Chapter 62: Grandpa, You’re on Fire
Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Grandpa, You’re on Fire
Huohuo stopped at a spot near the mountain’s peak.
It flew onto a large rock and gently pecked its surface with its beak.
The action was baffling.
Then, the three of them saw the seemingly inanimate rock stir. It was alive.
The five-meter-tall rock came to life. A pair of eyes appeared at its very top, and it stood up, sending loose stones tumbling as it sprouted four limbs.
It gave Huohuo a look of utter despair. It was unclear how the two communicated, but in the end, the Stone Man reluctantly moved its body aside, revealing an entrance behind it.
Inside, some small Stone Men were bumping and hopping around, playing.
The Stone Men were about as tall as an adult’s calf, with large eyes embedded in their stone heads. They bumped into one another, looking endearingly clumsy.
It was a whimsical, amusing scene.
But when Huohuo appeared in the cave, the small Stone Men froze as if they had seen a ghost, instantly petrifying. They stood on the spot, indistinguishable from ordinary rocks.
’It can’t see me, it can’t see me.’
It was as if a stream of bullet comments was scrolling by.
If Lu Wu hadn’t seen the transformation with her own eyes, she would never have believed they were alive.
They were so afraid of Huohuo that they would rather pretend to be rocks than try to drive the intruders from their territory.
"CHIRP!"
’Follow me.’
Huohuo circled Lu Wu once before continuing to lead the way.
Lu Wu looked at the Stone Men in the cave and felt a small pang of guilt.
’Why do I feel like a robber?’
She took out the last of her ice powder from her storage bag, placed it on the ground, and spoke in a friendly tone.
"This is ice powder. You can have a taste."
After the group had walked deeper into the cave, the small Stone Men began to move again. They gathered around the ice powder, and sounds like the clinking of stones could be heard.
It was their language.
"Ice powder? What’s ice powder?"
The Stone Man clan naturally needed to eat, but their food consisted entirely of ores. They had never eaten human food.
"The people brought by the fierce bird... they don’t seem bad."
"No, I’ve heard humans are even more terrifying. Our clan was captured and brought here by a human long ago. We can’t eat things given by humans."
"But it looks so pretty."
"I wanna eat it, I wanna eat it!"
"Eat, eat!"
The youngest Stone Men, whose minds weren’t fully developed, only followed their instincts.
The beautifully arranged ice powder captivated the small Stone Men.
A group of small Stone Men huddled their heads over the ice powder, unable to look away. When one of the larger Stone Men tried to throw it out, the little ones stopped him.
"WAAAH!"
The little ones started to cry.
The tears rolling down their reddish-brown faces were tiny, crushed red ores that fell to the ground with a PITTER-PATTER, breaking the larger Stone Men’s hearts.
"Don’t cry, don’t cry."
Seeing they couldn’t be stopped, the larger Stone Men could only grit their teeth and agree.
"I’ll try it first. If I’m okay after a bit, then you can eat."
A Stone Man that looked older stepped forward. With the resolve of a martyr, it decided to test the "poison" itself.
It picked up a bowl and, as if marching to its death, poured the contents into its large mouth.
The Stone Man clan did have a sense of taste, but as they only ever ate ores, they assumed everything in the world tasted like minerals.
But at that moment, the Stone Man’s entire worldview was shattered by a small bowl of ice powder.
It didn’t know what "sweet" or "sour" was.
It only knew that these exquisite little things were cool, soft, and springy in its mouth.
A peculiar sensation spread through its body.
It was a novel experience.
It stood frozen in place as if it had been struck, its eyes wide as saucers. The entire Stone Man was rigid.
Seeing the Stone Man become motionless, the others instantly panicked.
"WAAAH! Grandpa, Grandpa, don’t die!"
A tiny Stone Man rushed over, hugging the warrior’s leg and wailing.
Stone tears fell PITTER-PATTER onto the ground, quickly forming a small pile.
"Grandpa, I don’t want to eat it anymore! Please don’t die!"
"I... I’ll avenge you..."
The little Stone Man, thinking its grandpa was dead and about to vow revenge, remembered the ferocity of the little red bird. It pouted, feeling deeply wronged.
’Grandpa, I’m sorry. Your grandson is useless.’
’I can’t avenge you.’
’Grandpa, you can rest in peace. I will carry on your legacy and live a good life, striving to live even longer than you did.’
The little Stone Man’s mind was filled with all sorts of grandly "filial" thoughts. It didn’t notice its grandpa lowering his head from above.
The expression on his massive face was peculiar.
Then, the little Stone Man found itself dangling in the air. It had been picked up and spanked several times on its bottom. WHAP, WHAP, WHAP.
A stone bottom can still hurt.
The little Stone Man stopped crying. It stared blankly at its resurrected grandpa, then let out a happy laugh that produced a snot bubble.
"Grandpa, you’re awive!"
"I was never dead!"
The old Stone Man was nearly angered to death by his "filial" grandson.
"How is it? How is it? Is the stuff edible?"
Seeing the old Stone Man was fine, the others all gathered around. They had also been frightened when he stopped moving.
"...It’s edible."
After a moment of internal struggle, the old Stone Man told the truth.
Amidst his clan’s discussion, the old Stone Man stealthily went over, scooped up the remaining bowls of ice powder on the ground, and tucked them away.
"Grandpa, what are you doing?"
The little Stone Man, sitting on its grandpa’s shoulder, naturally saw his sneaky movements.
"You shut up. This is for your own good."
Grandpa glared.
’This little thing called ice powder is too delicious. Once my clansmen taste it, they definitely won’t want to share.’
He was just seizing the initiative.
"Here, eat yours."
After stuffing a bowl into the little Stone Man’s hands, Grandpa quickly headed off before the others could react.
In no time, the ice powder was all divided up.
Some of the more cautious Stone Men still chose to wait and see, but after hearing their clan’s exaggerated descriptions of the ice powder, they were filled with regret.
’Is that little thing really as delicious as they say?’
Unaware that her ice powder had conquered yet another species, Lu Wu followed Huohuo into the depths of the cave.
All sorts of ores were stored here.
Top-grade ores that were priceless on the outside were piled up here like trash, a sight that made one’s eyes pop.
"Holy crap, isn’t this Sharp Steel Crystal? It’s so hard you could kill someone with it without even forging it first! My dad moved heaven and earth just to get a single piece to forge a weapon back in the day."
"And this, this has to be a Half Moon Stone, right? They only grow in places bathed in moonlight year-round. I remember when a single piece appeared once, a bunch of old monsters fought tooth and nail for it."
"And this one, and this one..."
Lou Xiaotian, who prided himself on being worldly and knowledgeable, now wandered through the treasure trove with a dazed expression on his face.
He felt like he was dreaming.
’Why are all these top-grade ores being treated like common cabbages, just lying on the ground for me to pick?’
Soon, Lou Xiaotian’s beautiful dream came to an end.
Because when he tried to pick up a Crystal Stone, Huohuo flashed in front of him. It spat a tiny flame from its small beak and simply stared at Lou Xiaotian with its beady black eyes.