nThe 81st chapter “The side effects of the fountain of youth”

nMedusa Queen?

nHearing the name, even Hussein became pale.

nOriginally, Du-Wei didn’t understand the system by which the magical beasts evolved from, but during his conversations with Dadaneier along the way, he gradually learned many of the theories about the magical beasts. After all, when Dadaneier was young, he worked as a mercenary, but this time around, he collected a lot of information about the Golden Eye Python prior to setting out.

nQueen Medusa is basically the advanced final form in the evolution of the gold eye python. While it could already be considered a high level magical beast, when it evolves into a Medusa, it is regarded as one of the most powerful magical beasts.

nThere are literally thousands of magical beasts that will evolve into their final forms, but the only one capable of transforming its body to that of a human is Medusa!

nThe trio has not actually seen what a Medusa looks like, but legends say this top level magical beast is capable of transforming into a human body and take on the form of a beautiful woman with golden hair and striking eyes… But within her eyes remained the same terrible power of the Golden-Eye Python, capable of petrifying her enemies but only stronger than before. As for her hair… It can be turned into thousands of Golden-Eye Pythons!

nWhat is this? Facing a Medusa is equivalent to facing a legion of Golden-Eye Pythons!

nWhen Queen Medusa becomes angry, she can revert back to a snake’s body… And will transform into a gigantic Boa Constrictor snake! Its enormous body is capable of crushing a city! An immeasurably huge body capable of causing a disaster in the human world!

nThe most frightening thing is that among all the magical beasts in the world, Queen Medusa is the most intelligent!. Queen Medusa does not only have terrifying abilities, but more importantly, a clever mind! When faced with a powerful magical beast, humans can always rely on their intelligence to outwit the beast, but when facing a Medusa, that’s no longer an option!

nThe most terrible thing about Queen Medusa is that besides having intelligence comparable to that of humanity, it can use its intelligence to learn! Learning the achievements of human civilization and even learning other kinds of magic!

nGreat and powerful strength, coupled with high intellect, causes this magical beast to be recognized as one of the most dreadful and powerful.

nEven some magicians thought it was fortunate that Queen Medusa is a rare occurrence because the fertility rate of magical beasts are already low to begin with. On top of that, it requires an untold number of years of cultivation to evolve, so it is exceptionally rare to evolve into a Medusa! Because of this reason, there are rarely any records of Medusa in history…. At least 300 years have passed since the last one was sighted. Every time Queen Medusa appears in history, it would bring disaster to humanity!

nMagicians believed if… Just if the numbers of Medusa’s were to slightly increase, then this top level magical beast would even threaten the position of the dragons, known as the strongest.

nSeeing that these three humans couldn’t help but reveal a tense and nervous look, Gargamel was very satisfied in his heart. The chips he had to save his own life had once again increased, but the satisfaction he had was quickly dispelled by Hussein. With a cold voice, “Go on, don’t think that a single Medusa can scare me.”

nIndeed, the most horrifying thing about a Medusa is not its ability to petrify others, nor it’s hair turning into countless Golden-Eye Pythons….. Or even its ability to turn into a gigantic python…

nThe most horrifying thing is their ability to learn! Think about it, all magical beasts inherently have magical abilities and senses, but she also has the ability to learn other magics! Let’s say she learns other magic, fire, wind, water, etc…

nThey have a long life span, coupled with high intelligence, if we did let her learn…. Then she would become a Queen Medusa and also a horrifying super magician! What is this concept?

n“Fortunately, this is a small Canyon valley with little contact with the outside world.” Du-Wei suddenly frowned while glancing at Gargamel, “She didn’t kill you because she wanted to learn magic from you, right?”

nGargamel immediately winced and hesitated before speaking: “This… I…”

nDu-Wei sighed, “I know, alas, I do not blame you. In order to save your own life, you were forced to make difficult decisions, I do not blame you.”

nDu-Wei was surprisingly understanding so Gargamel quickly explained. “Although over the years, I’ve taught her some magic, but I have limited magical abilities to begin with…. Also, she couldn’t learn the transformation magic that I specialized in. So…”

nGargamel paused for a bit, then the cowardly mouse sighed. “On that day… I remember that she used her hand to grab the scruff of my neck, pinching me with two fingers and pulling me up from the spring. My body was not so large, only the size of a small mouse. I thought I was going to die at that moment, but then she raised me up and stared at me for a long time before asking me. “Did you drink from this spring just now?”

nDu-Wei’s eyes lit up, looking at Gargamel’s mouse body, as if in thought about something. “You answered?”

