Volume 5: If you are poor, you should be alone Chapter 156 The Minotaur's Death Gaze
One month after the grassland entered winter, the game of power among the northern continent and the "Frank Feast" began.
The banquet will be held in the Ice and Snow King City on the Samar Snow Mountain in the far north. The banquet will be held in the deep winter when the northern kingdom is like an icy prison. These two arrangements alone can exclude most of the weaklings who are not strong enough from attending... Don't complain, because complaining will only make you freeze to death on the way. The Elf King didn't say that weaklings without tickets will not be allowed to come. But whether you have the ability to climb the Samar Snow Mountain in winter and arrive at the Ice and Snow King City alive is your own business...
As a sage of the Snow Wolf tribe who was "invited" by the Elf Queen, Xiao Yun did not need to climb the Samal Snow Mountain. He could take the "green channel" of the forest elves. Ten days before the banquet, Elder Gwendolyn sent an envoy to deliver the invitation, along with a "Must-Read for Admission" letter written in flower-like words. In summary, it reminded Ayun of the Snow Wolf tribe, who was attending the banquet for the first time, of the rules of the banquet, such as which participants were best not to contact and which troublesome people not to deal with. After giving Xiao Yun one day to pack his luggage and bring his "entourage", the envoy took Xiao Yun to Stephens, the city of the Queen of the Forest Elf, and took advantage of the teleportation array in Stephens City to reach the Ice and Snow King City directly.
Each invitation letter allows two accompanying persons. Evelyn obediently ran to take Gwendolyn's place. Xiao Yun considered it and brought Sean and Hongye.
The reason why he brought Sean along was because Xiao Yun could tell from the "Must-Read for Admission" sent by Gwendolyn that this elven elder did not really intend to be a close guide for the Snow Wolf Tribe... He had deliberately stated what he wanted to say in the letter, so he would definitely be "free-range" at that time; Xiao Yun, who was unfamiliar with the place, would not be able to get a word in when there was no one there, and he couldn't even get a word in when the big guys chatted, so why would he go to such an occasion to be a "wallflower"?
It took nearly six days to reach Stephens under the guidance of the elf messenger. Before he could even marvel at how exquisite and magnificent this queen city in the valley was, he was stuffed into the teleportation array by the anxious messenger. After a flash of light, he was already on the Samal Snow Mountain.
The hall was supported by dozens of pillars. Outside the hall, there was a raging cold wind wrapped in snowflakes, but inside the hall it was only slightly chilly, as if it were early spring. In the spacious hall, six teleportation platforms with a diameter of about three meters were lined up. When Xiao Yun appeared on one of them, the snow elf waiting below came up, checked Xiao Yun's invitation letter, and gestured to invite the three to follow him.
Sean had followed King Kroning to participate in the Frankish feast, so he did not look around. Only Xiao Yun and Hongye looked around like country bumpkins. Suddenly, a strong light burst out from the platform next to them. The light faded, and three minotaur brothers with obvious physical characteristics, two brown and one yellow, appeared in the center of the platform.
There weren't many yellow minotaurs, and Xiao Yun, who was somewhat face-blind to minotaurs, recognized this fellow at a glance, and immediately perked up: "Chief Hall!"
Huang Niu Hall turned his head when he heard the sound. His old face, which looked fine when he was calm, suddenly became extremely ferocious. He jumped off the platform without even walking up the stairs, spread his arms, and rushed over with a mighty and murderous look as if he wanted to strangle Xiao Yun.
Xiao Yun: “…Fuck!”
In Sean's astonished eyes, Xiao Yun was hugged tightly by Huang Niu Hall, and his back was slapped with a loud slapping sound...
After Chief Hall expressed his excitement, Xiao Yun was almost out of breath...
"Ayun!" Chief Hall happily held Xiao Yun's shoulders, his sharp lips cracked fiercely, and a row of white and neat teeth sparkled.
"It's really... a pleasure to see you." Xiao Yun spat out a mouthful of blood and said reluctantly.
Patriarch Hall nodded vigorously, opened his mouth, and looked around in embarrassment... His wife didn't come, and there was no one to translate, so he was very anxious!
"Uh... Chief Hall, are you trying to say that you're happy to see Ayun here?" Hongye hesitated and guessed.
