Chapter 97: Chapter 97
Before long, they arrived right at the main gate. “Are you sure, brother Long?” Eru once again asked. The young scholarly youth’s lips slightly curved up, “Thank you for worrying about me, brother Eru, but I’m going to be fine. I may not look like it, but I’m quite strong.” Eru was sceptical about that, ‘Didn’t you get your ass beat before?’ he thought in his head. Then, Ling arrived at Tailwind City’s main gate together with Lan Di.
“You’re quite early”, Ling remarked before she looked at the young scholarly youth, “Who is he?” she asked. Just as the young scholarly youth was about to introduce himself, the grey-haired, middle-aged man behind Ling suddenly trembled all over. He dropped all of his belongings and, after that, immediately kneeled in front of the young scholarly youth. “Oh, my saviour. Thank you for saving me from that monster”, the grey-haired, middle-aged man, Lan Di, bowed his head to almost touching the ground.
Eru and Ling looked at Lan Di and the young scholarly youth in puzzlement. The young scholarly youth scratched his chin, “Uh, who are you, mister?” he asked, confused. Lan Di raised his head, looking at the young scholarly youth with gratitude, “You might not remember me, but I will eternally remember you.” The young scholarly youth noticed that the people began staring at him, “Please get up, mister, you’re causing a scene.” Lan Di then realized that people were staring at them, “I’m sorry, saviour. Emotion must’ve caught up to me”, he said while getting up.
Eru and Ling were still confused about what had just transpired. Then, seeing the awkwardness of the situation, Eru opened his mouth, “Uh, are you guys ready to leave?” he asked. “Oh, yes, yes. I’m ready to depart”, Lan Di said, flustered. The young scholarly youth cupped his hands secretly towards Eru, which Ling noticed. Ling stared at the young scholarly youth with interest, “Before that, you’re going to introduce yourself, right? And can you please tell me why are you here?” she asked.
The young scholarly youth smiled at Ling’s question. He cupped his hands again, “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Long, and I’m here to join my friend, brother Eru, on his short journey.” Eru was surprised, ‘I did not know that this rambler could exclude such charisma.” Ling’s ears perked up, “Joined? Is this true, Eru?” she asked. Eru shrugged his shoulders, “Don’t look at me. I told him that it would be dangerous, but he insisted.” Long, the young scholarly youth, chuckled, “You don’t need to worry about me. I know how to handle myself.”
The grey-haired, middle-aged man beside him nodded vigorously, agreeing with the young scholarly youth. Ling sighed, “Fine, but I don’t trust you. However, if Eru said that you can come, you can come. Just take care of yourself”, she emphasized. “Right, I understand” Long nodded in understanding, “Shall we depart, brother Eru?”
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The trip towards Lan Di’s village was nothing but calm. No bandits, no sudden monsters attack. Just beautiful scenery of mountains, hills, plains and forests. The trip from Tailwind City to Lan Di’s humble village took about half a day. When Eru and his group arrived, the sky was already dark. “Whew, good thing we arrived just as the sun was setting”, Lan Di wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Hmm? Why is that?” Eru asked. “Monster. Over here, monsters come at night. I don’t know how it works outside, but here, most monsters do not dare to come out if it’s daytime. Nighttime, however, is an entirely different story”, the young scholarly youth explained.
“Hmm, interesting. What do you think, Ling?” Eru turned towards Ling for her opinion. “It’s different”, Ling casually said, “The type of monsters inside the Gale Territory is different than the outside world. Over here, most of the monsters are the feline or canine variant. I don’t know why, but I think it’s because of the environment here.” Eru thought for a moment; he remembered about the animals from his previous life, tigers, wolves, and panthers usually live in mountains and forests, before nodding, “Makes sense. Most wild felines and canines usually lived on mountains and hills. They are nocturnal after all.”
As Eru and his group were chatting, they arrived right at the front of Lan Di’s village. Lan Di’s village looked like your typical old Chinese village in the movies. However, the difference between them was the fact that Lan Di’s village was surrounded by fences made of spikes, and right at the entrance of the village, precisely above the village’s gate, stood two guards wielding a crossbow. “Halt! State your name and purpose!” shouted one of the guards. “Easy, guys. It’s me”, Lan Di walked out from the darkness with his hands up. “Mr Lan Di?” the guards let down his crossbow.
