32. Valley anecdote (below)

The next day we learned that one of the thunder rhinoceroses in the caravan had fallen over the edge of a cliff and accidentally broken a leg, which had paralysed the entire trail. If we waited like this, there would be no change, even old Kulu could not cure the fallen thunder rhinoceros, if we waited any longer, we might all be trapped and die here, we had no choice but to abandon the thunder rhinoceros and finally unload its cargo, it was old Kulu who sang a It was old Kulu who sang a ritual hymn of orcish melody to console the soul to return to the arms of the orc gods, and ended the thunder rhinoceros with tears in its eyes and a painful cry of sorrow. Suddenly one of them was given up and old Kulu couldn't get his head around it.

I still went through the endless scrolls every day, sometimes sitting up and meditating when I was tired. I didn't even use the magic unless it was necessary to remove the fire element from my body with anti-magic. By practising the postures that Jumbach had taught me every day, I was now able to maintain them for a long time, and I was looking forward to his compliments when he saw how well I was doing. Kurtz, on the other hand, seems to be getting quieter and quieter, always sitting beside me and staring. He says it's not too far from his home anymore, and I don't know what to say, so I sit with him on the back of the thunder rhino's spine, his legs crossed and feet to feet, his hands touching his ankles, his head silently bowed and those big hairy ears drooping downwards. I huddled my hands on my curled up knees and huddled my body into a small ball, looking up at the mysterious starry sky above me, wondering if there was a home for me in this vast sea of stars.

After twenty-seven days and nights, we finally emerged from the road of death, from the narrow mountain path where we had slept in fear of rolling into a mountain stream. No extreme blizzards or the freezing rain that is most likely to occur in spring, no unpredictable cyclones in the valley, where a minor disaster such as a road collapse or a landslide could have killed us, but we finally managed to get out, and instead of a narrow mountain road, the view was much more open, with the two mountain ranges being separated by 50 or 60 metres at the narrowest point. Dozens of thunder rhinoceroses converged on this open field, and everyone in the caravan stood on their backs, raising their hands in the air and letting out a deafening cheer. It was a popular folk song praising the richness and simplicity of the continent's people and their bravery in fighting demons against all odds.

Old Kulu points to the steep mountain walls on either side and tells us that the valley was once a glacier belt and that the steep mountain walls on either side were carved into their present shape by huge glacial movements, and that the last glaciers here melted away decades ago, and that if you want to see the glaciers you have to walk a hundred miles deeper into the valley along that mountain stream to see the largest glacier belt in the northern foothills of the Pai plateau .

We hadn't seen any sign of the grey dwarves for days, which made us think that maybe it was the spring, when we happened to catch the grey dwarves entering the Pai plateau for hunting or something, and in any case the deadly atmosphere in the caravan was suddenly lightened up.

At the entrance to the slightly spacious valley, where not only was there a large patch of purple moss growing, but behind large rocks there was also horsetail and wheelwort and other good tasting wild plants, and further down the rocky cliffs at the edge of the valley there were patches of undergrowth.

The girls' faces were reflected in the windows of the caravans, and as they laughed and hugged each other with tears streaming down their faces, releasing their month-long depression and fear of death, I thought that perhaps the girls would grow up overnight after these experiences, and that the flowers in the hothouse would have a better understanding of life.

The advance party of the adventurers were hoofing it to the next stop on the caravan, and just as I was standing on the back of the Thunder Rhino looking carefully to see if there was any Sister Gogo in the lead scout party, I saw Tia on his horse doing a fancy flip on his horse and waving to me, his thin face covered in green stubble, but in good spirits, so he was in the scout party. I still didn't see Sister Gogo until the most horse had also disappeared from my sight.

Just then, I heard a familiar voice ring out from beneath my feet, "Hey! What are you looking at? I haven't seen you for a month, and you feel taller again."

That snow-white face waved a youthful smile, the corners of her mouth turned upward to blossom into a blooming begonia the moment I looked over. Sister Gogo had taken off her heavy leather armour and was wearing only a thick long skirt, revealing a large expanse of snowy white at the neckline, standing at the feet of Thunder Rhino looking up at me, her long chestnut hair fluttering in the wind in the afternoon sun.