Chief Hall immediately glared at Hongye with a fierce look in his eyes...
"Well - there haven't been any snow wolves coming to your tribe in the past two years. I wonder how life in the snow wolf tribe is like, and whether crop planting is going smoothly?" Hongye asked uncertainly.
Chief Hall nodded vigorously and glared at Hongye even more fiercely.
"I heard from the snow elves that our tribe is developing very well, but they are worried whether we will have enough food?" Hongye became more confident.
Xiao Yun: "..." How on earth did you manage to transmit the radio waves? !
"This is not the place to talk. Why don't we talk in detail later?" Xiao Yun endured the discomfort and said firmly.
Chief Hall nodded and looked at the snow elf who was responsible for leading the way and arranging the guests in the hall.
The Snow Elf receptionist looked at Chief Hall for two seconds and nodded naturally: "Don't worry, Chief Hall, you and the Snow Wolf Tribe live not far away, there is plenty of time to communicate."
Xiao Yun: "..." Am I the one who can't receive the Minotaur's radio waves? Huh?!
The other two brown minotaurs followed over, and when their murderous gazes met, one of them looked at Xiao Yun with a particularly hot gaze, and hit Xiao Yun on the back with a "bang" without any mercy... If Xiao Yun hadn't been in good health in recent years, he might have been knocked down right away.
"Ayun, this is Chief Harold. He said he heard Hall mention you, and he is very happy that you can lead the Snow Wolf Tribe to farm." Hongye smiled with a proud look on his face.
Xiao Yun: “…” He forced himself to swallow the blood that was rushing to his throat, without any other thoughts.
After leaving the hall, what you see is a simple corridor that is very characteristic of the Ice and Snow King City - there is no additional decoration, just a long and narrow corridor with pillars supporting the ceiling and stones on the road surface to form patterns; the cold wind with snowflakes on both sides of the corridor is rolling in front of you, but it seems to be blocked by some invisible barrier and cannot blow in; at the end of the corridor, there is a towering wall... Probably to prevent the enemy from using the friendly force's teleportation point to launch a surprise attack, the teleportation hall is not located inside the Ice and Snow King City.
Guards in silver-white armor were arranged every few dozen meters on both sides of the corridor, and there was also a guard with at least the strength of a snow elf corporal standing on each side of the small door leading into the city. The reason for this was that when the guests passed through the small door, the two guards on duty raised their hands, and a magical light wave covered the guests.
The snow elf receptionist explained to the first-time Snow Wolf guest: "This is detection magic, checking if the guest has any abnormal magic links... The Snow Wolf tribe is a forbidden magic race, this type of magic will not work on you, it's just a procedure."
Xiao Yun looked at the receptionist who looked like a brainless blonde celebrity with some surprise. It turned out that the snow elves were not to be judged by appearances. They said things like "following procedures" frankly and bluntly... He thought it was just the snow elf warriors they had met who were so unpretentious and natural, but it turned out that this was the racial style of the snow elves?
If it weren't for the fact that the snow elves didn't drink alcohol and their bodies were slender (compared to the snow wolf tribe, minotaurs and other races), Xiao Yun would have thought that these red-eyed people really looked like Mao Zedong...
Passing through the thick gate of the city wall, the real image of the Ice and Snow King City appeared in front of Xiao Yun - a group of buildings with blue stone bricks as the main body, tough lines and minimalist style, and occasional decorations are just rough reliefs on the walls with a different kind of elegance. The wide streets are all made of stone slabs, and there are a lot of green trees and flowers and plants planted on both sides of the road. Although there is a cold wind with northern characteristics above the head and frozen snow-capped mountains outside the city, the temperature in the city that can't be seen at a glance always remains at the level of early spring. Some snow elf residents even wander around the streets with bare chests.
Occasionally, residents would spot a foreign race appearing in the city, but they would just take a few glances and then go back to their own business. They would not watch out of curiosity at all, nor would they show any hostility or vigilance towards outsiders. They were extremely calm. Just a glimpse of the situation shows that the snow elves are a race that is truly confident. Although their total population is only 200,000 or 300,000, they exude the aura of a large tribe... In comparison, the forest elves, who were not even allowed to enter the city gates, lost.
