"Sigh, no matter what, we will definitely protect our homeland!" Meiling declared firmly, though it was unclear whether she was speaking to herself or telling others.
It's clear that Meiling was still holding back from Shi Tou and the others; at least she didn't tell them the true effect of the curse.
Shi Tou stopped Luo Pi Pi from asking questions. Firstly, she knew that even if she asked Mei Ling, she might not tell her. Secondly, she thought of Bao Zi hiding in the ring space.
As Princess Irene's beloved pet, Baozi must know what happened back then, especially since the Baozi left behind by Irene looks so much like it. Shi Tou thinks it's highly likely that the two Baozi came from the same batch.
'Little dumpling, you wash yourself clean, and wait!'
Before leaving the Moon Goddess Festival, Stone stroked the ring on his finger and silently recited something to himself.
The poor steamed bun inside the ring sneezed twice, spewing soup all over its face. (Welcome! Your support is my greatest motivation.)
☆, Chapter 221 The Disappearing Rice Noodles
In the dead of night, the moon hung high in the branches, and the ground and trees outside the Moon Festival were filled with elves. Although all the elves were gathered here, there was no sound around the Moon Festival.
Stone pursed her lips and followed behind Luo Pipi. After what happened that morning, she had already interrogated Baozi, but she didn't know if Baozi was being stubborn or if it really didn't know. Anyway, the dead Baozi just didn't know anything.
"Six hundred years ago, the great goddess of magic, Princess Irene, bestowed a divine blessing upon our elven race. It is because of her that our elven race has been able to enjoy a comfortable life for the past six hundred years without having to worry about the sudden disappearance of our relatives and friends."
Outside the Moon Goddess Festival, Meiling, dressed in a flowing green wisteria dress, gazed affectionately at her people. Two elves stood beside her, one of whom was Shanna. Stone thought that the three elves must be elders like Shanna.
“But this morning, the treasures left behind by Princess Irene…” Meiling’s face showed deep sorrow as she said this. “They were damaged.”
Almost instantly, a tidal wave of whispers arose from the gathered elves. Though the whispers came quickly, they also dissipated just as fast. In less than a minute, all the elves fell silent, so quiet that only their breathing could be heard.
"Elder Meiling, may I ask who discovered that the treasure was damaged?" an elf standing next to Shanna suddenly asked.
Meiling glanced at her: "It's Shanna."
"Oh? Elder Shanna, may I ask what you saw at that time?" The elf turned around and stared intently at Shanna.
Shanna frowned and thought for a moment: "Elder Yu Xi, it was...it was the treasure that was bitten by something."
This is the most straightforward explanation, but it's also the one that the elves will find hardest to accept.
"Took a bite?" Elder Yu Xi was clearly not expected to receive such an answer. She froze for a moment.
“Yes, Elder Yu Xi, that’s the truth.” Mei Ling nodded gently to everyone. “Now that the treasure is damaged, we need to come up with a solution. [~]”
"Wait!" Elder Yu Xi finally snapped out of her daze and immediately interrupted Mei Ling, "We still need to find the spirit that damaged the treasure!"
Whispers arose from the elf horde, and soon several elves began to speak loudly: "Elder Meiling, we need to find the elf who damaged the treasure!"
Elder Meiling frowned as she looked at the elves, a hint of worry on her face: "However, I think the most important thing now is to come up with a solution. You know, the damage to the treasure means that Princess Irene's spell will soon be broken."
"But isn't it important who damaged the treasure?" Elder Yu Xi pressed.
The elves all looked at Meiling. Meiling hesitated for a moment, then said helplessly, "But how can we find out which elf it is?"
Standing behind the elves, Stone looked at Meiling with a puzzled expression and asked Luo Pipi beside him in a low voice, "What does the Great Elder of the Elf Clan do?"
Luo Pipi raised an eyebrow. He answered decisively, "Sacrifice."
"ah?"
"And prayers for blessings."
Stone is silent, which means that although Meiling is the Grand Elder of the Elf Clan, she does not actually have much power.
