Chapter 1010: Chapter 1010: Great Clan Leader
(Finally got everything moved into the new ho, can settle down here, and life can finally have so routine… Took three whole months of effort, and after the renovations were done, there were still a bunch of troubleso things. These past few days I’ve been really stressed over whether I should take a long vacation to adjust…)
Due to the issue with life forms, Lilina is extrely sensitive to the life environnt, only second to Dingdang. However, her resistance to unusual life environnts is much weaker than Dingdang’s, so facing this village full of illusions and the giant plants sprawling across the star, Lilina feels very uncomfortable. It’s a sensation that others can’t empathize with, sothing akin to an unbearable sense of discord—like walking down a street and suddenly seeing ten thousand naked Billy Herringtons rushing past you in discord: Although it poses no threat, I absolutely don’t believe anyone could face such a situation calmly…
In contrast, Dingdang is much calr. She is a genuine and highly specialized Life Goddess, and any unusual life environnt in the Mortal World has zero impact on her. In fact, ever since we arrived at the Earth’s Core, Dingdang has been bored and nestled inside my pocket, refusing to co out. She finds the giant plants on the little planet within the core to be lazy, even communicating with them feels incomplete. I can sense Little One moving slightly in the pocket on my chest, indicating she’s awake. I peek inside the pocket, only to find her curled up and playing with cat’s cradle using one of the fine threads we use for sewing clothes at ho. I estimate that within another half hour, she’ll manage to tie herself into a dumpling.
Lilina snuggles against for a while, grumbling. It’s odd to say, but this child is undoubtedly a mature and sophisticated big sister at her core, with life experiences that far exceed mine and even my sister’s combined, epitomized by her cunning intelligence and maturity. Back in Silver Moon City, when she boldly escaped Azeroth, her shrewd planning still lingers in my mory. Yet since she was reborn and ended up with this eternally youthful demigod Loli body, Lilina has seemingly severed all ties with the world of regular adults, even forgetting she’s an adult herself. She’s beco increasingly adept at acting cute, competing with the kids at ho for toys, teaming up with Little Baobao to sneak into the kitchen to steal cake—sotis even teaming up with Sandora. She finds endless delight in daily activities which should realistically seem dull given her psychological age. I once asked if she had upset her stomach with sothing, which earned a random bite from this imp, and she went on doing as she pleased.
However, I always regard Lilina’s antics as normal behavior. Her mind isn’t quite right, so she can do what she wants. After all, taking care of a sister with frequent issues doesn’t stress much: even though, theoretically, she’s of a senior generation.
After causing a fuss for a few minutes, Lilina finally gave up, relinquishing her demigod form and changing from Elf Loli to Human Loli, which made her feel more comfortable. The middle-aged elf ca down from the second floor carrying drinks and a platter of cut fruits, clearly astonished: he couldn’t understand why a perfectly good clan mber suddenly looked like an outsider.
“It’s just a shape-shift, folks from Fiery Sky all…” Lilina was about to bluff, only to be gently corrected by my sister, so she changed her tune, “Anyway, it’s my ultimate skill.”
“We just arrived here, and we’re not too familiar with things here,” my sister looked a bit troubled at the drinks and fruits served by the middle-aged elf, not knowing how to handle them, so she changed the subject, “Have you lived on this star… world all your life?”
“Of course, Oasis Star is the holand of Tree Elves,” the middle-aged man showed a proud expression, “It’s thanks to the protection of Oasis Star that Tree Elves can survive the scorching of Fiery Sky unscathed. Yet despite this, we’re still very curious about the situation on Fiery Sky. You see, we have a legend here, saying that people from Fiery Sky would be invaders, arriving in large ships to steal ancestral treasures, burning the world to ashes. So, we’ve always been quite tense seeing strangers wearing foreign clothing. It’s all because of the stories we’ve heard since childhood, and initially, I even thought you were the enemy. But you’re really different from the tales: no large ships, no murder or fire, you seem amicable, not like enemies. Actually, people on the ground sotis study Fiery Sky with very long telescopes, but with clouds and sky barriers, even the largest scopes can only see burning rivers, not even buildings. So, nowadays, people don’t believe in the fairy tales of Fiery Sky, thinking instead that it must be another land, with fires ablaze for so reason.”
Everyone maintained a calm deanor on the surface, but quickly discussed via Spiritual Connection and reached a consensus: the ntioned invaders might be the Fallen Apostles who crazily hunted the Clan after the Old Empire’s downfall. Them coming down from Fiery Sky, driving large ships to seize ancestral treasures likely implies that Fallen Apostles could pilot warships to breach Green Star’s armor and mantle, to plunder this little planet within the Earth’s Core. This suggests their ancestor’s tale must originate from the Old Empire Era: are these people descendants of the Imperial Family?
I suddenly realized everything before was illogical, and the focal point of this discord was that everything here was a mass projection, yet they themselves weren’t aware of it.
If their true forms are the shells in hibernation chambers in the mantle layer, then they would be survivors of the disaster from tens of thousands of years ago, living in the Earth’s Core in the form of souls, yet they know nothing of this.
