Chapter 289: Cutscene: Secrets of the Deep and Otherworlds

Did she manage to detect him trying to read her thoughts? He didn't think so, but it was a bad idea nonetheless. "Haha… please don't." Han Jing scratched the back of his head and weakly grinned. 

"Not in front of the food at least," Faeran said as the waiter approached them and finally served them their dinner. "Thank you for the meal, here's your tip."

The waiter looked oddly at the gold coin in his hand and said, "Is this some sort of trap? Fake gold? We don't accept toys here." The man returned the coin to him and then quickly departed from their table to serve other guests.

Faeran blinked and then pouted. He turned to Han Jing and said, "All of you Humans are starting to become wiser now. I better start thinking of fresh ways to toy with your race—it isn't as fun as in the good old days."

"And this is why we just wait for them to come to us." Jilanya continued sipping her wine. In front of her was a plate of baked brie with figs and walnuts. The Succubus tossed a nut into her mouth and chewed. "Desperate people are the easiest ones to ensnare, or you can just visit their dreams and taunt them. I used to do that about a couple centuries ago when I was still climbing up the ranks."

Odele looked at the lobster and ripped apart its claw and began to eat with her hands. She sucked out the meat and juices, before adding in her own thoughts. "For my folks, just singing is enough to close this matter."

Even if all of them were gathered here and eating together, it didn't really mean that they were friends—far from it. The Wood Elf's nonchalant answer earlier spoke of how he didn't mind if Han Jing got attacked by Jilanya now, and Odele would probably just watch from a safe distance or something like it.

Well, it should have been obvious from the start.

Han Jing looked at the dish of sour plum duck and cut out some portions for himself. He only needed a few bites rather than gorging on too much food—he couldn't help but wonder how his family were doing. What were they having for dinner? His father was probably home already, so it wasn't something he should worry about.

"Han." Faeran snapped his fingers.

"What is it?" Han Jing looked up from a mouthful of duck and swallowed it.

"The gadget from earlier—I enjoyed it. It functions almost similarly to the enchanted mirrors available across the worlds, but your people do have such interesting shows."

He raised a brow. "You guys don't have news, animation and stuff like movies?"

"We do have news, multiple sources actually—but, ah, I suppose we never have thought of distracting ourselves with the lives of other people." Faeran shrugged a bit sheepishly. "Most of the Elven are focused on taking care of our world rather than to have time sitting in leisure. I am not sure if I can say the same thing for Jilanya."

The Demon Lord quirked a brow. "We watch the lives of these men for our own gain—of course we're adept in the pleasures of people like him. Many people have sold their Souls for a chance for stardom, and some lower demons had to learn the ins and outs of the industry to get them on board."

"And I enjoy keeping up as well with your people," Odele said. "Well, from afar. But I have sometimes sneaked and listened on to people in their fancy yachts and cruise ships—you get to meet all types of people. Someone once threw their trash into the ocean though, and they were pretty lucky that we were far from Bermuda that time or else we would have gotten another Titanic."

Han Jing pursed his lips. "So what exactly is there?"

Odele's eyes widened, and she blushed. She put down the finished lobster claw and snapped the other one and began to munch on it. "We're supposed to not really say a thing about it, but there's a reason why nobody has been there lately unless you want to get sunk in, you know?"

"You can trust us to keep it silent—"

"Some of us would sell that secret, any possible weak points in that area would be delivered to interested parties." Jilanya said and shrugged. "A tiny heads up, if you will."

Faeran pointed a chopstick at Odele. "Is there really anything interesting there, though? It's all razor teeth from what I once heard from a friend—he's an Aquatic Elf. Not someone I'd like you to meet in person, if ever. He has fish breath."

"Wait, there are Aquatic Elves?" Han Jing asked.

The Wood Elf smirked. "Believe me, Humans aren't the only prolific race."

"This Elf means to say that their ancestors slept with almost anything." Jilanya wrinkled her nose. "Although one can only wish that this old rumor about Treants is only nothing but rumors."

"What about the Treants?"

"You shouldn't ask about it." the Demon Lord sloshed her drink at him and grunted. "If you know what's good for you, just keep eating and keep your mind's thoughts on your puny limited existence."

"What she means to say, that some things are beyond your realm of understanding."

Odele lifted her brow. "I think what you are trying to say is that Wood Elves and Treants are related. Actually, which one came first? This is like the fish and fish egg question."

"You forgot to consider the Nymphs, like can we birth them from a Treant?" Han Jing rubbed his chin. "Druids are tree spirits, and Treant is a tree, right? So it means that the Treant could have come first… but how did they awaken their consciousness in the first place?"

"All things have the life-sustaining energy of the world that they live in, Han." Faeran shrugged and continued to eat. He was trying what appeared to be some dessert shaped into a lotus flower. "With the right amount of energy, a lot of things can gain consciousness and sentience—"

"What about people who get reincarnated into cows, and animals?" Han Jing raised a brow. "How does that fit the puzzle piece… wait, don't tell me, they can also get reincarnated into inanimate objects like rocks, sticks and whatnot?"

"A thing is only inanimate unless it starts moving."

"That's what I just said," Han Jing said. "Well, not exactly, but you know what I mean."

"Touche."

Maybe things weren't so bad… After dinner with these folks, he needed to login back to his phone though. So far, he had been somewhat relying on his Soul Waves to help him around to get by his schedule. Thus, this time around, he was dreading returning to the Otherworld and liked how things were right now.

—-—-

Author's Note: Phew, I think I'm back. I should be and have to be back… and phew, it is good to be around again? I have a new book called the 'Potion Bar System', which tells the Origin Story of Professor Owen Liddell. It's fun and you guys should check it out and I hope to upload in both of these books, and my other two. Yes, I have a lot of books on hand to earn my keep. Thank you for reading, Reader!