Standing in front of Lan Jin with weapons pointed toward him are three men that couldn’t be any more different if they tried.

The one closest to Lan Jin is the one who had parted the bamboo forest to make a path for the two men behind him. Nearly a foot taller than Lan Jin, he stands at around six-foot-eight and has a bald head, narrow, sleepy eyes, and a relaxed and pleasant expression on his face, giving him the impression of a gentle giant. His skin is tanned, and he has the bulky build of a gorilla with forearms thicker than Lan Jin’s thighs and a heavy layer of fat padding out his shape. But, despite all of his bulk, he seems to move steadily and Lan Jin can hardly see a drop of sweat on his face despite the fact that he’s wearing thick leather armor and carrying what looks like a five-foot-long boning knife.

Directly behind him is a man shorter than Lan Jin by about an inch and Lan Jin’s first impression of him is that he looks shifty. He has mid-length, sweaty black hair trailing along the sides of his dark-skinned face and down the back of his head. His face seems pretty normal on its own and he might even manage to look roguish if not for the fact that he seems to squint at everything. In his hands is a spear that dwarfs him by half a foot and he is wearing a smaller set of leather armor similar in style to the giant in front of him.

The last man in the group is taller than Lan Jin by two inches and has a lighter complexion than the other two men. His hair is long and black, but it is tied up behind his head with a ribbon to keep it out of his face. His build is fairly unremarkable, but he moves around with the ease of a long-distance runner, and the sense of confidence and alertness he gives off just by standing there makes him seem more handsome than his features could account for alone. Similar to the other two, he is wearing a set of leather armor and carrying a weapon, but unlike the two men accompanying him, his weapon is a simple sword not too dissimilar from Lan Jin’s blade rather than something large and intimidating.

One thing that Lan Jin notices about all three of them is that they have Qi inside of their bodies. Though he cannot see it through their clothes, he can clearly sense that all three of them have much more Qi in their bodies than all of the pears he had eaten, and even the ones he hadn’t yet eaten, combined. If their armor and weapons hadn’t made him think that they were dangerous already, just their Qi alone would have decided that for him.

The four men stand in tense silence, their hands on their weapons as Lan Jin nervously meets the gazes of the three men standing no more than fifteen feet away from him. Part of him wants to turn tail and run, but not including the River of Fate which he doesn’t think should count, these were the first people he’d met since he arrived in this world three nights ago.

“So, uh,” Lan Jin starts, his voice rough due to his nerves, “you guys come here often or are you just tourists?”

“What?” The second guy asks, his voice accusing, and his already squinting eyes growing even closer. “What do you mean ‘tourists’?”

“Er…” Lan Jin doesn’t know what to say, and it takes all of his effort not to flinch when the giant in the front moves the hand not on his massive knife, but Lan Jin relaxes when it seems as though the big guy is just lifting his hand to rub his own head.

In the end, it’s the guy in the back that comes to Lan Jin’s rescue.

“I think that was a joke, right?” His voice is average, but to Lan Jin’s frayed nerves, it is as pleasant as a cool breeze on a hot, summer’s day.

“Yeah.” Lan Jin croaks. “You guys are the first people I’ve seen in a few days, and I’m really lost right now, so uh… Sorry for the dumb joke?”

The three men share gazes before the one in the back shrugs his shoulder and steps forward, his weapon pointing toward the ground.

“My name is Hu Qiuping. I am a cultivator from the Southern Border City and these two are my brothers.” Hu Qiuping waves his free hand at the two men with him and Lan Jin nods his head.

Lan Jin immediately replies with his own name and the best rendition of a smile that he can manage. What he does not expect, though, was for all three men to look at him like he is an alien.

“What’s with your name? How do you even make those sounds?” The second man asks, his voice harsh.

“What do you mean? It’s just three syllables.” Lan Jin says before repeating his name again.

“What three syllables?” The second man scoffs. “I can’t tell the difference between the first, second, and third syllables!”

Lan Jin scowls and barks at the man. “Then use your fucking ears! It’s really easy to say.” He then repeats his name again.

The second man scowls at him, but Lan Jin feels as though he’s just a grumpy person and not necessarily someone who will attack him for no reason, so he doesn’t worry about it too much.

The giant of a man is the next to speak, his voice slow and measured, with a certain warmth, grace, and attention that reminds Lan Jin of an elephant walking around its infant.

“I am sorry. I do not know how to say your name either. I do not even think I know the sounds that make up your name. My name is Hu Gongniu, and I do hope it is nice to meet you.”

The giant, Hu Gongniu, smiles at Lan Jin, his sleepy eyes and great height making Lan Jin feel as though he is a child being greeted by an old man.

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Nodding his head, Lan Jin says, “I hope it’s, uh, nice to meet you, too. And it’s no biggy about my name. Maybe it’s just harder to say than I thought.”

Hu Qiuping says, “I, also, do not think I can say your name. It’s difficult for me to remember the sounds that make it, let alone try to repeat them.”

Lan Jin feels a little upset that none of the three are able to say his name, but he figures he might have a hard time saying their names if not for his ability to understand languages granted by the Omega Browser, so he doesn’t let it bother him too much.

“Can I ask what you’re doing out here?” Hu Qiuping asks.

Lan Jin scoffs while thinking over his misfortune. “I’m just surviving at this point. Was about to cook some fish before I heard you guys moving around, but I’m so lost it’s not even funny. I’ve been stuck out here for the last couple days and I don’t even know where here is.”

Sighing, Lan Jin shrugs his shoulders before asking, “What about you guys? Why are you out here? And, uh, is there any chance you can point me in the direction of more people?”