Well, this is not Xiao Yun’s resentment.
The snow elf receptionist did not lead the guests along the street, but walked south along the city wall.
The Ice and Snow King City, built on the Samal Snow Mountain, is higher in the north and lower in the south. The city is full of slopes and stairs, and some roofs of houses also serve as roads. Except for the fact that there are few high-rise buildings and the most common houses in the urban area are only two or three stories high, it really has a bit of the flavor of the mountain city of Chongqing.
After walking down the stairs countless times, a relatively spacious platform area appeared in front of me compared to the uneven heights of the entire city. The well-trimmed green plants separated more than 20 two-story buildings into courtyards of different shapes and characteristics like a natural barrier. The details slightly revealed the aesthetic pursuit of exquisite beauty in the rough and majestic style of the snow elves...
"This is where the Snow Wolf Clan lives." The Snow Elf receptionist led the group to a small building with a circular courtyard surrounded by shrubs, flowers and ornamental trees, and pointed to a nameplate in front of a wooden arched door covered with vines. "You live on the first floor. The second floor is where the Fox Clan's sage lives. Dinah?"
A female snow elf wearing an apron and with her hair tied up with a ribbon walked out of the building. She lifted her skirt and squatted slightly, smiling and introducing herself: " I am Dina, who is in charge of this yard. Welcome, the snow werewolf from the grassland."
Dina was surprised to find Sean standing next to Xiao Yun: "Hey, Mr. Sean?"
"Nice to meet you again, Ms. Dina." Sean put his hands on his chest and bowed slightly.
Dina blinked and said nothing, just smiled gently.
"Chief Harold, Chief Hall, your Tauren's residence is still Marvin's yard." The snow elf receptionist pointed to another small yard two buildings away , "You are all acquaintances now, so there is no need for me to take you there."
The three minotaurs saluted at the same time. The snow elf receptionist returned the salute, nodded to the snow wolf tribe, and strode back the way he came.
Chief Hall looked at Hongye with a sharp gaze. Hongye nodded repeatedly and said to Xiao Yun, "Ayun, Chief Hall and his men suggested that we make good friends with the fox tribe's wise men. They will come to visit us later after they have settled down."
"Thank you very much." Xiao Yun bowed quickly.
Chief Hall looked at Xiao Yun with murderous intent, and then followed Chief Harold to their residence.
Xiao Yun: "..." If he hadn't been accustomed to the Minotaur's death stare, he would have definitely misunderstood Chief Hall's encouraging look as hostility...
Under Dina's arrangement, we moved into the guest room on the first floor. The interior style of the residence provided by the snow elves is still very much in their style: it is minimalist in general, but elegant in details. For example, there is not even a print on the pure white bed sheet, but the edging is embroidered with vine-shaped lace with colored threads; the chair is so simple that it does not even have armrests, but animal reliefs are patiently carved on the four legs...
After settling the guests, Dina left to prepare the meal. As soon as the snow elf left, Xiao Yun immediately called Sean to ask, "Sean, what does the Minotaur mean by asking us to get close to the Fox Tribe? Aren't the Fox Tribe members of the Empire?"
Sean slapped his head and said, "I forgot that the Snow Wolf Tribe's inheritance was cut off... Before the Bear Tribe's Beast King, the closest tribes to the Snow Wolf Tribe were the Cat Tribe and the Fox Tribe. I guess the Snow Elves arranged us with the Fox Tribe's sage for this reason."
"Oh..." Xiao Yun realized that the reason was historical. "Do you know who the fox clan's sage is?"
"White Fox Aloi, if there weren't any major changes in the Fox Tribe, he should be the one coming." Sean said, "I heard that when the Snow Wolf Tribe and the Cat Tribe were exiled together, the Fox Tribe protested to the Beast King, but the Fox Tribe was not strong among the Orcs, so their opinions were not listened to. The last time I followed King Kronin to attend the feast, White Fox Aloi did not come with the Beast King, but borrowed the Feather Tribe's teleportation array."
Xiao Yun sighed when he heard this. Why are those who have a good relationship with the Snow Wolf Tribe only weaklings...
"What kind of person is the white fox Aloi?"
