C9 In Order to Return to His Hometown

When the groundhog saw Situ Pengcheng chasing from behind, it hurriedly burrowed into the hole, but Situ Pengcheng was no longer a child of the past. How could a mere groundhog be fooled? He untied one of the hundred instruments made in the valley village, the horn instrument, from his waist. He buried one end of it into the ground and blew it hard. Not long after, many Earth Rats crawled out of the caves one after another. They collapsed to the ground, all of them looking like they were on the verge of death.

"Dear Human Sir, please do not use that magical tool to destroy my family. I will give you all the food that I have accumulated. I will even give you my life. I hope you can be magnanimous and let my family go."

"I didn't want to hurt you at first, but when you enter other people's territory, you must have the awareness to be hurt. Although the land belongs to the gods and the seeds are given by rice, I am the one who sowed them. What if your greed causes me to be hungry and cold during winter?"

"Respected human sir, what you say may be reasonable, but if my family doesn't collect food bit by bit, it will be our turn to starve and freeze. We don't want to cause you pain, but we don't want to make ourselves suffer. " Besides, everything in the world belongs to the gods, so how can we just let us take it and not share it? "

After hearing the Earth Mouse's words, Situ Pengcheng decided to give the food to the Earth Mouse family. They would also cooperate with each other and let the Earth Mouse plow the land. He would be in charge of watering and sprinkling the seeds, and then share the fruits of his labor.

One night, the moon and stars were scarce. Situ Pengcheng and the Earth Mouse family discussed their journey by the bonfire.

"So, respected human sir, you've already given up on returning to the village?"

"How could that be? Humans have such a long time. After resting here for a few years, I will once again embark on my journey."

" Since that's the case, can you let me tell you a piece of news that I have heard before? "

"What news?"

In fact, there is a lake in the nearby mountains. There are beautiful fish in the lake. These fish are not real fish, but humans who lived nearby for a long time. They were turned into fish because they offended a witch. If you can turn these fish back into humans, they might follow you back to your hometown. "

The news brought by the groundhog made Situ Pengcheng very excited. The next morning, he quickly took the tools and followed Situ Pengcheng to the foot of the rocky mountain with the groundhog.

"Respected human sir, if we go any higher, we will reach the rocky ground. I will not be able to protect myself, so I can only send you here."

Situ Pengcheng nodded to express his understanding of Earthrat's words. Then, he broke up with Earthrat and brought Falling Star Saber up the mountain to search for traces of the lake.

In order to find the human who had been turned into fish by the witch, Situ Pengcheng stepped into the rocky mountain.

The rocky mountain range was very large, and it would take a lot of effort to find traces of the lake. The only fortunate thing was that the rocky mountain was not suitable for tall and large plants to grow, so the field of vision was good. Not only were wild beasts difficult to lurk in, but they were also difficult to get lost.

However, even though the rocky mountain had a good view of the ordinary mountain ranges, Situ Pengcheng still couldn't find any traces of the lake. Even if he used the dancing birds to search in the sky, he still wouldn't be able to find anything.

Very soon, the sun was about to set in the west. Situ Pengcheng set up the equipment he had used for camping. This was a necessary item he had summarized in his long journey. He simplified the structure so that he could carry it with him.

Just as Situ Pengcheng planned to spend the night here and search for the lake the next day, the corner of his eye suddenly shot towards his eyes from a direction he had not expected. This shocked him greatly.

Situ Pengcheng looked in the direction of the setting sun and then looked in the direction where the light had come from. He discovered that the light was... It had come from beneath a boulder.

Situ Pengcheng approached the huge rock and found that there was a crack under it. The sound of water could be heard from under the crack. He looked down and saw that there was a huge lake hidden beneath the huge rock.

This lake was hidden very well. If it weren't for the fact that the setting sun had shot towards the surface of the lake at an extremely extreme angle, causing it to reflect a beam of light, and this beam of light just happened to shine onto Situ Pengcheng's face, he might never have noticed it in his entire life.

After finding the lake, Situ Pengcheng was wild with joy. He felt that the road back home was a step closer.

The next morning, Situ Pengcheng planned to start exploring the lake, but because of the giant rocks, the cracks were too small, making it impossible for him to smoothly explore. This also meant that he had to first think of a way to deal with the giant rocks.

The rock that blocked the lake was very large. Situ Pengcheng estimated that it would take four or five adults to move it, but he was not completely helpless. He found a thick wooden stick and begged the elf in the stick to give him strength so that he could pry open the huge rock that blocked the top of the lake.

It was also strange. Situ Pengcheng stuffed one of the wooden sticks into the bottom of the giant rock and used all of his strength to press down on the other side of the wooden stick. The giant rock that required four or five people to move actually loosened. It was quickly moved to the side and rolled down the mountain. At this moment, the lake that was hidden under the giant rock finally saw the light of day again.

"So dazzling! So dazzling! Who released the sun?"

You idiot! It's not the sun, it's us! "

"How could we have been released? Has anyone been trapped? "

"We were indeed trapped in the lake since a long time ago."

"If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten. I almost thought that I was born with gills and scales."

When Situ Pengcheng moved the boulder away, he heard a sound from the lake. When he fixed his eyes on it, he saw that it was a red fish and a yellow fish talking.

"Hello, I am Situ Pengcheng, a human protected by the respected Ur. I am here to save you. I hope you can return to the village with me."

