Su Luo stood on Abu's shoulder, ignoring Shui Qingyue, and looked up at the giant king on the stairs.
"Are you the king of the giant tribe?"
Her clear and pleasant voice, like the wind blowing across the land, caused the giant king, who had been standing still, to stiffen his gaze and his expression become animated.
Apart from his unusual height, he looked much like a normal human.
He had long, curly brown hair, deep facial features, and a pair of amber eyes that held a profound, silent depth, lending his majesty a touch of melancholy and loneliness. The vertical pupil on his forehead was golden, as if it could see through all secrets.
"Ula!"
You are human, yet you speak the language of my giant tribe?
His majestic voice echoed throughout the front courtyard of the palace. Except for Abu, all other giants knelt on one knee.
Su Luo smiled slightly. Of course, she couldn't reveal the true reason. She could only say, "Giant King, my name is Su Luo. I don't know how it happened, but you can understand what I say, and I can understand you too. I'd like to ask, why were you all like stone statues before, and why have you suddenly awakened?"
She wanted to confirm the effect of the Golden Horn.
If anyone knew the truth of the matter, besides Emperor Lang Kui, it would definitely be the Giant King.
Not only Li Tianjue, but also the Great Emperor Hao Tian, Du Wei, and a group of surviving cultivators watching from not far away, all stared at Su Luo and the Giant King in shock. That rumbling sound, was it the Giant King conversing with Su Luo?
It was truly miraculous.
Shui Qingyue and Shangguan Hanyu were astonished.
Su Luo... how had she managed this? Not only did the giants not kill her, but the Giant King seemed to be communicating with her?
At this moment, the Giant King moved slightly. He casually raised his arm, descended the steps, and walked towards Su Luo. Such a slow movement almost sent Shui Qingyue tumbling from his shoulder.
The next moment, the Golden Horn in her hand was taken by the Giant King.
"No—that's mine!" Shui Qingyue shrieked, trying to snatch the Golden Horn back. The Giant King merely grunted, and a powerful gust of air blew out, like a fierce wind that sent Shui Qingyue flying far away.
The Golden Horn rapidly enlarged and returned to its original appearance in the Giant King's hand, gleaming with golden light.
The Giant King held the Golden Horn, not even glancing at Shui Qingyue. He walked up to Su Luo and slowly spoke with a tone full of exclamation and recollection, "It's a long story. This happened tens of thousands of years ago. Do you want to know, friend?"
A strong sense of pressure washed over Su Luo, but she felt no malice from the Giant King. Instead, he exuded a clear desire to confide.
If she could know the reason, she would naturally be overjoyed.
But before she could speak, Shui Qingyue, who had finally managed to get up, shrieked in exasperation, "Su Luo, what sorcery did you use? The Giant King was clearly awakened by me, and all the giants became my saintess's warriors! Why are they all so captivated by you as soon as you arrive? What kind of sorcery is this!"
She simply couldn't accept it.
After enjoying a moment of happiness, she had fallen into an abyss in an instant. Such a drastic drop in fortune nearly drove her mad.
Shui Qingyue wanted to know the reason, and Su Luo also wanted to know!
"Shui Qingyue, I don't have time to deal with your tantrums now. Wait aside." Su Luo finished speaking, then said to the Giant King earnestly, "If you have a story to tell, please tell me. I'm all ears."
Everyone's hearts stirred with curiosity.
They hadn't expected the Giant King to be so friendly to Su Luo, and the crisis had vanished in an instant.
"Ula—!"
The Giant King's majestic voice boomed.
Here is the King's Court of the Giants. We have lived here for thirty-eight thousand seven hundred and twenty-one years… but originally, we lived in the vast Dark Forest. That was our homeland.
Everyone knew that the Giant King was speaking to Su Luo, but no one could understand him except Su Luo.
Even the Great Emperor Hao Tian could only wait patiently.
"Ula!"
One day, our master, the great Emperor Lang Kui, told me that the giant tribe would face a major crisis. To protect us, he had to go and fight a powerful and terrifying enemy, and he needed to take us to a safe place first. He would bring us back after he killed that enemy.
"Xiva ya he!"
But this wait has lasted for a full thirty-eight thousand seven hundred years.
At first, I thought the Emperor would defeat the enemy quickly. However, I never expected that so much time would pass, and the Emperor would be completely out of contact. We went from confusion to panic, then to anger. Worried that something had happened to the Emperor, we decided to leave this place to search for him and kill that enemy.
"Uya, Hemasi…"
But I discovered that we could no longer leave this place. As soon as we approached the exit, we would petrify, but as soon as we moved away from the exit, we would recover. At first, we didn't know why and thought we had been cursed by the enemy. It wasn't until over a thousand years later that I suddenly realized that this was actually a protective seal placed on us by the Emperor.
Hearing this, Su Luo asked in surprise, "So petrification is actually a seal? But Giant King, how do you know it was Emperor Lang Kui who placed the protective seal on you?"
"Yuha, Ula!" A smile flickered in the Giant King's eyes.
Because it was a seal placed by the Emperor! We are the Emperor's loyal servants. We have been loyal and devoted for thousands of years. How could the Emperor harm us? He set up the seal to prevent that terrifying enemy from finding us, fearing that we would be exploited by him.
Uh... Su Luo didn't know what to say. Emperor Lang Kui was indeed cunning!
She felt pity for the Giant King's simplicity... no, it should be his trust in Emperor Lang Kui. Such a simple giant tribe was actually following a cunning and stingy master, trapped for tens of thousands of years for nothing.
She had already roughly understood that the Great Emperor Hao Tian was the enemy the Giant King spoke of.
Emperor Lang Kui didn't really encounter an enemy, but lost a bet and was unwilling to hand over the giant tribe to the Great Emperor Hao Tian, so he reneged and fabricated a massive lie, deceiving the giants and hiding them here.
For the giant tribe, their master would naturally not harm them.
But in reality, it was Emperor Lang Kui losing a bet and reneging.
"Ula, Siso."
We spent a full thirty-eight thousand seven hundred and twenty-one years here. I remember it clearly, but this time is too long, causing pain and helplessness. I would rather lead my tribesmen to fight for the Emperor and die on the battlefield than hide here and barely survive, only to eventually turn into dust alone.
A deep sadness crept into the Giant King's tone.
Time had passed for too long, so long that ordinary beings had died countless times, yet the giant tribe still lived on in loneliness.
They were forever confined to this royal city, unable to leave, like prisoners in a cage, unaware of the passing years or news, as if forgotten by the entire world. Living was no different from being dead.
Su Luo could understand the Giant King's pain. If possible, she also hoped that the giants could leave this place and return to their original homeland.
Looking at Su Luo, the Giant King's eyes held a hint of pleading. "Ula!"
Friend, we have been trapped here for too long and no longer know what the outside world is like now. Can you tell me?
Su Luo smiled and nodded, "Giant King, the outside world now is the autumn of the four thousand eight hundred and sixty-fifth year after the Xuán Huáng Continent's calendar. The continent now has six most powerful empires, namely..."
Crash!
Countless giants stared at Su Luo with shining eyes. They had been kneeling before, but now they were all sitting on the ground, like a group of curious children listening to Su Luo tell stories about the outside world.