Stone was momentarily speechless; in truth, she didn't want to stay here any longer. Putting everything else aside, Yi Siyue was a huge problem. If he accidentally revealed that he was the reincarnation of Yilin, she would be tortured to death by the elves, if not scratched to death by Xue'er.
"Okay! Let's set off now, since MiFen'er has already found her brother."
Upon hearing the name Mi Fen'er, Xue'er hesitated for a moment, but quickly made up her mind: "Yes, Mi Fen'er has found her people, and she will definitely be very happy."
Stone wasn't sure about happiness, but given Mi Fen'er's silly personality, he believed she had no idea what unhappiness was.
Hehe, maybe the saying "fools are lucky" is true!
☆, Chapter 233: The Half-Beastman of Luo Pipi
"Hehe, Stone, see, I was absolutely right, wasn't I?"
The four of them—the three stone figures and the orc—left the Moon God's Forest under cover of darkness. This was because the Moon God's Forest was largely devoid of large carnivorous beasts; otherwise, they would have been committing suicide.
This time, the guide was Luo Pipi. Shi Tou and Linda were just there for show, going wherever the main group went. Xue Er wanted to find her people, but since there was no definite news, she could only follow behind a group of humans.
"What kind of lousy road are you leading us on? It's a complete mess. When are we going to get to town?" Stone followed closely behind Luo Pipi. They had been walking all night and were exhausted, especially Stone, who had spent the day teaching the Mi Fen sisters how to make steamed buns.
Tsk tsk, kneading dough is pure physical labor.
"Don't worry, we'll be in town soon," Luo Pipi said confidently, patting his chest.
Stone's gaze fell on her chest, and he thought with ill intent, "Is this girl's chest so flat because she always pats it so hard?"
“That’s impossible, isn’t it? We’ve only just left the Moon Goddess’s Forest, how could we possibly find a town right away?” It was Linda who objected. At least she had more experience in wilderness survival than Stone: “Even the Crimson Forest, which has many explorers, is still some distance from human towns.”
Indeed, even the town closest to the Crimson Forest is at least a day's walk away. Thinking about the path they'd just traveled, Stone nodded in agreement: "Luo Pipi, you're not playing a trick on us, are you?"
"Do I look that free?" Luo Pipi walked quickly without turning her head.
Stone quickened her pace, feeling depressed, and followed. As she walked, she sensed something was amiss, but couldn't quite put her finger on it: "Okay, I'll trust you for now. So, how much longer do we have to walk?"
"I'm sorry. I don't know the exact time either."
Stone glared at Luo Pipi with endless resentment, thinking, "If you don't know the exact time, how dare you be so sure?"
"Actually, it's because last time I came by carriage. This time I'm walking. If I had come by carriage, it would have taken less than an hour, but walking... could you please hurry up?"
Shi Tou shuddered and quickened his pace, but the uneasy feeling in his heart became more and more obvious.
"Idiot! Hurry up! If the elves find out that Xue'er has tied up that Yi Siyue and turned her into human jerky, we're all doomed!" Luo Pipi looked back at the group and urged, "Stop dawdling, honestly!"
Damn it!
Stone really wanted to swear. She had been walking all night and had used up so much energy during the day. Plus, she hadn't had a proper meal of meat in days…
"Luo Pipi!" Stone suddenly stopped in his tracks, shivered violently, and then screamed.
Luo Pipi was clearly startled by Shi Tou's sudden scream. She shuddered and then turned around angrily: "What are you yelling about? You'll scare people to death!"
"Luo Pipi..." Shi Tou suddenly changed his tone, looking at Luo Pipi with a sinister gaze: "Did you forget to tell us something?"
Luo Pipi paused for a moment, clearly not understanding what Shi Tou meant: "What? What am I going to tell you? The destination? Oh. It's a small town, similar to Tingyun Town outside the Crimson Forest. However, it's not as big as Tingyun Town, but it has its own unique features!"
Stone stared intently at Luo Pipi, making her feel uneasy. "Luo Pipi," he said, "I suddenly remembered a very serious question."
"ah?"
