Chapter 47: Underground River
Little Can remained motionless, silently looking down at the small squirrels.
Chu Jiu, however, was a little surprised, “You… what did you call him?”
“Beautiful and powerful human male” wasn’t that the title the small squirrels gave to Lu Qingyan? Why would they call Little Can that?
…Oh, wait, maybe they weren’t calling Little Can that, but asking “Is that human male from last time?”
After all, the small squirrels’ language expression ability was very weak, and it was perfectly normal for them to reverse words, omit subjects, lack predicates, and miss objects when speaking sentences.
So Chu Jiu first explained, “That human from last time, he didn’t come.”
“This cat is my little companion, you haven’t seen it before. Its name is Little Can.”
The squirrel carrying the axe tilted its head in confusion, stared at Little Can for a while, then looked at Chu Jiu again, “He, here.”
The squirrel carrying the pickaxe: “Seen, seen.”
Chu Jiu said, “Yes, yes, Little Can is here.”
“The one you said you saw… oh, I understand, did you see Little Can when you left later?”
At that time, Lu Qingyan had left first, and then this person happened to meet Little Can and even asked Little Can to pass on a message.
Perhaps at that time, the three squirrels who hadn’t gone far also saw Lu Qingyan and Little Can?
The small squirrels raised their little arms and scratched their little heads, trying hard to understand the meaning of Chu Jiu’s words.
After thinking for a while, they nodded in unison, affirming, “Seen, seen.”
“He, and cat, are… are…”
The small squirrels tried hard to think of a suitable word.
Finally, the squirrel carrying the axe’s eyes lit up, “He, cat, are together!”
The human “together,” that’s what it means, right?
The small squirrel thought confidently.
Chu Jiu nodded, “Yes, I know.”
As he had thought, the small squirrels had happened to see Lu Qingyan and Little Can together.
Little Can, however, half-closed its eyes unhappily: Why do they keep comparing that human to me?
How can these rash dwarf beastmen speak so illogically?
Thinking of this, its gaze towards the small squirrels became increasingly unkind.
This gaze immediately made the small squirrels shiver.
Although they didn’t know why this “human male” had turned into a cat or why it was glaring at them so fiercely, their beastly intuition was screaming: Stop talking! Stop talking! If you don’t want to be flattened into squirrel pancakes, stop talking!
So, they obediently said no more about it and asked no more questions, only looked up at Chu Jiu, waving their little arms excitedly, “You, found gem?”
Chu Jiu smiled and spread out his hand, “Yes, gems.”
“Wow…!” The small squirrels surrounded Chu Jiu, making surprised exclamations.
“Never seen! Never seen!” they said in unison.
In their tribe, although the saying “the human world has a very beautiful gem” and “only by providing gems can you enter our tribe” had always been passed down, as the younger generation of dwarf beastmen, these three had indeed never seen “gems,” let alone actually eaten such candy.
Hearing the leading dwarf beastman tell them that “this thing can be put in your mouth and slowly savored, the taste is especially, especially good,” they were even more dubious.
Hesitantly and cautiously, they each chose a gem of a different color, holding it in their hands to admire for a long time.
It wasn’t until Chu Jiu reminded them that “if you keep holding them, they’ll melt” that the three small squirrels reluctantly put the candies in their mouths.
Before long, the three small squirrels tilted their heads at the same angle and wagged their tails at the exact same frequency, their faces showing an unfeigned “delicious, delicious, so delicious, woo woo woo!” expression.
Chu Jiu couldn’t help but notice: Wow, that big tail is indeed more shiny and fluffy than when he saw it in the mine last time.
It seemed that the small squirrels had really made good use of the [Dwarf Beastman Cleaning Kit] and tidied themselves up cleanly!
After the small squirrels finished tasting the candies, Chu Jiu asked where their blacksmith was.
Speaking of this, the three small squirrels looked at each other, and a look of shame appeared on their faces.
Even their big tails, which had just been so spirited, instantly drooped down, looking listless.
