Chapter 184: The Juren Serpent

"Did you bring all of your stuff?"

"Yes"

"Make sure to take a bath daily, the air around the ocean is sticky"

"Yes"

"Did you bring soap?"

"I have everything in my item box, sister Xing Cai"

"Good, good"

The day for the group's departure to the Western Continent has arrived. With the help of Princess Cha Jin-ri, they were able to get boarding tickets for the earliest cruise available.

"Sofia, please take care of him", Xing Cai let out a sigh as she looked at Sofia.

"No worries", Sofia nodded as she fixed her spectacles, "I won't leave his side"

"I'm not a child anymore!", Viel said as he hugged Xing Cai before running inside the carriage provided by Jin-ri. It was similar to the divine carriage that he and Xing Cai rode years ago to the Golden Pavilion, but this one could operate even with a single cultivator providing it with qi.

The rest of the departing group, Sofia, Diao Mei, Diao Chan, Lu Xun, and lastly, Matriarch Yinji also bid their farewells before going inside the carriage.

As the carriage started moving, Viel suddenly poked his head out of the window and waved his hand towards Xing Cai. His face clearly showing his excitement. This was probably one of the aspects he missed in Sofia's world, going on adventures. Well, besides the people, of course.

Xing Cai also waved her hand as she released a slight smile.

"You know if you were going to be that worried…", Princess Cha Jin-ri stood beside Xing Cai as she also waved her hand at Viel, "...then you should have just gone with them"

Hearing Jin-ri words, Xing Cai could only shake her head, "You will be left here alone, we don't know what the Grand Marshall will do", she sighed, "Also… Iam getting too attached to him"

"Eh?", Jin-ri blinked her eyes numerous times in confusion, "Isn't that normal? You're his sworn sister!"

"Viel…", Xing Cai let out a deep sigh, "He knows about…", Xing Cai paused as she gently placed her hand on her belly.

"I just don't want him to feel like I want to be his mother, you know", Xing Cai whispered.

"Eh?", Jin-ri's confusion grew even stronger, "I… don't really get it…

...Is that an old age thing?"

"..."

***

"Viel, is this your first time going to one of the Choryu Ports?"

"I think so?"

"...You think so?"

Diao Mei could not help but tilt her head as he heard Viel's answer. They had a lot of time to spare as the nearest Port was tens of thousands of kilometers away from them.

"Hm…", Viel nodded his head, "I ran all the way to the middle of the ocean when I was only 3 years old because it was too noisy. But I don't really remember much", Viel shrugged his shoulders as he looked at the window.

"I… see", Diao Mei nodded.

'A...are they just believing anything he says!?', was what Lu Xun bellowed in his mind as he heard Viel's crazy story. Lu Xun has been hearing unbelievable stories from Viel ever since they got on the carriage. Anything more, and he himself would actually start to believe in them.

It was a good thing that after 2 days of listening, they had already arrived at the Port.

"...Eh", Viel could not help but furrow his eyebrows as he watched the rest of the group stepping out of the carriage one by one, "Why can't we just take the carriage all the way to the Western Continents?"

Hearing Viel's question, everyone looked at Viel with their eyebrows raised.

"Choryu is protected by a Divine Spirit", Diao Mei raised her finger, "You see this gigantic wall of a mountain?", Diao Mei then pointed towards the mountains that spanned as far as the eyes could see, even the top of the mountain was already covered with clouds. The only opening from the mountain was an arc to where the Choryu Port stood.

"This mountain wall is called the Juren Serpent, it circles the whole of Choryu", Diao Mei continued to explain as the group walked towards the Port, "For some reason, since ancient times, if one were to attempt to cross over the mountain, they will be struck down by a heavenly lightning"

"T… there was something like that?", Viel could not help but widen his eyes.

"This… It was taught in the Academy. You were there, Viel"

"W… what!?", Viel's eyes widened even further.

"Hm", Diao Mei nodded, "And even if we do go through the Port using the carriage, Choryu and the nearest country of the Western Continent is separated by hundreds of thousands of kilometers. We don't want to be stuck inside a carriage for that long", Diao Mei chuckled as she slightly covered her mouth.

Lu Xun, who was listening on the side, could not help but slightly snicker. 'Who doesn't know that fact?', he gloated in his mind.

As the group walked below the arc, Viel's eyes could not help but widen. It really was too big. The ocean and the port was an immaculate scenery, but the arc itself was something else entirely. Sofia, as well, could not help but clean her spectacles as she stared at the arc.

Even though she has not explored the entirety of her world, she was sure that she won't be able to see something like this in her world. Such a colossal piece of nature, lying peacefully for potentially millions of years, unmoved. She… wanted to get a sample of it. Could it really use to be alive according to the legends?

"This thing… was alive?", as if hearing her thoughts, Viel could not help but let out a whisper.

"Well, no one really knows since it has been here even before my grandfather's grand--"

Diao Mei could not finish her words as her eyes suddenly widened. She then excitedly turned towards Matriarch Yinji, "C… could it be you know something, Matriarch Yinji!?"

Hearing Diao Mei's question, everyone quickly focused all of their attention towards Matriarch Yinji, even Diao Chan, who was casually smiling as she heard the children's fantasies. If there was someone that knew of history, then it would be Matriarch Yinji and her ancient knowledge.

"...How old do you think I am?", Matriarch Yinji slightly twitched her eyes, "This was even before my ancestor's time", she said as she slightly closed her eyes.

"I… I see", Diao Mei could only drop her shoulders in disappointment.

"L… let's quickly board the ship", Diao Chan slightly stuttered as she clapped her hands, trying to change the topic, "If we miss this, we won't be able to board until next month"

"Okay", everyone nodded their heads as they continued to walk towards the boarding and presented their tickets… well, everyone except for Viel and Sofia.

"...Wait", Diao Chan blinked her eyes a couple of times as she tilted her head, "Where's Miss Sofia and Viel?"

"That…", Diao Mei also turned her head around to try and find the two, but after a while, she could only sigh, "Viel… always disappears, you'll get used to it soon"

"I'll find them", Matriarch Yinji squinted her eyes as she tried to detect where Viel and Sofia went, "Go ahead and board the ship, we'll be right behind you"

"Okay", Diao Mei nodded her head as she pulled her mother's hand, "They will be fine, let's go"

"This…", Lu Xun could not help but raise an eyebrow, will they really be alright with a child like that? He thought as he shook his head. At first, he really was jealous of Viel because he was the only thing that Diao Mei could talk about. She was his fiance, so it didn't really sit well with him that some other man had his woman's attention. But now that he was seeing Viel, he was just a child. Albeit surrounded by beautiful women, and owns his own city, it doesn't change the fact that he was just a child.

The stories that he heard about him? Lu Xun now knows that they were all just fantasies of Diao Mei when she was younger.

And so, with a satisfied sigh, he followed Diao Mei and her mother to the boarding gate.

Yinji closed her eyes in order to detect Viel. It was a bit hard for her to feel him, as he was only at the Earthen Core realm, but after a few seconds of expanding her qi, she opened her eyes and quickly ran towards a certain direction.

Yinji ran back outside, to the other side of the arc and walked a little bit to the end of the arc.

"What are the two of you doing?", Yinji said as soon as Sofia and Viel came into her view. She couldn't help but tilt her head as she saw Viel with his hand placed on the wall.

"Vi said he could hear the wall whispering", Sofia said as she looked at the approaching Yinji.

"W… what?"