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墨書 Inktalez
After swimming around in the water for a while, Bai Yujing climbed out and felt refreshed. He decided to head straight to Pegasus Pool. The path beyond General Pool became a bit steep, and the number of tourists decreased. Gradually, Bai Yujing found himself walking alone on the road. It would take several hours to reach Pegasus Pool, but the map indicated that it was the largest pool in Bazhajian Valley, which made Bai Yujing feel a bit excited.
Along the way, aside from the road, there were no signs of development; vast stretches of pristine forest surrounded him. Suddenly, Bai Yujing stopped in his tracks, momentarily stunned.
"Ding ding ding!" It turned out to be the alarm from the Exotic Creature Hunter System in his mind.
Bai Yujing immediately looked around: "No way, it was so difficult to find one before, and now I just stumble upon it?"
As he searched his surroundings, he noticed a wet footprint beneath his feet. The footprint was about the size of a fist and appeared to be quite thick, resembling an oversized cat's paw print imprinted on the stone slab.
"What is this? A cat? Is there such a large cat?" Bai Yujing thought for a moment, picturing a cat in his mind. After comparing the size of the footprint, he shook his head immediately. That left only one possibility: a tiger?
Bai Yujing shivered at the thought but then looked again and felt it was too small. What kind of creature left this paw print?
Upon closer inspection, Bai Yujing realized something was off; this animal seemed to walk on two legs. He hadn't noticed it before. Following the footprints, he continued forward until they disappeared around a corner into a narrow path in the woods.
Should he go in and take a look? After hesitating for a moment, Bai Yujing decided to follow it because the ground had turned to sandy soil, making the footprints harder to see. He could only proceed along this naturally formed hillside path to see if he could make any discoveries.
As he walked further, Bai Yujing felt he had gone quite far; the path became narrower. He needed to push through thick vegetation to advance. Just as he wondered if he should turn back, he suddenly stepped into thin air and slipped down from the side of the slope.
"Ah!" Bai Yujing exclaimed as he lost his balance and slid downwards, startled and screaming. He quickly tumbled down through a patch of grass and vines before rolling down the slope and landing heavily in a thicket.
His body landed on soft green grass interspersed with wildflowers, so he wasn't hurt; however, he did end up with a mouthful of grass roots when he fell.
"Spit spit spit!" Bai Yujing immediately raised his head and cleared his mouth of grass but felt something was off. Lying on the ground and lifting his head, he happened to see a pair of squinty eyes watching him. When Bai Yujing saw it, it also looked at him and immediately grinned widely, revealing teeth similar to those of humans—indicating that this was an omnivorous creature.
"What on earth is this monster?"
Bai Yujing was startled and immediately got up, kicking the ground with both feet as he moved backward. The creature opened its small squinty eyes, which instantly became round, scratching its head and looking adorably silly and cute, curiously gazing at Bai Yujing.
It stood only about forty centimeters tall, with two stout little legs and long, thick arms hanging down by its backside. One could tell that these were definitely very agile arms. Its gray fur contrasted with its round, big belly, which was white. The upper part had two rows of semicircular patterns. Its ears perked up, and it had a small nose with three long whiskers on each side, resembling a cat.
The more Bai Yujing looked at this creature, the more familiar it seemed. After observing it closely for a while, he suddenly realized, "Isn't this thing Totoro?"
Not the kind of Totoro sold in stores that looks like a mouse, but the real Totoro. Wow, there really is such a creature! How did it end up in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains?
At that moment, a pop-up appeared in his mind from the Exotic Creature Hunter System: "Discovered E-level Exotic Creature: Totoro. Reward: 50 points. E-level Exotic Creature: Totoro template has been added to the biological encyclopedia!"
Totoro's body wasn't large, standing at less than half a meter tall, and it looked harmless. Bai Yujing felt relieved and wanted to approach it, but unexpectedly, the little guy turned around and ran off, bouncing away on its short legs as if riding on wheels.