"I think Meiling is in danger this time."
Luo Pipi glanced at Yu Xi, who was confronting Mei Ling, and nodded in agreement: "It's obvious that Yu Xi is more assertive than Mei Ling, but you never know..."
"Why?" Shi Tou looked at Mei Ling in surprise, then at Yu Xi: "I think Mei Ling's position as the Grand Elder is probably really not secure."
“Meiling cares about the future of the elves, while Yuxi only cares about who damaged the treasure. Actually, she doesn’t really care about the treasure; she just wants to use it to bring down someone, right? In other words, she’s very selfish.”
"Is selfishness wrong?" Stone was even more puzzled: "The royal family of the Fallen Nether Empire is also selfish, isn't it?"
"But the Fallen Empire is a human kingdom, while this place is indeed inhabited by elves. [~]" Luo Pipi sighed. That Yu Xi seems to be a victim from six hundred years ago, right? Otherwise…
Stone was about to speak when a new commotion broke out ahead.
"Elder Meiling, since you can't find the culprit who damaged the treasure, then let me do it, okay?" Yu Xi finally couldn't hold back any longer. She didn't want to waste any more time with Meiling and made a direct request.
Meiling hesitated for only a moment before nodding in agreement.
Having received permission, Yu Xi immediately and confidently walked to Mei Ling's original spot: "Fellow elves, I want to ask you a question. When Princess Irene set up the spell, was it to protect us?"
Elves are generally quite straightforward, and upon hearing this question, they all nodded in agreement.
"So now that the treasure has been damaged, are you happy or angry?"
Shi Tou suddenly had a bad feeling, but she opened her mouth but didn't say anything. Instead, she slowly moved closer to Luo Pipi and the others, subtly shifting herself into the middle of them.
"Yes, all elves don't want the spell to fail, because it only harms us and does us no good!" Yu Xi suddenly raised her voice, angrily stretching out her hand and pointing straight ahead: "Therefore, the one who damaged the treasure is not the elves!"
Shi Tou's gaze met Yu Xi's fingers, and she finally understood what Yu Xi wanted to do. She reached out and tugged at Xue'er, signaling her not to act impulsively. Luo Pipi and Linda, on the other hand, remained relatively calm, standing silently.
"Yu Xi, they are guests who have come from afar!" Mei Ling reprimanded sternly, "You can't say that!"
"Guests?" Yu Xi revealed a mocking expression: "Then may I ask, why was the treasure damaged immediately upon their arrival?"
Meiling was speechless.
Shi Tou squinted and met Yu Xi's gaze: "I also want to ask, how did you determine that it was one of us? You know, we were with Elder Mei Ling all morning yesterday."
Meiling's eyes lit up, and she nodded: "Yes, I can testify that they have indeed been with me the whole time."
"Is that all of them?" Yu Xi asked, unwilling to give up.
Meiling was about to nod, but then seemed to remember something and turned to Shanna: "Shanna, how many people are there in total?"
Shanna blinked: "Three humans and one orc."
"This..." Meiling opened her mouth, but seemed unsure of what to say, so she closed it again.
"No, there's one more." Shanna suddenly slapped her forehead: "There's another elf, but it seems she's left."
"An elf?" Yu Xi looked at Shanna in surprise. "How come there's an outsider elf with them? Where is that elf?"
Just then, a clear voice came from a tree: "I took Mifen'er away. She stayed at my house last night, but she disappeared this morning."
Stone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the elf who had taken away Rice Noodles yesterday, whose name seemed to be Green Cloud.
"Green Cloud, you mean, that elf went missing this morning? You don't know where she went?" Yu Xi pondered for a moment, then asked somewhat uncertainly, "Could it be her?"
“But she’s an elf too!” Green Cloud immediately objected. “Mi Fan’er is really fun; she won’t do anything bad!”
Yu Xi and Mei Ling looked at each other. Mei Ling hesitated before speaking, "I really don't know. I've never seen that elf."
Yu Xi was also a little unsure. After thinking for a moment, she asked the elves loudly, "Excuse me, fellow members of the tribe, has any of you seen that elf named Mi Fen'er today?"
