Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"Drip, drip, drip, water droplets hang from the hole in the ground. Good morning, good morning, a new day..."

"Sansio." A stern voice interrupted a little fairy's song.

"Father." The little fairy Shan Xiao looked at her father with some restraint.

"Singing so loudly, do you want to summon death?" His father stood in front of him with his hands behind his back, his face stern.

"I know I was wrong." Sansio lowered his head, kneading his palms incessantly.

The father sighed, his tone softening slightly: "Never mind, it's not your fault. Keep your voice down, your mother just went to sleep."

"Hmm." Shan Xiao looked into the inner room of the small thatched hut and, finding that the coughing had stopped, nodded happily. "I understand, Father."

The father patted Sansio on the shoulder and instructed him, "Keep an eye on the house. I have to go out for the clan meeting. If your mother wakes up, tell her not to worry."

"Yes, Father." Shan Xiao watched as his father turned around, pushed open the door of the thatched hut, flapped the four translucent wings on his back, and flew away.

He knew that his father's role as clan leader was actually very difficult. The fairy clan's food was usually flowers and nectar, and they would only eat leaves when food was scarce. Moreover, the fairy clan was not very resistant to the cold and needed certain measures to keep warm.

However, as winter approached, it became difficult to collect flowers and nectar in the forest. Often, after searching for a long time, my father could only bring back some leaves.

The leaves were bitter and hard to swallow, but we had to eat them to survive.

Yesterday, Sansio overheard his father and mother chatting and learned that today's clan meeting was about the elders discussing where to collect nectar.

My mother had told Shan Xiao that there were flowers in the forest, even in winter, but they were rare and required a larger search area. However, the tribe now lived in underground caves, which greatly limited the search area.

Sansio tiptoed to the door frame, glanced into the inner room, and seeing that there was no sound, decided to run out to ask his friends if they had any extra nectar.

Just as I reached the door of the thatched hut, I heard two clear coughs coming from inside.

"Mother," he rushed to the bedside and saw his mother smiling at him, "you're awake."

"I wasn't asleep. I was just lying to your father," a sly smile appeared on her haggard face. "Otherwise, I don't know when he would have left the house."

"How are you feeling?" Shan Xiao stepped forward to cover his mother with a blanket, which was actually a bird feather that had fallen from a tree. In the cave, the blanket had limited warmth retention.

"I'm fine," the mother said, reaching out to stroke her son's cheek. "Go ahead and play if you want, but be careful."

Shan Xiao knew what his mother was talking about. One day, his older sister Yun Xiya flew out to play, but never returned after dark. After that, his father led all the tribesmen to move from the trees to live in caves.

After her sister went missing, her mother's health deteriorated rapidly. In addition, she could no longer eat nectar and could only eat bitter leaves. Even the restorative spell, the Wind of Rejuvenation, was no longer effective.

"Mother, wait a moment, I'll go see if they have any stored nectar," Sansio said earnestly to his mother.

"Be careful, watch out for death," the mother added.

The little fairy Shanxiao nodded, stepped out of the thatched hut, then flapped its four dragonfly-like wings on its back and began asking its friends questions.

Unfortunately, after asking around, it turned out that the entire tribe had no more nectar left.

He longed for his mother to eat nectar or flowers so that her health would improve.

After much deliberation, he decided to carefully cross the cave entrance and search the forest.

The underground cave where they lived was connected to the ground by the trunk of a nearly dead tree. If they wanted to go into the forest to find flowers, they had to fly to the base of that tree and then crawl out through the cave.

Although the fairy clan releases natural winds that stimulate plant growth, the father said that for the clan's secrecy, the withered tree must be kept in a half-dead state.

The road isn't long, but there's a dangerous section in the middle where a giant monster frog is lurking.

Each time it leaps this distance, its tribesmen throw some leaf balls to attract its attention, then use invisibility spells to pass quickly. But today, Shansio is alone. To pass safely, he can only stay close to the cave ceiling, try to hide himself in the shadows, and try not to make a sound.

He soon arrived at this dangerous area. After releasing his invisibility spell, Shan Xiao tried his best to control himself. He slowed down the flapping of his four semi-transparent wings to make no sound, while controlling his body. He flew a distance and then grabbed the stalagmite on the cave ceiling to make sure he wouldn't fall.

After repeating this process back and forth, the entrance to the tree hole was right in front of them.

Suddenly, a loud crash came from behind. A stalagmite was struck by something and fell into the underground river below with a "plop".

Sansio had no choice but to struggle forward, knowing that the giant frog had spotted him.

With a croak, a thick, pink tongue nearly grazed his side and struck the cave ceiling. Shan Xiao was startled and had to immediately change direction.

As the giant frog attacked, rocks kept falling from the cave ceiling in front of him. Shan Xiao panicked and ran blindly. He finally understood why everyone called this giant frog "Death".

The enormous tongue he had just seen made him realize that he was nothing more than a mosquito in comparison.

He flew with all his might to the middle of the underground river, hoping to use the river's depth to limit the giant frog's attack. His tribe was unfamiliar with this area because of the presence of "Death," and had basically never ventured into it.

The sounds behind him continued, followed by a loud bang. Shan Xiao, holding a stalagmite, turned around and was surprised to find that the invisibility spell had been automatically canceled due to his panic, and the giant monster frog had actually chased after him.

He had no choice but to continue flying, trying to circle around in a big loop to see if he could shake off the giant frog.

Just as Sansio was desperately trying to escape, a loud noise came from the surface of the underground river, with water splashing everywhere and making a series of "plop" sounds.

Shan Xiao hugged the stalagmite and looked around using the dim light emitted by the glowing mushrooms on the cave ceiling.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise.

A giant snake coiled around "Death," rendering the giant frog unable to make a sound. The giant snake rolled continuously on the river surface, and Sansio could see the giant frog's limbs, which were protruding from between the snake's bodies, gradually stiffening and ceasing to kick.

"How come there are such terrifying monsters here?" Shan Xiao broke out in a cold sweat.

Their tribe lived in a cave recess, which prevented the giant frogs from directly attacking their thatched huts. However, if the giant snake wanted to destroy their dwelling, it would be incredibly easy for it.

"No, I need to take a good look at this new 'Grim Reaper' before I go back and tell my father and the others to be extra careful," Sansio decided.

Soon, the giant frog was swallowed by the giant snake. Then it poked its head out of the water, looking around as if searching for something, before swimming away back into the river.

Shan Xiao looked at the huge black shadow in the water, thought for a moment, cast an invisibility spell on himself, and followed.