n“Of course! At the time I was completely stupefied, only able to admit it. That damn eternal youth water, that damn thing really ruined me!”

n“And then what? She spared you?” Du-Wei said.

nThere was an odd look in Gargamel’s eyes, “She said, you are also one of the victims, so I’m not going to kill you because now, there is someone in the same boat as me.”

nGargamel, he smiled. “Poor you. Over the years, you worked as a mouse.”

n“You guessed what?” Hussein looked at Du-Wei.

n“Might as well let the Prime Minister explain,” Du-Wei narrowed his eyes and laughed. “There is nothing wrong with the fountain of youth, correct?”

nGargamel immediately let out his grievance. “It is not only wrong, it’s simply an evil thing! Years ago, when we came, the Treants said it was a fountain of longevity, even I thought it was a good thing. It gave the tree’s longevity, it allows magical beasts to evolve, maybe it would be good for a human too! But after I drank from it, there was so much suffering!”

nAccording to Gargamel’s interpretation, this fountain of youth was very useful for trees and magical beasts…. But for humans…. It’s useless!

nThe spring allows a Treant to live a long life….. In fact, according to Gargamel’s personal experience, this is simply a thing that slows down the metabolism of the body several times over to where it’s almost frozen.

nThe unfortunate thing is that the people who drink this stuff would receive no benefits regarding their life expectancy or growth, but what does get frozen is their outer appearance. For example, Gargamel, a grand magician specializing in transformation magic, was unlucky that night when he was busy running for his life in the body of a small and agile mouse!

nThe results, after falling into the spring and drinking the water…. He will always be frozen in the mouse state! Unable to change back into his human form or any other form…. In this life, he can only be a mouse!

n“This is a frozen state,” Gargamel sighed. “For humans, it’s more like being in the same eternal state… I think this spring is of course beneficial to magical beasts and Treants, but will only bring harm to humans! Oh wait… perhaps, there are only two benefits to humans!”

n“What is it?”

n“The first is healing, heavy injuries can be healed instantly and automatically close the wound. But this capability isn’t much use because holy water and healing magic are capable of doing the same thing. However, the other advantage is… Protection against corrosion!” Gargamel smiled, “Although after drinking the water, their life span will not change but after the person passes away, their body will never decompose after being transformed from the water. The physical body will forever remain in a good state, it is that simple.

nThat truly is the case.

nDu-Wei let out a bitter laugh smile. For a human, it would only have two benefits. It was originally thought to be a very precious thing, but it seems there isn’t much use for it.

nTreatment of injuries…… One can find many alternatives, no reason to challenge a Queen Medusa.

nProtection against corrosion… After his death, why would Du-Wei care if his body rots or not? If that is the case, wouldn’t I be a mummy?

nBut suddenly… An idea flashed in Du-Wei’s mind.

nWith this said, wouldn’t the already dead body of Aragon also be forever preserved? Haha….

nThis idea only flashed in Du-Wei’s mind for a bit and he didn’t think much of it.

n“It seems that is that case.” Du-Wei frowned: “But I don’t understand why Queen Medusa would say ‘we are both victims’? Since she was originally a magical beast, shouldn’t she have been subject to great benefits?”

n“Of course, she was originally a Golden Eye Python. It’s just that from drinking the spring water, she evolved… But the spring has also caused her to lose a precious ability. When she drank the water, she was already in human form, as a result, she can never change back to the body of a snake.”

nDadaneier frowned, “Is the human form not good? If it can’t turn into a snake, what’s the loss?”

nDu-Wei sighed deeply, then gave a deep look at Dadaneier before murmuring. “Dadaneier, this way of thinking is typical for a human. Of course we would think the human form is the best because we are ‘human’. However, if I made a comparison with the most powerful dragon race against the human race, would you still want to be forever a dragon? You can’t eat human food, never able to make human friends, no longer able to sleep in a soft bed, drink wine, and even bed a woman….. But when the urges require you, would you be willing to mate with a beautiful female dragon while keeping a human conscious, are you willing? Even losing the human style of living, are you willing?

nAn imaginary scene of two dragons mating crept into Dadaneier’s mind and he immediately went pale, repeatedly shaking his head. “Of course not! I don’t want to!”

n“That’s right,” Du-Wei smiled and said. “You and I think being a human is the most comfortable, the same applies to Queen Medusa. Although she turned into a human, her preceding lifetime as a snake must naturally make her feel uncomfortable.”

nAlthough Gargamel didn’t say anything, his eyes emitted a sad appreciative feeling and couldn’t help but sigh deeply.

