Chapter 3169: Chapter 3170: Behind the Snow Mountains

"This exhibition catalog is indeed hard to borrow, but there is definitely a tribe that has extras." Luigi blinked at Angel: "You understand, right?"

Angel turned his head and thought for a moment: "You mean... the hosts?"

Naturally, the Crystal Eye Clan.

Luigi nodded: "Exactly."

Although the supporter of this gathering is Pirush, and the catalog is modified by Pika Sage, the nominal host is still the Crystal Eye Clan. Naturally, all the catalogs are also issued from Crystal City.

If there is really a tribe with surplus catalogs, it would be the Crystal Eye Clan.

"Glaipnir has connections in the Crystal Eye Clan?" Angel asked with some curiosity.

Luigi nodded: "Yes. Ever since the young dragon incident, Glaipnir’s reputation has spread further, so he is often invited to various places for divination and has had a few encounters with the Crystal Eye Clan."

Therefore, if Glaipnir truly wants to borrow a catalog, the Crystal Eye Clan would most likely not refuse.

Upon hearing this news, while marveling at Glaipnir’s extensive network, Angel also developed a bit of anticipation for the catalog. — Having seen Pipi Castle up close, Angel is quite curious about Pirush’s invention technology, especially in terms of the methods of creation, what connections or differences are there with the Wizard’s alchemy?

While Angel was wandering in thought, Luigi suddenly spoke up: "This platform is quite empty; besides us, there isn’t a single person... This shouldn’t count as the city gate, right?"

Although Luigi can engage in mind sharing with other Temporal Bodies, full sharing is rare; mostly he shares some images or engages in "group chats" through mind synchronization with Laplace and Glaipnir.

In the earlier "group chat," Luigi only knew that Laplace wanted them to come here, but as for the pavilion and the passage behind it leading where, he hadn’t yet had a chance to ask.

Laplace: "This counts as an entryway, but it’s not used as the gate for this gathering."

Simply put, this belongs to a private passage, most likely used by the Crystal Eye Clan themselves.

As for why Laplace can use it? No need to ask; it’s either a matter of widespread connections or revered strength, one or the other, or perhaps both.

Laplace: "You say there’s nobody here, but that’s not correct... Isn’t there somebody over there?"

Laplace turned his head and glanced at the passage behind the pavilion. Angel and Luigi followed the sound and looked over; from the dark depths of the passage, at a dim corner, a little head had poked out sometime, peeking outside.

As everyone’s gaze swept over, he, who was secretly observing, was startled and quickly pulled his head back.

Although his movement was very swift, that fleeting glance was enough for Angel to see his face clearly.

The other had one eye, skin like colored glaze, a face void of blood color, nearly colorless pale white, a round head with a tuft of upright crystal line, possibly his hair?

Without a doubt, the person must be of the Crystal Eye Clan.

Judging from the smoothness of his skin, brightness of his eyes, thickness of his facial skin — literally thick — this should be a child of the Crystal Eye Clan, or at a stage of early adolescence, transitioning into youth.

Due to the difficulty in determining the actual age of the Crystal Eye Clan, for now, he is categorized in the "youth" group.

"When did he arrive?" Luigi looked at the deep, narrow passage curiously: "Why didn’t I sense his presence?"

Luigi posed this question to Laplace, but the reply came from an elderly voice.

"In a Crystal City filled with Holy Corpse Crystals, to detect the aura of the Crystal Eye Clan requires more precise perception, meaning you need to always project perception..." A stooped figure leaning on a cane slowly emerged from the passage’s depths: "But to recklessly release perception here, especially targeted towards the youth of the Crystal Eye Clan, is tantamount to provoking them..."

The elderly woman, upon stepping out from the passage, chastised Luigi while nodding gently to Angel and Glaipnir.

Undoubtedly, this elderly woman was Glaipnir herself.

Though Luigi was being scolded by Glaipnir, he paid it no mind. His gaze wasn’t on Glaipnir; instead, he looked behind her.

Not only Luigi, but Angel was doing the same.

