Chapter 144: The Little Girl on the Waterfall

"Come on! Pick up the pace! We need to finish the outer wall as quickly as possible!" Jia Zhengjin joined the ranks of the builders, shouting encouragement to the kobold craftsmen as he worked.

The five hundred kobold craftsmen from the mining garrison, combined with the five hundred from within the city, totaled over a thousand. Some were tasked with hauling stone bricks while the rest worked with astonishing speed. The scene was truly spectacular.

With his domestic affairs settled, Jia Zhengjin felt much better. His top priority now was to get the outer wall finished.

Because the area the outer wall needed to enclose was vast, even with a thousand kobold craftsmen, it would take at least several days to complete. Every second counted for Jia Zhengjin.

Just as he was working with great enthusiasm, a flash of green light appeared before his eyes.

Jia Zhengjin paused his work and held out his left hand, letting the green light settle into his palm.

Forest sprites were a mysterious race that had rarely interacted with humans since entering the garden. They would even hide away when villagers brought their children for tours, revealing themselves only when Jia Zhengjin brought people around. Furthermore, they seldom left the garden to appear before humans.

That one had suddenly appeared before him today left Jia Zhengjin feeling very puzzled. He climbed down from the wall, walked to a secluded corner, and asked softly, "What happened?"

"Come quickly!" the forest sprite communicated via telepathy before spreading its wings and taking flight.

"Zhuoma, Woff, Karl, follow me! Buddy, you take command and have the craftsmen continue building!" Jia Zhengjin issued the order and hurried after the sprite.

Upon receiving the order, Buddy immediately led the town guards to take over the construction. Zhuoma, Woff, and Karl followed Jia Zhengjin without hesitation.

Following the forest sprite, the group arrived before a massive waterfall.

The waterfall was breathtaking, crashing down into an immense, deep pool with white spray flying everywhere. The current was so turbulent that even the strongest swimmer would likely drown if they fell in.

"What’s going on?" Jia Zhengjin saw a crowd of forest sprites gathered by the pool, and even a treant was pacing back and forth on the bank.

As soon as Jia Zhengjin arrived, the forest sprites swarmed around him and guided him to the edge of the pool.

Looking closely, he saw a massive, serpentine head lurking in the bottomless depths of the pool. The head was triangular with a sharp, crescent-shaped horn on top. Its body was about seven or eight meters in diameter, and its length was impossible to gauge as it remained submerged, but it was certainly massive.

The giant snake's eyes glowed with a golden light. Its skin was the color of withered leaves, and its exterior featured strange, segmented, armor-like scales.

"That snake looks fierce," Jia Zhengjin remarked after a quick assessment.

"Look there!" the forest sprite prompted through telepathy, urging him to look up.

Jia Zhengjin hurriedly looked up and discovered a large rock protruding from the center of the waterfall. Perched on that rock was a cute, doll-like little girl.

The current was violent, yet it was a miracle that the little girl could cling to the rock without being washed away.

The giant snake in the pool kept raising its head, trying to leap out of the water to devour the child, but the rock was too high, and every attempt failed.

It seemed the forest sprites were trying to save her, but the treant they had summoned couldn't enter the water. Whenever it extended its vines to pull the girl to safety, the giant snake would attack, thwarting the attempt.

The treant was powerful on land, but it was afraid of water—that seemed a bit exaggerated. Surely their weakness should be fire? Jia Zhengjin mused to himself. Perhaps the pool was simply too deep, and even a giant like the treant would be completely submerged. Given the presence of the giant snake, it was understandable.

But who was this little girl? She looked only two or three years old, wearing a strange little robe. Putting aside how she ended up in such a dangerous magical forest without being eaten, the fact that she could hold onto the rock amidst such a powerful waterfall was a miracle in itself. Even Jia Zhengjin wouldn't dare attempt such a thing, as he was certain he would fall.

The girl was clearly unusual; the fact that the forest sprites had asked him to save her made that obvious.

The forest sprites didn't have enough affinity for humans to do this. The only explanation was that this little girl wasn't human at all, but some species that the sprites felt an innate closeness to. Yet, she looked exactly like a human, with no features of elves, orcs, or any other known race.

Could she be the manifestation of some high-level magical beast? He had heard that top-tier magical beasts could take human form and walk among humans undetected.

But that didn't fit either. If she were a top-tier magical beast, how could she be trapped like this, bullied by a giant snake? Perhaps she was a newly born beast whose powers hadn't yet awakened? But he had never heard of a magical beast born with the ability to take human form.

Jia Zhengjin pondered as the sprites urged him to hurry. It was clear that to save the girl, he had to defeat or drive away the giant snake.

No one here could fight a giant snake in the water and win. Even Zhuoma would likely be killed instantly if she dove in.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit Jia Zhengjin. He turned and ran back to the mining area, retrieved the fake dragon stationed there, and rode it back to the pool.

"Roar!" Under his command, the fake dragon let out a thunderous roar at the giant snake in the water.

The snake was startled and quickly retracted its head into the depths.

Seizing the opportunity, Jia Zhengjin steered the fake dragon toward the rock in the waterfall to rescue the girl.

"Watch out!" came the warning from Zhuoma and the others. Jia Zhengjin quickly banked the fake dragon, narrowly dodging the giant snake’s massive, elongated body as it lunged past them, crashing back into the pool with a splash and vanishing from sight.

"Damn! You’re bold enough to attack a dragon, aren't you?" Jia Zhengjin’s heart pounded as he commanded the dragon to dive toward the rock again, hoping to snatch the girl before the snake could strike again.