Act 12: Mountain Steeps

Foreword:

Human existence is a natural phenomenon, not a product of any will.

--Wang Xiaobo

Should we help it, gunsmith?

Please help it! Please help it!

How about we help it? Please help it!

Berloberg is like a sentimental little child, completely different from the heat that drives its blade to slay monsters.

This trait surprised Jiang Xueming somewhat.

So that's what my stick was thinking?

The Golden Eagle Gryphon is enormous and infamous in Saladin town. A nursery rhyme describes it as the messenger of the devil, the morning star, and a servant of the demon.

Humans are on its diet, making it an absolute natural enemy for hunting parties. Due to the characteristics of the Chimera Disaster Beast, monsters like Anna can gain intelligence by plundering human essence, and the same is true for the Golden Eagle Gryphon —in some families of Golden Eagle Gryphon that are growing in size, the parents will teach their cubs the skills of hunting Homo sapiens.

This is a "book of experience" in the literal sense, but in the eyes of Golden Eagle Gryphon, it's a powerful tonic that can enhance intelligence.

Look at it! It's so silly! Maybe we can become friends!

"Should we help it?" Jiang Xueming asked.

Oscar was still hesitating, but Wolf's hesitation wasn't about whether to save the bird or not, but rather about how to cook it, how many dishes to make, and how to prepare the bird in multiple ways.

"Huh? We're going to let it out?"

Upon seeing a stranger, the great griffin immediately assumed a defensive posture, pawing the ground with its claws, arching its body, and spreading its wings to make itself appear as large as possible. Its survival instinct forced it to flex its shoulder and neck muscles, but its thin limbs below its waist and torso would not obey its commands. Its body had begun to dehydrate. In the cold winter, it had been trapped in this skeleton for three or four days without a drop of water.

It couldn't even roar; its swollen tongue, which had become dry, cracked, and purple, could be seen in its beak.

"Berloberg wants to spare its life." Jiang Xueming didn't approach the bone cell, staring intently at the caged bird.

Oscar countered, "We still have to go into the mountains. How much water do you have? How much food? Killing it is the best option. Its blood tastes delicious; I grew up drinking its blood—it strengthens your muscles and bones!"

"I brought two water bottles, each two liters, that should last me two days." Jiang Xueming took out his supply pack and checked his rations. "I've got quite a bit to eat too. If all else fails, I can just kill a few Kukuka later. But can you even eat those things?"

"With me here, you don't need to worry about whether it's edible or not. Kukuka is too fat to climb mountains, and it's covered in fat, so it'll smell really good when roasted." Oscar gave Xue Ming a meaningful look. "You're spoiling it like this? Berloberg? Is this little elf trying to charm you?"

Jiang Xueming: "To be honest, I don't quite understand what it's thinking. Maquire also had a sword spirit, which guided him on how to fight and learn knightly combat skills. But when it comes to me, it asks me to do some good deeds."

[Gunsmith! Tell Oscar! You need to talk to Oscar properly!]

"It has something to say to you." Jiang Xueming relayed Berloberg's words. "There was once a civil war between some lapis lazuli and Homo sapiens."

Oscar exclaimed in surprise, "Huh?"

"This history cannot be left in the Arcane Library." Jiang Xueming continued, repeating the voice in his mind. "A long, long time ago, probably two or three hundred years ago, the people of the underground world suffered a great famine. Hunger is a terrible addiction."

"No need can compare to the need for survival; it surpasses power and procreation. No addiction can compare to the addiction to hunger."

"The evolutionary path of Homo sapiens has been about eliminating natural enemies. Until today, it seems that there are no natural enemies in the mortal world. But there is still one thing: viruses. Viruses have been fighting Homo sapiens all along. When they came to the underground world, they became the Vita Imprint."

"Under the pressure of survival, lapis lazuli once became the natural enemy of Homo sapiens. We devoured and hunted each other, just like this Golden Eagle Gryphon. Now, Oscar, you don't have to hunt for survival. You and Homo sapiens have become good friends."

"This eagle is the same; it might have a chance to become the next Lapis Lazuli, or at least some other stone—"

"Try it. Give it some water."

"The ancestors of wolfhounds became human companions because Homo sapiens offered them food and lodging. They have large brains, so if one generation doesn't work out, they have offspring, and offspring of their offspring. Gradually, the life that continues to live will understand this."

Jiang Xueming read this passage aloud to Oscar verbatim.

Oscar hadn't expected that even the most loyal team of Ming De had such a dark history. This made him wonder if Berloberg had lied.

[My friendship with the BOSS has lasted for over 35,000 years, from the time of the Cro-Magnon to this day. Whether it's me, or all the elves who help Ming De, we've followed Homo sapiens forward, becoming their tools, learning skills from humans, and then passing those skills on to their children.]

