In Sumeru, pretend to be a scholar

It was Paimon; she was pulling and swaying Wang Yan's arm.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about some things." Wang Yan snapped out of his reverie, his expression unchanged, and changed the subject, "Where were you guys talking about?"

Paimon's attention was immediately diverted, and he said with a smile, "Philins said that Lauma wrote to him not long ago, saying that there were some unusual occurrences in the Frostmoon Pavilion area, and he hopes that the Lamplighter can help investigate. He invited us to go together. Wang Yan, do you want to come too?"

"The unusual activity at Frostmoon Pavilion? Could you elaborate?" Wang Yan didn't agree impulsively.

After all, Nordkalley is a place where the abyss is unusually active; who knows what might happen?

"Let me speak."

Philin said, "According to Miss Lauma's letter, a member of the Frostmoon Children encountered a wild beast while gathering in the wild. However, when Miss Lauma led people to clear it out after the member returned to report, they found that the wild beast had disappeared."

The Wild Hunt is the enemy of everyone in Nordkalley, so not only the Lamplighters will eliminate the Wild Hunt, but also the Adventurers' Guild, the Frostmoon Children, and even the Fools.

However, the most professional among them are definitely the lamplighters.

"Could it be that someone passed by and cleaned it up?" Wang Yan asked.

Phillins shook his head: "No, if that were the case, Miss Lauma would definitely be able to tell. But in her letter, she said that there were indeed traces of Wild Hunt activity at the scene, but no signs of a battle, so it's unlikely that someone cleaned it up."

He didn't say it was over, after all, it wasn't impossible that a skilled fighter could wipe out the Wild Hunt with a wave of his hand.

"So, based on Mr. Flins' experience, do you have any guesses?" Wang Yan asked again, adding politely, "I'm sorry, as a scholar, I've always preferred to be rigorous, after all, this matter concerns profound matters and cannot be taken lightly."

Philin nodded: "That's understandable, and it should be that way."

He continued, "In the Lamplighter's records, the sudden appearance and disappearance of the Wild Hunt often signifies one thing."

"That means a leader has emerged from the Wild Hunt that can control other Wild Hunt members."

Wang Yan sat up straight: "Leader? I'm not very clear about the Wild Hunt's classification. Could you explain it in detail?"

"Of course, the most common wild hunters in Nordkal are currently divided into two types: Wild Wanderers and Wild Hunters. Both of these are mindless wild hunters, and as long as the lantern bearers cooperate well, they can be dealt with with a little effort."

"And the situation I just described could lead to another kind of frenzy, namely the virtual intelligence frenzy."

"These wild hunters often possess the ability to think and summon other wild hunters. Every time such a wild hunter appears, it is the time when the Lamplighter is under the most pressure."

"Throughout history, the shadow of this kind of mad hunt has been behind several of the mad hunts that launched all-out attacks on human civilization."

As Philin spoke, Wang Yan listened and nodded slightly.

He probably already understands.

It's like a group of mindless wild hunters giving birth to a smart one, and this smart wild hunter starts leading the group of mindless wild hunters to do great things.

This is indeed in line with the laws of the abyss.

The Wild Hunt are creations influenced by the Abyss, and like the Abyss, they hate everything about the living.

Because the Abyss lacks intelligence, in order to better destroy the world, it selects and uses memories from the earth's veins.

It will use the owner of the memory as a prototype to create a simulated form.

If, during this process, the owner of the memory suppresses the abyss with a powerful will, then the owner of the memory is essentially resurrected and gains control of the abyss's power.

But if the owner of the memory has never been to the Abyss, then his wisdom will be used by the Abyss, becoming an external brain of the Abyss.

Furthermore, the difficulty of elbowing across the abyss varies depending on the force applied.

Two examples can be given.

One is the Fire Dragon King Shukutl, which was transformed into an abyss and never crossed the abyss, becoming the deepest abyss node in Nata, bringing Nata a thousand-year calamity.

The other is Roland, the Bloodstained Knight. He was brought to life by the Abyss, but he suppressed the Abyss's destructive desires and ultimately did not actually attack Falgar.