The elves whispered among themselves for a while, and finally, a very young elf squeezed to the front: "Elder Yu Xi, I saw an elf outside the Moon Goddess Festival last night, but I don't know..."
“Alright, then I’ll ask another question. Did any members of the clan attend the Moon Goddess Festival last night?” Yu Xi asked loudly again.
This time there was no need for whispering; all the elves shook their heads in unison.
"Guests who have come from afar, is there anything else you would like to say?" After waiting for a while and seeing that no one from her clansmen spoke, Yu Xi turned her attention to Shi Tou and his group.
Shi Tou sighed. She didn't believe that Mi Fen'er would deliberately damage the elf's treasure, but the problem was that Mi Fen'er was now missing. Even if she believed Mi Fen'er herself, how could she convince the other elves?
“MiFen’er is an elf. She has lived alone in the Crimson Forest since she was a child. We took pity on her and wanted to send her home.” Luo Pipi explained with a frown, “Now she is missing and we are very worried.”
"The Crimson Forest?!" All the elves gasped in unison. Green Cloud stared wide-eyed in disbelief and screamed, "Ah! Isn't she from the Demon Sound Forest?"
"No." Luo Pipi spread her hands helplessly. In fact, they had never explained where Mi Fen'er came from, nor did they know why the elves were so sure that Mi Fen'er must have come from the Demon Sound Forest.
"My God! The Crimson Forest, that's orc territory!"
"No, no, this is the territory of the monsters now! Princess Irene has killed so many orcs!"
"That's terrifying! How could an elf end up there?"
"..."
Listening to the elves' chatter, Stone had already prepared for the worst. After all, she had her ring space; if the elves rioted, she could simply pull them all inside. At this point, there was no need to hide her abilities any longer.
"Everyone, please be quiet for a moment." Meiling spoke up to calm the elves. "Now, let's find that elf named Mifen'er first. No matter what, we can't frame a kind elf."
The elves finally reached a consensus: find MiFen'er first, and then question her.
"Luo Pipi, do you think it's possible..." Stone suddenly thought of a possibility. Mifen'er certainly wouldn't intentionally damage the elf's treasures, but if she was hungry, she might steal some steamed buns... (Welcome! Your support is my greatest motivation.)
☆, Chapter 222 I Come from the Demonic Sound Forest
Stone and his companions were temporarily left in the Moon Goddess's Forest, surrounded by more than a dozen elves, essentially imprisoned in that open space. However, the elves were ultimately kind creatures; at least they didn't truly lock Stone and his friends up in a prison.
Of course, it's also possible that the Elven race simply doesn't have prisons.
For more than ten days, Shi Tou and the others were forced to stay in the same place. Although they had no worries about food and drink, they ate fruit every day. Even though there were many kinds of fruit, they still felt that their mouths were getting bland.
"Luo Pipi, tell me, how much longer will we be locked up?" Inside the tent, Shi Tou lay sprawled on the ground, covered by a thick wool blanket.
"How would I know?" Stone's answer was a crisp, decisive eye roll from Luo Pipi.
Actually, Stone was one thing; after all, she had a ring space, and occasionally, when the others were asleep, she would sneak in and have a bite of jerky. However, even though she had stored quite a bit of food, the cakes, roast chicken, and the like were almost gone.
So, Stone couldn't wait to leave this place. Alas, no matter how beautiful the natural scenery, it couldn't compare to the delicious food he ate.
"Those wretched elves!" The little orc, Xue'er, was the most furious. Poor thing, she hadn't eaten any meat for almost half a month. And to make matters worse, every time those elves saw her, they would let out a deafening scream, forcing her to stay in her tent all day long, only venturing out for some fresh air after dark.
"Xue'er, do you know how your people offended the elves?" Since he had nothing better to do, Shi Tou reached out and pulled Xue'er to his side, asking with a gossipy tone.
"I left my people when I was young, how would I know these things?" Xue'er replied sullenly, "Maybe the orcs ate elves in the past?"