Wo Shi Lu Yao

Chapter 2 The Unknown Fantasy World

At this moment, utterly exhausted, I paid no heed to where I was and collapsed onto the ground, falling into a deep sleep.

In my dream, a strong wind swept in, accompanied by waves of floral fragrance. In my daze, I saw a figure in red standing not far away, gazing at me with a faint glow. He raised his hand and wrote a line of text in mid-air. With a casual wave, the characters drifted towards me with the wind, gradually forming a white paper base. They fluttered and landed on my face, covering my eyes.

My body trembled, and I awoke with a start. Upon waking, I found a rectangular piece of paper covering my eyes. Angrily, I removed it and examined it closely. On the paper were written the words, "Tian Gu Year 3711."

Dismissively, I muttered, "Crazy," and crumpled it into a ball, tossing it off the bed.

It was then that I realized I was lying in bed, in my familiar dormitory, on my familiar bed. It turned out everything I had experienced was merely a nightmare.

I secretly rejoiced. However, the surroundings were eerily silent. Looking closely, every bed was empty, not a soul in sight. Suddenly, I remembered it was Friday, and the first class was Cultural Studies, taught by an old man with a rather stubborn temper. He dared to fail anyone who missed his class for the final exam.

I grew anxious, mentally chiding my roommates for their disloyalty in not waking me up.

So, I hurriedly got up and tidied myself, determined to reach the classroom before the bell rang.

As I pushed open the door, I noticed that everything around me seemed… off. Before my eyes lay a forest of deep emerald green, like an oil painting, with a babbling brook not far away. The tall buildings I remembered seemed to have long since been swallowed by the jungle.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing, thinking it was a hallucination. I turned back, intending to return to my bed and sleep more, only to discover that the building behind me had also vanished at some point. It all happened so fast, like a whirlwind. I could only pat my bewildered face and mutter to myself, "Am I still not awake? I'll just sleep more." So, I lay down on the grass, closed my eyes tightly, thinking that when I woke up, everything would return to normal.

A large bird flew overhead, emitting a sharp cry, "Gaa!"

In a daze, I heard a boy's confused voice near my ear, "Who are you? I don't think I've seen you before."

Hearing someone speak, I opened my eyes and looked around. All I saw was a plump, greyish-white wild cat standing beside me, its curious, round eyes gazing at me intently.

I thought I was hallucinating and promptly lay back down to sleep.

Suddenly, the wild cat leaped up and landed on my stomach. "Oof!" I cried out in pain and quickly sat up.

"Sleeping here? You'd best leave before sunset," I heard someone speak again. I looked around but saw no one. Could I be hearing things?

"Stop looking, it's me, the tanuki in front of you."

I turned my head and saw the short, fat wild cat before me, and couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Hahaha, where did this fat cat come from? It's quite cute, though."

He roared indignantly, "I'm not called Fat Cat! My name is A Li!"

Only then did I realize the fat cat could speak. My face contorted in astonishment. "You... you can talk!"

He looked at me with a condescending gaze, as if I had never seen the world before. He pursed his lips and said, "The yokai who live here can all talk."

Yokai? I recalled the elders saying that those who could speak were mostly deities, like the Great Immortal Huang or Immortal Jiao. My mind immediately conjured images of myself accumulating good deeds, moving heaven, and thus encountering an immortal, or perhaps this was a cat demon that had cultivated for a thousand years, to whom I could make a wish.

"Are you an immortal?" I asked, my heart filled with surprise and delight.

"No, I'm just a little tanuki."

"Then why can you talk?"

"I've always been able to talk."

"Can you use magic?"

"Magic?"

"Yes, the kind of ability that can turn flowers into grass or into food," I explained to him in detail.

"I don't have that skill, but I can transform into all sorts of yokai."

Transform into yokai? It seemed only immortals possessed such divine abilities. With this thought, I became even more convinced he was the immortal of my imagination.

So, I said, "That's amazing! Can you show me?"

"No problem. Mommy Mommy Hoom!"

After a puff of white smoke, he transformed into a little monkey carrying a basket, then into a dashing young man holding a folding fan, and then into a beautiful woman.

I was dazzled, clapping my hands repeatedly in admiration. "Wow, amazing, so amazing!"

With a "bang," he reverted to his original form, that short, fat, little tanuki.

"What's your name?" he suddenly asked me.

"I... I'm Liu Mu Ye."

"Liu Mu Ye, sounds like a boy's name. But these are just little tricks of mine. True great demons can control time and summon wind and rain."

