Demi-human Girls Completion Manual-Chapter 941 - 39: Gold

Listening to Mr. Gou Wen’s description, Tangze Asuka couldn’t help but swallow, not because she was curious about the taste of the fruit made from living blood and flesh, but as a habitual action whenever she is deep in thought or shocked, similar to her habit of pursing her lips.

Beside her, Lu Ming also looked somewhat surprised at the Whale-man sitting in the carriage, apparently not expecting this guest from afar to be so well-versed about the Tree Continent, sparing her the trouble of a reluctant introduction.

"Everyone, we are about to enter the city. Please allow me to first take you to pay respects to the Minister, who will then inform Uncle Chun."

Lu An, following behind Lu Ming, stepped forward to address Fisher and the others, and Mr. Gou Wen cupped his hands in thanks to Lu An, saying,

"Much obliged."

Tangze Asuka watched Lu Ming walk away with her father, her eyes fixated on the four deer hooves beneath Lu Ming, showing a certain curiosity about Lu Ming’s non-human form.

They soon approached the city shaded under the giant tree transformed from Uncle Chun’s predecessor. Unlike the houses in Nali or the Northern Realm, most of the buildings here were made of wood and built with spacious and hollow structures, with many directly constructed on the giant tree, featuring numerous wooden bridges and steps in mid-air, teeming with demi-humans dressed in various attire walking and conversing.

The language and customs used were quite similar, not without figures in armor wielding peculiar wooden weapons, the wood shimmering with hints of purple fluorescence.

Helair squinted at the fluorescence with interest, looking at the wood, saying,

"Oh, those weapons aren’t ordinary, they’re made from Chun wood..."

Mr. Gou Wen, having seen the soldiers holding those weapons, stroked his chin and murmured,

"This is indeed strange..."

"Hey, why... Could the wood from Uncle Chun be cut from him, thus..." Tangze Asuka asked, puzzled.

Mr. Gou Wen shook his head, explaining,

"No, unlike the Angels who derive their energy from sunlight, the Elves’ power comes from plants. They possess the world’s most advanced planting techniques. If you understand Tree Continent’s language, you’d realize all Elves’ names are actually types of trees. Elves with corresponding names can harness magical power from those trees, depending on the type of tree they use."

"But the key lies in the fact that because trees are closely tied to the noble Elves, these trees are symbols of status in ’Rites,’ not to be used casually by others, or it becomes [overstepping]. Here, however, even ordinary patrolling soldiers wield weapons made from Chun branches, which is extremely unusual..."

"Moreover, another strange thing is that this kingdom seems a bit small. After some calculations, we landed on the kingdom’s border, and typically, an Elvish capital lies at a nation’s heart... Meaning we reached the capital from the border in under an hour’s ride, whereas an Elvish kingdom should be much larger."

Just as Mr. Gou Wen was expressing his doubts, the carriage suddenly stopped in front of a relatively narrow wooden house by the street. The curtain lifted to reveal Lu An outside, who seemed to have overheard Mr. Gou Wen’s doubts and offered an explanation,

"Mr. Gou Wen, you seem to know a lot about Tree Continent. You’re right; our Chun Country used to have more land. Our Uncle Chun is very benevolent, disliking how the Elves treat other living creatures, thus, he declared no more slaves on Chun Country’s land, even though the ’Rites’ haven’t been entirely abolished. Undeniably, we live much better lives than living creatures in other nations."

"As a result, many slaves from other countries tried to cross the border to join Chun Country early on, primarily from Uncle Heng’s slaves. Unwilling to return runaway slaves, Uncle Chun exchanged treasures and fiefs with Uncle Heng to keep them. My ancestors escaped from Zhong Country; many have, I hear."

"Thankfully, Uncle Heng reincarnated years ago, with no ruler for four years. The new Uncle Heng is still young and said to be much kinder, resulting in fewer slaves attempting escapes... Let’s not dwell on this; we’ve arrived at the Prime Minister’s Mansion. Please disembark, and allow me to report to the Minister."

Mr. Gou Wen thanked again, expressing the trouble caused. After Lu An left, he still harbored some doubts, turning to Fisher, saying,

"But how can fiefs be traded? These are lands decreed by the Elf King, supposedly unchangeable..." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Because the Elf King is set to reincarnate as well. He’s lived for eleven thousand years, outlasting many of your Elves. But eventually, death catches up with him. At his last sixty-year cycle celebration, he was in poor condition, likely to leave within a decade. Therefore, when Jianmu Palace closed, Lord Sariel suspected it could have been due to the Elf King’s passing, not just the stolen teardrop..."

Helair, with a smile, addressed Mr. Gou Wen’s doubts, yawning as he lazily jumped off the carriage, continuing,

"The ’Rites’ were established by the Elf King. Most Elves have already reincarnated once; once he does, Tree Continent’s ’Rites’ might see further changes."

