Stone Mo, actually, you don't need to specifically add the adjective "groundhog" before the following.
“Uh. We live on the ground, humans all live on the ground.” Obviously, Luo Pipi was also taken aback by Meiling’s words, and choked for a moment before answering.
“Okay, do you need me to dig a hole in the ground for you?” Elder Meiling asked again very kindly.
Even Luo Pipi was speechless this time. What did she mean by "digging a hole"? They're not dead yet, are they?
"Ah! Meiling, something's happened! Oh my god!"
Just as Shi Tou and the others were choked and speechless, a scream pierced the sky.
Meiling frowned: "Hmm?"
Stone was dumbfounded. A beauty is a beauty; even her frown was beautiful.
Drooling...
"Meiling!" A scream grew louder as it approached, and soon a figure darted in front of Meiling: "Something's happened!"
It turned out to be Elder Shanna from yesterday.
"Sanna! You're not a child anymore, why are you still so impulsive? There are guests here, speak properly, what's wrong?" Meiling's tone changed from gentle to stern, her face full of disappointment.
Shanna was stunned for a moment before she noticed the group of people behind Meiling, including the little beastman Xue'er: "Beastman!"
Xue'er gritted her teeth, squinted her eyes, and dangerously flashed her white, sharp teeth at Shanna.
"Ah!" This was like stirring up a hornet's nest. Shanna let out a bloodcurdling scream, as if she had been forced into something.
"Sanna!" Meiling glared at Shanna with her beautiful eyes, her imposing presence stunning her: "Tell me, what happened?"
"Meiling, the Moon Goddess Festival over there, over there..." Startled by Meiling's shout, Shanna finally remembered why she had come to find Meiling. Her face turned pale, and she pointed eastward, her voice trembling as she spoke.
Meiling's composed expression crumbled in an instant, but she still bit her lip and asked, forcing herself to remain calm, "What happened to the Moon Goddess?"
"Bao, baozi!" Shanna seemed genuinely frightened, though it was unclear whether she was frightened by the things in the Moon Goddess Festival or by Xue'er.
Meiling's face turned pale, and she quickly leaped away, disappearing from everyone's sight.
Shanna watched Meiling leave with a look of horror, then quickly glanced at Xue'er, wanting to run away as well, but was unexpectedly grabbed by the arm by Shitou.
"Don't eat me! Don't eat me!" Shanna was terrified, closing her eyes and frantically shaking her hands, completely unaware that the person holding her was Stone.
Stone rolled his eyes decisively: "Don't worry, I don't eat elves."
Shanna seemed to recognize the stone's voice. She slightly opened her tightly closed eyes and, seeing it was the stone, breathed a huge sigh of relief: "Phew, humans don't eat elves, that's great. I like humans!"
These words were really too much for Xue'er to bear. Of course, Luo Pipi immediately stepped in front of Xue'er; they couldn't let Shanna be frightened any further.
"Is that Elder Shanna?" Luo Pipi was tall and easily blocked Xue'er. She also quietly signaled Linda to pull Xue'er away.
"Yes, I am Shanna."
"Then, can you tell me what happened to the Moon Goddess?" Luo Pipi tried her best to maintain an elegant demeanor to soothe the still-shaken Shanna.
Shanna, her face pale with fear, glanced behind Luo Pipi and said honestly, "Princess Irene put something in the Moon Goddess Festival, but that thing..."
Seeing Shanna's stammering, Stone suddenly had a bad feeling. Wait, if her ears weren't playing tricks on her, Shanna seemed to have said "baozi" (steamed bun) just now?
Oh my god, steamed buns again?! (Welcome! Your support is my greatest motivation.)
☆, Chapter 220: Protective Spell Fails
She knew it all: anything related to Irene was bad news!
Looking at the object on the moon goddess's altar, which, while not extravagant, was exquisitely decorated, Stone felt like dying. [~]
Why did you have to leave a bun of all things? Even if you're going to leave a bun, at least leave a whole, intact one, right? This bun has been bitten, and there are neat teeth marks on the edge. What's going on here?
Before the offering table, Elder Meiling knelt on the ground with a devout expression, her hands clasped together. Looking at her, she resembled the Buddhists Shi Tou had seen in his past life. But the problem was, paired with the half-eaten bun in front of her, the scene... well, it just looked...
This is outrageous!!!
"Elder Shanna, may I ask what this is?" Stone reached out and pinched Shanna, who was still in a state of fear. Shanna had been coerced by them to come to the Moon Goddess Festival. Of course, the so-called coercion was to give her to Xue'er as dinner.
Shanna quickly shifted her body closer to Shi Tou. Although Shi Tou had threatened her earlier and even pinched her, he was still the furthest away from Xue Er.
"I don't know, I woke up this morning and saw it like this." Shanna leaned pitifully against the stone, tears welling up in her big, round eyes, as if they were about to fall at any moment.
"Shouldn't you elves worship the moon goddess?" Stone grinned, looking like she had a toothache. Although she wasn't entirely sure, since the forest where the elves lived was called the Moon Goddess's Forest, logically speaking, they should worship the moon goddess.
It definitely can't be a steamed bun!!!
“Yes.” Shanna pouted, snuggling close to Stone. If this had happened in Stone’s past life, being that close would definitely have sparked rumors.
Thankfully, this isn't my past life.
"Then, what's the story with that steamed bun?" Shi Tou stared blankly at the steamed bun on the offering table, feeling as if her worldview and values were collapsing.
"That's a treasure left behind by Princess Irene!" Shanna suddenly perked up. With a hint of pride, she said, "With this treasure, our elven race will never be harmed by other races again!"
treasure……
steamed stuffed bun……
Stone couldn't help but think of that soup dumpling that was charming inside and out, and he felt that Irene must have starved to death in her past life, otherwise, why would she be so fond of dumplings?
