Chronicle of the Great Wilderness (Part One)

Gao Jing woke up.

He felt as though he had slept for a very, very long time, and slept wonderfully. Upon waking, he felt clear-headed, refreshed, light, and comfortable all over.

It truly felt incredible.

It seemed he had never slept so soundly and thoroughly in his life!

Memories surfaced in his mind, and Gao Jing immediately rolled over and sat up.

He found himself in the familiar bird's nest, with a thick sleeping bag beneath his backside.

Day had already broken.

Clearly, after getting drunk last night, Gao Jing had been sent back to the wooden hut to rest.

This already counted as his temporary home in the Great World.

Even Gao Jing found it rather astonishing when he thought about it.

His alcohol tolerance was now astonishing. Last time he had competed with Niu Jinxing in drinking, he had taken down all three of the other side by himself.

At 53%, Feitian Moutai, Gao Jing had downed nearly three bottles.

Without feeling a thing.

Yet the amount of Fruit Wine he had drunk last night had not been greater than the Moutai, and its alcohol content had been far lower.

So how had he gotten drunk and collapsed without realizing it?

What a strange thing.

Gao Jing shook his head, too lazy to guess at the reason.

The Great World had never been a scientific world to begin with. Many things simply could not be guessed at or measured by Blue Star's common sense.

His brain had limited capacity. If he thought too much, it would explode.

After stretching his limbs, Gao Jing leaped out of the bird's nest.

At a glance, he saw Shan Guo'er.

The little girl was sleeping soundly.

In a peculiar position.

Her upper body lay sprawled over the wooden table, both hands spread over its surface. The left side of her round little face was pressed tightly against the tabletop, her eyes closed and lips puckered, while her breathing flowed long and even through her nose.

As for the lower half of her body, Gao Jing did not even need to look to know it was definitely dangling below.

Because she was about as tall as the table.

She could sleep like that!

And sleep very soundly, too.

Squeak~

Just as Gao Jing was hesitating over whether to wake the little girl, a big bubble suddenly blew out of her nose.

Pop!

It burst at once.

Gao Jing could not help laughing aloud.

Shan Guo'er sniffed, then opened her big eyes.

"Shan Guo'er."

Gao Jing smiled and waved at her. "Good morning!"

Seeing Gao Jing so close before her, Shan Guo'er, who had just woken up, immediately drew in a deep breath and puffed out her cheeks.

They swelled so much that her little face was stretched round!

Ah!

Without a second thought, Gao Jing dropped flat to the ground.

This was a prank the little girl often used to play on Gao Jing. She would suddenly blow at him across the tabletop, sending him reeling every which way.

It made him feel as if he were trapped inside a Category 18 super typhoon—he was practically falling apart!.gif!

Gao Jing's reaction at this moment was entirely a conditioned reflex.

"Hee-hee!"

Yet the expected "typhoon" did not come.

Shan Guo'er raised her head, propped her chin in both hands, and said with a smile, "I won't do that anymore."

She pouted unhappily. "Grandpa said I have to be polite to you and can't be naughty."

Gao Jing climbed back up, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

For some reason, he instead felt that things had been better the way they were before.

He asked curiously, "Why did you sleep here?"

"Grandpa had me bring you back to sleep last night."

The little girl explained, "He also told me to take care of you, so I slept here."

Warmth filled Gao Jing's heart. "Thank you, Shan Guo'er."

"You're welcome."

Shan Guo'er shook her head. "You gave me so many candies. It's only right that I take care of you."

She sounded just like a sensible little grown-up.

As she spoke, the little girl plopped herself onto the table and pulled out a peanut candy from her pocket.

She tore open the plastic wrap and popped it into her mouth, crunching away happily.

The sweetness made her eyes narrow into slits.

Gao Jing broke into a sweat. "Shan Guo'er, don't eat too much candy. Be careful of getting cavities!"

He worried that if the little girl kept eating like this, two hundred sesame candies would not last many days at all.

Shan Guo'er asked in confusion, "What are cavities?"

"A cavity is when..."

Gao Jing tried hard to explain. "Little bugs grow inside your teeth, and then your teeth will hurt a lot."

"It means your teeth get sick."

"Ah!"

Hearing "bugs growing" and "hurt a lot," the little girl immediately covered her cheeks in fright.

But then she lowered her hands, lifted her chin proudly, and declared, "I'm not afraid. My grandpa is very good at treating illnesses!"

"He's a Grand Wizard!"

When you had a big shot backing you, you were the greatest!

Gao Jing was speechless.

Tap, tap!

Just then, someone lightly knocked on the wooden hut's door from outside.

Speak of the devil, and the devil arrived—it was the old Wizard.

"Grandpa!"

Shan Guo'er jumped down from the wooden table and threw herself into the old Wizard's arms.

"Little Guo'er, you weren't naughty, were you?"

The old Wizard patted her head and said with a smile, "Go brush your teeth and wash your face."

Though the Mountain Giants lived very primitively, they were not dirty.

On the contrary, they placed great importance on hygiene.

No one in the stronghold littered, and no one relieved themselves wherever they pleased. Everything was kept spotlessly clean.

In ordinary times, the Giants also used peeled branches from a special kind of tree to clean their mouths, then washed up in the mountain streams.

They were a civilization in its earliest form.

"I wasn't naughty."

The little girl darted outside in a flash. "I'm going to brush my teeth!"

The old Wizard smiled and shook his head, then said to Gao Jing, "Sir Gao Jing..."

Gao Jing hurriedly said, "You should just call me by my name."

Earlier, the old Wizard had called him "Your Excellency," treating him as an aristocrat among the Ancient Remnant People.

Naturally, Gao Jing did not dare consider himself an aristocrat.

So the old Wizard had changed to calling him "Sir"—both "Your Excellency" and "Sir" were honorifics.

The former was used for aristocrats and powerful figures, a title exclusive to shi.

The latter was used for commoners with a certain degree of reputation and standing.

"Your Excellency" ranked above "Sir," while above "Your Excellency" were "My Lord" and "Your Highness."

These were the so-called two lowers and two uppers, representing the ruling class of the Great Wilderness Humans!

Gao Jing had learned all this from Chronicle of the Great Wilderness.

"Very well, Gao Jing."

The old Wizard readily went along with it, not dwelling on the form of address. "How long do you plan to stay this time?"

At first hearing, it sounded somewhat impolite.

In truth, he had already regarded Gao Jing as a true friend of the Mountain Tribe.

Being overly polite with friends would only make them seem distant!

Without hesitation, Gao Jing replied, "Wizard Chief, I'd like to continue learning from you for some time."

Gao Jing had already read Chronicle of the Great Wilderness, a classic of the Giant Race in the Great World, many times.

He could recite most of its chapters from memory.

But being able to recite it did not mean he had mastered it.

He did not understand many of the allusions within it at all.

There was also much content he could not make sense of.

He needed someone like the old Wizard, broad in knowledge and rich in experience, to answer his questions and clear up his doubts.

Yet studying Chronicle of the Great Wilderness was not the fundamental reason Gao Jing had remained in the Mountain Stronghold.

As for his true purpose, he could not explain it to the old Wizard for the time being.

He feared violating some taboo and wasting the hard-earned friendliness and goodwill he had built up.

"Of course."

The old Wizard smiled. "You may study for as long as you wish."

"Thank you!"

Gao Jing respectfully bowed to the old Wizard.

He had long regarded this Mountain Giant as his teacher and treated him with proper courtesy and respect!

The second update is here.

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