Tangze Asuka, semi-comprehending, stepped off the carriage. Mikhail remained unchanged, until Fisher and Mr. Gou Wen disembarked last and took in the full view.

The entire city seemed wholly integrated with the forest, enveloped in it, with the chirping of insects and birds making Fisher find it novel. Helair had already given up teasing and stretched lazily, heading towards the Chun Country Prime Minister’s Mansion first.

Tangze Asuka’s gaze, however, continued following the little deer Lu Ming, who seemed to sense her gaze, glanced back, then quickly hopped deeper into the mansion’s interior.

"Hmm, indeed, the environment here is much better than other nations. I’ve visited the Royal Capital beneath the World Tree before, where many races weren’t very happy... Uh, what’s wrong with you? You’ve seemed particularly serious since boarding the carriage."

"...Nothing, just have a question to ask you."

Upon hearing Mr. Gou Wen, Fisher asked,

"Sure, go ahead, I’ll tell you everything I know. I’m quite familiar with the Tree Continent, having visited here numerous times before."

"No, I wanted to know if you know a Whale-man named ’Xuan Can.’

Mr. Gou Wen was slightly stunned. He subtly examined Fisher before touching his chin and furrowing his eyebrows in thought,

"Hmm..."

"What’s the matter?"

"It’s nothing, I was just recalling the name you mentioned. You should know, many of our people are very lazy, refusing to move for several decades. Even though my wife and I had relocated their place of residence, I still don’t know the names of many of our people... but honestly, this name is quite unfamiliar, I probably don’t know them. What’s the matter, is this the Whale-man you mentioned before?"

Has Xuan Can not been born yet?

Then what’s the story with her crown?

Perhaps this thing really was passed down by her ancestors? Or maybe, the "ancient times" mentioned in the Demi-human Girls Completion Manual refers to a rather broad timeframe, where Xuan Can might not have been born yet, but was indeed born during this "ancient" period?

"And... Destructive God, have you heard of this term?"

Mr. Gou Wen opened his mouth, shook his head with an odd expression, and suddenly whispered,

"What kind of term is that, it sounds so silly... Not to mention the few Demigods, even the Main God doesn’t have such a foolish title, hahaha. But seriously, does it have anything to do with the Whale-man girl you mentioned earlier? If you want, you can tell me more, and I’ll inquire about it for you when I return to the Sea Trench."

Fisher glanced at him and replied,

"Didn’t you say not to tell you about future matters?"

"...That’s true, but since it concerns my people, it’s impossible not to care at all. But I didn’t expect you, a Human, to know so many Whale-men. Aren’t all of my people very lazy? Could it be that they change their nature in the future?"

"No, in fact, I only know these two Whale-men. The Xuan Can I mentioned is the mother of the Whale-man girl I spoke of before..."

"I see, then I don’t really know."

"No problem, it’s not important, just something that came to mind suddenly."

Fisher didn’t really ponder it much, so not getting an answer was within expectation...

Hmm?

Wait a moment.

Mentioning the mother, Fisher suddenly thought of something noteworthy.

According to Mr. Gou Wen’s previous explanations, he already knew that for the Mythical Species to have offspring was practically impossible, and Xuan Can clearly reached the Twentieth Rank during the Mythical War period three to four thousand years ago, being at the pinnacle of the Mythical Rank.

So here’s the problem—Moli, by all accounts, was only born a hundred and sixty years ago, which is just two years old for the Whale-man Species. How did she break through the Mythical Creature reproductive barrier to be born?

Relying on Life Authority?

But evidently, Ramasitia only granted Life Authority to His three offspring, so Xuan Can shouldn’t have had that capability, and Ramasitia was unlikely to personally intervene with the world to create offspring for the direct descendant Xuan Can...

Could it be through natural reproduction?

But how did Xuan Can solve a problem that even the Heavenly Lock couldn’t resolve?

Or does it mean Moli was adopted?

Not receiving an answer, Fisher stumbled upon yet another issue, but being nearly ten thousand years in the past, probing future matters bore little significance; he roughly concluded that "Xuan Can wasn’t born in this era" before entering the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

Following him, Mr. Gou Wen appeared very relaxed, with his hands clasped behind his back, walking into the mansion step by step...

However, in a place not easily noticeable, Mr. Gou Wen smiled looking up at the sky, though his gaze seemed somewhat inscrutable.

In his hands behind his back, he seemed to be playing with something. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a very short golden short sword, roughly the length of two index fingers, with a curved blade so thin it might easily snap in two. More like a surgical knife than a weapon for battle...

As he adeptly played with it, the golden short sword gradually melted and transformed into the shape of a ring he had never worn before...

It appeared to be a wedding ring. On the inside of the ring, two names were inscribed in Whale-man script,

"Gou Wen Xuan Can"