Although he spoke logically, his spectacular performance had already convinced me without a doubt that he was an immortal. Indeed, immortals were always so humble.

So, I rubbed my hands together and, with bold confidence, knelt three times before him.

He looked at me, bewildered, not understanding why I had suddenly prostrated myself before him.

After the three kowtows, I boldly presented my small request. "Um, little immortal, can you grant me a wish?" I asked, blinking my eyes with utmost sincerity.

He looked completely lost. "A wish?"

"Yes." I then impatiently blurted out my wish. "My wish is to have three more wishes." After saying this, I felt exceptionally pleased with myself for choosing such a good wish, wondering what I would wish for after these three wishes.

Unexpectedly, he suddenly exploded in a roar, "Yaa!" He sprang up and delivered a spinning kick to my face. Though his strength wasn't great, he still sent my saliva flying and contorted my features. When I came to my senses, I looked at him with a wronged, disbelieving gaze, thinking, "Immortals hit people too?"

He stood up, hands on his hips, puffed up like a balloon filled with gas. Then, pointing at me with great indignation, he declared, "I'm just a little tanuki, not some immortal! And it's getting dark, the forest isn't safe. If you want to stay, you can stay. I'm leaving."

With that, he left me and ran off on his own. I looked around and found myself surrounded by dense forest. The woods were eerily silent, save for the occasional terrifying cry, like that of a crow.

A strange fear gripped me. I thought, being unfamiliar with this place, it would be safer to follow the immortal.

So, I shouted and chased after him, "Little immortal, wait for me, wait for me!"

After chasing him for a long time, I finally followed him to the foot of a mountain. As I approached, I saw a dark cave, hidden by overgrown weeds. I felt a little scared, but I followed him inside.

Gazing into the darkness, the cold wind that occasionally blew felt like the tongues of spirits, licking my calves, the backs of my hands, and my cheeks. I swallowed hard, hugged myself tightly, and stammered, "I... I'm afraid of the dark." Hearing this, he transformed into a streetlamp and hopped over to my side.

The pitch-black cave was instantly illuminated, and I felt much safer. Looking at the black charcoal residue on the ground, I figured he had been here for some time. He spat a ball of fire onto the ground before reverting to his original form.

I found a corner and sat down, unable to resist asking him, "Little immortal, why can't we stay in the forest after nightfall?"

He patiently explained to me, "Because in the forests within a hundred-mile radius, there live bird yokai called 'Ying.' They like to come out at night to forage. As soon as they hear anything alive moving in the jungle, they will treat it as prey. Also, my name is not Immortal, it's A Li!" He emphasized this point.

"Immortal, then why are you here?" I suddenly became curious about him.

Hearing me call him immortal again, he suddenly went berserk, leaping up and scratching my head. After a thorough beating, he reiterated, "My name is A Li! A Li! A Li!!!"

I laboriously picked myself up, my face swollen and my hair disheveled. I chuckled, nodded, and bowed, "A, A Li, I understand, A Li."

He sighed and began to recount his pitiable and tragic experience. "Alas, I was originally a little tanuki from the Tanuki clan on Mount Nan. It was only because I broke the bowl used for offerings to the Mountain God during a sacrificial ceremony that I was driven out of my clan and forced to wander."

I touched my swollen cheek and, listening to his story, felt a pang of sympathy.

"Then why are you here?" he asked me in return.

I also sighed and recounted my own pitiable and tragic experience. "Alas, you might not believe it, but I was originally an outstanding and model student. I only had one more month at school before I could go home for the holidays. Who knew that a classmate told me they always heard people greeting each other in the dead of night, which scared me so much I couldn't sleep for days. And what I feared came to pass. I don't know if it was a dream or if it really happened, but I only remember being chased by a ghost. As I was being chased, I woke up. After waking up, I saw you. Everything is too bizarre. Do you think I've been cursed?"

He looked somewhat speechless at my words but still asked curiously, "What is a student?"

"A student is a profession, mainly for learning knowledge."

He drew an analogy, "Is it like our candidates for sacrifice?"

I thought about it and decided it was probably similar. "Yes, that's right."

"You don't look like you're from the Four Cities. Could you be one of the legendary great demons?" He looked at me suspiciously. It was clear he hadn't understood what I said earlier.

I quickly waved my hands and explained, "No, no, I'm really just an ordinary university student. I remember I was sleeping in my bed just now, and when I woke up, I met you."

"Alright, alright, I believe you."

