Translator: Lonelytree
鈥淲e Zoogs are friendly and know how to treat our guests. Our friend has returned. Juniors, come and pour our honored guests some wine.鈥?Under Peacock and Malachite鈥檚 surprised gaze, the white-furred Zoog walked out from the forest while tapping his stomach. The existence of the Zoogs was not a secret but they normally would not appear before people so this was also the duo鈥檚 first time encountering one at such a close distance.
鈥榊oung man?鈥?They had been unable to tell what age the nightmare man was because his face was completely ruined, but it would not be inappropriate for this elder Zoog to refer to Atal as a young man either so it did nothing to help them get a closer gauge of the nightmare man鈥檚 actual age. To make things more complicated, they failed to envision how the nightmare man鈥檚 journey managed to entangle itself with these creatures?
鈥淗a ha, so now we are friends.鈥?Gu Jun looked around. 鈥淪o where are my old friends then?鈥?
鈥淭hey have returned to their own village with the rewards a long time ago.鈥?The Old Zoog replied, 鈥淵oung man, we have our food and you have your health and freedom, isn鈥檛 that a happy ending? Actually that was our plan all along sending you the black merchant鈥檚 way鈥︹€?
鈥淪o you were actually taking care of me?鈥?Gu Jun chuckled. 鈥淒o you really expect me to believe that? You should know how the black merchants treat their slaves.鈥?His voice turned icy, 鈥淒on鈥檛 think you鈥檒l get away with just some flowery words.鈥?
Sound of tapping exploded around them. The Zoogs came out of their hiding places, from behind the trees, and from underground. There were millions of them, covering every spot that they could see. Their sound of argument rose over each other, 鈥淒on鈥檛 you push it!鈥濃€滻t was us who saved you, so what if we got a few fowls from it?鈥濃€滺ow the black merchants treated you is their problem, it has nothing to do with us!鈥?
鈥淢r. Nightmare man鈥︹€?Peacock felt a pressure overwhelming her, there were too many of them. If they jumped at the three of them, they would not be able to fight back for long.
鈥淪hush!鈥?The Elder Zoog shouted over his tribe. 鈥淲e have not done our best to treat our valued guest. Sir, tell us, how do you propose we settle this?鈥?The Zoogs patted their stomach in grumbling, they were already prepared to lose at least 1000 hens, 1000 quails and 1000 fowls.
鈥淚 hear you Zoogs know the way to leave this world and reach other worlds.鈥?Gu Jun said. The Elder Zoog was extremely cunning, so he cut straight to the point. 鈥淗ow can I return to my old world? Also I need you to help clear these vines away from me.鈥?Peacock and Malachite were stunned. 鈥楳r. Nightmare Man鈥?wanted to return to the already ruined ancestral world?鈥?
鈥淟eave this world?鈥?The Elder Zoog narrowed his beady eyes, his mind was calculating. 鈥淚n this world, where there are trees and underground holes, there will be traces of us Zoogs. So we do know a bit about that.鈥?
Gu Jun鈥檚 heart rose, finally he had found the hope to return home. It was true that rodent-like creatures were everywhere. Even inside the most sterile lab, it would not have surprised him to find a common house rat there.
鈥淗ow about this, we will provide you with the help.鈥?The Elder Zog patted his beard and said, 鈥淎nd you will offer us a little present as a sign of our friendship, we only need 3000 hens, 3000鈥︹€?
鈥淲hat did you say?鈥?Gu Jun cut him off. He stared into the rodent鈥檚 beady eyes and narrowed his own. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 hear you clearly, do you mind repeating yourself?鈥?
鈥淚 mean as friends.鈥?The Old Zoog patted his beard, his expression unchanging, 鈥淚t is only fair that we should help each other so we will try our best to help you.鈥?The surrounding Zoogs grumbled in annoyance but the resentment was instantly silenced by a glance from the Nightmare Man. Soon they all agreed with their elder鈥檚 bright decision. Peacock shook her head lightly. Even the black merchant could not suffer a direct gaze into the nightmare man鈥檚 eyes, much less a small Zoog.
鈥淭hen how am I supposed to return?鈥?Gu Jun asked, 鈥淚 call my home Earth, it is the 3rd planet in the solar system.鈥?
