Chapter 304 - 116 "Night 1" (9600 words)_3
"Huh?"
Chen Yan was taken aback, but quickly caught on: "The thing in the temple before..."
"You guys, over twenty of you, went up the mountain and stayed in the temple. I’ve been watching you from the shadows. On the first night in the temple, I played a little trick to make one of your guys go mad, just to scare you off!
This mountain is about to host a secret realm trial, attracting all sorts of demons and monsters. I figured, your group of over twenty people are just ordinary folks. Once the whole mountain gets sealed by an array, anything could happen, and it’d be the end for you all!
So I did a good deed, concocted a little scare to drive you away."
Chen Yan’s eyes widened.
"But you’ve got some guts," the guy stared at Chen Yan, with a hint of reproach in his tone, "I made that big commotion, everyone else ran away, but you didn’t?
Living in that rundown temple in the middle of nowhere, like a damn haunted house, and you actually got addicted to it? Even enjoying yourself?
Come on, bro, what’s so fun up in these mountains? It’s spooky as hell in that temple with nobody around, yet you love staying there? Are you crazy?"
Chen Yan’s expression grew more peculiar, not only because of what this guy was saying but also because... of this guy’s accent!
This man started to complain: "And then it gets even crazier. This girl, why did you come back? Couldn’t you find a nice place to date? Had to come to this rundown temple in the middle of nowhere to have a romance?
I saw you two...
Oh gosh, late at night, you set up a table with drinks and food, having some drinks and barbecue.
What, you two moved in here?"
Chen Yan twitched his lips and cautiously asked, "Buddy... are you from the Three Eastern States?"
"Yeah!"
No wonder the accent was so familiar!
Chu Keqing asked, "The black panther that attacked me that night, was that you too..."
"Yeah, that was me!" the man looked at Chu Keqing, "Miss, I didn’t intend to harm you, just to scare you, otherwise you’d be dead by now. That panther was under my spell, don’t worry, I had it under control."
Chen Yan nodded, accepting this explanation.
Actually, thinking back, Chen Yan did have some doubts about Chu Keqing’s encounter that night.
That was a panther! The top predator among felines!
The reflexes of felines are incredibly fast, their movements extremely agile. Although Chu Keqing had the cultivation of the Guiyuan Realm, her technique was incomplete and lacked the body-enhancing effect of essence nourishing. In physical terms, she was just an ordinary woman—slightly stronger at best.
To escape unscathed from the claws of a top feline predator?
The room was so small, and it was a panther targeting an ordinary woman, and it took so long without getting her?
Even with some body-protecting magical artifacts blocking a few strikes, if it were a real hunting panther, Chu Keqing wouldn’t have been able to dodge! In such a small space, with that amount of time, it could’ve killed Chu Keqing three times over!
Chen Yan frowned and said, "You wanted to scare us away, but we did leave! So why are we still stuck and can’t get out of the mountain?"
"Isn’t it obvious? If you’d left in the middle of the night, you’d have gotten out. But no, you had to wait until daylight..."
Chen Yan was stunned—after the black panther attack, it was his decision to leave at dawn.
But... could he really be blamed?
They didn’t know what they were dealing with at the time. Who knew if it was some spirit monster or wild beast? Running around the mountain in the dead of night? Waiting until dawn seemed safer.
Thinking this, Chen Yan suddenly had an epiphany...
So that’s why!
When they entered the ghost village, met this guy on the road, then ended up in this small building, sitting across from him.
This guy had looked at him several times, even giving him that weird smile.
"Alright, I’ve said what I needed to say. Do you believe me now? Do we form an alliance?"
Chen Yan looked at Chu Keqing, who remained silent but her expression clearly said, "It’s your call."
"I believe your words and your story," Chen Yan said slowly, "but I’m not sure if I can trust you."
"So I have to give you more valuable information," the man said with a hint of disdain.
Chen Yan calmly said, "Who are you, why you came here under someone else’s identity... there are too many questions about you—if you were in my place, would you trust a stranger with a suspicious identity in such a dangerous place, suddenly coming up wanting to cooperate?"
Suddenly, Chen Yan had a thought and slowly said, "I don’t need to know who you are or your purpose here. As long as you can answer one question, I’ll trust you and form an alliance."
"What’s the question?"
"It’s simple! I trusting you is one thing, but why do you trust me, to seek me out for cooperation?" Chen Yan laughed, "Don’t tell me it’s just because we’re both from Dragon Country—nationality alone isn’t enough reason to trust me and choose to form an alliance with me.
You think this is the internet? Dragon Country people don’t cheat Dragon Country people?
I’ve heard and seen plenty of ’hometown folks’ stabbing each other in the back!"
The man thought for a moment, then nodded, "Fair enough. But honestly, being from Dragon Country is indeed one reason—I don’t trust those from Little Days at all! If it wasn’t for you, I would’ve gone solo this time, not seeking any alliance."