[This is a kind of legacy, I have no reason to deceive you, Oscar. If you were to draw a specific image of me, you could think of me as a little imp wearing a blue pointy hat. I hope I can always frolic in the human world (#^.^#), and I hope to see vibrant, passionate, and romantic things.]

Xue Ming didn't say this aloud. In Wolf's worldview, the education he had received over the past two hundred years told Oscar that the Lapis Lazuli Guards were loyal to humanity and inseparable partners of Homo sapiens. What Berloberg said was too bizarre. If they believed this side of the story, Wolf's long-held cause and ideals might begin to waver.

Oscar had toiled in Saladin's camp for over a decade, and his children would also be dealing with Homo sapiens in the future. He had always been proud of his lineage, and the Lapis Lazuli Guards were like the Imperial Guards at the foot of the capital. Oscar, this VIP, could be considered a true "old Saladin" with impeccable lineage. The fact that his ancestors had such a bloodthirsty traitor, and that even the history of rebellion could not be preserved, was an insult to Oscar's pride.

At this moment, Oscar's inner self is being tested.

It was fortunate that Xue Ming didn't finish his sentence, and Oscar managed to gloss over it with the Red Stone People's thick skin, just laughing it off.

"Hey! It likes to make up stories?"

Jiang Xueming: "Ah, indeed, indeed."

Why didn't you explain it to him clearly, gunsmith?

Jiang Xueming said in a low voice, "That's not important, Berloberg."

[Men live by being forgetful! ~ It seems that's true.]

"Then let him out! Do you think I'll let a little imp fool me?" Oscar, burning with a stubborn streak, gritted his teeth and began dismantling the bone cage. "Saying your brother Wolf is petty, calling your brother Wolf narrow-minded? I'm actually falling for that kind of provocation! Brave Red Stone People are fearless! Come on, let's go!"

With a "crack," Oscar's impact to the beast's soft spot caused a small opening to appear in the cage.

The Golden Eagle Gryphon trembled in fear at the wolf's breaking-out maneuver, its slit pupils constricting as it lunged forward with its claws to scratch Oscar's face.

Jiang Xueming grabbed Wolf Brother and pulled him back. He saw snowflakes falling from Oscar's front; they were duck feathers peeking out from the holes in his down jacket.

"Hey! Like a dog biting Lü Dongbin, it doesn't appreciate kindness! I'm letting it go, and it even tries to attack me!? Do you think I can tolerate this?!"

Xue Ming: "Don't rush. Don't rush, don't rush, don't rush."

As he spoke, Jiang Xueming took out a water bottle, crushed the compressed biscuits, and threw them into the cage.

The griffin smelled the synthetic meat in the dry rations, and its eyes lit up. It didn't leave a single crumb of biscuit that flew in from the air. The bird's head was as steady as a gimbal, and without moving its body, all the biscuit crumbs fell into its mouth.

Xue Ming didn't say anything, but slowly approached the cage. He reached out through the gap and first scattered some dry food to lure the big bird away. Then he poured some water on the ground. These life-saving water droplets danced on the ice and turned into ice flowers in the blink of an eye—the temperature was just too low.

A warm, damp breath escaped from the gunsmith's lips as he stared at the behemoth with the dread of a formidable enemy.

--The griffin was over three meters tall, and its open beak could swallow Xue Ming's arm whole.

The moment it smelled the moisture, the large bird immediately turned its head and tail, tilting its head to stare at Jiang Xueming's water bottle. It was trying to distinguish between the gloves and the bottle; its eyesight had deteriorated due to dehydration, and it could barely tell the difference between the two patches of color.

"Do you understand the language of griffins, Oscar?" Jiang Xueming asked.

Wolf slapped his forehead. "Yes! I just remembered!"

The large wolf flapped its arms, took off its outer garment and used it as wings to flap. The calls of Golden Eagle Gryphon are of many kinds, and they need to be combined with body language to express specific meanings.

"Cuckoo! Cuckoo!--" Oscar imitated the call of a hawk.

Jiang Xueming: "Why does it sound like a chicken?"

Oscar: "Don't interrupt, your Wolf Brother is trying to communicate."

After three rounds of questioning, the "big yellow chicken" in the cage finally flapped its wings and responded with a single sentence.

--It really does sound like a hen clucking; it's very eerie.

Xue Ming breathed a sigh of relief and called out, "Call it to come eat and drink."

Oscar mimicked the feeding signals that Golden Eagle Gryphon parents give to their cubs.