Because Glaipnir didn’t come out alone; behind her was the Crystal Eye Clan youth who had been secretly observing them earlier.

The youth timidly hid behind Glaipnir, peering sideways out.

It wasn’t apparent whether this Crystal Eye Clan youth was male or female, or indeed, Angel had never discerned the gender of any Crystal Eye Clansman.

He wore a burlap robe with frayed edges, concealing his hands and feet, with only a small head exposed.

"He is..." Angel looked at Glaipnir, puzzled.

Glaipnir: "His name is Lita. When I came over just now, I saw him peeking in the passage and brought him out on the way."

Initially, Angel thought this Crystal Eye Clan youth was accompanying Glaipnir, but now it seemed otherwise.

Glaipnir continued: "I know his grandmother, who used to be a member of the Crystal Eye Clan Elders Council and was called Hiluda. However, later she seemed to have gone beyond the bounds and hasn’t returned since."

Pausing briefly, Glaipnir glanced at Lita: "As for Lita, I heard from the Crystal Eye Clan that he comes here every day to wait for Hiluda to return."

Just as Glaipnir’s voice fell, the youth named Lita softly refuted: "Grandmother Hiluda didn’t go beyond the bounds, but she went to the Ghost Phantom... I, I usually wait for grandmother, but today I have other matters..."

As he spoke, Lita’s voice grew increasingly softer, his head lowered, seemingly lost in thought.

Glaipnir patted Lita’s shoulder, turning to the others: "Anyway, he wasn’t sneaking around to spy on you; he comes here every day; presumably, he has his own matters."

"Let him stay here. I’ll take you inside first."

As Glaipnir spoke, he gestured to everyone to follow her into Crystal City.

However, at this moment, Lita softly voiced: "Divination grandma... grandmother said you can be trusted, can you... can you take me away from here?"

Everyone halted their steps, and Glaipnir turned to look at Lita, puzzled: "You want to leave here? Leave the crystal..."

Just halfway through, Glaipnir seemed to realize something and glanced at the majestic Crystal City beside them, silently summoning a starlit dome, enveloping them all, including Lita.

Glaipnir had heard a rumor: Crystal City is sentient.

This rumor had been widespread, but no one knew if it was true. She had also asked Hiluda, yet Hiluda only smiled and passed over the question, never providing a direct answer.

Even though Hiluda hadn’t said anything, her "avoiding the question" was actually a kind of alternate "answer."

No matter whether Crystal City has consciousness or not, Glaipnir still decided to treat it as if it does. If Crystal City truly has consciousness, then it is very likely capable of eavesdropping on the conversations of all life within the castle.

Especially those of the Crystal Eye Clan.

Therefore, she summoned the Starlight Dome to cover them, to avoid being spied on and overheard.

"Are you saying that you want to leave Crystal City? Why do you want to leave? Once you leave, where will you go?" Glaipnir asked, looking at Lita, who stood less than one and a half meters tall: "Do you want to find Hiluda? Whether she’s at the edge or has gone to the Ghost Phantom, it’s not somewhere you can go right now."

Glaipnir suddenly threw out a barrage of questions, which seemed to carry an undertone of criticism, but in reality, it was a form of concern.

From this, it can be seen that Glaipnir and Hiluda have a rather good relationship.

Love me, love my dog.

Lita: "Yes, I want to leave Crystal City. I came here today to find an opportunity to leave amidst the chaos. I’m not leaving to find my grandmother, it’s because... because..."

Lita hesitated for quite a while before softly revealing the truth under Glaipnir’s gaze: "Mother went behind the snow mountain yesterday."

Behind the snow mountain?

Upon hearing Lita’s words, Glaipnir frowned, seemingly having thought of something.

On the other hand, Angel looked confused, what’s behind the snow mountain?

He knew about the snow mountain, a range stretching endlessly behind Crystal City. But as for the profound meaning behind the snow mountain, Angel was unaware.

Perhaps, the snow mountain was a metaphor, implying burial within it? Was Lita suggesting that his mother had died and was buried in the snow mountain? Angel began to speculate aimlessly.