If they are the descendants of the survivors from back then, completely unaware of their ancestors’ deeds and only knowing so fragnted legends, that’s even stranger: How do mass projections reproduce?
They are just projections!
The middle-aged man brought so drinks and fruit. The drinks appeared to be so sort of diluted plant juice, light yellow-green in color, with a scent that combined a fresh sweetness with an earthy aroma. The fruit’s original shape was indistinguishable, having been cut into uniform rectangular pieces; perhaps it was just a small part of a giant fruit: everything in this place was too large. Dingdang must have felt the sa way biting into an apple here as we do now. I felt troubled by these food and drink items. Sandora was right; the mass projections here indeed have too many unnecessary details, including the sll. But they look quite real—could they really be used by us in the real world? Certainly not. Of those present, only Taville could easily drink such a thing, as she could directly decompose the drink into discrete information clusters stored within herself, increasing the density of her projection self, albeit only slightly. When I tried, I discovered that the cup turned into a phantom in my hand: so projection device had a bug when processing such unscheduled information exchange. Luckily, I reacted swiftly, placing the cup back before the information collapse expanded.
“It seems you all aren’t quite accustod to the things here on the oasis,” the middle-aged man said with a kind smile. “Fiery Sky burns fiercely; there certainly isn’t any tree sap like this.”
“By the way, what’s the deal with Fiery Sky in your legends?” My sister pondered for a mont and asked rather subtly, “We live in the mantle… I an behind that sea of fire. There are no flas there, and until today, we didn’t know there’s a whole planet existing beyond the sea of fire.”
My sister intended to use this question to gain insight into the worldview of these elves, which is the first thing to do when getting to know an unfamiliar and strange race. The other party clearly understood what a planet was: the size of Earth’s core, this small celestial body, is not large, and without oceans as a barrier, the natives here should easily notice that the land they live on is actually spherical.
The middle-aged man was unsuspecting, as these legends were familiar even to children in his world: “Legend has it that there was initially no Fiery Sky, nor Oasis; everything was dark and scorching hot. The world was liquid and spherical. Then, the ancestors ca from another place into this darkness. Their original world suffered a great catastrophe, so they had to create a safe haven for their descendants. Thus, the ancestors emptied the center of the world, creating a space where remnants of the old world piled onto the shell of this space, burning fiercely, forming the Fiery Sky. Then, the ancestors placed the oasis at the center of the world for their descendants to live safely. Finally, the ancestors rged with the essence of the oasis, becoming the land we stand upon. The Great Clan Leader is one of the ancestors; every once in a while, an ancestor awakens to beco the new Great Clan Leader to guide us, while the forr Great Clan Leader returns to the land to continue sleeping.”
“What about before this world appeared? Where did your ancestors co from?” I thought this question was crucial; it concerned whether they knew of the Green Star. However, unfortunately, the other party shook his head: “Beyond the Fiery Sky is just the outside, we don’t know what kind of place it is. Anyway, the Fiery Sky and the world’s shell can block all dangers, and we don’t need to risk breaking through that sea of fire. You all ca from behind the Fiery Sky, don’t you know what kind of world it is?”
It seems these elves are unaware of the Green Star’s existence, and their knowledge of the world extends only to the burning mantle above their heads, beyond which are various mythological stories.
“Speaking of which, aren’t you curious about the world opposite the Fiery Sky? Look, we’re standing right here; we ca from outside,” my sister said with a smile, “Actually, it’s safe outside now…”
The middle-aged man fell into an eerie silence, not just silence—his facial expression seed to freeze entirely, like a projection stuck on its last fra after losing signal. It took a full few seconds before he reacted, faintly saying, “No need to go out, can’t go out, no need to go out.”
After saying this inconclusive statent, he seed to have more to say, but was suddenly interrupted by a girl’s voice coming from outside the door: “Daddy… do we have guests today?”
The plant fiber-woven hanging at the door swayed slightly, and then a girl in a white base with a green skirt, long hair cascading down, gracefully stepped into the hall. She looked a bit dazed upon seeing us.
This face… is very familiar!
“It’s the girl we saw up there,” my sister rembered first, saying in the spiritual link, “In the hibernation pod, hit face-first by Lilina…” Lilina’s voice interjected: “Can you please stop talking about that! It’s just face-planting; Lin often lands face-first, why doesn’t anyone ntion it?”
Looking at the green-haired girl with a puzzled yet innocent smile, I felt my head starting to ache. Many of my previous guesses seed to collapse with this girl’s appearance, turning the orderly thoughts into a more chaotic ss after tumbling around.
Are these mass projections really just the shells buried in the mantle layer? If so, why do these projections know nothing about Green Star? Is that middle-aged man deceiving us? Or maybe the shells on the mantle weren’t the original inhabitants of Green Star—they were placed here after the establishnt of Earth Cove Oasis, and the original masters of Green Star fabricated lies for them? Was my previous hypothesis about the “biological laboratory” actually correct?
