Big G, Coffee Machine and Goblin

Chapter 9 Strange, Familiar

Mali shook hands with Charles. "Mali, I should come from that place you called the Forbidden Land."

The girl paused for a moment, then burst out laughing. While laughing, she lightly punched Ma Li's chest with her other hand.

"I didn't realize you had such a good sense of humor. Hahaha, it's a pity that even the toddlers on the continent of Revatres know that there are no living creatures in the Forbidden Land, which is shrouded in a deathly mist that never dissipates."

"Well, it's not that no one has ever gone inside to explore before, but without exception, none of them have ever come out again. Even the former headmaster of the Radiant Staff, Vayne Olysien, who was hailed as the most powerful mage in the last three hundred years, was mercilessly swallowed up by the death mist."

"Oh, right, and the guardian of the River Bend Kingdom, the Sword Saint Fra Theos, is also said to have come into contact with the Red Mist of the Forbidden Land. He simply extended a finger and touched it lightly like this."

Charles pointed his finger into the air, then quickly withdrew it as if electrocuted. "Bang!" His entire arm vanished.

"If he hadn't reacted quickly enough and severed that arm with the holy sword at his waist—Dawnlight—he probably would have suffered the same fate as Archmage Wayne. He is also the only person to date to have survived touching the fog of death."

The chestnut-haired girl vividly described the horrors of the forbidden land to Ma Li, unaware that the latter's expression was becoming increasingly strange.

"Is that red mist really that powerful?"

"Of course, otherwise why would the depths of Blackrock Canyon be called a forbidden place?"

Ma Li lived in the red fog for more than a month. At first, he was indeed worried, but as time went on and he did not encounter any danger, he gradually relaxed his vigilance.

Now that Charles has described it as so serious, he subconsciously looked down at his own body, and thankfully, so far there have been no abnormalities.

As for whether any hidden illnesses have developed, further observation is needed.

However, according to the girl's description, the red mist worked very quickly; the swordsman's arm disappeared in the blink of an eye, and it didn't seem like there was an incubation period.

Ma Li continued, "Do you know when the red mist appeared?"

"The exact time might have to be asked of the scholars who copied the records; they love to dig up and record history. All I know is that the Forbidden Land has existed for a very long time, even longer than the Duchy of Gardland itself."

"I heard a lot of legends about it when I was a child," Charles said. "Well, the earliest ones are probably hundreds of years old."

"It's been this long..." Ma Li murmured.

As a modern person, he was naturally familiar with the concept of time travel. In fact, this was the most reasonable explanation he could find at the moment, at least that was what Ma Li thought before he talked to Charles.

However, unlike ordinary time travelers, his situation is somewhat special. It seems that he traveled with the city he was in.

But Ma Li is now somewhat wavering.

Because if Xia Er wasn't lying, he and Luo Yang were sent to this new world by some inexplicable force hundreds of years ago.

But humans... probably can't live that long.

Moreover, he had personally witnessed that the goods on the shelves were quite fresh, not only were the dates close, but they also did not taste like they had been stored for hundreds of years.

And the buildings in the city and the cars parked on the street, well, although some of them do look like they've been through the ages, they're not hundreds of years old. Most of them are just old due to normal use.

Those new energy vehicles are the best proof; some of them even still have a considerable amount of charge left in their batteries, meaning they shouldn't have been parked for more than six months. Another thing Ma Li is most concerned about is the other people in the city—where did they go? Did they also come to this world?
"You've been living here all this time, have you seen any strange guys around here?" Ma Li asked Charles again.

The chestnut-haired girl blinked. "Strange fellow, do those goblins count? They've stolen several sheep from the village since last month, and three days ago they attacked Aunt Miragros when she was gathering firewood. I came into the forest this time to find their lair."

"Ok."

Mali didn't have high hopes to begin with. Judging from the reactions of Shire and the villagers to the G300p, they had obviously never seen a car or anything like that before.

He wanted to ask a few more questions, but the next moment he saw the chestnut-haired girl frown again, press her hands on her lower abdomen, her expression turn painful again, and her body sway.

Ma Li's expression shifted. "Is the magic backlash happening again?"

"No, this time it's because I'm hungry."

"I haven't eaten all day," Charles said with difficulty. "And I was chased by those wretched goblins the whole way. I have no strength left. Could you please chop some firewood behind the house? I'd like to cook something."

“…I’ll cook,” Ma Li said. “You can rest.”

"Really?" The chestnut-haired girl was overjoyed. "Dad always says that alchemists are mostly eccentric and difficult to deal with, but you seem like a really nice person."

Ma Li first went to the car to get a bottle of canned yellow peaches, unscrewed the cap, and brought it back to give to Xia Er to eat.

He then wandered around the neighborhood for a bit. He got half a bag of coarsely ground flour, a bag of beans, a few potatoes and onions from the kitchen, and found cabbages and carrots in a small clearing behind the cabin.

Looking at the roots and leaves still covered in soil in his arms, his steps became lighter.

Ma Li hadn't forgotten that one of his goals for this trip was to find food.

After eating pre-cooked food for almost two months, he missed the taste of fresh vegetables more than ever.

He was a bit hungry after driving all night, so he planned to make a salad or mixed salad with these vegetables, canned luncheon meat, and emergency biscuits.

Just as he was about to go back inside, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of a corner under the eaves.

The next moment, he suddenly froze on the spot.

Ma Li approached the progress again, carefully examining the few exceptionally robust "grasses." They had oval leaves with coarsely serrated edges, white downy hairs on their stems, and a strong, spicy aroma.

This is... catnip?
If there's anything that immediately comes to mind when thinking about Henan, then catnip is definitely one of them.

Although catnip is found in Yunnan and Sichuan, and some people eat it, the people of Henan have an almost mysterious obsession with catnip.

People in Bianliang (Kaifeng) have been craving catnip since around the Song Dynasty, and this culinary tradition has been preserved to this day.

Ma Li, who was born and raised in Henan, is naturally familiar with catnip. When he was a child, the most common cold dish in his family was cucumber salad with catnip, as well as catnip noodles, catnip pancakes, etc. So he was able to recognize it at a glance when he saw it.

And I'm pretty sure it's not mint, nor is it European basil; it's definitely catnip.

(End of this chapter)