Chu Jiu: …?
The squirrel carrying the axe lowered its head, “Blacksmith, stopped working.”
The squirrel carrying the shovel shook its head vigorously, “They, stopped working, stopped working.”
The squirrel carrying the pickaxe tugged at its ears, “We, came back, just heard.”
It turned out that when they left the tribe to go to the Forgotten Forest, the blacksmiths were still clanging away every day, hammering iron and refining ore.
So they had patted their chests and told Chu Jiu that there were blacksmiths in the tribe, and the blacksmiths would also accept human commissions.
Only when the squirrels returned to the tribe this time did they learn that the blacksmiths had stopped working for many days. Not to mention accepting human commissions, even the dwarf beastmen themselves couldn’t get an axe forged.
As for why they stopped working, the three squirrels gestured for a long time but couldn’t explain it clearly.
Chu Jiu pondered for a moment and said, “Anyway, please take me to see the blacksmith.”
He needed to at least figure out why they had stopped working.
*
It had to be said that the dwarf beastmen’s underground tribe was built quite reasonably.
The entrance was a long passage, and at the end of the passage was a large iron gate that could be lowered.
The small squirrels said that if there were any monster invasions, as long as they weren’t as big as that giant bug from last time, this iron gate should be able to stop them.
Behind the iron gate was an extremely spacious plaza with a very high dome, and many squirrels with large tails were running around in it.
Chu Jiu looked up and noticed that the dome here was very ingeniously designed, with both ventilation holes and gaps for light to enter at a clever angle.
Not only that, but there were also some ever-burning torches inserted around the plaza, which could both illuminate and provide warmth.
In this way, this underground place was neither gloomy nor claustrophobic, but rather more vibrant than the surface.
While Chu Jiu sighed inwardly at the dwarf beastmen’s architectural skills, he subconsciously glanced at his feet—
Only then did he realize that this plaza, just like Sea Moon City, was paved with regular small square bricks!
And the way these small square bricks were combined was exactly the same as in Sea Moon City!
At this time, the small squirrels noticed that Chu Jiu was looking around and even observing the ground, so they also stopped and explained with some pride:
This underground city was built by the dwarf beastmen a very, very long time ago.
At that time, the dwarf beastmen also helped humans build their cities. For example, this beautiful square brick pavement was taught to humans by the dwarf beastmen!
Chu Jiu praised for a while and continued forward with the squirrels.
After passing through the plaza, Chu Jiu saw a rather special building by the roadside: at the entrance of this small building stood several solemn-looking dwarf beastmen holding sharp axes.
The small squirrel whispered an explanation: This was their “food storage.” It stored a lot, a lot of food. When it was difficult to find food outside in winter, they would rely on this granary to survive.
Chu Jiu thought that this arrangement was quite scientific.
The squirrel carrying the axe, as it spoke, stared at the door of the food storage, secretly wiped its mouth, and gestured with its small paw, “Inside, nuts, many, many.”
The squirrel carrying the pickaxe: “Nuts, delicious.”
The squirrel carrying the shovel: “Nuts, very important.”
Seeing this scene, Chu Jiu couldn’t help but be curious: If he put candy and nuts in front of the small squirrels at the same time, which one would they choose first?
After passing the “food storage” and walking along a winding path for a while, they finally arrived at the dwarf beastmen’s blacksmith shop.
The three brothers didn’t knock on the door immediately but stopped first to check if their clothes were messy and if their tails were puffed up.
After confirming their appearance, they politely knocked three times on the door.
A dwarf beastman who looked even smaller than the three squirrel brothers came out in response.
Unlike the three brothers who had no extra decorations, this dwarf beastman had a bow tied on one of its triangular ears.
As soon as it spoke, it was with a soft, girlish voice, “Hello there.”
It turned out that the blacksmith here was a little girl.
After the three brothers explained their purpose, the bow-tied squirrel sadly shook its head:
“No, no.”
“Master says, no water, no work.”