"Ahem, Princess Irene's taste is truly unique." Luo Pipi said with a straight face. The wrinkles at the corners of his mouth were stretched out, and he looked like he was having a very hard time suppressing his laughter.
"Yes, yes, that's Princess Irene!" Unfortunately, Shanna didn't catch the sarcasm in Luo Pipi's words at all, taking it as a compliment and smiling brightly.
Stone gasped sharply, her mouth agape. Why did she feel a chill run down her spine?
"But the treasure is still here, isn't it? Why are you saying something happened?" Luo Pipi pinched her arm hard, finally suppressing her laughter again.
Shanna's face immediately fell: "The treasure... has been damaged."
"Oh? Did you search?" Stone raised an eyebrow, sniffing the air. "It doesn't seem to smell much."
Luo Pipi glared at Shi Tou with a bloodshot face: "Princess Irene has been dead for five or six hundred years!"
"So? It's already spoiled? Or dried out?" Stone craned his neck to look at the buns on the offering table: "They didn't grow mold!"
Long hair...
That's truly impressive.
"Ahem, this bun isn't for eating, is it?" Luo Pipi wanted to burst out laughing again, but considering Shanna and Meiling's worried expressions, she held it back.
"How could you possibly eat it? Even if it didn't have any hair, eating it would give you a stomachache," Stone answered Shanna quite frankly.
Shanna looked back and forth between the stone and the fallen skin in utter horror: "That's treasure! How can you eat it?!"
"Why make it look like a steamed bun if you can't eat it?" Stone really resented Irene's taste. Shouldn't girls be gentle and sweet? Even if you made it into a rag doll, it would still be better than a gnawed steamed bun, right?
"That's a treasure! A treasure that protects our elven race!" Although Shanna was timid, she was still extremely excited when she heard someone slander the most important treasure of the elven race: "It is because of this that our beauty gradually disappears when we elves leave the forest."
What?! The purpose of the steamed buns is to curse the elves' appearance?!
Stone was truly unsettled. Of course, she wasn't one to act rashly. After all, although the elf had lost her beautiful face and melodious voice when she left her home due to a curse that was neither a blessing nor a curse, it could be considered an indirect way of protecting the elf.
At least, humans will never come to capture Pokémon again.
"If something happens to the treasure, will the spell on you break?" Stone frowned, carefully examining the bun on the offering table. Although a large bite had been taken out of the bun, leaving only about two-thirds of it, Stone found it strangely familiar.
“It seems so, but I can’t be sure.” Shanna lowered her head with deep worry. “If the spell fails, will my daughters and granddaughters be captured by humans?”
puff!
Stone stumbled and nearly fell headfirst to his death in front of Baozi. "What the hell?! Someone like you has a daughter and a granddaughter?! 'Them'?!"
"Elder Shanna, do you mind if I ask how many children you have?" Such a polite question certainly didn't come from Stone's mouth.
Luo Pipi looked at Shanna with a sincere expression, but if you looked closely, you could see the corners of her mouth twitching.
“Oh? I have three daughters and two sons.” Shanna didn’t seem to mind the question at all and answered readily. But then she frowned and said somewhat uncertainly, “Granddaughters… I think there are more than twenty? Or more than thirty?”
She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then finally gave up in frustration: "I forgot."
You're awesome!
This was a largely unanimous opinion among Stone and the others.
"So, if the spell fails, your daughters and granddaughters will be in danger?" Luo Pipi asked very seriously. "But humans don't know that spells can fail, so you can rest assured."
That's true, but when it comes to the problem, nothing stays hidden forever. Even if the elves don't spread the word, humans will eventually find out.
"A great calamity is about to befall us..."
Just as the group of people who were just passing by were chatting idly, Elder Meiling in front of them suddenly began to mutter in a serious tone.
The murmur was very soft, so soft that it seemed as if Meiling hadn't spoken at all, yet it clearly reached the ears of everyone present.
Shi Tou looked at Mei Ling in surprise. Just as he was about to ask a question, he saw Mei Ling suddenly stand up and turn her head.
"Sanna, inform all the tribespeople that when the moon rises tonight, everyone should gather outside the Moon Goddess Festival. I have something to say to them."
Shanna nodded, trembling all over, but couldn't utter a single word.
Meiling looked at her with affection: "Don't worry, no matter what, Princess Irene has protected us for over six hundred years. She... There is no such thing as eternal protection in this world, and it's time for us to stand on our own two feet."
“But…” Shanna opened her mouth, and tears immediately fell: “I’m scared.”
"Don't be afraid. Even if the curse starts to wear off, it will still take at least a few years before it completely disappears. A few years..." Although she was saying comforting words, a trace of sadness still flashed in Meiling's eyes.
Yes, a few years is a considerable amount of time for humans, but for the long-lived elves, it is merely a blink of an eye.
“You…” Stone hesitated for a moment: “Don’t worry, we can swear that we will never tell anyone that the spell has failed. Humans probably still think that you are the same as before, that your beautiful appearance will disappear once you leave your home.”
Meiling forced a smile, but it was filled with worry: "Will her beautiful face disappear? But Princess Irene's curse has more than just that effect..."
"ah?"
"Making a beautiful face and a melodious voice disappear is just the outermost layer of protection of the spell; there are others..." Meiling's voice grew softer and softer until only a murmur remained.
"Is it to protect this forest from other races? But we entered so easily." Luo Pipi thought for a moment, then pursed her lips and reminded him, "Actually, you might be able to stay deep in the forest. Under normal circumstances, humans wouldn't enter here."
Although the Moon Goddess Forest is beautiful, it lacks powerful magical beasts and abundant mineral resources. The only noteworthy thing is its fruit, but in this world where strength reigns supreme, it is of little value.