鈥淪ir, we do not understand this talk of 鈥榮olar system鈥?鈥?The Elder Zoog paced as he patted his body and the neighbouring trees lightly. 鈥淲e Zoogs like to travel around, to see the world and to listen to different sounds. Sometimes, we will be walking and suddenly we鈥檝e arrived at a different world. We鈥檒l normally return after a quick glance because no place is better than home. But after some time, we have mastered some kind of rules for this type of travelling. It is much easier to come back here than to leave, because there is only one Dreamlands but millions of other worlds. That is the first rule.鈥?The Elder Zoog continued, 鈥淭he second rule is about the channel that connects two worlds. The location of the channel is not totally random. For example, at a place like Plateau of Leng, the channels that appear there will be connected to an icy location in another world. But for channels at Enchanted Woods, they鈥檒l connect to similar woodlands in another world.鈥?Gu Jun nodded silently. That was confirmed by Peacock鈥檚 story, human beings entered Leng through the south pole and when he was on the white ship, he did travel from sea to sea.
鈥淭he third rule is that the channels usually appear at hidden spots, most common of them being inside caves. The fourth rule is that the channels are extremely unstable, they might exist for just a day or a whole month, but the more you use the channel, the faster it will collapse.鈥?
鈥淭here is no stable channel?鈥?Gu Jun paid attention to the Old Zoog鈥檚 eyes.
鈥淚f there is one, we have not found it.鈥?The Old Zoog did not look like he was lying.
鈥淪o now we only need to find a channel?鈥?Gu Jun asked, 鈥淎ny channel will work?鈥?
鈥淭hat lies the biggest problem.鈥?The Old Zoog said, and the other Zoogs concurred. 鈥淔inding you a channel is not hard, the hardest part is to map out the path, or else you might end up in a world dominated by gorillas, who knows.鈥?
鈥淭hen what should we do?鈥?
鈥淪ir, you know about lighthouses, right? Not all Zoogs know what that is. When you walk into a channel, it is like you鈥檙e travelling through a dark sea, it can lead to many different worlds. Only a corresponding lighthouse can bring you back to your desired destination, you need to have something from the destination world to use as your lighthouse.鈥?
鈥淏ut anything that we bring over to this world will dissolve immediately.鈥?Gu Jun said sadly. Then he thought, 鈥楧oes this mean the carlot instruments bring me to the foreign world?鈥?
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I said this is the biggest problem.鈥?The Old Zoog clapped his hands. Gu Jun wondered if the medical tool belt would work鈥?But before that, there was another issue to solve, 鈥淚s there any channel nearby?鈥?
鈥淣o, there are no active channels nearby, in fact there are only a handful currently active in Dreamlands. They have different probability of appearance depending on the season as well. The Enchanted Woods has most of them appearing in spring. For now, there are 3 known channels to us, one is at Llosk, another at Valley of Narthos and the last at the Bnazic Desert.鈥?
鈥楤nazic Desert?鈥?Gu Jun鈥檚 eyes wandered naturally to the duo. He asked, 鈥淲hich is the closest?鈥?
鈥淭he Bnazic Desert is the closest!鈥?Peacock said hurriedly, 鈥淲e can reach that in 10 days, you鈥檒l need more than half a month to reach the other two places.鈥?
鈥淪he is right.鈥?The Elder Zoog patted his head. Peacock leaped onto the chance and added, 鈥淢r. Nightmare Man, we will head to the Bnazic Desert, yes? If possible, you should return to the tribe with us.鈥?
Gu Jun pondered the choices. To save time, it was indeed the best option to head towards the Bnazic Desert. He could also see for himself whether the duo was telling the truth or not. Perhaps a visit to the tribe might prove fruitful too, he could gather more information from the Professors. Then something came to him, he asked the two, 鈥淒o you have anything from the ancestral world there, things like sacred relics?鈥?Even though Peacock said that the kindles had not brought anything with them, it did not quite match up. When he and Siyu entered the Dreamlands, they had brought things with them, so if a group of people was migrating to a new place, it made no sense for them not to bring any supply with them鈥?
Malachite frowned and was about to say something when he was stopped by his partner who said seriously, 鈥淵es, there are such items with us at the tribe.鈥?
Gu Jun glanced at her but could not tell whether she was telling the truth or not.
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