Chapter 89 - 77: Bamboozling
Chapter 89: Chapter 77: Bamboozling
"I was wondering," Shan Xi Ao stammered. Facing a goblin for the first time—and one from a Race his elders called evil at that—he fumbled for his words before finally managing, "That cup of water just now..."
The goblin before him immediately smiled and said, "It was delicious, wasn’t it? It was brewed with nectar. We love drinking it too, but unfortunately, there isn’t much left."
"Not much left?" Shan Xi Ao asked, surprised, repeating the words subconsciously.
"Yeah. Autumn is almost over, and this stuff is hard to come by. We only use it to entertain friends," the goblin said with a sincere smile.
Shan Xi Ao fell silent upon hearing this. The other party was right. Winter was coming, and it seemed goblins weren’t a Race that had an easy time acquiring supplies.
"What’s wrong? If you like it, I can brew you another cup of nectar water." The goblin beckoned for the little goblin to follow. "We still have enough to serve our guests."
"No, it’s not that. I was wondering if I could... borrow a little of this nectar," Shan Xi Ao finally said what was on his mind, quickly adding with emphasis, "It would be a loan. I can give you something else in return."
"Is that so?" The goblin stood in place, tilting his head in thought. "You don’t really need to borrow it. There isn’t much to begin with, after all."
Then, the goblin smiled at Shan Xi Ao and asked, "And if you were to repay me, what would you give me? A piece of meat?"
"Uh, I probably can’t repay you with that." Shan Xi Ao scratched his cheek. They, the little goblins, didn’t really eat meat, so he couldn’t use it to settle the debt.
"How about a root, then? My apologies, I forgot that you little goblins don’t eat meat." The goblin waved his hand, looking slightly apologetic.
"A root... well..." Shan Xi Ao thought for a moment. A root seemed doable. It would just take a lot of effort to dig up, and his Race had almost never done any digging. Still, he had heard the elders talk about it before. Compared to providing a piece of meat, spending some time digging up a root seemed much more appropriate.
"Alright. I’ll go find a root as soon as I get back," he said with a serious expression, as if he were signing a contract.
"There’s no need for that. Just come find me whenever you manage to dig one up," the goblin said casually.
Shan Xi Ao followed behind him through a passageway. Then, he stopped, shocked, as he saw a Bone hand stirring furiously in a large cauldron.
"Um, what was that just now?" he asked, pretending to be calm, but his wavering voice gave him away.
"The Wriggling Claw? Oh, he’s, uh, paying off a debt." The goblin didn’t turn his head, his tone still just as casual. "He was separated from his master and asked us to help him find them. You know we goblins have large numbers in the forest, and we’re spread far and wide, so I agreed to help. He felt he had no other way to repay us, so now he’s desperately brewing potions as a thank you."
The goblin stopped and turned his head to the side. "At first, I told him he didn’t have to, but he said that trust is a two-way street. Since we were willing to help him, he would do everything in his power to help us."
"I see... he makes a lot of sense," Shan Xi Ao murmured. Then he whispered to himself, ’Shan Xi Ao, you are the one who will save your mother, save your people. If a Wriggling Claw can go to such lengths, so can you.’
He made up his mind. He would dig up some roots as soon as he got back—in fact, he’d dig up several to bring over.
"We’re almost there." The goblin pointed ahead, then said, "If you’re tired of flying, why don’t you come down and sit on my shoulder?"
He patted his own shoulder to gesture. "It’s alright. You just fell in the water, you should get some more rest."
"Ah, thank you, but no thanks." Shan Xi Ao shook his head, declining the offer. He wasn’t used to being so close to a goblin.
"Alright then. It’s just past this stone chamber." The goblin shrugged and continued to lead the way.
Before long, a goblin with slightly buck teeth ran over, his voice urgent. "Leader, you have to come quick! The Mushrooms, the ones like forks in the heavens, like stars in the sky, they’re about to die!"
Flying behind them, Shan Xi Ao heard the Goblin Leader who had been guiding him exclaim in shock, "What? The Mushrooms are dying? Then what will we eat this winter?"
’So they run into trouble in the winter too,’ Shan Xi Ao muttered to himself. He didn’t see the Goblin Leader frantically making eyes at Buck Teeth, signaling him to continue with his lines.
"Y-You have to come see for yourself!" Buck Teeth said, grabbing the Leader and running directly toward a stone chamber.
’I should follow them and see what’s happening,’ Shan Xi Ao thought, immediately flapping his wings faster to keep up.
Before he even flew into the stone chamber, he heard the Goblin Leader wailing loudly, "Oh, my Mushrooms! How could this have happened?"
Shan Xi Ao flew closer. By the light of a Blue Fluorescent Mushroom, he saw several logs on the ground. A few thin strands of mycelium on them were nearly withered, bearing only a couple of small, yellow mushrooms about the size of his own head.
"They really are too small," he said to himself.
"It’s not your fault. We goblins were never good at cultivating things. It’s just... this winter is going to be tough," the Goblin Leader said with a sigh, looking up at the chamber’s ceiling.
Shan Xi Ao looked at the tiny Mushroom and thought for a moment. ’Could this be my own personal trial?’
He flew onto the goblin’s shoulder and cleared his throat. Once he had the other’s attention, he said in a deliberately low voice, "I think I can help you."
"Is that so? That’s wonderful!" A smile blossomed across the goblin’s face.