."
Xue'er looked at the elf elder with a bloodshot face. Should she be happy about this?
"Excuse me, esteemed elven elder, where have your people taken our friends?" Luo Pipi rubbed his stomach, which was churning from laughing, and tried to adjust his facial expression as he asked in a serious tone.
The elven elder was taken aback: "Didn't we take her to get something to eat?"
"Do we get a share?" Stone asked shamelessly.
“This…” The elven elder hesitated: “Alright, I remember that humans can eat fruit. I’ll go get some fruit for you to eat.”
Watching the elf elder depart, Stone asked Luo Pipi with great concern, "What if she never comes back?"
"No." Luo Pipi looked at the stone speechlessly.
"Why? She doesn't seem very welcoming to us!" Stone frowned, looking thoughtful.
“Because elves aren’t as thick-skinned as you. Generally speaking, they’ll do what they’ve promised.” Luo Pipi ignored the dagger Shi Tou was shooting at and continued, “Besides, it’s not that she doesn’t welcome us, it’s just that she doesn’t welcome Xue’er.”
Shi Tou turned to look at Xue Er, only to see her plop down on the ground in a huff, then take out her water pouch and gulp it down.
"Have elves and orcs ever fought a major war?" Stone asked, quite puzzled. Normally, races whose settlements are close together often engage in large-scale battles. But the orc settlements…
"Strictly speaking, the elves have always been a very weak race. They lack the strength of orcs, the caution of dwarves, the wisdom of humans, and the ferocity of dragons... In short, the elves are a vulnerable group that is oppressed by all other races."
That's brilliant.
Stone nodded: "But the problem is, that elven elder doesn't seem to have much ill intentions towards us."
“There’s a legend, though I don’t know if it’s true,” Luo Pipi hesitated for a moment, “about Princess Irene, the goddess of magic from hundreds of years ago.”
Shi Tou stared intently at Luo Pipi. She now realized that whenever she heard the words "Princess Irene" from someone else's mouth, she would instinctively feel a chill run down her spine.
"It is said that Princess Irene is on good terms with the elves. In order to protect the elves, she cast a protective spell on all the elves," said Luo Pipi as she pondered. "This spell seems to weaken the elves."
Stone was even more bewildered: "Are you sure this is protection and not a curse?"
Weakening? That's clearly a curse, isn't it?
"No, everything Her Highness Irene did was to protect our people." At that moment, the elven elder returned. She carried a large basket on her back.
As she unloaded the basket, she explained to Stone and the others, "The spell's effect is to cause the elves who leave the Moon Goddess Forest and the Demon Sound Forest to lose their beautiful faces and melodious voices."
What?!
The little voice inside the stone was weeping bitterly. That damned steamed bun really wasn't lying to her? She was just jealous of the elf's beauty and singing voice, and then she cursed her?!
"Is this protection?" Luo Pipi didn't know much about this part of history, and was quite surprised to hear the elven elder say this.
“Yes, this is the protection from Princess Irene.” The elven elder nodded confidently, bending down to open the basket. Inside were ripe fruits.
"But is this protection effective?" Luo Pipi looked at the elf elder with great doubt, then took the fruit she offered and thanked her.
"Of course it's useful. At least the humans won't capture our people anymore." The elven elder distributed fruit to the group. "Actually, although humans are greedy and shameless, they haven't truly harmed our people."
That's a rather unusual statement.
Stone accepted the fruit offered by the elven elder, hesitated for a moment, and did not dare to eat it immediately.
“Hundreds of years ago, we elves were often captured by humans. Humans took my people to their own countries and made them sing and dance for them, and sometimes even make them bear children for them.”
Isn't this... harmful?
"Later, thanks to Princess Irene's protection, whenever my people were captured by humans, their beautiful faces would soon disappear, and their melodious voices would change. Over time, humans stopped capturing my people."
The elven elder divided the fruit equally among everyone, but forgot to give any to Xue'er. Xue'er's face turned ashen. She glared at her without saying a word.
"So, hundreds of years ago, humans did harm you?" Stone asked cautiously, because she considered trafficking in women and children a very serious crime.
"No, humans usually treat my people well after capturing them and never harm them. Elves live much longer than humans. Usually, when they reach 500 years old, humans will send them back to our settlement. There has never been any case of harming elves."
While Stone was conflicted, he also felt that the elven elder might have been right.
"So you don't hate humans, but you hate orcs?" Luo Pipi was clearly taken aback by the elven elder's statement. But she immediately realized that if such harm hadn't crossed the elves' bottom line, then what had the orcs done to make this elven elder so afraid?
"Heavens! Terrible orcs, cold-blooded orcs, brutal orcs!!!" the elven elder cried out dramatically in an aria, "Orcs are the most terrifying race in the world! They will devour my people!!!"
Stone swallowed hard. Okay, this one is really vicious.
"Excuse me, may I ask where my lunch is?" Xue'er asked, her face tense and devoid of any smile.
Upon hearing her voice, the elven elder jumped three feet high as if startled: "Heavens! Don't eat me! You promised you wouldn't eat me!"
Xue'er was so angry that she choked on her own blood: "I won't eat you, but you have to give me fruit!"
Shi Tou then realized that Xue'er didn't have any fruit in her hand.
The elven elder looked at Xue'er with a face full of horror: "You're an orc!"
"Orcs need to eat too!"
Orcs don't eat fruit!
"Then what should I eat?"
"We eat meat and drink blood, and we also want to eat elves!"
Xue'er swallowed the blood in her throat fiercely, and roared at the elven elder with a ferocious expression, "I'm going to eat you!!!"
