Chapter 84 - 74: The Little Goblin, Shan Xi Ao
Chapter 84: Chapter 74: The Little Goblin, Shan Xi Ao
"Drip, drip, drop... drip, drip, drop... Water drips from the cave top. Good morning, oh, good morning, oh, a brand new day..."
"Shan Xi Ao." A stern voice interrupted the little goblin’s song.
"Father." The little goblin Shan Xi Ao looked timidly at his father.
"Singing so loudly, are you trying to summon the Death God?" His father stood before him with his hands behind his back, his expression cold and severe.
"I know I was wrong." Shan Xi Ao lowered his head, wringing his hands.
His father sighed, his tone softening slightly. "Never mind, I don’t blame you. Just be quieter. Your mother just fell asleep."
"Mm." Shan Xi Ao glanced toward the inner room of the small grass hut. Hearing no more coughing, he nodded joyfully. "I understand, Father."
His father patted Shan Xi Ao’s shoulder and said, "Look after the house. I’m going out for the clan meeting. If your mother wakes up, tell her not to worry."
"Okay, Father." Shan Xi Ao watched his father turn, push open the grass hut’s door, and fly away by flapping the four translucent wings on his back.
He knew that being the Clan Leader wasn’t easy for his father. The little goblin clan usually ate flowers and nectar, only resorting to leaves when food was extremely scarce. What’s more, the little goblins couldn’t tolerate the cold and required measures to stay warm.
But with winter approaching, it was very difficult to collect flowers and nectar in the forest. Many times, his father would lead search parties for a long time, only to return with some leaves.
Those leaves were bitter and difficult to swallow, but they had to eat them to survive.
Shan Xi Ao had overheard his father and mother chatting yesterday. He knew that today’s clan meeting was for the elders to discuss where to gather nectar.
His mother had once told him that it wasn’t that the forest had no flowers; even in winter, some would bloom. But these flowers were rare and required a much wider search. Now that the clan lived in underground caves, their search radius was severely limited.
Shan Xi Ao tiptoed to the doorway and peeked into the inner room. Hearing nothing, he decided to run out and ask his friends if they had any spare nectar.
Just as he reached the grass hut’s entrance, he heard two soft coughs from the inner room.
"Mother," he rushed to the bedside. He saw his mother looking at him with a smile. "You’re awake."
"I wasn’t asleep. I was just tricking your father," his mother’s haggard face broke into a mischievous smile. "Otherwise, who knows when he would have left."
"How are you feeling?" Shan Xi Ao stepped forward and tucked his mother in. The ’blanket’ was actually a single fallen bird feather, which offered limited warmth in the cave.
"I’m fine," his mother reached out and stroked her son’s cheek. "If you want to go out and play, then go. Be careful."
Shan Xi Ao knew what his mother was talking about. His older sister, Yun Xiya, had flown out to play one day and never came back after dark. From that day on, his father had led the entire clan to move from their homes in the trees to the caves below.
After his sister’s disappearance, his mother’s health declined day by day. On top of that, with no nectar to eat and only bitter leaves for sustenance, even the healing Magic, Wind of Revival, had stopped working.
"Mother, wait here. I’ll go see if anyone has nectar stored away for you," Shan Xi Ao told his mother earnestly.
"Be safe, and watch out for the Death God," his mother added as a warning.
The little goblin Shan Xi Ao nodded, walked out of the grass hut, then began flapping the four dragonfly-like wings on his back and started searching for his friends to ask.
But unfortunately, after asking around, he found that no one in the entire clan had any nectar to spare.
He desperately wanted his mother to have some nectar or flowers; it might help her get better.
After much thought, he decided to venture carefully through the cave entrance and search the forest.
The underground cave they lived in connected to the surface through the trunk of a dying tree. To get to the forest to look for flowers, one had to fly to the tree’s roots and then exit through a hole in the trunk.
Although the little goblin clan could release Wind of Nature, a Magic that stimulated plant growth, his father had said that to keep the clan hidden, the withered tree had to be kept in its half-dead state.
The path wasn’t long, but a stretch in the middle was very dangerous, as a Giant Frog, a Magical Beast, lurked there.
Whenever the clan members flew across this section, they would throw balls of leaves to distract it, then cast the Invisibility Technique to get past quickly. But today, Shan Xi Ao was all alone. To pass safely, he had to hug the cave ceiling, do his best to hide in the shadows, and remain as silent as possible.
He soon reached the dangerous area. After casting the Invisibility Technique, Shan Xi Ao focused on his Control, slowing the flapping of his four translucent wings to muffle any sound. He flew in short bursts, controlling his body to grab onto the stalactites on the ceiling and keep from falling.
Repeating this maneuver, he saw the entrance in the tree trunk was just ahead.
Suddenly, a loud CRACK echoed from behind him. A stalactite had been shattered by something and fell into the underground river below with a PLOP.
Shan Xi Ao had no choice but to surge forward with all his might. He knew the Giant Frog had discovered him.
CROAK! A thick, pink tongue shot out, grazing him as it slammed against the cave ceiling. Startled, Shan Xi Ao was forced to immediately change direction.
Chunks of rock rained down from the ceiling in front of him from the force of the Giant Frog’s attack. Shan Xi Ao began to panic, flying erratically. He finally understood why everyone called this Giant Frog the "Death God."
That enormous tongue made him realize he was no more than a mosquito to this creature.
He struggled to fly out over the middle of the underground river, hoping the water’s depth would limit the Giant Frog’s attacks. Because of the Death God’s presence, his clan knew little about this area; they had almost never ventured here.
The loud noises behind him continued, followed by a huge crash. Clinging to a stalactite, Shan Xi Ao looked back and was shocked to find that his Invisibility Technique had been dispelled by his panic. The Magical Beast, the Giant Frog, was in pursuit.
He had no choice but to keep flying, trying to loop around in a wide arc to shake off the Giant Frog.
Just as Shan Xi Ao was desperately fleeing for his life, a tremendous noise erupted from the surface of the underground river. Water splashed everywhere, and the sound of SPLASHING and THRASHING echoed through the cave.
Clinging to a stalactite, Shan Xi Ao peered through the dim light cast by the fluorescent Mushrooms scattered across the ceiling.
"Ah!" he gasped, his eyes widening in shock.
A Giant Snake was coiled around the Death God, squeezing so tightly that the Giant Frog couldn’t even make a sound. The Giant Snake thrashed and rolled on the river’s surface. Shan Xi Ao could see the Giant Frog’s limbs, which stuck out from between the snake’s coils, gradually stiffen and stop kicking.
’How can there be another terrifying Magical Beast here?’ Shan Xi Ao broke out in a cold sweat.
His clan’s dwelling was in a recess of the cave, which meant the Giant Frog couldn’t directly attack their grass huts. But if this Giant Snake wanted to destroy their home, it would be effortless.
’No, I have to get a good look at this new ’Death God,’ then go back and tell Father and the others to be extremely careful.’ Shan Xi Ao made up his mind.
Soon, the Giant Frog was swallowed whole by the Giant Snake. It then raised its head out of the water, looked left and right as if searching for something, before submerging back into the river and swimming away.
Shan Xi Ao watched the massive dark shadow in the water, thought for a moment, cast the Invisibility Technique on himself, and followed.