Sean said awkwardly: "I haven't had much contact with this fox sage..."
Xiao Yun nodded to show his understanding. The Frankish feast hosted by the Elf King would not specifically exclude a certain race, but it would not care whether the guests were harmonious and friendly... If it were not for the inland sea and the lack of means to transport troops across the sea on a large scale, the empire's cavalry might have already beaten the scattered human kingdom to a pulp; the Kronin Kingdom, whose national economy relied on maritime trade for nearly half, had suffered a lot from the Orc Empire at sea. It was rather strange that Sean, a Kronin, could have such a close relationship with the Orcs...
Of course, it wouldn't be so cold and hostile just because of the different . After all, those who are qualified to be invited must be called a "sage", and most sages have strong personalities... For example, the sage Xavier. This human sage is, according to Sean, an "international person" who ignores racial prejudices. The orcs, barbarians, and elves all have a good relationship with this sage.
Xiao Yun did not expect to earn much political capital for the Snow Wolf Clan by participating in this Frank Feast. The international community in any world is based on the law of the jungle. Even the most skilled diplomats cannot save the weak forces. In short, he was here to join in the fun. Whose fun was he joining? Join the fun of the Tiger Clan and the Beast King to see what kind of storm these two would stir up at this Frank Feast.
With this in mind, Xiao Yun had no intention of going out to wander around. He stayed at home quietly, waiting for the minotaur to come and for the little fox brother who lived in the same courtyard with him...
At the highest point of the Ice and Snow King City, in the northern castle.
Lieutenant Selina, dressed in a handsome royal officer's uniform, walked into the main hall of the castle with her head held high, and Privates Arlin and Gilbert followed behind her on her left and right.
"Selena!" A snow elf in a robe had bright eyes, opened his arms joyfully, and walked over quickly. "Darling, did you come back to see me specially?"
Selina looked straight ahead... raised her long legs and kicked the guy who suddenly rushed over to her away; the guy screamed exaggeratedly and staggered back. She deliberately showed a surprised expression and said insincerely: "Isn't this Victor? I'm so sorry, I thought it was a stone blocking the road."
The Elf King's personal guards and female officials who entered and exited the main hall all turned their heads away and smiled secretly. They casually waved and greeted those who Selena knew, and those who she didn't have a close relationship with just pretended to pass by as if nothing had happened.
"Beautiful flowers always have many thorns..." The court mage Victor got up in a panic. This time he didn't dare to approach rashly. He stood at a distance and said flatteringly, "Dear Selina, are you here to see the king? The king is meeting Lord Austin. You may have to wait for a while."
Selina paused, and before Victor could be surprised, she called out to a court lady in a long skirt: "Lord Austin is here again?"
The female officer lifted her skirt and squatted slightly: "Yes, Lieutenant, Lord Austin visited my king half an hour ago."
"The king didn't drive him away?" Selina was surprised.
The female official covered her mouth and chuckled: "Lord Austin came to me crying... My king is so kind, how could he do such a cruel thing."
"Oh——" Selina understood. The king was probably using the green dragon lord to kill time.
Although it is not very kind to gloat over others' misfortunes, but the dragon clan... can watching the excitement of the dragon clan be called gloating? !
The Ice and Snow King City guards the Far North and has suppressed the Demon Gate sealed in the poles for thousands of years for the entire Bloomfield continent. In order to show respect for the contributions of the Snow Elves, every Elf King has a transcendent status in this continent... Of course, they are really strong. If it were an ordinary weakling, the Samal Snow Mountain would have been swallowed up by the Demon Gate and the entire northern continent would have become a monster-infested area. If you don't want to give face to the Elf King, you have to see if you have that kind of weight.
But this also means that every Elf King is forced to be a housekeeper... After a long time, the king has to find something to kill time.
Since the king was happily watching Lord Austin's fun, Selina decided not to disturb the king's little fun and walked out of the castle.
"Selena, where are we going?" asked Private First Class Yarlin.
"Let's go see who's coming to this year's Frank Feast." Selina said, "Didn't the Queen ask for an invitation for the Snow Wolf Tribe? Ayun and the others should be here too."
"Doesn't the Queen always come the day before the feast?" Yarlin asked curiously.