No water?
Chu Jiu squatted down and asked in detail for a long time, finally understanding:
When the dwarf beastman blacksmiths smelted ore and forged equipment, they had to use a large amount of water for cooling, quenching, and tempering.
For a long time, they had been drawing water from an underground river, allowing the cold water to flow through specially made water channels to their forging workshop.
It could be said that without the river water in these channels, they wouldn’t even dare to turn on the furnace.
But not long ago, this river had stopped flowing!
They had originally thought it was a blockage in the riverbed and figured they could clear it by cleaning the riverbed. Unexpectedly, when they carried their tools to the riverbank, they saw—
A huge monster! A huge monster was soaking in the water, blocking the water inlet!
That monster was terrifying, its skin was smooth and hairless, its eyes, nostrils, and ears were practically on the same plane, and its mouth was especially big, so big that it looked like a giant shovel!
After the bow-tied squirrel finished speaking, the three brothers almost hugged each other and began to tremble, clearly also frightened by this monster.
But the squirrel carrying the axe still tried its best to stand up straight, its tail trembling as it said, “We, many, hit it?”
Even if it’s a monster, if many, many of us dwarf beastmen chop at it with axes, we should be able to drive it away, right?
As long as this thing doesn’t spray mucus like that big bug…
The bow-tied squirrel shook its head, “No.”
“Master says, it, not bad. It, scare away other monsters.”
“Cannot, hit it.”
Chu Jiu crossed his arms over his chest, rested his chin on one hand, and fell into thought.
It seemed that they couldn’t simply throw explosives at this monster blocking the water inlet.
But the little squirrel had just said “soaking in the water,” “eyes, nostrils, and ears in a line,” and “mouth especially big.” These characteristics combined… didn’t it sound a bit like that animal?
In any case, he should go and see what this “terrifying monster” actually was.
*
To get to the underground river, they had to slowly climb down a long, ancient ladder.
The bow-tied squirrel went down first, leading the way.
Chu Jiu was second.
The three brothers, who had once been made into cocoons by monsters in the underground mine, had been trembling ever since they heard about the “terrifying monster” below.
But even so, they followed Chu Jiu, gritting their teeth as they climbed down.
The further down they went, the colder it felt. The sound of their feet stepping on the stairs also seemed increasingly eerie.
Gradually, Chu Jiu could hear the sound of gurgling water.
The bow-tied squirrel nimbly jumped down:
“We’re here, we’re here.”
With that, she quickly lit the torches on the wall.
Chu Jiu also landed on the ground and used the torchlight to look around: ahead was a slow-flowing underground river. By the riverbank, the dwarf beastmen had carefully dug a water channel to lead the river water to the forging workshop in the distance.
The bow-tied squirrel raised a finger and pointed to a dark shadow on the river’s surface, “That, the ‘terrifying monster’.”
Indeed, near the entrance of the water channel, there was a noticeable bulge.
Chu Jiu took two steps forward, scrutinizing the monster’s outline:
Oval-shaped ears that were disproportionately small compared to its head, slightly protruding eyes, and nostrils that were indeed on the same plane as its eyes and ears…
That’s right, judging by its appearance, this monster was indeed—
A super-sized hippopotamus! A super-sized hippopotamus more than twice the size of a normal hippopotamus he had seen in his previous life!
Strangely, when Chu Jiu looked at this monster, the system did not automatically pop up an illustration card.
In Chu Jiu’s memory, the illustration card for hippos described them like this:
[Wetland Hippopotamus: Round and fat body, small ears, big mouth. Wetland hippos live in the “River of the Past” basin in Sanctuary Valley, inhabiting the reed beds near the rivers. They mainly eat grass and occasionally some fruits.
Overall, they are gentle monsters and will not actively attack humans. As long as they are full, they spend most of their time quietly sleeping in the water. In addition, there are no special materials worth collecting from them—although their purplish-red skin is conspicuous, it is not very useful.]