Therefore, willpower truly can reverse the forces of the abyss.

It is the will of the descendant to rival the world that makes it so precious.

"Therefore, the enemy is very likely an intelligent abyssal demon." Wang Yan nodded slightly.

Paimon: "So, how about it, want to come with us?"

She actually hoped that Wang Yan would go with her.

As for why? Because Wang Yan would take her along whenever he ate something delicious.

“Then let’s go together. You can also introduce me to Miss Lauma. I might need her help with purchasing materials later.” Wang Yan agreed.

Paimon cheered, "Yay! Let's go together!"

"I want to go too, Ineff, shall we go too?" Eno looked on, also wanting to go out and have fun.

However, Ineff shook her head: "Aino, you still have four orders to complete before you can leave, otherwise the workshop will run out of funds."

“Well… okay.” Aino hung her head dejectedly, but didn’t complain.

After all, she was the head of the workshop, and the burden of supporting the whole family rested on her shoulders.

“Why don’t you eat at the workshop first and then go?” Aino said again.

“Okay, okay, what do you want for lunch?” Paimon nodded immediately.

Aino looked at Inef, who smiled and said, "Today's lunch is a winter-themed meal."

"Winter flavor? Great, we've never tried it before." Paimon exclaimed happily, then looked at Philins, "Philins, do you know what winter flavor is?"

Philin's expression remained unchanged: "It's a memory from a long time ago, I can't quite put my finger on it."

"Then let Ineff arrange it!" Eno said, hands on her hips. "Ineff is amazing!"

"Okay, then let's look forward to it!"

...

Half an hour later, the lunch prepared by Ineff arrived.

There was no grand meal Paimon had imagined.

The borscht was steaming hot, the grilled meat patties smelled delicious, and there were also flatbreads filled with sour cream and caviar.

It was just a very ordinary meal.

If there's anything special about it, it's that the cauldron water that people love most during the winter solstice has been replaced with a brightly colored mixed vegetable and fruit juice.

The group looked at each other.

Ineff explained, "This is a nutritionally balanced fruit and vegetable juice, specially prepared for Aino, who has been a picky eater lately."

“I’m not that picky about food!” Aino protested.

The fruit and vegetable juice that Ineff prepared wasn't exactly sugar-free, but the sweetness was completely masked by the mixed flavors of the fruits and vegetables, which was not the taste that Aino liked at all.

Ineff said 'coldly', "According to Aino's diet record over the past thirty days, Aino's intake of fruits and vegetables has decreased by 70%, his intake of desserts has increased by 60%, and his meat intake..."

"Stop, stop, stop, I'll drink it, I'll drink it, okay!" Aino resignedly poured herself a large glass of fruit and vegetable juice, then, with a glint in her eye, she smiled and poured a glass for everyone else as well.

Good things should be shared.

Philin took a sip of juice and nodded gracefully in appreciation: "Replacing spirits with healthy drinks is a very thoughtful arrangement."

Wang Yan smiled and agreed, "Indeed, very healthy."

Aino's eyes widened. How could anyone actually like drinking this stuff?

In fact, Philins likes strong, stimulating drinks like kerosene, but in front of Aino, he doesn't mind pretending to like fruit and vegetable juice.

As for Wang Yan, he genuinely thought it was good. Before he transmigrated, he would have some fruit and vegetable juices to cleanse his palate when he ate barbecue.

Ying and Paimon enjoyed their meal quietly, without saying much.

"Alright, alright, it seems I have no choice but to finish it." Aino hung her head dejectedly, somewhat disappointed, but she didn't waste it and obediently finished all the dishes that Ineff had prepared.

After giving a positive review, Ineff left the egg roll workshop and headed to the Frost Moon Workshop.

Chapter 177 Wang Yan: Let You Fly

After leaving the Jingling Clang Egg Roll Workshop, the group set off for Frostmoon Castle.

To be honest, this journey was not easy.

It can be said that there are no road maintenance measures at all; it's just a road made by people walking on it.

