I Am Your Natural Enemy-Chapter 565 - 224: Review Expert, Water Monarch, Can You Read? (5k)_3
Although thousands of years have passed, he is still alive, but for the vast majority of the time, he has almost no contact with the outside world. Life is monotonous and dull, unchanging.
It’s rare to come across a living person whom he can converse with, and in the end they still fell out.
The only things he can remember from his whole life are those handful of old enemies who had long since perished.
Wen Yan put himself in his shoes for a moment—if it were him, even if he wasn’t driven mad, he’d probably be even weirder than the other guy.
Thinking of it this way, Wen Yan felt even more calm and at ease.
Seeing that the Water Monarch didn’t blow him up, his courage grew, and he simply sat down on the ground.
The Water Monarch found Wen Yan’s way of acting rather normal, in fact.
If Wen Yan had been timid and submissive, he would’ve been too lazy to bother talking to him.
After a couple sentences, that earlier awkward atmosphere faded, and the Water Monarch spoke up.
"What’s the Netherworld like?"
"There’s nothing there—desolate and dim. Even the mountains are those that fell from the real world. It’s an endless plain out there.
No sign of life, no light, only black and gray fog that blocks your sight. There’s nowhere more dead and barren than that place.
Was there no Netherworld before?"
The Water Monarch fell silent for a moment, then replied stiffly,
"There wasn’t."
"Whether it’s here or not, doesn’t really make much difference. If anything, now that it’s here, people in the real world can make use of it for certain things.
The other day, there was a Statue Ghost. That guy transformed into a Jinx..."
Wen Yan slightly embellished his last trip to the Netherworld, added a little creative flair, and told the whole story like a tale.
When he finished, the Water Monarch was silent, and then suddenly asked,
"What’s a Jinx?"
"..."
Wen Yan was stumped by that. He thought about it and said,
"One of the proper deities. Normally when people mention it, it’s usually connected to bad luck."
The Water Monarch looked dazed—he had become far too out of touch with the times.
He didn’t know much about a lot of things, like this Jinx—this was the first time he’d heard of it.
Proper deities, though, he did know; Fuyu Thirteenth had told him about them before.
He’d mentioned the so-called Celestial Court of the Taoist Sect, and that there was once a stunning prodigy who pulled open the curtain on this far-reaching event.
Said it was for building up a foundation so that each generation to come would be stronger than the last, the basis for ten thousand generations.
He actually didn’t really understand much of this.
Back before he was suppressed, none of this stuff existed. The strong were just born strong, without all those fancy tricks.
Wen Yan didn’t say anything, just waited quietly.
This state that the Water Monarch was in—he’d seen it before.
Some of the older folks would often be like this, talking, then suddenly drifting off, lost in some memory.
When the Water Monarch stirred, as if returning to himself, Wen Yan said,
"I’ll bring you some books next time. Then you can have a look for yourself.
Oh right, Water Monarch, can you read?"
Bang.
Wen Yan exploded on the spot.
In the next instant, he suddenly shot upright in bed.
"Damn Water Monkey!"
Wen Yan gritted his teeth. And to think, just a moment ago he’d felt that the Water Monarch was like those old men he’d seen before: on a winter afternoon, sitting at their doorstep soaking in the sun, gazing off into the distance, as if thinking about nothing at all.
In fact, they were just relying on memories to get through the dull, tedious afternoon, to weather those tough winter days.
He actually found himself thinking the Water Monarch was kind of pitiful.
And then all of a sudden, boom, he was blown to pieces again.
This time, he hadn’t even seen how the Water Monarch made a move.
He didn’t sense anything—he was already wide awake.
Was that Water Monkey for real?
I was just asking if you could read, what’s wrong with that?
Forget a few thousand years ago—even a thousand years ago, the writing system was already pretty different from now. The meanings and connotations of some words are even more different.
Wen Yan went to the backyard and practiced a set of forms twice to calm his mood.
Yeah, this was fine. Even though the Water Monarch still blew him up totally out of nowhere, he’d sort of started to get the hang of it.
But stuff like giving someone a present—the Scorching Sun Department would definitely know. He’d have to come up with a plan later.
No rush on this. No rush on outlasting the Water Monarch, either. Slow and steady, we’ll grind it out.
He really didn’t believe it.
The next day.
As soon as Wen Yan got up, Feng Yao’s car was already parked at the door.
When he came downstairs, the breakfast Feng Yao bought was already laid out on the table.
"I think I’m starting to get the director now."
"Why’s that?"
"Whenever I see you, I just feel like nothing good’s about to happen. Especially when you show up with breakfast."
"What are you thinking? I’m taking you to the venue. Today’s the final stage of the Nanwu County Tournament—I’m taking you to check it out. Did you forget?"
"Oh, that. I actually did forget..."
After breakfast, he called Fuyu Mountain. Seventh Great-Uncle Master answered, and Wen Yan asked if anyone from Fuyu Mountain was coming.
Seventh Great-Uncle Master said they’re skipping it, but Qin Kun should show up today.
After breakfast, Feng Yao drove them. When they were still a ways from Yu State, he made a turn onto a side road.
Wen Yan counted—they’d taken seven turns onto side roads in a row, and he started to feel like the environment outside was getting a little odd.
In the mountains out the window, he could actually see snow.
It was snowing?
Where was any snow near Yu State? And how could there even be snow this month?
"Domain?!"
"Don’t get nervous. To avoid unnecessary trouble, the final round is held inside this Domain.
This Domain was discovered a few years ago. There was this guy who liked to practice drifting, found this stretch of road for it.
Every time he hit a fork, he took a left. He felt like he was driving in circles.
After left-turning seven times in a row, he entered the Domain and found himself at a dead end.
To get out is actually pretty easy, too—just drive straight, and at every fork take a right turn eight times and you’re out.
Relax, this Domain is perfectly safe, already been cleared out.
It’s one of the rare Domains you can just drive straight into, so of course it’s being put to use."
Wen Yan looked ahead. The road ended at a dead end, with buildings nearby and people guarding the place.
Turning back to look, the Y-shaped intersection behind seemed just as it did when they arrived, with a bizarre, twisted quality to it.
"Have you guys ever tried, what happens if you don’t follow the right path?"
"You disappear."