Upon hearing these words of eagle language, the large bird suddenly ruffled the feathers on its neck, its eyes darted around rapidly, and then it glanced sideways at the wolf with one eye, seemingly understanding but not quite comprehending—because this large wolf didn't look like its parents at all.

Jiang Xueming shook the kettle, and the sound of the water finally attracted the yellow chicken.

He climbed onto the bone cage and sprinkled water down from above. The eagle finally raised its neck, just like its wolf ancestors who would howl at the moon, and began to look up, opening its beak to drink some water.

Its eyes were squinted from the cold water, and it immediately shook its head, trying to escape to another spot. It then slammed hard against the bone cage. Xue Ming lost its balance and slid down the cage, immediately reaching the opening, where it continued to shake the water bottle.

After the collision, the yellow chicken seemed to lose its mind in pain, lashing out at Xue Ming's arm with its claws, intending to tear off the Homo sapiens's flesh. In the blink of an eye—

Xue Ming used both hands together to press down on the strange bird's beak, forcefully subduing it and using his weight to pull its weak head and neck to the ground. Oscar was stunned by the sight.

Wolf Brother only knew that the priest was quite skilled; he could fight off thugs and drive away demons.

However, this griffin looked to be just an adult, with a bite force of at least 500 kilograms in its beak. Although it was physically weak, the combined force of its head, neck, and pectoral muscles must have exceeded one ton. Winged monsters all have incredibly strong chest and back muscles, otherwise they simply cannot fly.

The Golden Eagle Gryphon was still struggling; its eyes were bloodshot and its blood pressure was high, a sign of its rage. Its four claws were frantically pawing at the ground, trying to find a foothold to stand up again.

Xue Ming couldn't free his hand to feed the chicken water, so he could only hold the yellow chicken's beak tightly and keep struggling to pull it away, otherwise it would use its two free claws to tear people apart.

This primitive wrestling match lasted for a full minute. Oscar watched from the sidelines, barely daring to breathe. He couldn't very well step forward to help; if the griffin were to pull him down, even this dignified eight-foot-tall man would be disemboweled. The raptor's claws had eighteen toes, all of them sharp steel knives.

Gradually, the big yellow chicken lost its strength, and its blood pressure dropped.

Xue Ming slowly released the eagle, but as soon as he let go, the beast's wildness took over again, and it tried to tear at the Homo sapiens's arm with its front claws.

Oscar quickly followed suit, mimicking the obedience commands given by Golden Eagle Gryphon parents to their offspring.

But this eagle was already an adult, just grown up, and had just started hunting alone. It was long past the age of listening to its parents.

Xue Ming dodged the griffin's claws and tugged back and forth outside the bone cage, seizing every opportunity to grab the head of the enraged yellow chicken, holding onto its beak tightly.

This long period of eagle training lasted for more than twenty minutes. Oscar didn't utter a single coherent word the entire time, for fear of distracting the priest.

He only knew that a single bullet could save a lot of trouble, and he wasn't so particular when preparing golden eagle meat on the counter. He never imagined that communicating with a live griffin would be so difficult—the taming of the wild wolf wasn't much better.

After a lot of effort and this warm-up exercise, Xue Ming finally got the yellow chicken to distinguish what it could eat and what it couldn't.

He raised the water jug, Golden Eagle Gryphon immediately crouched down, tilted its head back, and drank the water, regaining some strength. After repeated wrestling, it regained some body temperature, and its tongue, which had been dry and cracked in a purplish-red state, returned to bright red.

A little dry food wasn't enough to fill its stomach. When it got really hungry, it would try to be clever when it was time to give water. At first, it would test Xue Ming by squeezing closer to the cage when he went to get water. When the Homo sapiens relaxed its guard, it would immediately reach out and pry at him. But after trying this more than ten times, it was all in vain.

Ultimately, the Golden Eagle Gryphon gave up, knowing that this Homo sapiens was unbeatable.

After emptying the entire pot of water, Jiang Xueming said to Oscar, "Let's dismantle it, we can dismantle it now."

The two worked together. Xue Ming went to the other side to attract the griffin's attention, while Wolf Brother tiptoed behind the griffin and began to dismantle the bone cage, removing four thick ribs to reveal a hole more than two meters wide.

The Golden Eagle Gryphon spotted this path to survival and immediately tried to squeeze into the cave entrance, but it became stuck between its bones and began to struggle frantically again.

Wolf Brother cursed, "What stupid bird?! I haven't finished dismantling it yet!"

Xue Ming went up to lend a hand and pried open the last bone. The big bird struggled desperately to climb out of the terrifying cage. For it, it was a narrow escape from death. In its memory, the bone prison was originally a delicious meal, but as the white frost spread down the rock walls on both sides, its shape resembled an icicle representing death.