"Hey, don't run! Wait for me!" Bai Yujing immediately chased after it. The forest wasn't dense; the trees were spaced out quite evenly, looking almost like they were artificially planted. The trees were red and unknown species with broad leaves resembling palms. Bai Yujing watched as Totoro dashed across the grass and followed behind. Although Totoro was fast with its stout little legs moving like wheels, it couldn't compare to Bai Yujing's speed.
With his long legs, Bai Yujing could cover much more ground in one step than Totoro could in several. He didn't rush to catch up; instead, he followed behind casually until they gradually passed through the forest and came upon a stone wall densely covered in vines. He saw Totoro disappear right into it.
Bai Yujing approached and began to explore, pushing aside the vines to discover a narrow gorge hidden behind them. It was very difficult to spot due to the layers of vines overlapping each other, making it exceptionally concealed. If Totoro hadn't led Bai Yujing here, he probably wouldn't have noticed it.
As Bai Yujing made his way through, he immediately saw a very small hidden mountain valley. Inside the valley was a small spring where water flowed gently into a pond. Next to the pond stood a small wooden house—more accurately described as a treehouse—built among several large Banyan Trees that formed a sturdy wooden support structure for the house.
A rope ladder hung down from the wooden structure, which had windows and a chimney. A flower pot sat on the balcony at the entrance, suggesting that someone lived there. Besides these large Banyan Trees in the mountain valley, there was also a massive Rhododendron Tree on the other side of the pond, its bright red Azalea flowers appearing as if they were dripping blood—towering three stories high and forming a large circular shape.
The ground of the mountain valley was green with various wildflowers blooming everywhere. Butterflies fluttered about in the valley under the bright afternoon sun shining down from above. This little mountain valley looked beautiful as if it were a dreamlike illusion. Bai Yujing even felt that the path behind him might be a time tunnel leading him to another world.
"Dudu!" A voice came from above in the treehouse. Looking over, Bai Yujing saw Totoro calling out to him as if urging him to hurry over.
Bai Yujing walked under the large Banyan Trees, looking at the small wooden house, and shouted loudly, "Is anyone there?"
"Is anyone here?"
After calling out several times with no response, Bai Yujing could only shout, "Sorry to disturb!"
Then he climbed up the Stairs to the small balcony of the wooden house. On the balcony, there were several pots of plants, including trees and flowers, which looked well-maintained and were growing very well.
Bai Yujing peered through the window and saw that inside was a study. Directly facing the window was a desk, and the bookshelf was empty. Totoro stood on the desk, looking at Bai Yujing and made a Dudu sound again.
Bai Yujing pushed the door open and walked in, only to find the place was quite empty. Although it was overall clean, there was no sign of life; it felt like no one had lived here for a long time. Bai Yujing wandered around a bit, moving from the bedroom to the study and living room, leaving only the kitchen and a storage room. Inside were just some furniture and kitchenware; there was hardly anything to indicate who had once lived here.
Finally, Bai Yujing arrived at the study, moved a chair in front of the desk, and sat down facing Totoro. Totoro also opened its round little eyes to look at Bai Yujing. However, no matter how wide it opened its eyes, they remained small, which made it look particularly funny.
Bai Yujing felt a bit moved and reached out to touch Totoro. Its fur was very soft, gray in color with a plump white belly and two cute upright ears. When Bai Yujing touched it, Totoro did not resist but instead looked at him and smiled widely. The previous occupant of this wooden house was likely Totoro's owner, but it seemed to have been vacant for many years.
"Where did your owner go? Why aren't they here?"
Of course, Totoro couldn't understand Bai Yujing's words; it just continued to look at him with a silly grin. Bai Yujing wanted to pick it up, but Totoro hopped down directly onto the ground by stepping on Bai Yujing's arm.
Bai Yujing then noticed that Totoro had a small bundle on its back. It opened its own bundle and pulled out a small green apple, offering it to Bai Yujing. Bai Yujing took it, wiped it off quickly with his sleeve, and put it in his mouth. Seeing that Bai Yujing accepted its gift made Totoro very happy; it let out another Dudu sound.
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