"Human? I haven't seen humans for a long time. I haven't seen them since the witches turned us into fish."

"I only found out that you were trapped here after hearing the news from the Rats, so I hope that after saving you, you can return to my hometown with me"

"Kid, you said you wanted to save us and return to your hometown with you, but we don't know what the situation is yet. Can you explain it clearly?"

The yellow fish in the water expressionlessly looked at Situ Pengcheng. It was clear that they weren't very interested in someone saying they wanted to save them.

Situ Pengcheng was puzzled by this situation, but he still honestly told them his situation. As for his story, it made the yellow fish burst into laughter.

"Boy, you keep saying you want to save us, but it seems like we're the ones who should save you."

"Why do you say that? Are you unhappy that you've turned from a fish back into a human?"

"What's there to be happy about? You can walk on land, swim in water, and jump on land. You can float and sink in water; you can plant rice on the ground, plant water plants in the water; you can hunt animals on the ground. To chase prawns, crabs, and drowning bugs in water. "What you do in the water is different from what you do on land? What's there to be happy about if there's nothing different about it?"

The yellow fish's question confused Situ Pengcheng. For a moment, he didn't know how to answer, so he sat by the lake and sank into deep thought.

The full moon was already reflected on the surface of the lake. Situ Pengcheng lost track of time in his thoughts. At this moment, he was still sitting on the shore of the lake. Although he felt that there was something wrong with the yellow fish's explanation, he was unable to say the reason.

There was indeed a difference between a person and a fish, but what was the difference? Situ Pengcheng felt that he was unable to say it clearly.

As he was feeling depressed, Situ Pengcheng took out a flute by his side and played it. The sound caused the fish in the lake to float to the surface and listen quietly.

The sound of the flute reminded the fish in the water of their time on land. As humans, they began to reminisce about the days of harvest, the days of fishing and hunting, and all sorts of daily life.

"I want to return to land."

A sentence suddenly came out of the school of fish, followed by the adherence of other fish. At this time, the previous yellow fish also stuck its head out of the water.

Seeing the yellow fish, Situ Pengcheng voiced out the thoughts he had thought about during this period of time.

"Perhaps there isn't much difference between a person and a fish, or perhaps there isn't much difference in what they do. However, in order to open up a field of vision, humans will walk into the wilderness. Being obstructed by darkness will ignite flames. " Ships will be built across the water area, and large floods will build embankments and defenses. During autumn and winter, granaries would be built, and clothes would be worn when it was cold. They would hold umbrellas when it was hot. These were things that the fish in the small lake would not do. Even if they did, it would be meaningless. The good thing about humans was that there were difficulties everywhere. "And we resolved the difficulties."

"Indeed, everything we do is the same, but the meaning is different. To humans, there is no fixed way to live, but to fish, everything is already destined. Although we satisfy our own destiny, we also yearn for other paths. This way, we seem to have found a reason to be human again. Can you please restore us?"

"If you are willing, I will naturally help you."

"Since that is the case, let me tell you about our past and the way to turn us back into humans."

According to what the yellow fish said, the reason why the people here turned into fish was because of a witch. This witch was also a part of the village. Her ancestors were loved by the Mother Earth Goddess and were bestowed with magic power to her family.

The witch's personality was very good. She often helped the villagers solve their problems and was very loved by the villagers. Not only that, but there was also an excellent young man in the village who made an engagement with the witch.

However, one day, a strange black color appeared in the lake where everyone usually absorbed water. The villagers came forward to watch, but they didn't dare to get too close.

At this moment, someone suddenly suggested that they go underwater to see what was in the water. This suggestion caused a commotion among the young people in the village.

As the topic got more and more intense, in the end, it actually turned to the conclusion that whoever was willing to jump into the lake was the most heroic person in the village.

The first person to jump into the water was the witch's fiancé. Although he was an outstanding young man, he was often suspected to be unqualified to marry a witch, so he wanted to show his valor here.

However, after he jumped into the water, his heroic spirit did not show itself. Instead, it lost its shape, and this outstanding young man became a fish.

When this news reached the witch's ears, it made her very sad, because one was on the ground, while the other was in the water, their marriage would definitely not last long.

Even so, the witch was still unwilling to give up on her fiancé, so she cast many spells to bring him back to the human race. Unfortunately, all the spells failed, because what made her fiancé become a fish was power beyond magical power.

On the other hand, the witch's family kept asking her to give up marrying this young man who had turned into a fish, and even forced the witch to choose another husband.

The witch was enraged. She cursed everyone in the village to become a fish to experience the life of her fiancé from now on.

"After this, everyone in our village lives in this lake, and this witch brought her husband, who became a fish, to live in another mountain."

"Then what should I do to restore you to your original state?"

"The husband of the witch should still be alive. You just need to catch this fish and force her to restore us. But remember, don't hurt her. Her nature isn't bad."

After hearing the yellow fish's words, Situ Pengcheng had a new goal. Thus, he got up and went to the witch's residence.

"Gru, why did you become the Water God's concubine? Why haven't you spoken for so many years? " Could it be that you can forget me after having gills and fins? Are you angry? Or are you happy? Why would you rather swim in the water than look at me? "What's wrong with me?"

In the stone castle on a distant mountain, the witch who had cast a curse on the entire village was sitting beside a pool made of giant rocks. She was talking to a large black fish that was swimming slowly in the water.