The 7th Chapter of the 5th Volume (Part 1) Having Friends Come from Afar

  Reishi, Huang Jing or Fragrant Orchid Dew?

  Wuuu...

  "What a bother it is to give gifts!" Suddenly, at the corner of a small flower path in front and to the left, a little man appeared, humming an ear-piercing tune, with his head down, hurrying along.

  The mouse king was only three inches long, considered a small dwarf, but this little man was half as tall as the mouse king. He wore a very large red high hat that almost covered his entire body. His face was bright red, and he held a red package in his left hand, looking quite comical. He sang non-stop:

  What should I send?

  Reishi, Huang Jing or Fragrant Orchid Dew?

  Wuuu...

  Giving gifts is such a hassle!

  "Ginseng, yellow rice, fragrant flowers and dew, anything will do."

  "It's a flower spirit!" Old Mouse shook his head at me secretly, the little man turned around, saw us, and was taken aback for a moment, involuntarily stopping in his tracks.

  The little man looked up at us and scrutinized us for a moment, then asked in a shrill voice: "Who are you? Are you also here to present gifts to General Otori?"

  The old mouse kept making eyes at me, telling me not to talk. I secretly laughed at his cowardice and casually replied: "That's right, we're the same as you, here to give gifts to General Otori. Who are you?"

  The little man blinked his small eyes like coral beads: "I am Ji Guan, how come I've never seen you before? Do you really know General Yuan Wei?"

  "Of course, who doesn't know General Iris? We're all familiar with each other when we wear open-crotch pants." I blabbered a few sentences and changed the subject: "We came from very far away to deliver gifts, and after that, we still need to go to the Snow Mountain. Do you know which road is the nearest?" Since this little guy called Chickweed was a flower spirit, he must be familiar with the flower fields, maybe I can ask him for the nearest route.

  "You're outsiders, aren't you? The Shokyu Snow Mountain is far away. From General Otori's mansion to the north, there are still several days of journey. However, if you want to go to Shokyu Snow Mountain, you will have to pass through General Otori's mansion anyway, which is on the way." Toriko looked at me suspiciously for a few moments, thought for a moment, and said: "Let's hurry up, General Otori's longevity banquet is about to begin, it won't be good if we're late."

  I exchanged a glance with Hai Ji and Gan Ning, deciding to temporarily follow Ji Guan. My stomach was also hungry, that General Yuan Wei was hosting a birthday banquet. I just happened to go fill up the Temple of Five Organs. With our three people's magical powers, we naturally didn't put any flower spirits in our eyes, only Mouse Gong Gong had a crying face, with an expression like he wanted to hang himself.

  "Met four outsiders,"

  Two men and two women.

  La la la

  "What a lively procession!" The rooster walked ahead, humming a tune over and over again. Like a quacking drake. I couldn't bear to listen to it any longer, so I covered my ears. This flower spirit's musical taste is really terrible.

  The rooster led us, deftly threading through the web-like flower paths. Deep in the flower field, there was a place where the flowers were particularly sparse, with small puddles scattered around. The water was crystal clear, reflecting people's reflections clearly. The rooster squatted down in front of a puddle and scooped up some water: "Thirsty, let's drink some water."

  These small water holes are very strange in shape, some look like sheep with two horns, some look like small birds, and some resemble a twisted little snake. The rooster turned his head to us and said: "This is the flower field spring water, it's very sweet, let's taste it together."

  I was feeling thirsty and bent down to drink water, but the mouse king grasped me tightly and shook his head. I was slightly stunned. Looking at the rooster again, he stared at me intensely, but as soon as our eyes met, he immediately looked away. Suddenly, I realized that this guy had been holding the water in his hands without taking a sip, just pretending to drink by lowering his head.

  There's something strange in the water! I suddenly realized, keeping my face calm, the dragonfly's red claws swiftly stretched out and grabbed towards the chicken crest. The latter obviously had been prepared for a long time. With a quick flash, it slipped into the flower cluster with a rustling sound. It disappeared without a trace. From far away, a discordant tune was heard:

  "A cheat is often cheated."

  The general did not know the outsider.

  Wuuu...

  "Running into a clever Rooster is your bad luck."

  Hai Ji was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly understood: "So he was fooling us."

  The lotus heart's eye burst forth, and with a glance: "He has escaped far away."

  That day, this flower spirit must have known early on that we weren't here to give gifts to General Iris, yet it didn't reveal its intentions and brought us here to drink water, clearly harboring evil intentions. Mouse Official stared at the puddle of water and said: "I've heard that in the flower fields there are many demonic springs, once you drink the water from these demonic springs, you'll become a lost beast devoid of spiritual sense. Young Master, I told you so early on, didn't I say that this flower spirit is not to be trifled with?"