☆, Chapter 219: Steamed Buns at the Moon Goddess Festival
"Welcome, guests from afar, to the Elf Kingdom of the Moon Goddess's Forest. [~]"
This is the 221st gathering place that Stone and his companions have visited in the Moon Goddess Forest. It was at this moment that Stone realized that Green Cloud wasn't so brainless after all; at least he hadn't revealed their clan's true gathering place to outsiders.
Of course, it's also possible that she forgot about it while playing.
"Sigh, this is the Elf Kingdom? This is so... so environmentally friendly." Stone rubbed his eyes, looking at everything in front of him sleepily.
Yesterday, the poor elven elder was so frightened by Xue'er that he fled in terror. Left with no other option, Stone and the others had to set up camp on that open ground. They had assumed the elves wouldn't reappear, but unexpectedly... (Chapter 221)
"Guests from afar, please follow me." The elder leading them forward smiled warmly, and after a long period of confusion, Stone finally understood.
"Aren't you the same person from yesterday?" Although both of them were elders of the Elven race and looked very similar, there were still significant differences in their words and actions.
"Hello, human girl, my name is Meiling. The elder from yesterday is my niece, her name is Shanna."
Stone looked at her face carefully: "Hmm, you look much more composed than her."
"Thank you for the compliment. Shanna is only 317 years old this year. So she's a bit impetuous in her actions." Meiling smiled slightly, subtly making excuses for her niece.
This excuse completely stunned Stone and the others. Stone, in particular, was speechless for a long time.
"Um, would you mind if I asked your age?" Stone grimaced and gasped. Three hundred and seventeen years old, and still so impetuous?!
"Hehe, I'm already four hundred and seventy-five years old." Meiling sighed softly, her slender fingers stroking her delicate face: "Alas. I'm getting old."
I'm getting old...
Stone stared blankly ahead. [~] Well, he was indeed old, as old as could be.
"By the way, Elder Meiling, I heard that a long time ago, humans harmed you?" Luo Pipi's lips twitched slightly, but fortunately, she knew about the elves' exaggerated lifespans, so she wasn't as horrified as Shi Tou.
“Humans? They’re alright. They like our appearance, but ever since Princess Irene’s spell took effect, humans haven’t captured us again.” Meiling tilted her head and thought for a while. “By the way, my mother was once captured by humans, but she returned in less than a year.”
"Is it because she got ugly?" Stone smiled mischievously. "So she was rejected by humans?"
"I think that's about it? Humans aren't bad. Although they sometimes capture our people, they've never harmed any of them. Besides, humans really like elves, and even those who were once captured live quite comfortably."
Judging from Meiling's tone and expression, she seems to have never harbored any resentment towards humans.
Stone looked up at the sky, somewhat speechless. How could this be so different from what she had expected?
"So, after your mother was released, did her appearance recover?" Luo Pipi asked curiously.
"Yes, she recovered in no time and became even more beautiful than before," Meiling replied with a smile. "However, she's not beautiful anymore. Once we elves are over five hundred years old, our appearance loses its luster and we slowly grow old. Alas, I'll be old soon too."
Stone stared wide-eyed. Old? Well, recalling his past life, he was still unmarried at twenty-eight, and was called an old maid, a "great spinster" and such every day. He was only old at five hundred years old, which was simply a blessing from heaven.
"Elder Meiling, although there are orcs among us, please rest assured that this orc girl will never harm you or your people." Some things need to be said in advance. Although this had already been told to Shanna, Luo Pipi felt that the unreliable elder might not have told Meiling about this.
To everyone's surprise, Meiling turned to Xue'er and gave her a gentle smile: "Little beastman? Hehe, just a little beastman who's only ten years old. I don't know what Shanna is afraid of."
Afraid of being eaten...
Stone lowered his head and muttered to himself.
"I'm not a little brat." Although being trusted was a good thing, Xue'er still found Meiling's words infuriating. What did she mean by a little brat orc? While 11 years old might be considered young among elves, for orcs, 11 was already an age where they could support their families.
"Hehe, yes, orcs are so pitiful, their lifespans are so short." Elder Meiling looked at Xue'er with a very sympathetic gaze: "Poor little brat."
puff!
Shi Tou didn't dare to look back at Xue'er's face. To be honest, this kid was really pitiful.
"Ahem, that's true, but compared to elves, humans have a rather short lifespan." Luo Pipi was the oldest among them, and had been acting as a mediator throughout the journey. Seeing that Xue'er was about to lose her temper again, she quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
Fortunately, Elder Meiling wasn't particularly short-sighted. She just smiled at Luo Pipi and didn't continue the discussion. Instead, she led Shi Tou and the others on a tour of the Elf Kingdom: "We elves revere nature the most. So, although we can build the most beautiful houses, we generally prefer to live in trees."
Stone placed his palm on his forehead, squinting at the tiny houses in the trees. Strictly speaking, they weren't houses, but rather tree hollows. While the trees in the Moon Goddess's Forest weren't as tall as those in the Crimson Forest, they were exceptionally thick and sturdy, creating a vibrant, lush green landscape, unlike the oppressive atmosphere of the Crimson Forest.
The thick tree trunk naturally has many tree holes, some of which are clean and undecorated, while most are decorated exquisitely. For example, a small sunshade made of vines and leaves is built above the tree hole, or beautiful flowers adorn the entrance to the tree hole.
“Those decorated tree holes mean that elves live there. And tree holes without any decorations mean that no one lives there. By the way, would you like to live in the trees, or live down below like the gophers?” Elder Meiling noticed Stone’s gaze and asked the others for their opinions with a smile.