Alice, puzzled by Petru's sudden melancholy, remarked, "Hey, what are you sighing about, a grown man like you! Look at Madam, Mr. Yeger has been dead for so long, and she hasn't uttered a single sigh. They dedicated their lives to the greatest cause of mankind!"
"What? What did you say? Mr. Yeger is dead?" Petru suddenly stopped and asked.
Alice said, "Yes, Mr. Yeger passed away three years ago. He and his wife were exploring ancient ruins deep in the South America jungle when they were bitten by Venomous Snake. His wife dragged the injured Mr. Yeger alone on a difficult trek of over a hundred kilometers through the jungle to return to the camp for treatment, but ultimately she succumbed to her injuries. His wife probably didn't want to recall this painful past, so she didn't even want to mention Yeg's surname, and wouldn't let us call her Mrs. Yeger, only allowing us to call her Mrs. Larry."
Petru recalled the dream at the altar, where Mrs. Larry's behavior during the dream of many snakes was completely different from her usual calm, collected, and fearless nature. He suddenly realized, "No wonder she's so afraid of snakes!"
He looked at Alice and said, " Alice, there's something I'd like to ask you for help with."
Alice said, "What is it? Please tell me."
"Um... I want to... marry her," Petru said hesitantly.
"What?" Alice didn't hear clearly.
"I mean... I want to marry Mrs. Larry!" Petru said.
Alice's expression was even more astonished than when she saw the giant moon in the sky. "Mr. Petru, you're not joking, are you?"
"No, I'm serious."
Petru tightened his grip on the gun with a serious expression, looking like a stubborn child.
Alice said, "Sir, I don't know how to help you. Why don't you just talk to Madam about this?"
Petru said somewhat awkwardly, "I'm afraid Madam will refuse. You know, she's a great woman, the most respectable woman I've ever met. To be honest, besides admiring her, I'm also a little... a little... afraid of her."
Alice laughed and said, "Whether you admire her or fear her, it doesn't matter. What matters is, do you love her?"
"I love her!" Petru said firmly. "From the night I saw her... I fell in love with her at first sight!"
Alice said, "Since you love her, you should tell her out loud, instead of begging for help from an outsider like me. Love is yours to ask for; only you can help yourself."
Petru glanced at Mrs. Larry's retreating figure ahead and nodded solemnly.
Hearing their conversation, Su Huilan smiled at Petru and said, "What will happen to Lawiye if you marry Mrs. Larry? She's still in the Egypt prison, desperately hoping you'll come and rescue her!"
Petru's body trembled as if struck by lightning. He stopped, closed his eyes in distress, and clutched his head, crying out in anguish, "Oh God, why give me such a difficult problem! Why make me make such a hard choice! I'm at a loss!"
Qingmu and Mrs. Ali, who were walking ahead, turned around, wondering what had gotten into Petru.
Crow, dozing on a piece of Qingmu, rolled its eyes and said, "Caw, what's so hard about this! Only elementary school students make choices; adults choose—" It raised a claw and clenched it into a fist, "I want them all!"
"What?" Petru stared blankly at the Boss Coal, and after a long while, he seemed to understand and happily gave him a thumbs up.
The Crow nodded approvingly at him. "Hmm, you're a promising young man!"
Su Huilan said to Qingmu, "You really have a wonderful bird to raise!"
The Boss Coal suddenly realized something, tilted his head and looked at Su Huilan for a long time, then pointed at Qingmu's head with the tip of his wing and said, "Hey, he's not an adult, he's not even a primary school student, he's a block of wood. You know a tree can't make choices, but a bird in a tree can, so I'll make his choices for him, so... quack... you know being hungry is a very painful thing..."
The Crow' incessant cawing was something Qingmu and Su Huilan had grown accustomed to, but the others, especially Alice, were quite curious. "I knew Crow were intelligent, but I didn't expect them to be this intelligent. It looks nothing like a bird, but more like a person. Mr. Qingmu, how did you train such a fascinating pet?"
Qingmu said, "If I told you I never trained it at all, and that it just went astray in the bar, would you believe me?"
When Mrs. Larry heard the Crow say that the Qingmu was a tree and that it was a bird standing on the tree, she suddenly remembered the painting she had seen at the altar.
She had been focused on recalling and discussing the text, neglecting the painting. She assumed it was merely a totem, like many totems on primitive murals. But suddenly, she began to have doubts, feeling that the painting might not be so simple and could perhaps represent some special meaning.
She felt she needed to tell Qingmu, but just as she was about to speak, the howling of wild men came from the woods ahead.
People immediately quieted down and carefully hid in the woods.
"Have they discovered us?" Alice became somewhat frightened.
"Shh!" Anderson gestured for her to be quiet, then listened carefully to the sounds in the distance.
The whistling sounds rose and fell, sometimes near, sometimes far.
Petru whispered, "No, it seems like there are two groups of people."
Qingmu and Su Huilan also noticed that the whistling sounds contained two different calls, which were clearly distinguishable, and the distance and direction from which the sounds came were also different.
"Let's go up and take a look," Qingmu said.
The group then cautiously continued forward.
Petru went over to help Mrs. Larry, and this time she did not refuse. Petru held her arm and shoulder, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.
Qingmu and Su Huilan were the first to climb up the high ground, from where they could see the savages' camp.
These savages were incredibly efficient; in just a short time, they had built a decent temporary dwelling, surrounded by simple defensive fortifications, and further away, they had laid out numerous traps.
"This is a race skilled in battle," Su Huilan whispered after reading it.
Qingmu said, "Judging from their appearance, the enemy on the other side is not weak either."
At this moment, the savages in the camp fell silent. Their chieftain waved his scepter, directing the people to take up the newly made spears and wooden bows, and form a long line in front of the camp, ready for battle.
On a hillside across a valley, figures appeared like Ghost, poking out and firing an arrow in their direction before immediately retreating.
They retaliated with arrows, but because both sides were on high ground and far apart, they couldn't inflict any damage on the other side.
Realizing they couldn't hit them with arrows, the savages on the other side all came out and lined up on the hillside.
The savage chieftain finally raised his scepter, and another savage stepped out from the hillside, also raising a silver scepter that gleamed in the sunlight.
Although they were far apart and the attack wasn't directed at them, Qingmu and Su Huilan could still sense a strong spiritual fluctuation erupting from the valley between the two hills, like two tides meeting and creating a surging torrent.
Qingmu felt the willow branch in his arms seem to move slightly.
Petru picked up his binoculars and looked in that direction, then suddenly exclaimed, "Huh?" and muttered to himself, "This doesn't look like a savage!"
He tried to hand the binoculars to Mrs. Larry, who was standing next to him. Mrs. Larry picked up the binoculars, looked at them for a moment, and then showed a surprised expression:
"It's Mr. Stone!"