Selina looked back at Arlin with amusement: "It's good enough that the Queen allowed the orcs to borrow Stephens' teleportation array, but she can also personally bring an orc sage here?"
"...That's right." Yaerlin finally reacted.
"The sauce of the Snow Wolf tribe always lacks in flavor when we use it. It's rare that Ayun comes to our house in person. We don't have to go to their tribe to satisfy our appetite." Private Gilbert said with a smile.
Selina silently kicked Gilbert back, then strode forward with disgust, leaving her two subordinates behind.
"Idiot!" Yarlin rolled his eyes at Gilbert and quickly chased after his boss.
“……” Gilbert felt aggrieved. What’s wrong with telling the truth!
Lieutenant Selina, who was passing through the city, was not ignored like Xiao Yun and his friends. People kept greeting Selina along the way, and some residents even forced their own fruits on her. When Selina arrived at the South City residential area provided to guests, two corporals each carried a basket full of fruits, and they didn't even have to prepare gifts...
"Ayun!" The lieutenant who had marched straight in joyfully opened her arms towards Xiao Yun and gave him a warm hug... Fortunately, her strength was not as strong as the minotaur's, so she would not take half of Xiao Yun's life away every time they met.
"We are preparing to have dinner. Let's have a meal together." After dealing with them for a few years, Xiao Yun was already very familiar with Selena. She was just a tough guy in disguise as a supermodel. He led people to the restaurant without any hesitation.
"That's perfect. We haven't had lunch yet." The three old snow elves were cheered up and walked faster than Xiao Yun with drooling.
As expected, the grand dining table was already filled with food, all of which were extremely familiar... bread, bread with meat, bread with green leafy vegetables, fruit plates, jam, and big bowls of fresh, juicy green leafy vegetables; being able to serve such standard food to guests in the cold winter was a perfect display of the profound heritage of the snow elves - countless constant temperature magic arrays that isolated the cold weather almost covered the entire Ice and Snow Royal City, allowing the snow elves to ignore the seasons and plant and harvest on the Samal Snow Mountain, which was no different from an icy hell for other races.
"..." The three snow elves looked at Xiao Yun silently.
"This is the lunch that Ms. Dina prepared for us. It is very rich and will whet your appetite at the sight." Xiao Yun pulled out a chair for Selina with a smile, and Hongye next to him kindly pulled Yaerlin and Gilbert to sit down.
Selina and the other two: "..."
Dinah stood nearby with a proud look on her face.
"We are just offering you some favors. We are using your snow elves' lavish hospitality to entertain you. Please don't mind it." Xiao Yun said enthusiastically.
The three of them sat down with constipated faces, and Dina realized something was wrong and quickly said, "The portion won't be enough. I'll go prepare some more."
"No, no, it's too much trouble for you, Ms. Dina." Xiao Yun hurriedly stopped her, "This food is more than enough. We, the Snow Wolf Tribe, also brought some food with us. How can we trouble you?"
As he spoke, Xiao Yun quickly pushed most of the snow elf food prepared by Dina on the table in front of Selena and the other two.
Dina was puzzled, but she didn't know how to ask, so she could only stand by in confusion.
"..." Selina had a blank expression on her face, with the corners of her mouth twitching slightly.
There was only a plate of toasted bread and a large bowl of vegetable salad left in front of the seats of the two snow wolves and a human wizard. Such a portion was certainly not enough to fill their stomachs, so Xiao Yun naturally... asked Hongye to bring up the large pot of cooked noodles.
"We didn't have time to organize the dry food we brought, so we'll just cook some sweet potato noodles to make do ." Xiao Yun picked up the vegetable salad and poured it into the pot. He scalded it with the hot soup and then scooped it out together with the vermicelli. He filled a large bowl for himself, Hongye, and Sean respectively.
Compared to the refreshing traditional snow elves food in front of Selina and the other two, the greasy hodgepodge of boiled noodles was obviously a bit unpresentable, and the disgust on Dina's face who was standing next to them was very obvious.
"Let's start. Come on, don't be polite, let's eat." Xiao Yun rubbed his hands, said politely to Selena and the others, then immediately picked up the chopsticks he brought with him and happily slurped the noodles.
Three snow elves who came to eat for free: "..."
