Chapter 206: Three Pillar Lake
Chapter 206: Three Pillar Lake
The next morning, Lindsey and Red set off once again.
The journey ahead was a tedious one, filled with arduous mountain crossings and monotonous travel.
The Thousand Mountain Stone Forest underwent significant geological changes.
Some stone pillars formed natural pathways, while other areas were covered with dense, sharp stone spikes, resembling the back of a hedgehog.
Even with their agility, Lindsey and Red could leap across these obstacles.
However, the prolonged wind erosion had made the smaller stone pillars brittle, and sometimes a single step could cause them to crumble, triggering a chain reaction that sent them tumbling down with the dislodged stones.
The only silver lining was that the surrounding environment was relatively safe.
The death of the Black Eagle King was an unexpected event.
Other beasts in the vicinity, who had claimed their territories, were unaware of this incident and maintained their usual hunting habits.
As flying creatures, the Black Eagles had a vast territory, which meant that for the next two weeks...
Lindsey and Red traversed the Thousand Mountain Stone Forest in a straight line and didn't encounter a single beast above the third phase! It wasn't until the afternoon of the fifteenth day, two weeks later...
After crossing another stone forest area and reaching flat ground, Red shook off the gravel and asked, "Lindsey, do we need to go much further?"
Lindsey opened the map and studied it carefully before responding with a regretful expression, "The Black Eagle King said that it took them half a month to fly east from their nest. Red, do you think our travel speed can compare to theirs?"
Red rolled her eyes, "Why didn't we keep a couple of Black Eagles back then?"
"If we rode on them, we'd probably be there by now."
Lindsey shattered her fantasy, "You're dreaming."
"Although they are powerful, their physical structure isn't designed to carry passengers in flight. If you tried to ride them, the likely outcome would be both of us crashing to the ground."
Red asked curiously, "What if they were bigger, like the Black Eagle King?"
Lindsey shook his head again, "Still no."
"Unless they were seven or eight meters tall... No, wait. If you weren't riding on their backs but were held by their claws, they might be able to carry us in flight."
Red initially looked thoughtful, but then realized the issue with this method, "But if they fly high and then release us, what then?"
Lindsey clapped his hands together, mimicking the action of squashing something, "Then it's all over."
"..."
"Lindsey, use your creativity to come up with a solution. I want to get there too."
"Some things are just not possible. You'll have to give up on this idea."
Realizing there was no way to improve their travel speed, Red's gaze began to wander aimlessly.
When she was in a bad mood, she would try to transfer her negative emotions onto her prey.
Unfortunately, this method of relief yielded no results.
The creatures in the Thousand Mountain Stone Forest had adapted to their environment, preferring to inhabit cliffs, steep slopes, and complex terrain with jagged rocks.
These flat areas, ideal for easy travel, were less favored by the beasts.
Only shrubs and grass grew quietly in these regions.
An entire morning passed, and after Lindsey and Red finished their lunch, the situation changed.
The terrain ahead became challenging once more.
Massive stone pillars of varying shapes were scattered throughout the area, with small streams flowing along the low-lying areas, making it clear that this was not an easy terrain to traverse.
However, Lindsay didn't pay much attention to these obstacles.
His gaze was drawn to a peculiar sight in the distance.
Amidst the vast expanse of stone pillars, three pillars, each over a hundred meters tall, had collapsed and leaned against each other, creating a delicate balance in their collapse.
If such a scene were to occur on Earth, it would undoubtedly become a famous tourist attraction.
Lindsay's companion, Red, also noticed this spectacle.
However, her perspective on this landscape was entirely different from Lindsay's:
"These stone pillars are so unreasonable."
"They're so hard and yet so brittle. Is there no stable state for them?"
Red's complaint, however, served as a reminder to Lindsay.
These three hundred-meter-tall pillars were indeed sturdy, but given their length and the impact of their collapse, they should have shattered instead of maintaining this delicate balance.
There must be something unique about this world—Essence—involved in creating such a spectacle.
"Let's go take a look."
"We might find something useful!"
Lindsay, with Red in tow, hurried towards the three stone pillars.
...
That night, with their pants soaked, Lindsay and Red approached the leftmost of the three stone pillars.
Out of caution, Lindsay opened his map first.
Indeed, around the base of the stone pillar, there were several yellow markings symbolizing neutrality, and there were quite a few of them.
Lindsay warned Red:
"Red, there are Monstercrafts dwelling here."
Red immediately gripped her Wooden Poisoned Spear, her expression turning resolute:
"Are we going to fight?"
"Don't rush into action," Lindsay shook his head, equipped the Treant Flower Crown, and took the first step forward, "They're not highly threatening, and we can try to communicate first."
Lindsay and Red approached the stone pillar under the moonlight.
There was a clear lake with some damp mounds protruding from the water, and not a single Monstercraft was in sight.
"Squeak, squeak..."
A faint squeaking sound echoed from beneath the ground.
The sound was almost beyond the range of human hearing, but with Lindsay's equipment enhancing his perception, he was able to detect the subtle movement.
Lindsay's gaze shifted to the damp mounds.
"We mean no harm," he tried to communicate in the language of beasts and tossed over two pieces of beast meat and a potato block, "If you can understand us, would you come out and talk?"
"..."
The air fell silent for a moment.
Even the squeaking from below ceased.
After waiting for a little over a minute, the mound from which Lindsay had thrown the food suddenly had a claw dig through the moist soil.
A head resembling a mole emerged from the mound.
It cautiously looked at Lindsay, its gaze shifting between the food and the two humans.
Lindsay glanced at the map again, and the markings were still yellow.
He pulled Red back two steps to indicate their non-threatening intentions and continued, "These foods are a gesture of goodwill."
Seeing Lindsay's actions, with the help of the equipment's increased affinity, the mole-like Monstercraft finally spoke up:
"You... are humans?"
Lindsay nodded eagerly:
"Yes, we're crossing the Thousand Mountain Stone Forest."
"We've heard that the ground nearby has sunk, and there might be danger, so we wanted to ask you about the specific situation."
(End of Chapter)
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