It slowly crawled toward this fertile land, then froze everything solid.

When the big yellow chicken escaped from its cage, it didn't fly away immediately. Like a general who had won a Pyrrhic victory, it first faced two strange humanoid creatures, adopting an attack posture as if it were preparing to pounce on a predator with its body arched and wings folded. While struggling on the ground, its feathers became ruffled as it adjusted its wings to their best position. Then, it slowly circled around to the side of the mountain valley.

It let out a low, defiant growl from its throat, its eyes regained their brilliance, and its four claws dug out icy patterns and mud, creating a howling wind as it flew away from the deep valley.

"Ah," Oscar sighed, "What an ingrate! Not even a thank you!"

Jiang Xueming put away the empty water bottle. "Let's go."

"I'm telling you, is your Berloberg out of his mind?" Oscar led the way. "We went through all that trouble, and this is the one good deed we did? We're not even sure if it even counts as a good deed! If a hunter gets killed by this griffin next year, I'll have nightmares every night."

Jiang Xueming was also honest, and continued Wolf Brother's topic, saying, "Then shall we think of a way to kill a couple more?"

Oscar: "Uh, that's not what I meant either."

Thank you, Gunsmith. I also want to thank Oscar; could you please pass on my thanks?

In the world of elves, there is no concept of "animals," but humans are considered animals as well.

Human existence is a natural phenomenon, not a product of any particular will.

Just now, you decided the fate of a life.

I deeply envy this little creature struggling to survive in nature, because it still has a chance to live, but I don't have that chance.

Jiang Xueming: "Berloberg said, 'Thank you.'"

"What are you thanking me for?" Oscar wanted to retort, but before he could finish speaking—

--A cool-looking mole fell from mid-air, crashing down in front of the two of them and turning into a pile of minced meat.

The golden eagle landed in front of the two once again. It had eaten its fill and was full of strength. It landed gracefully and quietly, its four paws landing smoothly without making a sound.

It flapped its wings, shaking off the rain and snow, with one of its claws still sticking out of its mouth, and let out a loud screech from its throat, though it still sounded like a long, strained croak from a hen's throat.

Its eyes turned round and bulging, like a cat's pupils changing to see more light in the night. It tore a piece of greasy fat from the mole's mincemeat and offered it to Wolf Brother, pressing its bright yellow beak against Wolf Brother's arm. This time, Wolf Brother was pushing it away with its paws in a defensive posture.

Oscar: "What's wrong with me! What's wrong with me?"

The griffin stepped back two paces, swallowed the food from its beak along with the mole's arm from its mouth, as if demonstrating to the child how to eat.

Jiang Xueming: "It seems..."

"It's treating me like a baby griffin? I've become its son?" Oscar exclaimed in surprise, "The generational difference is huge!"

Seeing that Xue Ming and Oscar were unmoved, the big yellow chicken flew away again.

This time, three or four cool moles fell down. These moles fell from mid-air, so frightened that they defecated and urinated everywhere. Brownish-yellow sap fell from above, soaking Wolf Brother and making him crawl all over the ground.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!"

Having finally found an open space, the big yellow chicken smashed all its prey to death, but couldn't find the two strange humanoid creatures. Like a mother who had lost her child, it roared angrily in place, pacing around following the scent. After searching for more than ten minutes, it still couldn't find them. The yellow down on its eyes, like eyebrows, was tightly furrowed, and it flapped its wings back and forth anxiously.

Oscar and Xue Ming hid in a crevice in the mountain, looking at each other, unsure of what to do.

Once the griffin had flown away and disappeared completely...

Wolf asked, "What are we eating for our next meal?"

Jiang Xueming: "Maybe we can pick and choose from that cesspool."

Wolf Brother: "Only dogs eat shit!"

Jiang Xueming: "Shall we go back to Coolcool's cave and try our luck?"

Wolf Brother: "That bird is female! She's foraging for us! She can't leave anytime soon, I don't want to be her son!"

Just then, both of them felt a warmth behind them, as if there was something more hidden in this mountain hollow.

They all looked behind them, and there was the biggest mole king in the cool carry, hiding there, trembling. He was covered in fat, so fat that you could hardly see his eyes.

Oscar: "Father, ask that living saint, Berloberg. He's compassionate, kind-hearted, and can't stand bloodshed. Should we save him this time? Even a mole's life matters!"

Jiang Xueming: "Wait a minute, let me ask."

[This thing can lay ten eggs in a single litter in the spring. Not only does it like to eat people, but it's also a pest that bores through bridges and tunnels. Even the boss hates it. You guys better save yourselves!]

Jiang Xueming immediately drew his knife.

"They can eat, but they won't survive a second longer."