Garden in the Clouds

Four people? After climbing along the pea shoots for a while, they could already see that thick cloud in front of them.

Leaping from a green leaf onto the clouds, Lu Li discovered that the upper clouds had all solidified into solid ground. It was hard to say how solid it was, but at least a huge palace over there hadn't collapsed, so the cloud-ground must be quite firm.

Above the clouds, there wasn't just a castle; surrounding it was a garden and even a small lake. White clouds drifted by, a gentle breeze caressed the ground, and everything was so clear and beautiful.

Jasmine surveyed the place for a while before turning her gaze away. Her resolve to take it over as a future base only strengthened. "Let's go, catch that disgusting monster, and steal the rest of its peas."

Jasmine took the lead and pushed open the huge door of the castle. Walking down the huge corridor, which was lined with all sorts of strange and grotesque creature specimens, Lu Li even saw Deep One and Ghoul among them.

However, upon entering the hall, the castle's prestige instantly plummeted. A huge, crude bone chair stood in the center of the hall, surrounded by various creature skeletons and clumps of black grime, mostly bird bones and feathers, and a disgusting stench permeated the hall.

On the wall in the center of the hall is an oil painting depicting a Moon Beast. Behind the Moon Beast are many creatures wearing collars, including humans and other beings, and of course, a Gug.

Beyond the main hall, there are several passageways of normal height, so it's probably true that this castle was originally a colony, or rather, a backyard, of a Moon Beast, but something has happened to it.

Perhaps the Moon Beast left, or perhaps some unforeseen event occurred, leading to this cloud-top castle garden being occupied by the Gug, who were originally slaves. These bone chairs were likely made by the Gug.

The entire hall served as the Gug's resting room, and due to their size, the Gug could not enter the passageways further inside; at most, they could only extend their claws to grab some things.

The group crossed the stinking hall and headed together toward a narrow passage.

They then discovered that there was a chicken coop behind the passageway, where the hen that laid the golden eggs probably used to live. If you looked closely, you could even see some chicken feathers on the ground.

So the group went back to the hall and entered a new passage. They found many marks along the side of the passage, suggesting that the Gug had a habit of grabbing things from it.

As soon as they entered, their eyes lit up. A window in the ceiling shone through the room, illuminating the large pile of gold and silver jewels that glittered with a dazzling light of wealth.

Judging from the traces, the Gug took a lot of treasure. As for what they did with it, Lu Li figured they probably used it to hunt birds. Considering the bones in the hall, the Gug, trapped in the clouds, probably had no choice but to rely on attacking passing birds to survive after eating the other species that were once their slaves.

It's a tragic story. After being starving for a long time, he could only survive by hunting birds. Suddenly, he saw a human coming to steal his things, so he naturally chased after him with the thought of getting an extra meal. Then he saw the vines leading to the ground and fell down to his death.

Lu Li guessed that the Gug must have something to say, and it would have to say it out loud. It was sitting in its castle, not bothering anyone, eating chicken, listening to the harp, and occasionally shooting a couple of birds for a snack, when suddenly a human stole its chicken.

The giant had practically smeared all the treasures it could find in the room, and now it was relying on the golden eggs laid by the hen to smash birds. How could it not be angry? After that, not only did it steal chickens, but the human also took away the only harp that could cultivate one's mind. How could the Gug not chase after it?

"Fine, you can run away then, "the Gug thought angrily. "I saw a Peashooter that could escape, so I just stopped chasing you. Who knew that kid would pull a dirty trick and cut down the Peashooter? That's how the Gug died, and to make matters worse, his body was eaten like raw meat paste."

"These treasures can be kept for future trade with those who come here," Jasmine said with satisfaction. They didn't bring much this time; they were mainly here to gather information. With these gold coins, they could probably trade for even more items.

"Let's capture Jack first. The Moon Beast aren't particularly strong, but we still need to be careful with their ever-evolving advanced technology," Lu Li reminded him. "Another thing to watch out for is what infected and mutated Jack into a Moon Beast."

"I imagine you wouldn't want your eyes to fall out, tentacles to grow on your faces, and your skin to peel off, would you?" Lu Li said with interest. He was quite interested in getting these people infected so he could study the differences between people in the Dreamlands and people in reality.

"Understood. Put on your armor and take the central passage." Jasmine frowned in disgust, a flash of azure light emanating from her body as she transformed into armor. She took the lead and walked out of the area towards the central passage, with Mond and Lore following behind, also completing their half-armor transformation.

These spirit messengers maintain their armored form, which constantly consumes their physical strength and spiritual energy. Therefore, they usually only undergo armored transformation just before a battle begins. However, considering that there is something here that can infect people and turn them into Moon Beast, they no longer conserve their physical strength and spiritual energy.

The battle was surprisingly simple. In the last bedroom in the central passage, they found Jack sleeping on the bed. When he saw several people in armor, he charged at them arrogantly, but was easily overpowered by Jasmine's wind attack and unable to move.

Although Jack obtained the body of Moon Beast, he did not seem to inherit the Moon Beast's high intelligence. Or rather, he still retained human behavior, only committing some cruel acts due to the influence of the Moon Beast's body.

It has to be said that the Moon Beast are a truly sadistic race. There are quite a few torture instruments in this bedroom. Using the existing torture instruments in the bedroom, Jack was interrogated for a period of time, and then Jack confessed everything.

The general plot is similar: he was discovered by the giant when he came to steal the harp, and ran into the master bedroom. After entering the bedroom, he was attacked by a pinkish-gray fleshy blob at the head of the bed. It was because of that fleshy blob that he transformed into his current form as Moon Beast.

Then Lu Li and his group found the big box, interrogated each person to find out how to use the items inside, and finally got the last pea.

However, two questions remained unanswered, even for Jack himself: who had traded the pea seeds with him, and what were their specific appearance and characteristics? The other question was, where had the harp gone?

Jack looked completely bewildered and said he didn't know the answer to both questions.