I jumped down from the eight-metre high thunder rhinoceros without hesitation, without any cushioning, as Sister Gogo watched in amazement, as a long, deep spell sounded from her mouth, and a dazzling ball of magical light between her long fingers turned into a magical feather in an instant, which floated to my feet and instantly grew to over two metres long, catching my body directly. I jumped off the feather like a monkey and jumped on top of Sister Gogo, hooking my hands around her snow-white neck and hanging in front of her, shouting, "Sister!"

"You little monkey, you scared me." Sister Gogo held me up in the air with her hands under my armpits and spun me halfway around, her long skirt blooming as she spun, reflecting the beauty of her white face.

In the Empire, commoners are still fearful of wizards. Whenever they came near me, the men's laughter was much more subdued and they would look at me with a different kind of awe, which made both Koko and I a little uncomfortable, so Koko dragged me towards the less crowded areas. I waved to him and greeted him.

We talked about the differences between commoners and wizards, and Koko was very outspoken, telling me that once you become a wizard, you are automatically made a noble of the empire and receive some kind of reward, usually a third-class baronet for junior wizards, and that you can increase your rank by merit and rank. The difference between a commoner and a wizard in a large city is that a wizard receives a monthly allowance from the Imperial Treasury, and the local government gives a wizard who has awakened to the commoner good benefits, such as free government housing, free access to the city library, and priority in leaving the city. The local government will give a wizard who has awakened a commoner good benefits, such as free government housing, free access to the city library, priority in leaving the city, or a 50% tax on farms and shops owned by the wizard. Of course, there were some down-and-out wizards who were employed by commoners, but this was a very rare case. According to my understanding of what Gogo had said, this particular group of magicians was more like the high level intellectuals of the original world, like university professors, and not particularly high up in the hierarchy.

But why were the people in the caravan so afraid of wizards? No one would leave their homeland for years to do this hard work when they had nothing to eat or wear. The highest category belonged to Master Leipas and his lieutenants, including, of course, old Kulu, who had a special status, the second category were those who were only responsible for driving the thunder rhinoceros, who were hired at great expense by the big bosses behind the caravan, and the third category were the lieutenants and the caravan's handymen, those who needed to earn themselves an estate, or who were in exile or wanted or had no estate. They were the ones who feared the wizards from the bottom of their hearts, for in every city there was a special division of the magistrates, and many wizards were invited to become officers whose task it was to apprehend the vicious criminals who existed in the city. The mysterious wizards are notorious for their disdain for money and power, and for seeking only justice and truth to eliminate all evil forces.

Curiously, I asked Sister Gogo, "Sister, are you a magistrate?"

Sister Gogo tugged on my hand and held her skirt in the other, stepping over the puddle on the ground, standing up straight and tugging her hair out of her forehead, tucking it behind her ears before saying, "When I was at the Academy of Magic, it was always my dream to be an Executive Officer, the pay was good, I could accumulate merit, and there were many brothers and sisters in the Academy, so I would get a lot of attention. But then I gave up, there were no other opportunities to make money there, self-discipline is the most basic rule for executives, but I needed the money, I also needed to buy Sue a simulated prosthetic leg from Oleanna's Boutique, I've seen it, it looks and feels like a real leg, and it has 'light body' and It has three magic formations: 'Primary Wind Walk' and 'Primary Agility', and can be set with primary magic crystals. If we go back this time, we should be able to do it! Hehehe, that was a giant double-headed mutant wind wolf, we dug up two magic cores, they are dual-attribute magic cores!"

Kuzi and I retrieved a number of dead branches scattered outside the bushes in the valley, and Kuzi skillfully used his fire scythe to ignite a pile of dead leaves. Kurtz expertly set up the grill and the three of us sat around the fire and began to talk about what we had seen and heard on this road of death. As we chatted, the pastry became slightly charred and the three of us shared it while it was still hot.

It was only when the flames gradually diminished and only a pile of red coals remained that Kurtz took out a leg of lamb, wrapped tightly in greaseproof paper, tore off the wax-sealed greaseproof paper and slowly turned the leg on the grill. Seeing the way Kuz carefully brushing the sauce and honey on the leg of lamb, Sister Koko also sighed in amazement, "The news from the caravan said that they have two orc kids there who are the best cooks, they have the secret orc recipe in their hands, and they make the best food, are they talking about you?"

Kurtz and I looked at each other, pointed at the same time and said, "He made it all!"