“I have lived in the dwarf kingdom since I was a child. I started learning blacksmithing from my dwarf adoptive father when I was very young, so I am used to doing some physical labor.”
"Oh, you're really pitiful." Luo Pipi actually reached out with sympathy, wanting to touch Shi Tou's head, but Shi Tou dodged it.
“Linda grew up in Tingyun Town and knows that in places like that where explorers gather, even if she is a girl, there are some things she is used to, such as often traveling long distances.”
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Not only Luo Pipi, but even Linda and Xue'er looked at Shi Tou with puzzled expressions.
Stone turned to look at Xue'er: "Xue'er grew up in the Crimson Forest, and her abilities are not weak, even comparable to mine, right?"
Xue'er rolled her eyes at Shi Tou without any politeness: "It's not that I'm not inferior to you, it's that I'm inherently better than you."
"Impressive? The air is condensing?" Stone still remembered the time he almost died at Xue'er's hands: "This is your racial ability."
Xue'er nodded proudly: "Yes, it's a pity that it's useless against top-tier experts."
Stone's lips twitched: "Who is this so-called top expert?"
“Nine stars, or the peak of eight stars.” Xue’er thought for a moment: “Actually, that Yi Siyue is quite capable, but unfortunately, he seems to rarely engage in life-or-death battles with his opponents. I’m different, though; I’ve been fighting life-or-death battles with magical beasts since I was a child.”
Shi Tou nodded knowingly: "Are you tired?"
"Um?"
"I said, we've been walking all night since we left the Moon Goddess's Forest, are you tired?"
Xue'er looked at Shi Tou with a blank expression: "Of course I'm tired. I fought with Yi Siyue for a long time. Although he is no match for me, he is more difficult to deal with than you."
Stone suddenly turned around and looked at Luo Pipi: "Darling~~~Are you tired?"
Luo Pipi couldn't help but shudder. She felt that Shi Tou's gaze was terrifying: "Shi Tou, let me explain..."
"Yes, I'm listening."
"Ahem, I mean, I... I'm not a Qi Master, right?" Luo Pipi smiled obsequiously, "I remember telling you that I'm not a Qi Master."
“I remember that, and I also remember you telling me that you can’t do anything, that you’re just a weak little girl.” Stone smiled strangely.
Luo Pipi swallowed hard: "I'm sure I never said that last sentence."
"Oh, so you're admitting that you said before that you can't do anything?"
Luo Pipi helplessly shrugged: "Yes, I can't do anything. In fact, my constitution is very special. I will never be able to learn battle qi or magic in my entire life."
This time, Stone was genuinely surprised: "What? What kind of constitution do you have?"
"I don't know." Luo Pipi's face showed a blank expression: "I also want to know, but unfortunately, even after searching through all the historical records, I have not found a way to improve my constitution. In fact, there has never been a person in this world with a constitution like mine."
Stone fell into deep thought.
In fact, in this world of magic and martial arts, anyone can learn magic and martial arts. However, because everyone's talent is different, some people may study their whole lives and still not be able to learn even the most basic magic condensation or martial arts aura condensation. But this situation is different from Luo Pipi's.
Being unable to learn and being unable to learn are completely different concepts.
"But if you can't learn battle aura and magic, then why are you so physically strong? Even stronger than orcs who are known for their physical prowess?"
This is what puzzled Stone the most. Logically speaking, mages should have slightly stronger physiques than normal people, while aura warriors should have physiques at least three to five times stronger than mages. But this only applies to humans. For orcs, even the most ordinary orcs have physiques many times stronger than aura warriors.
“Wrong. It’s not us orcs who are known for our physical strength, but the dragons.” Xue’er stepped forward and said to Shi Tou very seriously, “The dragons are extremely powerful. Even a newborn dragon is stronger than our strongest orc.”
Stone was speechless. Honey, she's talking about humanoid races, please don't drag in such an exaggerated and over-the-top race like dragons, okay?
Ignoring Xue'er, Shi Tou continued to ask Luo Pi Pi, "Alright, now can you tell me why you still have so much stamina when we're all exhausted?"
Luo Pipi stared at the stone with great hesitation, and after a long while, she stammered, "If I told you that I am a god, would you believe me?"
