According to the words of the mouse Prime Minister, when Queen Medusa is sleeping, he is the highest leader in the so called âKingdom of the Evil EyeââŠâŠ.
Having this hostage with them, or itâs better to say coerced companion. The group of three along with the ratlike person headed towards the Queenâs Palace.
Along the way, all the mice that saw the group turned and ran away, deeply proving the famous 'scurryingâ aphorism used commonly on these animals. During the chaos that just occurred, their Prime Minister was captured, yet the groups of mice showed no signs of courage to rescue their leaderâŠ.. From ancient times till now, it is very accurate to use the phrase âcourage of a mouseâ to describe cowards.
Of course, the Animal Kingdon does not only have mice here, there are also some crows. These birds scouts were originally created with magic by Gargamel. The flat feathered animals would only hover in mid air croaking âOutsider! Outsider!â. Annoyed by this, Hussein letâs loose one Dou Qi (energy) sword strike up into the air, killing seven to eight of these fleeing birds.
Seeing this, Gargamel couldnât help but let out a painful sigh. âOh lord knight, do you know how much efforts and experiments I did before the crows learned to speak and keep watch?
Du-Wei couldnât help but wonder, âHow do you teach these crows to speak?â
Gargamel smiled, âIâm skilled in transformation magic, so I naturally have a profound understanding of animal biology. Half of my research was on animals⊠Let alone a crow, even a horseâŠ
âI remember I told you if I ever hear you lie again, Iâll cut off your mouse head.â Hussein coldly interrupted the self boasting prime minister, then said. âDo you think I cannot see through it? Those crows cannot talk, just that you used magic to transform their voices. Crows donât have intelligence, but they do have animal instincts, capable of distinguishing between those that belong in the city or not. Whenever they encountered âforeignersâ, they will call out with their voice. These crows fundamentally cannot speak the human tongue⊠Itâs just that the pronunciation of their calls was changed into âOutsiderâ. Du-Wei, if you donât believe me, you can ask this mouse to command the crows to say something else. If they cannot say it, Iâll immediately cut down his mouse head!â
Once this was said, Gargamel obediently closed his mouth. Du-Wei inwardly stole a laugh, but he was also quite interested in the wonderful ideas that Gargamel thought up. His method was to modify the crows vocal cords with magic, this was very similar to how the parrot trainers did it in his past life. In order to teach a parrot how to talk, the trainer would use special tools to flatten the parrotâs tongue. Even though the practice is different, the principle behind it is the same.
(I personally never heard of this method)
Du-Wei contemplated, then laughed. âGargamel, I understand your thoughts. You were originally a human, but now that you have been turned into an animal, you are worried that others would only think of you as an animal monster that could speak the human tongue. Although you live in this place uninhabited by humans, you would involuntarily want to make the other animals around you speak the human tongue. This is to ease the lonely feeling inside you, right?â
Although Gargamel didnât say anything after hearing these words, his eyes did reveal a feeling of gratitude when he made eye contact with Du-Wei.
The passage leading further into the Canyon still had two completed city walls. Looking up, these walls looked impressive to the eyes! Albeit they were just big rocks piled up together and looked somewhat crude, but their volume and height was definitely big!
âWe have a lot of strong slaves. A lot of the Treants in the Canyon was fossilized by Queen Medusa.
Not only could she turn you into stone⊠If Queen Medusa is willing, she could even turn you into a stone slave without consciousness, a walking dead only there to obey her commands.â After what he said, Gargamel couldnât help but break out in cold chills. âThe most terrifying thing about this was that even after death, one cannot rest in peace.â
Du-Wei let out a sigh, âThis should also be one of the many terrifying magics belonging to Queen Medusa, right? If she wants to, she could create an army of living stones just by taking a look at a person or magical beast.â
Gargamel sigh, âI never questioned this point. If she is willing, she could change the magical beasts of the whole frozen forest into stone slaves.â
Du-Wei suddenly asked, âWhy would an all powerful Queen Medusa stay hidden in this Canyon? The frozen forest is such a big place, why would she only stay in this small canyon?
Du-Wei started thinking about the possible reasons, but after going up a ramp and turning a corner, they could finally see Queen Medusaâs Palace!
This palace was fully aligned in height with the surrounding two slops beside it. The building was not made of stones, but rather wood! Du-Wei immediately recalls what Old Greenwood said, this palace was built with the physical bodies of the real Treant tribesman. Du-Wei couldnât help but sigh from just thinking of how the gentle Old Greenwood would gnash his teeth with anger on the topic.
Gargamel stopped walking, then hesitated a second before speaking. âYou guys really have to go in?â The mouse Prime Minister shifted his eyes around randomly, as if ready to escape if given the chance.