Lan Di’s village was not that big, and because of that, most people knew each other. Even though sometimes the governor sent soldiers here, they would quickly learn who was who after staying inside the village for a couple of days. The two guards before Lan Di was no exception. “I take it those three are the adventurers you hired?” asked one of the guards. “Yup”, Lan Di yelled, “So, let us in!” One of the guards gestured down, “Let them in”, he shouted. After the guard said that, the village gate was opened inwards.
“Welcome to my village”, Lan Di turned around; he gestured to Eru and the others with a proud smile on his face. Eru and the others were welcomed warmly by the villagers there. However, Long, the young scholarly youth, was treated like a deity. The reason? It’s because Lan Di told the villagers that Long was the one that saved him and drove the monster away. Long awkwardly smiled as the villagers dragged him around to either show them to their daughters or to drink together.
Eru and Ling sat next to each other while they watched Long enjoy himself with the villagers. “Your friend seemed to enjoy himself”, Ling said while drinking the jug of alcohol on her hand. “Calling him a friend is some sort of exaggeration. He’s just an acquaintance”, Eru replied while also drinking his own jug of alcohol. “Really? He doesn’t seem to think that you’re just an acquaintance, though”, Ling said. Eru grumbled, then took a sip of the alcohol, “Tch, that’s just him.”
The night passed by quickly, and Eru woke up the next day feeling hungover. “Urgh, what happened last night?” Eru said as he held his head. Then, when he looked beside him, Eru found Ling, naked and sleeping. “What the hell!?” Eru shouted. After that, Eru also found that he, himself was naked too. Ling rubbed her eyes, “Who the hell shouted early in the morning?” she asked groggily. Then, Ling finally saw Eru’s reaction, and she smirked, “Why, hello darling. Last night was amazing”, she winked.
Eru’s jaw dropped, and he slumped down to the floor, “Oh, no. What have you done, Ling!?” Eru hysterically yelled. Ling plugged her own ears with her fingers, “Why so loud, though? Aren’t you glad that you spent your night with a beautiful bombshell like me?” Ling teased Eru further, making the latter closed to his breaking point. Eru was fuming, adding fuel to the fire; he did not remember what happened last night. Then, Eru sighed in exasperation. He quietly put on his clothes before leaving the room altogether.
Ling watched Eru’s reaction in amusement. She bit her lower lips, “Did I go too far?” she chuckled before going back to sleep. A few hours had passed, and Eru, Ling, Long and Lan Di gathered inside of the village chief’s house. Long looked concernedly at Eru’s gloomy expression, “Did something happen, brother Eru?” he asked. Eru glared at Long with bloodshot eyes, “Shut up! I don’t want to talk about it”, he replied. Ling chuckled at this, inviting Eru’s bloodshot glared.
The Village Chief coughed, attempting to ease the awkward atmosphere, “Last night was a little bit hectic, but today, let me formally welcome you to our village.” Eru, Ling and Long’s eyes become serious all of a sudden as they cupped their hands to show the Village Chief respect. Before meeting the Village Chief, Ling met Eru and discussed about the custom of Gale Territory. Eru was reluctant to see Ling, but he’s an adventurer, so he needed to be professional.
Ling told Eru that respecting one’s elders, especially the leader of a community, was a pretty sensitive thing around here. So, Ling taught Eru what he needed to do for Eru to avoid any unwanted situations. The Village Chief nodded, looking at the three people before them, “Right, now it’s time to discuss our request. I believe Lan Di already told you the gist of the situation.” Ling stepped forward, “Yes, Village Chief. Mr Lan Di already told us the general situation.”
The Village Chief then cupped his hands together with Lan Di, “First, I wanted to thank you all for accepting our request.” Then, the Village Chief took out a map from a bag beside him, “Now, let us continue our discussion”, he said as he spread the map on the table before him.
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