Hu Qiuping’s eyes widen slightly in concern over Lan Jin’s explanation, but he doesn’t hide his reasons for being out in the wild.

“My brothers and I are searching for rare herbs and natural treasures to bring back to the Southern Border City to sell. As for pointing you toward other people…” Hu Qiuping starts to look concerned, but he doesn’t hide his thoughts from Lan Jin. “I find it a bit suspicious that you are out here alone. I can feel that you are a cultivator, but you should only be in the first level of the Qi Gathering stage, and even your weapon is only a low-grade human bronze saber. Even with my brothers, I wouldn’t have dared come out to the periphery of the Northern Earth Vein Mountains with such low cultivation and a weak weapon. So, before I explain anything, maybe you can tell us why you are out here?”

Lan Jin sighs again, not surprised that they’d be suspicious about him since he’d be suspicious about himself if their roles were reversed, but he really doesn’t know how to explain his circumstances. Especially not without revealing the Omega Browser, but if he did that he’s certain they wouldn’t believe him.

“I don’t even know, man. Three nights ago I was in bed relaxing. The next thing I knew, I was in a lot of pain and I got thrown onto the ground near a cliff. Since then, I’ve been wandering around lost. This saber? It isn’t even mine. Didn’t even know it was a saber. Thought it was like a machete or a sword or something. I tripped over it when I was walking through some grass yesterday and just decided to pick it up. I even learned how to cultivate just last night because I’d eaten a bunch of pears and got lucky by learning how to purify the Qi and turn it into a cloud.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Lan Jin feels defeated just explaining his last few days.

“So, yeah, if you could give me directions to, literally, anywhere, then I’d really appreciate it.”

Lan Jin can clearly tell that Hu Qiuping doesn’t believe him, but the strange thing is that he also seems to accept what Lan Jin told him.

“To be truthful, I don’t believe you. But, you don’t look like any kind of person I’ve ever seen before and I feel as though I’ve been exposed to all the different kinds of people within the Southern Earth Spine Kingdom so I also don’t know where you came from. Since I don’t think you’re a hidden expert who is trying to mislead me, and since you seem to know yourself that your story is unbelievable, then I will choose to believe that something happened to you and you arrived here involuntarily. So you can join us for now, but all I can promise is to take you to the Southern Border City. As for anything else, that is not up to me. Is that acceptable?”

Lan Jin quickly nods his head and excitedly says, “Yeah, absolutely! Honestly, dude, I don’t believe my story, either. And it happened to me! You can’t even begin to imagine how grateful I am that you’re lending me a hand!”

The second guy scoffs and then sneers at Lan Jin. “I don’t believe you for a second, and I don’t think we should trust you. But, I have faith in Brother Qiuping, so if he thinks we should help you, then we will.”

“Uh… Yeah, sure.” Lan Jin then asks, “What about you? What’s your name?”

The man sniffs, turning his head from Lan Jin and ignoring his question.

Hu Gongniu smiles at Lan Jin and says, “He is Shentian. He does not like strangers, but he cares very much about Brother Qiuping and me. Please do not take his behavior toward you personally, but he does not trust people without a good reason to.”

Hu Shentian snorts, his face turning red, and replies, “Who doesn’t trust? I trust plenty of people, but I only trust the right kinds of people! And this stranger isn’t the right kind of person!”

Then he turns his head away, avoiding looking at anyone, and begins pretending to look around.

After witnessing Hu Shentian’s little drama, Hu Qiuping asks Lan Jin, “Is there another name you go by? Maybe something easier to say? Later, when we arrive at the city gates, we will need to explain who you are and, if no one can say your name, it is unlikely anyone will look favorably upon you— even if you are, technically, a cultivator.”

“Oh…” Lan Jin nods his head and then, a grimace on his face, says, “You can call me Lan Jin, I guess. It has nothing to do with my name, but a couple girls I know call me that.”

Hu Qiuping narrows his eyes and asks, “Why does it seem like you don’t like the name? It should be a nickname referring to your eyes and hair, correct?”

Nodding again, Lan Jin says, “Yeah, I think so. But one of the girls wants to make me her pet and the other one wants to kill me. So I don’t have any good thoughts about the name, but it’s something that kinda fits me.”

“Pfft!” Hu Shentian snorts with his back turned, clearly still paying attention to the conversation but trying to hide that fact.

“Seriously?” Hu Qiuping asks, disbelief and confusion evident in his eyes.

“Yup.” Lan Jin sighs.

An awkward silence fills the air. Once again, Hu Qiuping doesn’t really believe Lan Jin, but judging by Lan Jin’s expression, he also doesn’t think that Lan Jin is lying to him. He even starts to pity Lan Jin a little bit.

“This… Ehem.” Hu Qiuping clears his throat. “Well, we are planning on heading back tomorrow. For now, do you mind if we rest here? It seems as though you’ve cleared quite a bit of space, and there’s plenty of water to drink, too.”

“Yeah, sure thing! Honestly, I was kinda worried that I’d be here long enough to actually need all of this space. And since you guys are helping me out, you’re more than welcome here. I’ve even got a tall stack of bamboo back by the foothill that you can use if you need it for anything, or if you need anything else, let me know and I’ll try to help you if I can.”

Lan Jin grins from ear to ear, feeling very relaxed and happy with how his day turned out so far. The three men in front of him make him a little nervous given how nervous they obviously are of him, but he can’t really help that fact so he chooses to go along with the situation for now.

He even still had a good amount of energy left in his purple star since Moxian started ghosting him for some reason. Though, he didn’t want to search for anything with the three men around as, even though they were basically his only hope for reaching civilization, he had as much reason to trust them as they had to trust him— which is to say he didn’t trust them at all. But needs must when the devil drives, and right now, he needed them.