Stone promptly rolled his eyes at her: "I'd believe you if you said you were crazy."
“But…” Luo Pipi clutched her cheek, her teeth aching, “I told you last time that my mother passed away a long time ago, right?”
"It seems so."
"Actually, she didn't pass away, but disappeared. She disappeared inexplicably when I was very young."
"So she's a god?"
“I don’t know either, but all I know is that she’s neither a martial arts master nor a magician, but her body is incredibly strong.” Luo Pipi fell into her memories: “There’s another thing. I feel like some of my memories are locked away. Every year on my birthday, a part of them awakens… It’s a strange feeling, like someone has put a lock in my head and unlocks it a little bit every now and then.”
"Inherited memories!" Xue'er suddenly blurted out, "My God! Your mother is an orc!"
Luo Pipi's face immediately fell: "Xue'er! You've gone too far!"
Stone blinked, then belatedly realized that if what Xue'er said was true, then wouldn't Luo Pipi be a hybrid animal? Or a mixed breed?
"But what you're describing is exactly the same situation as mine! Although I was abandoned in the Crimson Forest as an infant, I know everything about orcs. Also, I learned many of my abilities through inherited memories, that much is for sure!"
"But the problem is, my mother is human, not a beastman!" Luo Pipi practically spat out these words through gritted teeth, glaring hatefully at Xue'er: "I'm not a half-beastman!"
Chapter 234 The Strange Town of Extraordinary People
Stone, Linda, and Xue'er stared intently at Luo Pipi, making her scalp tingle and her hair stand on end: "What...what do you want to do?"
“We don’t want to do anything.” Stone suddenly gave a strange smile: “Darling, we never said you were an orc.”
"Uh..." Luo Pipi was instantly choked, stammering for a long time before finally collapsing in dejection: "There's simply no one among humans with the same physique as me..."
"Xue'er, what do you think?" Shi Tou tugged at Xue'er's arm. "By the way, do you have any memories of orcs in your inherited memories?"
Xue'er shrugged with a wry smile: "Shi Tou, what do you think inherited memories are? Strange tales and anecdotes?"
"Otherwise what?" Stone really didn't know anything about the concept of inherited memories; she had never heard of it before.
"To put it simply, humans are very strange animals. Humans are different from almost all other species in the world. I'm not referring to appearance, but to certain traits. For example, among ordinary animals, even if they lose their parents, some instincts still remain." Xue'er spoke with some difficulty, trying her best to make others understand what she was saying, but she didn't know how to put it better.
Stone understood; this idea was quite common in her past life. Like cats, they are born to climb trees, even without a mother cat's guidance, they possess the instinct to be felines. The same principle applies to all animals, except for humans.
Human beings have only sucking instincts; everything else requires teaching.
"I understand what you mean. Humans can only learn certain skills through adult instruction. But orcs are different?"
“It’s not just orcs, it’s the same for other species.” Hearing Stone say this, Xue’er finally breathed a sigh of relief, no longer needing to rack her brains to think of how to express herself: “Right. The most typical example is actually magical beasts. Magical beasts are different from us; many of them live independently from a young age, and even without the guidance of elders of their own kind, they can still easily learn some of their own skills.”
"And orcs are the closest to magical beasts?" Stone hesitated for a moment, then asked, "I've heard a theory that many years ago, orcs were actually transformed from magical beasts."
Luo Pipi suddenly interrupted, rolling his eyes, and said, "All intelligent beings are transformed from magical beasts."
"Huh?" Stone paused for a moment, the image of Peking Man suddenly flashing into his mind. Cough cough, that seems to make sense!
"Monsters are actually ranked. Many years ago, higher-level monsters gradually developed intelligence, and slowly, some of the more numerous monsters began their own civilization. It can only be said that the ancestors of mankind were a type of monster that was extremely numerous and had an extremely fast reproduction rate."
Luo Pipi truly lives up to her reputation as a well-read person, cough cough. We still don't know if she's even human...
Anyway, Luo Pipi's views were similar to Stone's beliefs from his previous life. Stone thought for a moment and then asked, "So, our ancestors were actually all magical beasts?"