Chapter 6

Although he did not say it out loud, Golong actually had his own criteria for judgment. As long as someone could tell him stories for over a hundred consecutive days, he was willing to grant that person freedom. Of course, the prerequisite was that he believed the person he released would not pose a threat to the Black Hand tribe's safety. The old snake woman could barely walk steadily, neither a warrior nor a mage. Most importantly, there was no deep-seated hatred in her eyes, the kind of hatred that Golong, though he still could not understand the emotion of "hatred," knew was very dangerous when seen in someone's eyes.

When Golong said he would release her, the old snake woman did not show the wild joy and excited doubt that other prisoners did. Her demeanor was calm and composed, as if she had long anticipated this. Of course, it was also possible that she did not care about her own life at all.

"Tonight... it should be a full moon, right... calculating the time... it's just perfect..." The old snake woman, as if talking to herself, bent down to pick up a wooden bowl from the table, carefully scooped a spoonful of light purple broth from the ogre's large pot in front of her, and handed it directly to Golong: "This is the seventh bowl, and the last one. Drink it, child. It should taste quite good."

The clear broth emitted a strange and fragrant aroma, as transparent as purple crystal. Just the smell from a distance was enough to make one's mouth water and appetite increase. As a chef, Golong could appreciate the preciousness and charm of this bowl of broth. He had no idea how the old snake woman, who was imprisoned in the deepest part of the cave with no ingredients, managed to make such a delicious soup.

Golong did not say much, picked up the wooden bowl, and drank it in one go. He was not at all worried that the old snake woman would harm him. It was not because he trusted her, but because he had full confidence in the ogre tribe's resistance to toxins. The ogres, who could eat and digest almost anything, might still be troubled by very potent poison arrows or darts, but for anything ingested directly, even the venom of the nine-headed hydra, they could savor it with relish. Therefore, the ogre tribe never worried about being poisoned.

Moreover, this was not the first time the old snake woman had invited Golong to drink her soup. Over the course of about a year, she had invited him to drink it about five or six times, and each time the color of the broth was different, sometimes red, sometimes yellow. Golong had never felt any discomfort, but rather felt refreshed and invigorated.

Smiling, the old snake woman watched as Golong finished drinking the soup she had prepared and nodded: "When the moon rises to its highest point tonight, take me out. At that time, I will tell you the ending of my story..."

***

After leaving the cave, Golong was still somewhat distracted. The story of "Dongsheng Shenzhou" described by the old snake woman kept echoing in his mind. He seemed to be looking forward to the ending of the story he would learn tonight, yet he also felt a bit regretful. His mind was a mess, and he had no mood to cook properly. He directly took out a dozen centaur smoked ham legs, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and some siren wings from the warehouse, skewered them on a long spear, and grilled them over the fire. Today's feast would be a ham and mushroom soup and grilled siren wings.

As usual, most of Golong's day was spent in a daze. Now, he mechanically brushed butter and barbecue seasoning on the golden-red grilled wings, gazing at the sea, watching the deep blue waves wash the coastline. A few fat, tall ogres aimlessly wandered along the shore. It was not yet hunting time, so they were just looking to see if they could find a few unfortunate blue-shelled sea turtles. The cream sea turtle soup Golong made three days ago almost caused a bloody conflict in the otherwise peaceful Black Hand ogre tribe, even leaving King Mogal with a bloody head. All for a limited amount of soup. There was no way around it; the delicious cuisine Golong inherited from a certain goblin prisoner's ancestral secret recipe was just that good. However, the sea turtles of Sea Rock Bay were now in great trouble. A group of blue fat ogres, instead of raiding and trading, now spent their days squatting on the beach, catching the old sea turtles that came to lay eggs. At this rate, the blue-shelled sea turtles, a specialty of Sea Rock Bay, would soon be extinct.

"Golong! Big Brother Golong! You... come over quickly~~~!"

Accompanied by a series of loud shouts, a young ogre, standing at a height of 3.5 meters and weighing as much as an adult blue rhinoceros, ran towards Golong. This was the only son of the Black Hand tribe's military leader, King Mogal, "Blood Eye" Juba Black Hand.

Like his father, Juba was a one-eyed ogre with pale skin, distinctly different from the blue-skinned Black Hand ogres. His noble bloodline gave "Blood Eye" Juba a towering figure and a bloodthirsty nature, making him unmatched among the young Black Hand ogres. If not for the freaks like Haku, Juba would undoubtedly become the next military leader of the Black Hand tribe. However, the simple minds of the ogres did not even possess the emotions of jealousy and competition. Their professions represented only their responsibilities and work, not privileges. Therefore, the relationship between Juba and his father and Golong and his sister was quite good, especially with Golong. The gluttonous Juba almost always followed Golong around, just to get a bit more of the delicious food.

"Big Brother Golong, that green-skinned little rat is back, and he brought a lot of things, a lot of things in several carts... Big Brother Golong, go take a look quickly. If you wait any longer, he might be eaten by them and them~~~!"