Something's Amiss

It's dark everywhere. The moon is covered by clouds, and the forest is quiet. The beasts have returned to their territories to sleep except for the ones hunting.

The camp has been set and the cultivators have already spread in formation around this camp. There was a fire burning right in the middle of this camp.

Many people are sitting around this fire and eating. Today, they cooked meat for their meal. Except for the scouting cultivators, the others would take turns to stand guard.

Yang Zhai was also allowed to sit with them. It seemed that these cultivators were really experts. Even though they were fighting during the day, they sat together to eat.

In this world, almost everyone needs hypocrisy to continue living: thought Yang Zhai.

Except for a few cultivators, the others were having conversations to not make the situation awkward.

"Sister Yue, here, there are three pieces of meat in your bowl. Be Careful, they are hot." Han Wen handed a bowl to Yue Qing.

"Uh,"

Yue Qing was looking straight without even moving her eyes as if staring in the dark. She silently listened to Han Wen before she extended her hand forward and Han Wen placed the bowl in her hand.

She grabbed the bowl and moved her hand a little before she touched the wooden spoon that was in the bowl. She moved the spoon a little before eating.

Yang Zhai was silent, observing and listening to everyone.

Is she by any chance…: Yang Zhai thought in his mind.

"Hey, Tzu Yu!" Elder Jin called out to Yang Zhai.

Yang Zhai looked at him.

"Why do you want to cross this region, is there a specific reason?" Elder Jin asked.

Everyone listened to him and fell silent as if curious.

Yang Zhai noticed the situation.

I need these people to cross this region, I must be careful with what I say: he considered and said,

"The reason would be Eroh Domain,"

"Oh," Elder Jin was surprised, and so were the others.

"Really!" Wu Zhu muttered.

"What a coincidence," Xiu Lan said with a smile.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, it's simply that we, too, are headed to the Eroh Domain, or more precisely, returning there," he replied with a faint smile.

Returning?: This came to Yang Zhai's mind.

"How about this? You can accompany us to the Eroh Domain now that you have already joined us. However, why are you even going there, is there a particular reason?" Elder Jin inquired curiously.

"I was just traveling, so I decided to visit Eroh Domain,"

"I see… Can I ask you something?"

Yang Zhai didn't answer, meaning no. However, Elder Jin didn't care and asked anyway,

"How did you manage to become a master of a Shadow Leopard at such a young age? Also, this Shadow Leopard is rank 4, which means that you are also at rank 4, right? If I am not wrong, you should be around fifteen years old, how did you advance so quickly?"

Yang Zhai looked at Elder Jin silently. This person was clever. On top of that, he was shameless too.

He was asking for too many secrets.

If I decide not to answer, he would take it as disrespect and bother me all the way. But if I do, I would be revealing my secrets that he would be able to use against me.

He understands that at the age of only fifteen, walking the Mastery Path is not ordinary, which means that I am hiding something. Achieving this through training requires a peaceful and safe environment that is only possible through inheritance or someone watching over me.

These were Yang Zhai's thoughts.

He couldn't hide these things from others.

Sigh… I can only hide what's important and what I can hide. There will be many of these instances in the future; I can't avoid all of those; I must deal with them if I want to move around in this world, Yang Zhai reflected with a sigh.

"Elder, I obtained an inheritance in the past. I came out after the inheritance was completely depleted. Now, I am traveling the world,"

Yang Zhai said and thought: even if it's a lie, they should know that the inheritance has depleted so that they won't bother me about the inheritance.

"Oh, an Inheritance, just as I thought. Anyway, what do you…" He was about to ask something again when he was disturbed by Yang Zhai.

"Elder, Eroh Continent, is it impressive?" He asked.

"Yes, it is. It's quite big…"

I must keep him from asking me any further questions. After the meal is finished, I will leave: Yang Zhai considered.

"Han Wen, can you give me some more?" Yue Qing handed the empty bowl to Han Wen and asked.

The night went by and the morning came. Everyone gathered around for departure.

At first, Yang Zhai wanted to leave after the meal last night, but he discovered that Hae Jin was quite talkative but clever.

Even though Yang Zhai couldn't get anything crucial out of him, he came to know about the recent activities of the Eroh Domain.

It's better to be prepared. Even though these pieces of information might seem useless, they come in handy when least expected. I am now prepared for what's happening in the Eroh Domain: he thought.

He came to know that a competition was being held in the Eroh Domain and many people from different places were coming to attend this competition.

However, there was something that even he didn't predict. The competitors were all from high-end places, with no common cultivators participating. Every competitor was a noble in their respective territories.

This event didn't take place in my previous life, or could it be that it was not written in the records that I studied? However, I made sure to confirm that everything I studied was accurate and even used different kas to check their accuracy. It might be the butterfly effect because of my reincarnation. No, it cannot go that far yet; there is something I am missing here; such an important event cannot be missed from being recorded in history: this came to his mind.

At least, I am prepared now for what's coming. I need to be extra careful in the Eroh Domain.

As for the rewards, Elder Jin avoided telling Yang Zhai about that for some reason.

!|!*****!*****!|!