  I snorted a few times, almost being secretly calculated by the chicken crown. This flower spirit is called the chicken crown, isn't it the flower spirit of the cockscomb? That big red tall hat of his, doesn't it look just like a rooster's crest?

  As the night deepened, according to Mr. Rat's suggestion, they would spend the night here and set off again at dawn. At this moment, the starry lights suddenly appeared in the flower field, as if countless beautiful lanterns had been lit up.

  All the flowers were shining, twinkling one by one, their petals transparent like colored crystals, illuminating the night with a kaleidoscope of colors. Not far away, the sound of light footsteps could be heard. Gan Zhenyun opened his lotus eyes and said, "It seems to be another flower spirit, heading north."

  "Let's go and see! I don't believe we can't outplay these flower spirits!" I said resolutely, not waiting for Mouse to dissuade me, and rushed in the direction of the footsteps. Hai Ji smiled slightly: "The little scamp's courage is much greater than before."

  In the midst of flowers, I saw a small person again, with white fluffy fine hair all over his face, holding up a large ceramic jar on his head with both hands, limping and walking, humming:

  "A careless scratch on the foot"

  It's really terrible.

  The birthday banquet of General Iris

  I'm afraid I'll be late."

  Fainted, why do these flower spirits all love humming unpleasant tunes! I lightly jumped and blocked the little man's path, scaring him so much that his hand shook and almost dropped the clay pot on his head.

  "Hello, how do I get to Xue Shan?" I asked directly.

  The little man glared at me: "No manners, speaking so loudly and rudely, almost made me drop the jar." Irritated, he looked me up and down again, saying: "I'm busy now, no time to bother with you, get out of the way."

  "Are you going to attend General Gentiana's birthday banquet?"

  "How did you know?"

  I rolled my eyes and my gaze fell on the little man's right foot, where there was a gaping wound at his ankle, as if it had been slashed by a sharp blade. It was still bleeding, no wonder he was limping along.

  I smiled and said: "Your foot is injured and it's inconvenient for you to move around. Why don't I help you carry the vase?"

  The little man took a step back, eyeing me warily: "Think you can sneak a taste of the flower crystal honey from my jar? Don't even think about it! This is a birthday gift for General Ouyang."

  "Hmph, you little scamp," said Hai Ji coldly. "Forget it, don't bother with him." I said to

  Shake hands, now the top priority is to rush to Xue Shan as soon as possible. And we still need to arrange an escape route for ourselves. At that time, we may return to Hua Tian and deal with these flower spirits again. So first, we need to find a way to get along with them. We are not familiar with the land of Mo Lian Tian, having more friends means having more paths.

  I gave a faint smile to the little man and said, "I have no ill intentions, I just want to help you out. If you don't trust me, then forget it. But from here to General Otori's mansion is still quite a distance. You've injured your leg, it'll be hard for you to make it on time." After thinking for a moment, I took out the milk that Spider Spirit had given me and opened the lid, saying "This can heal wounds, take it."

  The little man looked at me with a bewildered expression, hesitating. Gan Zhen suddenly patted the sword scabbard lightly, and a misty sword energy shot out. The ground immediately cracked open a deep groove. Gan Zhen said calmly: "If we had malicious intentions towards you, this one sword would have been enough."

  I secretly praised Gan Ning's cleverness, he really knew how to cooperate. One sang the red face, one sang the white face, and they indeed intimidated this flower spirit. He looked uneasy and said: "Who are you guys? What are you doing in the flower field?"

  I smiled and swiftly reached out with a flash of lightning, grabbing towards the little person's shoulder. The little person was extremely alert, shrinking his neck and disappearing strangely in front of the flower wall.

  "He's here!" Gān níng zhēn kuò kāi lián xīn yǎn. The sword scabbard pointed to a deep green calyx in the flower cluster. I couldn't help but laugh, only this calyx had no petals and was still slightly trembling, apparently it was the transformed flower spirit. My hand immediately turned into a soft whip, wrapping around the calyx, forcibly pulling it out, and the calyx changed back into a small person, shaking with fear. I poured the spider spirit's milk on his ankle, the little man let out a sharp cry, just about to struggle. Suddenly stopped, staring at his ankle in surprise. The snow-white milk dripped onto the wound. The bleeding immediately stopped, and after a moment, the wound miraculously healed, without even a scar visible.

  I let go of the little man: "How is it? Didn't I cheat you?" The female spider spirit used milk to heal the male spider spirit's wounds, so I guessed that it had a miraculous effect on healing wounds. Now, after trying it out, it indeed worked.

  The little man twisted his right foot, took a few steps, and jumped lightly. His eyebrows bloomed with joy: "My foot is fine!" He turned to look at me again, no longer wary, but still cautiously said: "Thank you for your help, but I'm afraid I won't be able to help you much."