…Wait, the illustration card said that hippos lived in the “River of the Past” basin, inhabiting the reed beds near the rivers?
Even if this underground river was a small branch of the “River of the Past” and this area could barely be considered the “River of the Past” basin, there were clearly no reed beds here.
And another thing, although the light here was dim, it could be vaguely seen that the monster’s skin was grayish-white, not the “purplish-red” mentioned in the illustration card.
Could it be that this monster was not a wetland hippopotamus? That’s why the system didn’t pop up the corresponding illustration?
Just then, the grayish-white monster raised its head slightly, opened its upper and lower jaws to an unbelievable angle, and let out a huge yawn.
This giant mouth, large enough to fit an entire adult human, frightened the three squirrel brothers behind them into really hugging each other and trembling non-stop.
The bow-tied squirrel, however, was slightly calmer.
She pointed at Chu Jiu with a trembling arm, “Monster, blocked it.”
Indeed, most of the monster’s body was submerged in the water, precisely blocking the water inlet and cutting off the flow.
Chu Jiu didn’t speak for a moment.
He noticed that the monster’s image with its mouth wide open just now was indeed exactly the same as a hippopotamus.
But the grayish-white skin was indeed very different from what was described in the illustration.
If this was really a “gentle wetland hippopotamus,” then he could try to lure it away; if it was actually a ferocious monster, then he would have to think of another way.
…Another monster that didn’t appear on the illustration card, how should he determine what it was…?
!
Didn’t he obtain an active skill [Enemy Situation Scan] before?
Although the name was misleadingly “enemy situation” scan, the skill description actually said “when encountering monsters not recorded in the illustration card,” “scan the monster’s habits, preferences, weaknesses, etc.”
So this skill had no usage restrictions!
Chu Jiu immediately consumed 50 points of spirit power to use the skill once.
[Scanning…]
[Scan Result: This monster has a certain connection to the wetland hippopotamus. Its habits are similar to those of the wetland hippopotamus.]
[Due to the Host’s insufficient interaction with this monster, more detailed information cannot be scanned.]
[If you need more information, please increase your interaction with this monster.]
Increase interaction?
Since it was confirmed that this monster had habits similar to those of the wetland hippopotamus, it would be easy to handle.
Chu Jiu rummaged through his backpack for fresh cabbage and carrots, then added grapes and apples, arranged them in a large round bamboo sieve, and placed it a short distance from the hippopotamus.
Such a large basin of delicious natural salad, the hippopotamus should like it, right? It should try to climb onto the shore and eat it all in one go, right?
As expected.
Perhaps it smelled the fresh fragrance of the fruits and vegetables, the hippopotamus’s nostrils twitched, and its head lifted out of the water again.
This time, not only its head, but also part of its thick, round body left the water’s surface.
Watching the behemoth slowly rise from the water, coupled with the gurgling sound of the water, and the dim lighting and flickering torchlight all around, even Chu Jiu couldn’t help but feel a bit of pressure.
Just as his breathing became slightly uneven, Little Can on his shoulder whispered, “It has no intention to attack.”
Chu Jiu breathed a sigh of relief.
But the little squirrels behind him didn’t hear Little Can’s whisper.
In this situation, even though Chu Jiu had already explained that “this monster should be a vegetarian,” witnessing such a large monster walking towards the shore, the three squirrel brothers instinctively became afraid, so afraid that they jumped into the water channel, intending to escape along it.
Anyway, Chu Jiu had also said, “If you’re scared, just hide.”
But the bow-tied squirrel didn’t leave.
She knew that the human in front of her was trying to lure the monster away.
If this monster blocked the entrance for a long time, her and her master’s blacksmith shop would never be able to open again.
Without the blacksmith shop, if the tribe members’ mining tools wore out or broke, how would they replace them?
So she hoped more than anyone that the monster could obediently leave and allow the water flow to resume.
And for this reason, she couldn’t leave.
She couldn’t let the human face the monster alone here.
