Liu Zhenhan wiped his tears with his sleeve, opened his tear-filled eyes, and started searching for dried bamboo in the bamboo forest.
Countless withered bamboo stems were piled onto the tortoise carcass. Flames engulfed the large creature, and the violent sounds of burning bamboo could not drown out Liu Zhenhan's fervent cries.
A cry from an osprey echoed from the sky above. Liu Zhenhan looked up to see Helen's clumsy magical beast circling above the bamboo forest.
Feeling something wasn't quite right, Liu Zhenhan abruptly turned around to find Helen, looking beaten and bruised, standing in front of him.
Helen's face was a map of bruises and scratches. Her hair was a mess, and her ceremonial robe was torn and marked with moss. Liu Zhenhan was heartbroken seeing her in such a state, and he pulled her into his arms, babbling endearments.
"Why did you come down? Do you know how high this cliff is?" Liu Zhenhan stuttered, his face streaming with tears.
"Richard, I heard a loud noise like thunder, what happened?" Helen turned her neck to look at the raging fire, then at Liu Zhenhan's tear-streaked face, covered with black ash. She was shocked and hurriedly tried to wipe his face with her soft, small hand, only to smudge him more.
"It's all blood?" Liu Zhenhan choked, gripping Helen's hand. Her palm was marked with abrasions from climbing down the tree vines. "Why did you...uhh...come down...what if...you...uhh...fell...how could I go on living!"
"I was just too worried about you....." Helen pouted her lips, "Richard, what happened? Why are you so upset?"
"Bull...shit..." Liu Zhenhan wiped away his tears. "I'm wronged to death...eh...I had a magical beast...eh...I didn't even get to...uh...say hello...eh...and it died..."
"This tortoise was so massive!" Helen looked at the tortoise's burning corpse lit up in the fire and lamented, "It's a pity it's dead. Otherwise, it must have been a powerful magical beast! I even faintly sensed a dragon's aura from its burning body. Was it a sub-dragon species of magical beast?"
"A sub-dragon magical beast?" Liu Zhenhan asked tearfully.
"Hehe..." Helen couldn't quite conceal her pride. "My mentor, Miss Cui Beixi, is a sub-dragon shaman! I wouldn't mistake this kind of dragon breath! It's a powerful and familiar scent."
"What does "model" mean?" Liu Zhenhan asked weakly.
"It's a tortoise!" Helen said excitedly and innocently. "You know, the Great Shaman Wei An of the temple in my hometown is a Turtleman of the Model tribe! It's such a pity~ If this magical creature hadn't died, and you could have brought it back to my hometown, Great Shaman Wei An would certainly have appreciated you! A sub-dragon magical beast! My Richard will be able to embroider a sub-dragon emblem on his shaman's robe. There are no more than ten sub-dragon shamans in all the temples of Beamon! Blessings of Kampas!!"
"Sub-dragon my ass....." Liu Zhenhan sobbed uncontrollably, "My eyes are like the Amazon River now! I don't know why, I'm just so upset."
"Don't cry! There, there!" Helen comforted him like a child, patting his shoulder, "As I said, a magical beast and its master are bound by their souls. It's natural that you would cry when it died."
"But I didn't have any feelings for it! We just met." Liu Zhenhan wailed.
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it! We shamans believe that pure tears are the best place to bury a partner's soul." Helen sighed. She started singing the beginning of the Requiem, a spirit communication battle song, to guide the soul of the giant tortoise.
Liu Zhenhan couldn't help but sing along.
The serene Requiem released a dazzling halo that covered the flaming tortoise carcass, and Liu Zhenhan slowly stopped crying.
"Damn it..." Liu Zhenhan cursed, seeing Helen's face stiffen, he quickly swallowed back the rest of his words.
"If I had known singing could stop the tears, I would have sung earlier." Liu Zhenhan pulled out his knife and began to skin the half of the wolf that was still intact. The other half, crushed by the giant tortoise, was already ruined and couldn't be used.
