CHAPTER 84: CHAPTER 76: THE WISE OLD MAN POSES A QUESTION_1

Unnoticed, many Beastmen had encircled the area, including Tiger Beastmen and Eagle Beastmen who had specifically come to enjoy the spectacle.

Bai Hong and Bai Feng stood to one side, while Ming Yan, Hu Qiao, and others stood on another.

The space in the middle was left for Si Yan and the wise elder of the monkey village.

It somewhat felt like a martial arts contest atop Mount Hua.

As Si Yan wondered what kind of question the wise elder would ask, she saw him draw a right-angled triangle on the ground. Several question marks seemed to appear above Si Yan’s head.

The wise elder sat down, his demeanor transforming into one of great stability and maturity. He pointed to the triangle and said, "Teacher Si Yan, this side has three bamboo poles of the same length, and this side has four. How many bamboo poles of the same length would be on this side?"

With just a glance, Si Yan answered without hesitation, "Five."

The 3-4-5 rule for right-angled triangles. Simple.

However, as soon as she responded so casually, the wise elder’s eyes widened in shock. The people from White Eagle City and Black Tiger City lowered their heads and murmured among themselves.

"Is it really five?"

"I’ll go chop some bamboo and try it out right now."

Beastmen from Black Tiger City and White Eagle City, including the later arrivals from the monkey village, divided into three groups and hurried to test it. Unsurprisingly, it was indeed five bamboo poles of equal length that formed the third side.

Everyone looked at Si Yan with a changed expression.

"She must have guessed."

"It definitely must have been a guess."

"Right, how is that possible? How did she calculate it?"

The wise old elder dusted off his rear and slowly stood up. He picked up a twig and drew a circle on the ground, marking a point right in its center. "Teacher Si Yan, if we assume the distance from this center point to any point on the circle’s edge is the same—the length of one twig—then how many twig-lengths make up the circumference of this circle?"

Si Yan blinked.

Isn’t this simple? It’s just finding the circumference. 2πR. If π is approximately 3.14, and the radius (R) is one twig length, the answer is 6.28 twig lengths. But this world doesn’t have decimal points... I can’t explain decimal points...

The monkey village Beastmen started to jeer, "Can’t you do it?"

Then the Eagle Beastmen also began to taunt, "Looks like the previous answer was just a fluke."

The people from Black Tiger City didn’t dare utter a word under Ming Yan’s oppressive presence.

Si Yan thought for a moment and responded, "It’s not that I can’t do it; it’s just difficult to explain."

The wise elder held out his hand, serious and attentive. "Try explaining."

Si Yan nodded. "It’s six twigs, plus a quarter of a twig, and then a tiny bit more."

The crowd fell silent. Then they all started chattering again.

"She just says so, but it’s not easy to prove."

"Right, right! Even rolling a twig along it would have errors."

Si Yan turned her head to look around. "It can be proven. Quite easily, in fact."

The wise elder smiled. "Let’s hear it then, Teacher Si Yan."

Si Yan smiled. "Who can give me a soft vine?"

The Beastmen were swift with these tasks, and soon a vine as soft as a silk thread was handed to Si Yan. Twisting the vine, Si Yan approached the circle drawn by the wise elder. The wise elder’s drawing wasn’t accurate enough, so Si Yan fixed a small twig at the center. Using the vine, she measured the length of the twig to use as the radius and then drew a very precise circle around the center point. Such a perfect circle widened everyone’s eyes. It appeared that this diminutive Teacher Si Yan truly had skill.

Si Yan took the measuring twig and gestured as she explained, "This is a circle. Every point on this circle is one twig’s length from the center point."

Everyone nodded, watching her next move.

Si Yan carefully placed the vine along the circumference, marking the starting and ending points. Everyone still stared fixedly at her.

WHOOSH. She pulled the vine straight, turning it back into a line.

The wise elder’s eyes lit up. "It’s gone from a circle to a straight line!"

Si Yan measured the vine with the twig. "One, two, three..." Unconsciously, the crowd started counting along with Si Yan.

"Four, five, six... My god, it’s really six!"

"Don’t forget, there’s still a quarter of the twig left to measure."

Si Yan immediately broke the twig in her hand in half, and then broke one of those halves in half again, creating a quarter piece. She measured the remaining length of the vine with this quarter-twig.

It was a perfect match! The tiny remaining bit, perhaps 0.03 of a twig length, was almost negligible.

"My god!!! It matches exactly!!!"

"Heavens! She did it!!!"

"This was a problem posed by the wise elder!!"

The wise elder’s eyes were filled with admiration. He stood up and bowed respectfully. "Teacher Si Yan is truly wise. I am convinced."

A wise person? Si Yan didn’t claim credit for that. She couldn’t help but yawn, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "Sorry, I didn’t sleep well last night," she smiled awkwardly.

She had dreamed of that great purple serpent, the Demon King, for three consecutive nights. She truly hadn’t slept well.

The wise elder looked deeply at Si Yan and continued, "After the Day of Scorching Heat ends, would Teacher Si Yan be interested in a trip to Myriad Beasts City? Only there can your talents be fully utilized."

Si Yan laughed it off. "We’ll talk about that another time."

The wise elder stroked his beard and smiled. "Please keep this in mind, Teacher Si Yan. I will go ahead to Myriad Beasts City and await your arrival there."

Si Yan gave the wise elder a curious extra glance. Unnoticed, Ming Yan had come to her side. He asked in a low voice, "You didn’t rest well last night?"

Lost in thought, Si Yan belatedly nodded.

Ming Yan suggested, "Do you want to go back to sleep?"

Hu Que, unable to bear Ming Yan showing such partiality to Si Yan, stepped forward and said solemnly to Ming Yan, "My lord, we are about to depart for Dark Sun Lake. There’s no time for Teacher Si Yan to sleep now."

Ming Yan’s icy gaze swept over Hu Que, but Hu Que stood his ground.

Si Yan said, "Are we leaving now? Indeed, we should be on our way." The weather was getting hotter, and they couldn’t stay in White Eagle City for too long.

Just then, Bai Feng gracefully landed beside them. Si Yan’s three vigilant cubs immediately bristled, their scales flaring. Their eyes, full of dislike and vigilance, fixed on this ill-intentioned great eagle.

"Bai Feng," Si Yan nodded in greeting.

"Si Yan." Bai Feng’s fan-like, beautiful white eyelashes fluttered as he offered a gentle smile. "Are you about to head to Dark Sun Lake now?"

Si Yan nodded slightly.

Bai Feng sighed softly. "Does that mean I won’t see you for a while?"

Si Yan smiled awkwardly, unsure how to respond.

Nearby, Ming Yan was visibly displeased. "Elder Bai Feng, Si Yan is our tribe’s teacher. Her destination is none of your concern."

Bai Feng smiled and continued, "City Lord Ming Yan, are you aware that Dark Sun Lake has been occupied by a certain power?"

Ming Yan frowned. "What power?"

"The Delusional Domain."

"The Delusional Domain? How can that be?... Could it be..." Ming Yan was shocked.

Bai Feng smiled. "That’s right. The Lord of the Delusional Domain, She Wang. He has awakened."

Ming Yan’s expression turned visibly grave.

Upon hearing this, Si Yan’s brow twitched sharply.

She Wang, the Great Demon King?