However, before Angel could delve deeper into his hypothesis, he heard a message from Laplace.

Laplace seemed to notice Angel’s confusion and gave a simple explanation about the so-called "behind the snow mountain."

After the explanation, Angel realized that his previous speculation was completely wrong, even quite the opposite.

For the Crystal Eye Clan, going behind the snow mountain does not mean death and disappearance; rather, it symbolizes rebirth and hope.

The Crystal Eye Clan does not have biological genders; their gender is determined before they are born. As for how it’s determined, it has to do with what’s behind the snow mountain.

In the continuous snow mountains behind Crystal City, there exist two lakes shaped like eyes, interconnected and overlapping. One of the lakes is a profound sky blue, named Male Lake; the other is a serene black, named Female Lake.

The existence of Male Lake and Female Lake determines the gender of Crystal Eye Clan’s offspring.

Before the descendants of the Crystal Eye Clan are born, if the mother bathes in Male Lake, the child born will be male; conversely, if the mother bathes in Female Lake, the child born will be female.

However, in reality, the young of the Crystal Eye Clan are born without external sexual characteristics. The so-called male or female are just names.

The only difference is in the name: male Crystal Eye Clan members must have "Tower" in their name; while female members must have "Da" in theirs.

Apart from that, there are no other differences.

In Angel’s understanding, the Crystal Eye Clan is a mono-gendered group, which is why he couldn’t differentiate their gender before, as there is no difference between male and female.

And their method of gender distinction lies in whether the mother bathed in Male Lake or Female Lake before giving birth.

It sounds rather casual to determine gender this way.

This left Angel quite perplexed. Why decide gender this way? Furthermore, being a mono-gendered group, why have a division in gender? Most importantly, how do they propagate as a mono-gendered group?

Angel did not quite understand, but he also knew that defining aliens and foreign civilizations with the human worldview and cognition was clearly too biased. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t understand, respect is enough, just consider it as gaining knowledge.

Having grasped the implication of "behind the snow mountain," Angel roughly guessed Lita’s thoughts.

He probably felt that with a new child, his mother wouldn’t love him anymore? Is this the so-called "second child syndrome"?

While Angel silently speculated, Glaipnir continued to chat with Lita, revealing quite a bit.

Angel also gradually understood the situation.

Lita was indeed worried that his mother would neglect him; but this worry wasn’t baseless. His mother used to love Lita greatly, a love that was obvious and made Lita feel it clearly.

But after his grandmother Hiluda left a year ago, specifically, last year, Lita noticed his mother becoming increasingly indifferent, often looking at him and lost in thought for extended periods.

Precisely because he once received "love," losing it now made him feel so at a loss, even attributing it to the resentment of a "second child."

Lita’s mother hadn’t actually told him that she was about to have another child. Lita learned this from one of his grandmother Hiluda’s loyal servants, who also advised Lita that staying would only increase his sorrow, and perhaps leaving Crystal City would be a good choice.

However, children of the Crystal Eye Clan rarely have the chance to leave on their own.

The reason Lita appeared here was to take advantage of the multi-clan routine gathering, hoping to find an opportunity to leave.

However, before Lita could find a chance to leave, he encountered Glaipnir.

His grandmother Hiluda once said that Glaipnir was her most trusted friend, hence this conversation today.

...

After listening to Lita’s account, everyone present had some doubts in their hearts.

Because there were many strange points in the story told by Lita.

Why had his mother suddenly become indifferent towards him?

Moreover, why did his grandmother Hiluda’s loyal servant advise Lita to leave Crystal City? Considering the overall story, the option of "choosing to leave" seemed rather abrupt. It could rectify the situation, but there’s no need to overdo it.

And Lita, without much thought, really decided to leave Crystal City, even planning to sneak away. This seemed a bit odd...

Angel conveyed his doubts to Laplace through the technique of transmitting sound.

Laplace was silent for a moment before calmly saying, "Glaipnir just told me through mind synchronization that there might be some hidden secret behind this matter."

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