n“Gargamel, tell me, since you turned into a mouse, how did your body become so big? Your body volume couldn’t have been that different from a normal sized mouse.” Du-Wei said it with a smile and his tone was softer. In his heart, a sense of sympathy was growing towards this mouse with a human consciousness.

n“Yes, but it took me many years to acquire this look.” Gargamel sighed, “I certainly don’t want to be a mouse forever. Unfortunately, I drank the water while I was in the form of a mouse, losing the ability to turn back into a human. I experimented a lot, and finally I found out that the most I could do for myself was becoming a little larger. This size of my head is already at its limit and I could freely change to any smaller sized variations, but I’m unable to completely change my look. Queen Medusa originally wanted to learn transformation magic from me, but since she was frozen in her human form, she couldn’t learn it.”

n“So what this Kingdom, what happened?” Du-Wei smiled.

n“This… Gargamel thought for a while before giving a surprising response to Du-Wei, “This was my idea…. I was really bored anyways. Queen Medusa spared me and doesn’t control my actions because she understood that I can’t leave… If I escaped to the human world, me, a human shaped giant mouse would be burned as an evil creation and be treated as a monster. This world is so wide but I could only find shelter in this place. “ The tone of Gargamel was so sorrowful, “Even if she let me go, I would have nowhere to go, so I was extremely bored and decided to found a kingdom. Queen Medusa also thought this was interesting, so…”

n“But why… all the mice?” Du-Wei said it with a smile, “Since I entered this valley, what I’ve seen the most is mice! It can’t be because you’re also mouse, so you are turning this country into a mouse kingdom?

n“Gargamel rolled his eyes and sighed with exasperation, “Do you think I wanted to? Getting a bunch of magical beasts here? So many magical beasts… maybe one day when I’m not paying attention, I’ll be eaten! Queen Medusa cannot always protect me at every moment! My favorite transformation ability is gone so I’m not brave enough to live among a group of magical beasts with whatever power I have left. After much deliberation, I realized the best way was to not look for magical beasts, but to find ordinary animals! But this is the frozen forest! There are no ordinary animals, even going back a thousand years ago, magical beasts roamed this land! With this in mind, common animals without the ability to protect themselves would have gone extinct a long time ago. However, the mouse is different!”

nDu-Wei immediately nodded, “Yes! Even with the harsher environment of this world, any group of any age, of any species that I have heard of can go extinct, but I have never heard of the mice going extinct! So, in the forest, the only remaining ordinary animal is the very, very weak, but fertile mouse! Right?”

n“Yes, this practice was also approved by Medusa. Then I call together a group of mice and each mouse is fed a small drop of water from the fountain of youth. The spring helps the magical beasts evolve but it’s useless to humans… But the mice that drink a drop of the water would eventually evolve into a strong and intelligent being…. Just like that of a human…. Just that it’s a pity that after they evolve, they would lose their reproductive capabilities.”

nDu-Wei’s face went dark as he looked at Gargamel, “Fortunately so! Otherwise, you would be the greatest sinner of all of mankind!”

nGargamel paused in thought for a moment and couldn’t help but cringe.

nWhy is that?

nThey are mice! Although they’re small, weak, and dumb animals, they’re famous for their ability to survive and reproduce!

nImagine, if the mice can become about the same size as a human and almost to the same level of intelligence! Coupled with their horrifying reproductive capabilities… This way… the “Mouse Men” would jeopardize the survival of the human race!

nGargamel’s mouth hung open, “You’re right! I almost caused a terrible disaster!”

nDu-Wei patted Gargamel’s shoulder, but then retracted his hand in disgust and reluctantly smiled. “But your country is looking decent, I can imagine your days as Prime Minister was very good, right?”

n“Do you think I like being a prime minister?” Gargamel looked like he wanted to jump up, “Do you think spending more than a decade teaching a bunch of mice to talk, teaching them the rules, teaching them about civilization is very interesting? Moreover, in this damn country, I was simply bored and got a group of mice, then now I’m suddenly the mouse head! That Queen Medusa never cares about anything, she just sleeps all day, regardless of what goes on! Hundreds of mice in this valley, all of them eating and sleeping, I have to manage it all! Do you know how much time I spent potty training them?”

n“Wait,” Du-Wei just heard something important in his words. “You’re saying… that Queen Medusa is always sleeping?”

nGargamel immediately came to his senses, and whispered. “Yes, she’s been sleeping. Her palace was built on top of the fountain of youth, the spring is in her bedroom. She has been sleeping and only wakes up once every ten years.

nWill wake up once in ten years.

nDu-Wei and the three looked at each other… It seems that there is still a chance!

n