  The mermaid princess glared at me, and I pinched her hand to hint, saying to the little man: "It's okay, we'll say goodbye here. This is for you, it can still be used if you get hurt in the future." Generously stuffed the remaining spider milk into his arms.

  The little man stood on the spot, looking at me and then at Hai Ji and Gan Ning Zhen, for a moment he didn't know what to do. Mouse Gonggong stroked his eight-character beard and said in a mysterious tone: "Ah, rumors are not as good as seeing with one's own eyes. I've heard that although the flower spirit is eccentric and cunning, she always repays kindness. Now I realize that all the rumors were false." He pulled my sleeve and walked away without looking back.

  After we walked more than ten zhang away, a small voice suddenly came from behind: "I'll take you for a while. To go to the Snow Mountain of Shooting Workers, you must pass by General Yuanwei's mansion. Anyway, anyway, we're on our way."

  I turned away, and exchanged a smiling glance with Gan Ningzhen and Mouse Gonggong. Mouse Gonggong gave me a thumbs up: "Young Master, your methods are ruthless!"

  "You guys are quite a team." I turned around, opened my arms and gave the little man a friendly warm smile: "Hello, friend. My name is Lin Fei, from the distant Red Dust Heaven."

  "My name is Dandelion. Thank you for healing my foot." The little man said apologetically, "Please forgive me, I can only take you part of the way. Because the path through the flower field is a secret among us flower spirits, and we cannot casually tell outsiders."

  "It doesn't matter, you've already helped us a lot." I patted him on the back and didn't mind. As the saying goes, one must put out a long line to catch a big fish.

  "Follow me." Dandelion jumped with both feet, and whoa, he floated lightly along the wind direction, sliding for several yards before slowly falling down. His previous stumbling and limping couldn't compare to this. He dodged left and right, gliding effortlessly through the winding flower paths. I found that some roads seemed to be heading south but actually turned out to be shortcuts leading north after turning in. Some roads looked close but ended up being long detours. Indeed, we had taken many wrong turns before.

  After a long time, many flower spirits appeared on the road, each one short and slender. Some had purple-red faces, some had pale skin, and some were covered in colorful spots all over their bodies. They were all carrying gifts and hurrying along, humming various unpleasant tunes. The dandelion greeted them warmly, but the flower spirits eyed us with hostility until they heard the dandelion say we were friends, at which point their expressions softened.

  "Hua Jing almost never makes friends with outsiders and is a very exclusive clan," said Mouse Old Man in a low voice.

  We walked a bit further and encountered more and more flower spirits, all of whom were going to attend General Iris's birthday banquet. Looking at the array of flower spirits paying their respects, I thought to myself that this General Iris must be an important figure.

  In the distance, the night sky was illuminated. Lanterns were hung high, emitting a dazzling light. In the midst of the lanterns, a magnificent flower palace appeared and disappeared, with loud drum music occasionally coming from inside.

  At the crossroads leading to Huagong Temple, two small warriors in golden helmets and armor stood upright. "Clang" twice, cold light flashing, two slender and long treasured swords were drawn out of their sheaths, blocking our way.

  "What outsiders?! Dandelion, you have a big nerve, actually bringing outsiders to trespass on the general's mansion!" The little warrior on the left shouted, while the little warrior on the right pointed his treasured sword at us, as if we were great enemies. I couldn't help but laugh in my heart, this treasured sword was only half a foot long, it would be strange if it could hurt me. The two little warriors were also short and stout, with horns on their heads and big round eyes, one look and you could tell they were monsters.

  "They, they are my friends, want to go," said Dandelion awkwardly.

  "It's to come and celebrate General Iris' birthday." I interrupted Dandelion's words, calmly telling the young warrior.

  Two little warriors shook their heads in unison: "No, we don't welcome outsiders, please leave Huatian immediately!" Some flower fairies on the side buzzed: "Outsiders, get out of here quickly, get out of here quickly!"

  Dandelion looked at me with difficulty: "Because of General Iris's birthday banquet, this road is temporarily closed. Sorry, you can only take a detour to Xue Shan, I can only send you here."

  "Master, let's be sensible and leave," said the old mouse. He nodded his head, and at the crossroads, dozens of young warriors with swords came rushing over, their glittering blades surrounding us, ready to strike at any moment if we uttered a single word out of line.

  My gaze slowly swept across the surrounding flower spirits, and I hatched a plan. I employed a type of armor technique called Echoing Wall, speaking in a low, measured tone: "Is it not delightful to have friends come from afar? With the grandeur of General Tailwind's demeanor, could you really be afraid to meet someone who has come to pay their respects?"