A fantastical journey across the heavens, beginning with the Witcher.

Turning their gaze away, the group followed the passage to a grotto deep within the cave. A ring of moss emitting a faint blue glow grew on the grotto walls, illuminating the surroundings.

Olivia had never seen such a troll before. It was half again as tall as a normal troll, and its stone armor was bluish-black with a damp sheen, as if it had blended into the cave's rocks.

At this moment, it was tending to a nursery with its terrifyingly large arms, its fingertips moving with unbelievably gentle movements, creating an eerie contrast with its massive body.

The nursery was filled with light-sensitive herbs, including common ones like Gynostemma pentaphyllum and Spatholobus suberectus, as well as rarer ones like Gynostemma pentaphyllum and Spatholobus suberectus.

"Great-grandmother."

Dundun called out in a simple, honest voice.

Yumir didn't speak, but gently squeezed a drop of amber juice from the spherical stem of the shamdra, and tasted it.

"poisonous……"

Olivia instinctively spoke up to stop her.

Ymir turned his head, a slight smile appearing on his stone-patterned face. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened, revealing a hint of kindness: "It's nothing."

"Go, Dun Dun, tell Mishu that some friends have come over, and to cook something delicious today."

"Hey! Trolls...love to eat delicious food!"

Dun Dun scratched his head, his eyes sparkling, and skipped and hopped toward the other end of the passage, his heavy footsteps echoing in the cave.

"Long time no see, Li De. Got into trouble?"

Yumir squinted, his gaze sweeping over the bloodstains and dust that had not yet been completely cleaned from Li De's body. His voice was as gentle as that of a kind old lady.

"I was being chased by the Nilfgaardians, otherwise I wouldn't have come here covered in dust to bother you."

"Don't say that. Friends should help each other. Your enemy is our enemy."

Yumir replied seriously, seemingly quite dissatisfied with Li De's distant remarks.

Then he changed the subject, his tone becoming somewhat teasing.

"So why were they being hunted down? Did they kidnap someone's princess?"

Her gaze swept between Olivia and Ciri, a sly glint in her eyes. "The kids are all grown up now."

"Um... there are some differences, but overall they're about the same."

Li Deqian coughed and patted Ciri's head. "This is the princess. The Nilfgaardians are hunting her down. I'd like to camp here and rest for a bit, then leave tonight. I won't bother you for too long."

"You can stay as long as you want. Your room is always cleaned, so you can move in anytime."

"That's good. I'll take them to rest first."

Li De nodded his thanks.

"Go ahead, and remember to come back and chat with my old lady."

Ymir smiled and waved, then turned back to tend to her herbs.

Once most organisms become intelligent, they engage in various forms of intrigue and scheming against each other; humans are a prime example.

Trolls are different; they have the purest sense of good and evil. If you're good to me, I'm your friend and a good person; if you hit me, I'm your bad person, and I'll smash you to death.

Perhaps many years from now Yumir will become as cunning as humans, but for now she is still that straightforward and kind "old lady".

Li De turned and left with the two women.

The troll family had been expanding the cave's area over the years, and the newly developed areas were full of branching paths that he didn't recognize, but he remembered his own room very clearly.

After walking a few steps, they came to the door of a familiar stone chamber, with the two characters "Li De" crookedly carved beside the door.

He had just stepped in when he froze, instinctively pulling his foot back and glancing down at the words on the door.

It was indeed my name, but the scene in the room was completely different from what I remembered.

The once bare stone wall is now covered with many paintings, which reflect colorful light under the glow of the brazier.

The most prominent figure in the painting is a small person carrying two long objects, with his eyes painted in gold; this is clearly him.

The main content is him having a gathering with a group of round trolls by a fire. Perhaps fearing that he wouldn't have enough to eat, the creator deliberately drew a lot of food around him.

The other content consists of scenes of Li De fighting various monsters, some rough and some detailed, clearly not drawn by the same troll.

What made him laugh the most was a painting in the corner. The little figure in the painting no longer had gold eyes, but red ones. He was grinning and drawing numbers on the ground with a stick, while a crying little troll was next to him.

The reason I'm so sure is because the numbers 6 and 9 in the drawing are in reversed positions; only Geda keeps making this mistake...

"These are..."

Ciri curiously leaned closer, her little hands gently touching the paint on the stone wall, her fingertips catching a little blue mineral powder.

"It should have been drawn by Dun Dun and the others."

A hint of warmth flashed in Li De's eyes.

"You guys rest here for now. We won't have such good conditions for the rest of the time. I'll go get you some food."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Olivia touched the animal hide on the stone bed. It was very soft, tanned, and had a sun-dried smell, clearly indicating that it was often taken out to air in the sun.

……

As night fell, a roaring bonfire was lit in the open space outside the cave, and a group of trolls sat cross-legged around the fire, toasting and drinking.

A giant iron pot sits in the center of the campfire, where thick soup boils and large pieces of deer bones, meat, and mushrooms float and sink, releasing a rich aroma.

It's not easy to feed such a large family of big eaters; the most pressing issue is food.

Ymir cultivated many mushrooms in the natural cave beneath the cave, which served as the trolls' staple food. Combined with their catch and prey, they raised their offspring to be "plump and healthy."

Ciri was drawn to the lively atmosphere and sat down among the trolls, staring blankly at the flames.

Olivia, sitting not far away, astutely observed that these trolls could be roughly divided into four types.

The first category is the Wise Faction, led by the first troll Ymir, and including his direct descendants, Lond and Bark, who are exceptionally intelligent. Lond is fond of sculptural art, while Bark is even more outrageous, as he is fond of philosophy... He even just debated with Lid about the Ship of Theseus.

The second category is the intelligent ones, whose members are the offspring of Londo and Bark. They are also intelligent, but not as intelligent as the first category. A direct example is the troll chef who cooks; he cuts meat, washes pots, and adds seasonings with great fluency, but that's about it.

The third category is the honest type, which includes little trolls like Dundun and Geda. This type has the most obvious contrast; they are more intelligent than ordinary trolls, but only to a limited extent.

The fourth type is the normal troll, who migrated from other places and joined the family as a spouse, and whose intelligence level matches her preconceived notions about trolls.

The members of this family are degenerating... Perhaps it won't be long before the descendants of the Gedas become ordinary trolls.

The thought was chilling; Olivia couldn't help but rub her arms. This level of regression was no different from a human giving birth to a monkey...