The affairs of the Valkyrie tribe were not for Yan Wu, an outsider, to casually judge.
So the hardware store owner simply went into the house, took out the prepared mineral water and beverages, and poured them onto a plate on the ground.
After securing their mice, the Valkyrie people would drink from their own pocket-sized water flasks.
Yan Wu then sat cross-legged on the ground and chatted idly with those Valkyrie folk for a while.
It was from their conversation that Ma Lu learned how Yan Wu came to know these little people.
By that time, Yan Wu had been trapped on Earth for over 600 years, constantly unable to find a way out, teetering on the edge of mental breakdown.
His last hope was thinking that if he went to a higher place, maybe the signal would get a bit better.
And when talking about the highest place on Earth, of course, there's none other than Mount Everest.
So Yan Wu made his way to the 'roof of the world.' He didn't make much preparation; given the technology of Earth at that time, there were no oxygen tanks, cold weather gear, or even sturdy ropes.
Relying on his strong physique, Yan Wu started the climb with some dry food.
In the process, he also encountered a snow avalanche, got buried under the snow, and had to dog paddle for a long while to dig himself out, only to find his packed luggage lost.
Yan Wu had no choice but to hunt a snow leopard for food on the spot.
Because he had no guide, he got lost later on, but fortunately, he could still distinguish up from down. In any case, climbing continuously upwards would eventually take him to the summit.
However, Yan Wu's troubles had just begun. He later fell from a cliff more than thirty meters high due to a faulty rope, and there were times when not even a snow leopard was available to eat...
But he overcame all these difficulties and finally became the first person in the universe to reach the summit of Mount Everest, a full 1500 years before Edmund Hillary.
Even when he held the communicator high on the mountaintop, he still couldn't receive any signal.
At that moment, Yan Wu was utterly in despair.
For someone like him who was inherently passionate about adventure and loved new things, staying in one place for 600 years was really no different from killing him.
The newborn only inherited a small portion of the memories and didn't truly become the owner of those memories. The reason for this tradition was because the Valkyrie People always believed that the most precious thing for a person was their memory.
Through this method, they gifted their most precious treasures to their descendants.
For some reason, Xiuxiu considered their encounter with Yan Wu as their most precious memory and passed it down.
So when Yan Wu appeared, those Valkyrie People recognized him, and later the two sides became friends.
Yan Wu would return to Mount Everest from time to time to check on it while the Valkyrie People who had always lived there contemplated moving, which is another story.
On one hand, it was because the level of technological development in human society had advanced rapidly over the years, and some young Valkyrie People also wanted to enjoy the convenience brought about by these technologies, unwilling to live in the deep mountains like their ancestors.
On the other hand, the number of people climbing Mount Everest had been increasing, disrupting the Valkyrie People's peaceful life with increasing risk of discovery, making many of them distraught.
Both groups advocated for relocating, but their desired destinations differed; some, like Jigina, wanted to live in the city, while some elders suggested moving to less frequented human areas.
In the end, neither side could persuade the other, and the tribe agreed to first send out a team to explore city life.
Jigina volunteered, leading nearly a hundred people on a journey that took them from the Tibetan Plateau to City B across half a year... to visit their friend, Yan Wu.
Ma Lu wanted to hear more, but at this moment, Old Wang had finished preparing the first dish, Spider Egg Roast Sand Dory.
Ma Lu carried the plate out, and the Valkyrie warriors immediately became alert, set down their water bottles, and grabbed the weapons beside them, although Ma Lu didn't know what use their small bows and arrows could be.
Yan Wu reassured them, "Relax, Ma Lu is one of us."
Liliem seemed to think of something, her eyes lit up with excitement, "You must be the famous cosmic chef."
Ma Lu shook his head, "No, I'm not, Old Wang is, I'm his partner."
Jigina put away the weapon, looking puzzled, "Where are you from?"
"I... I'm from here," Ma Lu said, "even though I don't have a household registration."
"An Earthling?" At these words, Jigina's expression became wary again, he grabbed his weapon and looked up at Yan Wu, "Why do you have an Earthling here?"