âYes,â Hussein grimly gave him a glance. âYou too.â
Gargamel moaned and cried while begging âIf you are going to find the Queen of madness, then go, the palace is not big anyways. Why must you also bring me along? If Queen Medusa gets angry, I will also be punished! In the past, I have annoyed her once before and for that, she turned me into stone for a month!â
âDo you think she will have the opportunity to punish you again?â Du-Wei frowned, âDid you already assume that once we go inside, she will kill us?â
Although Gargamel didnât say it, but it was clear from his facial expression. However, he quickly saw the anger on the knightâs face, causing him to speak quickly. âI have not seen a human for many years, so I donât want you to die in vain. Why not just leave now? She never leaves the palace anyways. Iâm in charge of all the outside matters so if I donât say anything and pretend youâve never come here, then wouldnât that be better? If you are here for the fountain of youth, then I can tell you that stupid thing is useless. Look at me, I drank many mouthfuls of that water and what benefits did I get?
âWe are not here for the spring.â Du-Wei spoke in a light tone, âWe want Medusaâs eyeâŠâŠ In the past, she used to be a gold eye Python, right?â
âMy GodâŠ..â Gargamel lets out a moaning sound again, but this time when he looked into the eyes of Du-Wei and his companions, he acted as if he was looking at three psychopaths and three already dead people. (This line isnât as funny in English, but it was so funny when I listened to it in Chinese <(^0^)> ahahahah)
No matter how much the mouse Prime Minister refused, Hussein picked him up anyways and forced him into it. Du-Wei and Dadaneier have both put on their 'sunglassesâ. As for the normally proud Hussein, his face was still as calm and cold as ever, but he was still wise enough to put on a pair of 'sunglassesâ. Against the strength of Medusa, even he would still have a hint of fear in him no matter how he acts.
Pushing open the tall palace gates before them, an immediate blast of cold air blew out and pressed against them. The group walked into the hall against the pressing cold, then from the surrounding walls of the hall, a row of crystals lit up and brighten up the entire hall.
In the spacious Hall, the most striking thing before them was a giant statue. The subject of the statue was a beautiful woman with curling hair. Although it is just stone, the facial features of the woman looked very clear. With a charming look and a pointy chin, it had a seductive charm to it. Just that the expression was too cold and indifferent while having a hint of cold killing intent. Her body was nearly nude with only a few large snakes on her body, covering certain key parts of the body. The serpents themselves also looked lifelike with their fangs exposed.
Beauty coupled with snakes. The statue apparently carried with it a dangerous, mysterious and seductive feeling. Du-Wei took one look, then turned towards the mouse Prime Minister with a smile. âIt must be your masterpiece? Medusa couldnât have carved this, right? Who would have known that you had such great carving skills.â
Gargamel put on a wry smile, âIâve been in this Canyon Valley looking at rocks for 20 years. Even if I knew nothing from the beginning, 20 years is enough to learn a lot of things.â
Walking around the stone statue in the hall, there was a door in the back. After opening the door, there was a straight descending passageway. Du-Wei stood at the entrance as he looked but what he saw caused him to frown. âHmm, this is a magic array. You taught her this, right?â
Looking at it from the door entrance, the passageway was so deep that it was almost bottomless, as if it was seemingly endless in lengthâŠâŠ But how can it be this deep for single Palace? Itâs obviously under the effect of the owners magic, turning it into a useful defense facility if entered. If a person not skilled in magic had entered, they would never be able to reach the end of the passageway.
âThis is actually using magic to cheat the senses of your eyes and sight. If you were to go in like that, you would think that you had traveled very far, but in reality, you would be just where you started. In order to counter this confusion spell, you just need to close your eyesâŠ..â Talking up to this point, Du-Wei suddenly had a revelation and revealed a thoughtful expression. ââAndâŠâŠ Queen Medusaâs most terrifying weapon is the gaze from her eyes, but if she sets up this magic array, wouldnât that cause everyone to close their eyes? This is like giving up her most powerful weapon.â
Or maybe, she just didnât want to accidentally hurt her own people?
Du-Wei thought up this explanation for himself.
Subsequently, the three men and the mouse closed their eyes and headed into the passageway. Du-Weiâs senses were very high and Husseinâs power level was very close to that of a Saint Paladin, so it was not much different if he closed his eyes or not with his keen perceptions. As for Dadaneier, there would be no problem if he followed behind the two and Gargamel was already used to this.
After entering the channel, this magic array indeed lost its usefulness. Not long after, Hussein could already feel the handle on the second door, but after opening the door, the three men were stunned by what they sawâŠ..
After the second doorâŠâŠ It was actually all black! Not even a ray of light!!
âThere is no light even in the place behind this.â Gargamel whispered, âThat is, unless you bring your own torch.â
âIs it always like this?â Du-Wei asked the mouse Prime Minister.
After getting an affirmative answer from Gargamel, Du-Wei suddenly smiled and laughed meaningfully.
âThis Medusa Queen is strangeâŠâŠ You can still say It was just a coincidence that the magic array is to shut the eyes of others, but this setup is completely dark, as if she was afraid of someone being mistakenly petrified by her! Could it be that she is not worried about hostile intruders breaking into this place?