Although her will was strong enough, instinct was something truly difficult to overcome.
She could control herself from running away, but she couldn’t control the stiffness of her body.
She stood blankly in the shadows, her ears and tail completely still.
At this time, the three squirrel brothers had already run a distance along the water channel.
They glanced back and saw the bow-tied squirrel standing still and not intending to leave, so they all bit their lips and ran back, holding paws and standing in a row, blocking in front of the bow-tied squirrel.
Most of the monster’s body had left the river water.
It could be clearly seen that it was indeed grayish-white all over.
…This white color, could this be an albino hippopotamus? That’s why its skin color is abnormal?
Chu Jiu was thinking this when he saw the monster’s body sway and then sink back into the water!
?!
Was its interest in food insufficient?
No, that’s not right.
Because even after returning to the water, it was still trying hard to stretch its neck forward, wanting to reach the basket of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Chu Jiu pondered for a moment, and amidst the exclamations of the little squirrels behind him, he walked to the shore, picked a carrot from the basket, and gestured towards the monster, “This, do you want to eat it?”
The monster’s small eyes rolled around, and it somewhat blankly opened its mouth again, looking like it was waiting to be fed.
Chu Jiu threw the carrot over.
It was gone in an instant.
Literally not enough to fill the gaps between its teeth.
Chu Jiu threw a whole cabbage over.
Still gone in a blink.
However, judging from the monster’s quick opening of its mouth and waiting to be fed again, it really liked these vegetables.
Chu Jiu didn’t continue feeding it but spent another 50 spirit power points to activate [Enemy Situation Scan] again.
[Scanning…]
[Scan Result: This seems to be a mutated wetland hippopotamus that mistakenly entered the underground river area? No one knows how it got here back then or how long it has been wandering in the underground river.
Although it is docile, its appearance and size are still quite intimidating, able to scare away some ferocious monsters that attempt to invade the underground river basin. In addition… there are rumors that mutated hippos actually have a special fondness for fluffy creatures? Some even say that it silently scares away other monsters to protect the fluffy creatures living nearby?
The races that have lived as its neighbors for a long time have also noticed this to some extent and are reluctant to harm it easily. But it seems to have encountered a little problem recently?
Due to the lack of sunlight and exercise for many years, its body has become stiff and weak.
In this case, is there a special reason why it likes to soak in the water so much and only likes to stay in a specific location?]
Only likes to stay in a specific location? What exactly is so attractive about this location for it?
Chu Jiu looked at the river channel.
According to the bow-tied squirrel, when the dwarf beastmen originally excavated the water inlet, they made some special designs at the bottom of the river, creating a drop in the water level, which made it easier to draw water.
If there was a drop at the bottom of the river, then the water flow would be relatively rapid?
What connection could there be between the relatively rapid water flow and the hippopotamus liking this location?
Chu Jiu took out a [Cold Light Torch], while throwing some more fruits and vegetables over, he also looked more carefully at the hippopotamus’s large face.
He always felt… the expression on the hippopotamus’s big face seemed quite comfortable?
And during the half a minute it had just come out of the water, its expression was very uncomfortable.
The hippopotamus’s current expression reminded Chu Jiu of the monkeys that would soak in hot springs in snowy weather.
Hmm, animals also know how to enjoy themselves.
Enjoy?
A thought flashed through Chu Jiu’s mind, and he quickly used spirit power to make a long bamboo pole, then inserted it into the river water in front.
He changed a few different positions, always inserting the several-meter-long bamboo pole to the bottom of the river, holding the top tightly with his hand, feeling the impact of the water flow on the bamboo pole.
After a moment, he put away the bamboo pole, first said something to Little Can in a low voice, and then turned to tell the dwarf beastmen, “I know what’s going on!”
The little squirrels all looked up, both confused and expectant.
Chu Jiu pointed at the hippopotamus, “This big guy isn’t deliberately occupying the water inlet to block the flow.”
“It’s actually… getting a ‘massage’!”