“This is my daughter, Lu E,” the middle-aged man introduced her, standing up with a proud expression on his face, “She studies by the side of the Great Clan Leader. Her return ans the Great Clan Leader is free.”
“Huh? A guest of the Great Clan Leader?” Lu E suddenly appeared quite delighted, “They must be very important friends, right? The Great Clan Leader asked to co back early today to entertain guests… Let take you to her.”
The middle-aged man nodded in agreent, and then Lu E dashed toward the door like the wind, waving to us, “Follow ! The Great Clan Leader’s right in a treehouse not far away, she’s really friendly!”
After saying this, the girl disappeared behind the tapestry, leaving us to stare at each other in surprise.
The middle-aged man smiled apologetically, “Sorry, my daughter can be a little rude; she’s a lively soul and has often caused trouble.”
We didn’t mind and followed a group to find the green-haired girl waiting at the doorway, curiously observing us. Then without asking anything, she turned to lead us, always looking exceedingly happy. Sandora remarked in the spiritual link: “These elves really seem quite simple-minded—cautious, but easy to deceive.”
I nodded, “Exactly, if we send Lilina over, they’d be conquered in half a year.”
Lilina imdiately jumped up, trying to bite people, but I always managed to fend her off with a hand-chop. The continual sound of hand-chops striking foreheads echoed all the way, making Lu E frequently turn her head to look.
The Great Clan Leader’s place was not within the village but outside the mushroom wall, in a specially made wooden house. Rather than being hollowed out of a mushroom, it was a two-story house made from wood and fibers. Although the village was small, it only took us a few minutes to walk there. Just as we were about to knock on the door, Qianqian couldn’t hold back her curiosity and asked Lu E, “Hey, how were you born?”
Perhaps she ant to find out if Lu E understood her identity as a mass projection, but that’s how it ended up sounding, coincidentally avoiding arousing suspicion: People here wouldn’t know what mass projection ans.
“Born?” The green-haired girl looked puzzled, “Of course, Dad picked from the tree. Aren’t tree elves all born that way? Oh, by the way, why are your ears so strange?”
I didn’t answer her, just glanced silently at the pocket on my chest. Dingdang had tied herself into a yarn ball in there, probably having tossed around for a while, now confused and asleep. This little thing, too, was picked from a plant—and even more magically, she could be replanted, to be picked again in a couple of years!
We wanted to ask more about “tree elves,” but fearing arousing suspicion, we temporarily suppressed our doubts. Lu E was a lively girl appearing quite simple-hearted, not showing any displeasure about Qianqian’s sudden weird question.
Unlike another—soone lying in the hibernation pod, devoid of any life response.
Soon, we t with the so-called Great Clan Leader, an aging female tree elf. She wore plain gray clothes; when she was younger, she might have been a beauty just like Lu E. Now she was a serene and kind elder. She was not very tall, with gray-green hair neatly tied into a bun at the back. Sitting behind a hefty wooden table, she flipped through a book-roll like one of those old-school teachers. She seed to have foreknown our arrival, showing no hint of surprise. She instructed Lu E to go ho and courteously invited us to sit, speaking little yet quite amiably.
The space within the small wooden house was initially vast, given the first floor had no extra rooms. The entrance led directly into a hall, with multi-compartnt racks on one side and a dark fireplace on the other. Facing the entrance was a narrow staircase likely leading to where the Great Clan Leader rested. Thus, the ground floor should have been spacious; however, not much free space remained, each corner filled with various peculiar things—there were vivid animal sculptures, wooden plaques with botanical engravings, and bottles that seed used by alchemists, indicating that the Great Clan Leader had ample hobbies during her spare ti.
“I heard guests have arrived, brought by that little clover girl,” the Great Clan Leader casually remarked, showcasing the composure befitting her age and a lack of urgency. She seed beyond the age of impatience, treating everything thodically, one at a ti. In this regard, these self-proclaid tree elves—either native inhabitants or their projections—shared a psychological pattern quite similar to Earthlings. Of course, they appeared sowhat naïve, likely due to their isolated lifestyle, “You ca down from the Fiery Sky, yet without flas and weapons.”
“You consider the Fiery Sky a dangerous place, so anything coming down from it must be dangerous,” Lin Xue said casually and began curiously examining the carvings piled on the floor.
The Great Clan Leader observed us for a mont, her calm eyes betraying neither hostility nor friendliness, simply gazing as if trying to discern our inner thoughts. Qianqian got interested too and engaged in a staring contest with the Great Clan Leader; she had no fear of staring gas; she’d mastered ti managent. Thus, almost instantly, the Great Clan Leader relented, rubbing her eyes, while Qianqian, feeling triumphant, squatted down to search for ants with Lilina. The Great Clan Leader looked at Qianqian in confusion and puzzlent, finally shaking her head, “You probably aren’t adversaries; otherwise, the Oasis would have raised an alarm, and the Fiery Sky would have collapsed. But now, I can’t say much else—stay a few days in the village; people in the Oasis are hospitable. By then, maybe I can understand what your visit signifies.”
Stay a few days… we don’t have that kind of ti! (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to vote for recomndations and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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