Furthermore, this feeling becomes even more pronounced after leaving the workshop area of ​​Aino and entering the sphere of influence of the Frostmoon Children.

"Don't the Children of Frostmoon maintain roads?"

The "Seventy-Two Cyclones" floated, lifting Wang Yan up above the water in front of him.

Wang Yan was truly surprised. Not only did he have to travel by water in the game, but in reality, the Frost Moon Child also had no roads built, and to get to the Frost Moon Pavilion, he had to cross a body of water that was up to his calves.

“In the past, the Frostmoon Children revered nature and were very resistant to foreign civilizations. Apart from the Frostmoon Feast, they had almost no contact with the outside world. Apart from that, only a few merchants were able to come into contact with them.”

As a veteran, Flint was obviously very familiar with the situation here.

“If it weren’t for Miss Lauma, our approach to this area would have aroused the suspicion of the Frostmoon Child.”

Wang Yan was surprised: "So conservative? It feels like they're on par with the tribes deep in the Sumeru Desert."

Even today, there are still some tribes in the Sumeru Desert that are very xenophobic, not because they are unintelligent, but because their lifestyles over thousands of years are hard to change.

“Ensuring the survival and faith of the tribe is not a simple matter.” Philinus did not rashly comment on what problems the Frostmoon Child had, but simply pointed out the difficulties they faced.

Wang Yan nodded slightly; that was the truth.

In many places, there are customs that are both laughable and absurd, or even physically uncomfortable. Outsiders may find them barbaric or even ignorant...

However, these customs do not appear out of thin air. They often evolve into a helpless custom because of a local difficulty that cannot be changed.

Wang Yan remembered seeing some elderly people in mountain villages in his previous life who, after getting old, would have their children carry them up the mountain and then never come down, waiting to die.

Such behavior is absolutely unacceptable in the modern Chinese worldview.

Leaving aside respect for the elderly and care for the young, this kind of behavior that leaves people waiting to die has already crossed the line.

For locals, however, the loss of the ability to work by the elderly is undoubtedly a huge burden, and may even drag the whole family into bankruptcy.

A family and an individual?

How would you choose?

If there were other options, what normal person would want to do this?

They can't be forced into it, can they?

Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of poverty alleviation cadres, such inhumane acts have become increasingly rare, to the point that even a single instance can be reported as a major scandal.

It can only be said that the bottom line of ordinary people is the bottom line of civilization.

"That's true, but if you want to develop, you have to build roads. I've always agreed with the saying, 'If you want to get rich, build roads first.'"

"Without smooth and solid roads, it's extremely inconvenient for both business dealings and technological exchanges."

As he spoke, Wang Yan glanced at Paimon, who seemed completely oblivious to what was happening beside him: "After all, not everyone can fly like Paimon."

Paimon stared wide-eyed at Wang Yan, who was being lifted up by the "Seventy-Two Celestial Blades" and lifted off the water: "But aren't you flying too?"

Wang Yan waved his hand: "How can they be the same? I flew using external means, you were born that way."

"Damn it, aren't they all flying? What's the difference!" Paimon muttered under his breath.

Wang Yan ignored her and looked at the two people beside him: "Gentlemen, do you need any help?"

“Of course, it’s absolutely necessary.” Philins didn’t refuse and agreed with a smile.

Ying can actually fly; she has mastered the wind element. However… she excels at short-distance flight in combat, or rather, aerial maneuvering. For long-distance flight, she usually uses the Wind Wings in combination with the wind element.

Upon hearing Wang Yan's question, Ying hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Then I'll trouble you."

Wang Yan: "What's the trouble?"

The "Seventy-Two Cyclone Blades" can carry tons of timber and mechanical instruments, so it's nothing for just two people.

The wind elemental runes flashed slightly, and a gentle breeze lifted Philin and Yingtuo up, then carried them away.

After flying for a distance...

Paimon suddenly felt that something was wrong.

"Wait, wait a minute, why are you all being carried by the 'Seventy-Two Cyclones,' while I have to fly on my own!"

Paimon felt his phantom limbs were sore from flying.

"No, I want to be carried away too!"