Mimir's reminder was out of good intentions, but Lu Xiao believed that the giant should have started preparing for war long ago.
The giants' sages have more prophetic abilities than the gods of Asgard. Odin will make preparations in advance. The giants cannot just sit around and wait for the war to start.
At dusk, the villagers who went out for hunting returned one after another. In the cold weather, they did not gain much, and most of them looked sad when they returned to the village.
Seeing the giant demon pig carcass occupying the small village square, the expressions of all the hunters changed in a very unified way.
The corpse of the magic pig was put to reasonable use. On that day, Langam Village held a long-awaited village dinner, and Lu Xiao and others also received a warm invitation from the village chief.
When the villagers happily gathered around the fire and sang loudly the giant's unique ballads, the village chief of Langham found Skadi and handed her the rune stone that the sage had given him.
"This rune stone has been here for many years."
The village chief of Langham sighed and said: "I also took time to study it, but I never got any results."
"As agreed, I gave it to you. Perhaps only you can unlock its secret."
Although Lu Xiao wanted to calm down and study the rune stones immediately, today was a great day for Langham Village to be reborn. The enthusiastic villagers led Lu Xiao and his party into the crowd to sing and dance.
'Forget it, just relax today, it's time to set off again tomorrow.'
…
"Hmm...I don't understand. There doesn't seem to be anything special about this rune stone."
With the villagers of Langham Village bidding farewell in unison, Lu Xiao and his party embarked on a journey again. This time they had to cross the majestic Yalki Mountains and reach the fertile plain where the King's Court of Giants is located.
The village chief of Langham once visited the Giant King's Court, and before leaving, he told Lu Xiao and others about his experience.
"The Yarki Mountains are the last barrier to protect Ymirheim. The entire mountain range has been banned by the sages. You cannot fly across the mountains. You can only pass by on foot."
The extremely wide Yalk Mountains almost completely separate the north and south of Jotunheim, and it takes more time to go around than to go through the mountains.
With the mountain climbing route map provided by the village chief of Langem, Lu Xiao finally made the decision to go through the mountain.
By slowing down his progress, Lu Xiao could spare more free time to study the functions of rune stones.
However, no one, including Mimir and Skadi, knew how to activate this rune stone and what effect it would have.
There are countless permutations and combinations of runes, and testing them one by one is just a stupid method that has no solution at the end.
"Judging from the arrangement rules of the runes, it should not be triggering. As long as the runes are carved, they will automatically continue to take effect."
Mimir groaned in distress: "But even I can't tell what the specific effect is. It should be a new rune developed by the giant after it was isolated from the Nine Realms."
Lu Xiao turned to look at Skadi, who was maintaining the bowstring: "Queen of the Hunt, do you have any clues?"
Skadi spread his hands: "I have just been unsealed from the freeze. How could I possibly know about the new runes that were only developed in the past 100 years?"
"but……"
Skadi stretched out her white fingers and sketched the outline of one of the runes on the rune stone.
"This rune looks a bit familiar. I remember that it represents a great family, but it is somewhat specious compared to the family runes in my impression."
"Family..."
Lu Xiao touched his chin thoughtfully: "Could this rune stone be a pass, or a key to a secret door?"
Mimir: "This possibility cannot be ruled out. As for the specific situation, we have to wait until we arrive in Ymirheim and find the wise man who gave the rune stone to ask in person."
Lu Xiao nodded silently, but he had a bad feeling in his heart.
'Will it really go so well?'
…
The terrain of the Yarki Mountains is steep and difficult to climb, and the two sides of the mountain have completely different climates.
The frozen soil near the north is subject to wind and snow all year round. When Lu Xiao and others climbed the mountain road, they were wrapped in heavy snow and turned into a moving snowman.
Tamamo-mae was very unsuited to this severe cold climate. As early as when she entered the mountain, she transformed back into the form of a little fox, huddled in Nagama's arms and never came out again.
Fenrir adapted well, following Lu Xiao energetically along the way, chatting with Skadi in a whimpering voice from time to time.
Skadi has been exiled in the eternal ice for hundreds of years, and now she cannot understand the changes in the nine realms.
Before her death, although Odin had already begun to target the giants, at least he would not do it so blatantly.
At that time, the relationship between Vanaheim and Asgard was relatively harmonious, and Freya's sacrifice allowed the two protoss, who were fighting each other's wits, to achieve real peace.
But these peaceful years disappeared when the relationship between Odin and Freya broke down.
Although it is far less than the mutual hatred at the beginning of the war, the originally close relationship between the two sides is rapidly drifting away, and no one knows when it will develop into armed confrontation again.
Thanks to the peaceful coexistence of the nine world bosses, Midgard in Skadi's impression was also very prosperous. Siegfried, known as the great hero of Northern Europe, appeared during this period.
After listening to Mimir telling a lot of stories related to Odin, Skadi, who already had a grudge against the King of Gods, became even more disgusted with him.
"It's shameful that such a person is actually the God-King of Asgard."
Mimir said indifferently: "This is the reality. People who are too honest and righteous cannot become a good king. Their moral values will restrict their behavior."
"On the contrary, shameless people like Odin who walk between black and white can thrive. After all, they have no taboos and are thick-skinned. What they promised yesterday can be regarded as fart today. They only act for profit.
.”
With Mimir telling stories among the team to liven up the atmosphere, at least the irritating mountain climbing journey will not be too boring.
According to the route map drawn by the village chief of Langham, it took Lu Xiao and his party three days to climb to the relay point where the north and south of the Yalki Mountains meet.
As the mayor of Langham said, the scenery on both sides of the Yalki Mountains is completely different.
The north side where the cold wind blows is desolate, and there are almost no traces of the existence of villages.
On the south side, which is blocked by the mountains, there is a scene of spring flowers blooming, and many villages are dotted on the green plains.
Lu Xiao's clairvoyance could even see the peaceful smiles on the faces of the villagers, which was completely different from the atmosphere in Langam Village where living conditions were difficult.
The capital of the giants, Ymirheim, is located in the center of the plain. From this location, you can clearly see this enlarged giant city.
The giants living in the capital city all maintain the original form of giants, which means that the capital has sufficient food to satisfy the physical exertion of the residents.
There is a saying that it is easier to go up the mountain than to go down, but this sentence does not apply to Lu Xiao.
Standing on the edge of a cliff on one of the peaks of the Yarki Mountains, Lu Xiao waved goodbye to Yongzhen and Skadi.
"I'll go down first, you guys wait here."
Under Skadi's curious and surprised gaze, Lu Xiao opened her arms and jumped from the edge of the cliff.
"...Is this guy out of his mind? Didn't you hear the village chief say you can't fly in this mountain?"