"What are these 'Four Cities' you speak of?" I asked, somewhat curious.

He explained, "The Four Cities are the four great cities in this world. Since you seem to know nothing, I'll reluctantly enlighten you. The Four Cities are divided into: the Northern Divine Capital, the Eastern Yue Town, the Western Purple Kingdom, and the Southern Sea City. Among them, the Northern Divine Capital is known as the head of the Four Cities due to its exceptional military strength and numerous masters. The Western Purple Kingdom is second, the Southern Sea City is third, and the Eastern Yue Town is fourth.

Although each of the Four Cities has its own territory and city lord, the Council of the Four Cities decided to designate the year of all regions, including the Four Cities, as Tian Gu Year One. By this calculation, it is now Tian Gu Year 3711.

Legend has it that the guardians of the Four City Lords are the divine races from ancient times. However, the divine races perished tens of thousands of years ago, so whether this is true or not is unknown.

Even so, there are places the Four Cities cannot govern, such as the Northwest Desert, the Northern Ice Plains, and the Southern Ocean. These are not places they can control.

However, they don't concern themselves with small yokai like us who live on the remote borders. So, we can consider ourselves to be fending for ourselves."

Although he explained it very carefully, I felt a hint of absurdity in his words. However, due to his violent fists, I didn't dare to voice it. I simply said, "I didn't expect this world to be so simple, not complicated at all."

He squinted at me with the look one gives a fool, thinking disdainfully: You look so dull-witted, clearly someone who gets bullied. Then he turned his head to sleep, impatiently saying, "If you're not sleepy, then sleep."

If not sleepy, then sleep? What a statement of the obvious. He must not have studied Chinese, or if he did, he didn't pass with a sixty.

I looked around. There was a patch of grass only where he was sleeping.

So, I shamelessly squeezed myself next to him. To my surprise, he didn't chase me away. I secretly smiled and snuggled up to him, falling into a deep sleep.

At night, a chaotic cacophony of bird calls suddenly erupted outside the cave, startling both A Li and me awake.

"Are the yokai coming?" I shivered in fear.

He shook his head, unconcerned.

Just then, I suddenly heard a voice like an old woman speaking from outside the cave, "Little girl, come out quickly, I have something good here."

This eerie scene reminded me of stories from "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," where ghosts impersonated humans to lure children out and then devour them.

"There's a ghost!" I exclaimed, pulling A Li out and quickly hiding behind him.

Seeing no movement from inside, the ghost outside called out again, "I can tell you're lost. Old woman, I know where you're from. If you come out, I can take you back."

I frowned, thinking, "Does this ghost really know where I'm from?" My heart gradually began to waver.

A Li stood up and spat a ball of fierce fire towards the outside. The flames shot out like a flamethrower, hitting a dark shadow. The shadow then transformed into a large bird, which let out a few screams before quickly flying away.

"Was that a Ying?" I asked.

He looked disdainfully at me, who was lying on the ground, and with great displeasure, he leaped up and onto my head. His short legs kicked my head furiously, and he yelled, "Coward! I'll beat you to death!"

I repeatedly begged for mercy, "Please, please, don't hit me anymore, little immortal. Have pity on me. I've been confused all day. I really don't know what's happening."

Hearing my words, he impatiently landed another punch, saying resentfully, "Pity is heaven's business. My job is to send you to heaven."

"No, please spare me. I'm truly pathetic."

He snorted and jumped off my head, looking exceedingly smug. Seeing my timid and fearful demeanor, he felt immensely proud and then laid down a rule for me: "Listen, from now on, you are my follower. When I am in danger, you must be the first to step forward, shield me from blows, cook for me, and serve me by washing my feet. If I am pleased, I will spare you."

I grumbled in dissatisfaction, "Isn't that a bodyguard and a mother combined?"

"What did you say!"

I immediately changed my tune and tried to appease him, "No, no, I said you are incredibly powerful, truly the best in the world, an unparalleled hero. It's my past life's fortune to be able to follow you. I will certainly do my best to fulfill whatever arrangements you make for me."

"It's good that you know."

He smiled arrogantly and patted the grass mat with his short, fat paws. "Come here, warm this spot up."

"Alright, coming, coming!"

I quickly got up and ran over with joy, warming the grass mat for him. He jumped onto my stomach with satisfaction, lay down leisurely, and patted my belly with his little paws, saying, "I'll sleep here tonight."

Although I found this immortal very strange, I had no other immortal to rely on at the moment, so I decided to make do for now.