Chapter 22: Wan Yi
“Who are you? How did you manage to get here? Were you following me? A human like you should not be here, it's dangerous for you people.”
Before Yao Jun managed to open his mouth, the girl spoke first, firing a small barrage of questions and a warning at him. Yao Jun was slightly at a loss facing her barrage of questions. He knew that Humans and Demons didn't have a good relationship, so he had already prepared to deceive her when he first saw her appearance, but now it seemed like he had already been seen through at first glance.
“Before I answer anything, would you mind if I take a seat? I have been traveling all day.”
Yao Jun gave a small smile as he spoke, already walking forward and sitting down by the campfire, face to face with the girl.
“You can sit there, but you can't come any closer!”
The girl slightly faltered when she saw him just sit down without even waiting for her to answer, so she waved the sword in her hand around and spoke in a slightly wary voice. She could not sense any ill intent from the boy in front of her, but Humans and Demons have been at war for countless years, so it was best to be cautious.
“To answer your questions in order. I am Yao Jun, I ended up here by accident, and no, I was not following you. I simply saw the light from your campfire and figured I would ask for directions.”
Yao Jun took some meat and a branch out from his interspatial ring, quickly creating a makeshift grill skewer that he placed into the campfire. He had yet to eat anything since he started chasing the Shade Monkey that ended up leading him into the Spatial Node, so he was getting hungry.
“How could you possibly end up here by accident?”
The girl spoke with an exasperated sigh when she saw him casually take out some meat and start grilling it, did he not know how dangerous this plain's was to humans?
“I was sucked into a natural Spatial Node and ended up in the valley between those two mountains.”
Yao Jun took out some more meat and tossed it to Little Gray as he pointed towards the mountains in the distance. As long as Little Gray and Little Thunder were inside the Garden of Eden, they would not need to eat, but if he wanted to keep them outside the Garden of Eden, they would have to eat like normal.
“You came from ZhiZhu Shen valley? And you made it all the way here?”
The girl's eyes widened like saucers at his words, before she quickly looked him all over, inspecting every corner of his body.
“Are you sure you're human?”
After a short while she couldn't help but ask him, her elders had long since told her about their holy land and how it was impossible for humans to set foot there.
“I guess I can't really be called completely human.”
Yao Jun found her question rather strange, but once he remembered her earlier warning, it did not take too much thought to realize that this entire area was probably a place that did not allow humans to enter, or at least leave alive. Thinking about it like this, Yao Jun had no choice but to say that he was most likely not completely human.
His parents had already told him about how his body had been infected with Demon Race energy while he was still in the womb, so from the perspective of humans, he was most likely not considered completely human.
“Not completely human..... I see, that would explain it.”
The girl rubbed her chin for a little while as she mulled over his words and studied him, before giving a short nod as she seemed to accept his words. He did indeed have the aura of a human, but there were also traces of Demon Race energy on him, they were simply so hidden that she had not noticed them before.
“Now then, I have answered your questions, so it is only fair that you answer mine. Which continent is this? Where is the closest city? And what sort of place is this?”
Yao Jun grabbed the grilled skewer and broke it into two pieces, throwing one of the pieces to the girl, before quickly starting to eat his own piece.
“This continent is called the Guanyu continent, the closest human city is about a weeks march towards the east, and this entire plain is called the ZhiZhu Plains. It is considered a holy place for us Demon Race, but a forbidden ground by the Humans. No human that sets foot into the ZhiZhu Plains gets to walk out alive. The only reason you are still alive is because you can't be considered Human.”
The girl nibbled the meat as she spoke. She had brought food with her on the journey, but it was mostly dried meat and some vegetables, so some actual meat was a nice change of pace.
“Guanyu continent? ZhiZhu Plains? Seems like I have no choice but to head towards the cities.”
Yao Jun sighed and shook his head when he heard her words. He had never even heard of these places before, it seemed like that Spatial Node sent him very far away.
“Are you looking for anything special? I might know a few things.”
The girl didn't feel any hostile intentions from him, he even seemed like a rather good guy, sharing his food with her and all, so she didn't mind giving him a little help. Her elders had warned her never to associate with humans, but he wasn't quite human, so it should be fine.
“Ah, have you ever heard of a place called the Grand Quan Continent? If not, just directing me to a place that sells maps would do. I don't believe I have gotten your name yet either.”
If the girl had heard about the Grand Quan Continent that he came from, then he would at least know where to start this journey. If she didn't, he would have to first try to find information about the Grand Quan Continent.
“Grand Quan Continent? It doesn't seem like you come from any of the surrounding continents, at that point, your best shot would be to head to the Xian Province and head to the capital there, Great Xian city, they might have the information you need. My name is Wan Yi”
Wan Yi had never even heard of the Grand Quan Continent, so she felt slightly silly that she had even bragged that she might know a few things. She did indeed know a lot about the Guanyu Continent, but it was also limited to the Guanyu Continent.
“Xian Province capital huh? Alright, thanks, Wan Yi.”
Yao Jun gave a short nod at her words before quickly finishing the meat on his skewer and climbing onto Little Gray's back, preparing to head off immediately.
“You're leaving already?”
Wan Yi was slightly shocked that he would leave immediately, night had just started falling, most people would at least rest for the night before leaving. Yao Jun came from a completely different continent, so she had also hoped that he would share some stories from that continent with her.
“I need that information as soon as possible, there are still things I need to accomplish back home.”
Yao Jun could only shrug his shoulders, he had promised his parents that he would let them return to the main Yao branch with their heads held high, there was no way he could fulfill that promise if he was stuck here.
“I see, luck be with you then. If you encounter some trouble, you can come to my Deng Province and find me in Xieren City, I might be able to help.”
Seeing how determined he was, Wan Yi decided that there was no point in trying to convince him, so she only wished him luck. She had a good impression of him, so she didn't see any harm in telling him where he could find her. If he ever did end up coming to her for help, she could even use it as an excuse to get him to tell her stories of the Grand Quan Continent.
“Hah, don't speak too soon, I have a habit of getting into trouble, so you never know when I'll bring a massive headache to your doorsteps.”
Yao Jun didn't stand on ceremony, he was in a completely unfamiliar land, so having connections with someone that seemed knowledgeable would be an immense help. He only mentioned that he had a habit of getting into trouble as a joke, but once he mentioned it, he realized that he indeed had that habit. The moment he absorbed the Lightning Tiger and activated his Garden of Eden, his bad luck seemed to pile on.
“Just make sure you tell me some interesting stories about the Grand Quan Continent as repayment for the headache.”
Wan Yi spoke the words just as Yao Jun had started flying towards the east, so the only response she got was him waving his hand at her.