"Your tears bear witness to a friendship formed in battle, and sorrow is Richard's only remaining emotion for you after you've passed away. Rest in peace, dear Model warrior...." Helen, kissing her folded hands, knelt and bowed to the tortoise carcass in the fire.
"What 'friendship' did I have with it?" Liu Zhenhan mumbled under his breath, his eyes wide with disbelief.
A downpour began, as if the heavens themselves had been moved, gradually extinguishing the raging fire.
Liu Zhenhan quickly wrapped Helen in the feather cloak and looked up at the sky, shaking his head in resignation.
"Look Richard, the god of war, Kampas, was also moved by the friendship between you and the model!" Helen, draped in a feathered cloak, turned around, looking up at the sky excitedly, then at Liu Zhenhan.
Liu Zhenhan smirked.
"You're actually really adorable when you cry," Helen unexpectedly said as she delicately caressed Liu Zhenhan's face, her eyes softening.
"No more! I can't stand it when you're like this!" Liu Zhenhan cried out in mock horror.
"If I were to die in the future, Richard, would you cry for me?" Helen asked, her eyes filled with deep emotion.
"Bullshit! Don't you dare talk like that!" said Liu Zhenhan as his face contorted in agitation.
Not only did Liu Zhenhan's swear not upset Helen, it actually caused her to smile sweetly.
"Come take a look at this, Helen," Liu Zhenhan guided her by the hand to the smoldering corpse of the turtle, pointing at the words engraved on its black shell.
"They say all Shamans are profoundly knowledgeable, so can you make out what this says?" Liu Zhenhan asked.
Helen's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she studied the words for a long time before sadly shaking her head.
"I'm sorry, dear Richard, this isn't any language I'm familiar with. Yet one thing can be certain, any race that can create a language is surely a pinnacle of intelligent life," she said.
"How many languages can you speak?" Liu Zhenhan asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"Our Fox People are the economic managers of the Bimon Kingdom. From a young age, we're taught the languages and scripts of the majority of the races in the Aegean continent. Although I'm just a lowly Fox from an insignificant rural clan, I was taught in Orcish, Aegean human, Chak Latin, Desert human, and Mountain Dwarf dialects. When I was thirteen, the wandering priestess Cui Beixi discovered my potential as a Shaman. She gave me the 'Wisdom Awakening' which allowed me to study at the Sercolner altar in the nearby city for half a year. As a result, I'm capable of understanding portions of Dragon and Elven languages," Helen said, sensing Liu Zhenhan's curiosity.
"The 'Wisdom Awakening' in the Spirit Communication War Song allows a Shaman to infuse us with their knowledge and language to a large extent," Helen added.
"Are there any languages on this continent that you don't understand?" Liu Zhenhan asked eagerly.
"Of course. The myriad native dialects of the various races are as numerous as the stars in the sky. There's also the languages of the far Eastern Silk Continent that I couldn't possibly master. In our Donau Wastelands, there are remanents of ancient symbols left over from the Great War between Gods and Demons ten thousand years ago. Their meaning remains a mystery to even Shamans as knowledgeable as Wei An," Helen answered earnestly.
"I can read the characters on the turtle shell," Liu Zhenhan managed a strained smile.
"By Kampas above!" Helen exclaimed, covering her mouth, her beautiful eyes going wide.
"I'm not lying to you, I swear." Liu Zhenhan took a deep breath, saying seriously.
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Background Setting: In the Spirit Communication War Song, the 'Wisdom Awakening' is a unique skill. That is to say, each qualified shaman can only have one student in their lifetime, which is why there are not many Bimon shamans. After all... those shamans who awaken naturally have to spend more time learning and practicing due to the lack of inherited wisdom, they lag behind compared to those who were taken as Shaman apprentices.
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Seems I can't post a book review anymore~ Damn~
I thought I'd share an amusing review someone wrote about me.
Your novel gives me the impression that the author is a big, burly brute, three meters tall and three meters wide with a meaty face and murderous methods...
Laughed my head off.
What's even funnier, this brother is called "Green-Faced Official". What a reversal~
Wish you good luck on your exams, Brother Ye Xiaoting!
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