Chapter 173: A Trip to the Bizarre World
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When the lid of the dormant cabin slowly folded down, Hao Ren’s confused thoughts gradually calmed down and he began to enter the forced state of dormancy. Before he slept, his last thought was, if a team specialising in Hollywood science-fiction movies came and saw this scene, they would not be able to imagine anyone using high-tech gadgets quite like this: The sleeping-cabins were covered with bedding and pillows, and a kettle filled with water sat beside his head. More and more he felt himself lying in a coffin.
Stuck in a trance; the same as his previous experience. The darkness lasted for less than a second and he 'woke up' again. Noise from The Plane of Dreams was ringing in his ears. The breeze, which was fresher than that of the earth brushed against his cheeks. Hao Ren opened his eyes and found himself standing in the small town, Lamberg, near its entrance. What he saw were the strange buildings he saw once before as well as a circle of terrified locals and two soldiers who were holding spears pointed at him.
"Who are you?!" One of the soldiers holding a pike shouted nervously. This guy had little freckles on his face and looked about 10. He stared at Hao Ren, who suddenly appeared before him as if he was about to face a formidable enemy.
Hao Ren hurriedly raised his hand (together with the kettle) to indicate that he meant no harm. He just remembered that one of the distinguishing features upon entering The Plane of Dreams was that he would appear at the same spot where he last left. The last time he disappeared right in the middle of the public's eye on the busy street! They were in trouble this time.
"Errr, I’m a wizard from another place, err, a wizard." Hao Ren quickly organised a sentence and made up a believable excuse based on his understanding of The Plane of Dreams. "We were just experimenting with teleportation but we ended up here. If you don’t believe me, we can do it again and show you..."
Hao Ren spoke as he looked around for the rest of the gang. Supposedly, they should have appeared beside him. However, it was probably just a 'ride' so, the teleportation speed of the rest could have been slower. Soon, he found that the air around him began to twist. One by one the figures slowly emerged from virtual to reality. Among them, the 2.15-meter-tall giant was the easiest to recognise. This apparent abnormality made the two soldiers nervous again. The freckled lad continued shouting, "No dangerous magic experiments on the streets!"
"Last few people, last few people!" Hao Ren waved his hands as he signaled Lily to stay on the spot. She just went through teleportation and was a little confused. "We are the wizard team. We’re studying teleportation technology!"
Vivian and Nangong Wuyue arrived and wanted to study the strange buildings around them but, they found that something was not right. The two of them leaned towards Hao Ren at the same time, whispered and asked about the situation. While Hao Ren explained things to the two ladies, the soldiers confirmed that the teleportation had stopped and the strange guys in front of them did not seem to be hostile. They put their guard down slightly and asked, "What kind of wizards are you? How is it that you guys don't know that no dangerous experiments are allowed on the streets? Do you have a pass? What about your Professional Qualification Certificate of Wizardry?"
"What’s that?!" Hao Ren shouted but then, he quickly corrected himself and said, "Err, I mean, who would've had time to take those things when in an experimental accident. Don’t you see that I’m still carrying the kettle? How hasty we were…"
"Holding a kettle while carrying out teleportation experiments?" The freckled guy paused for a moment. "Although I don’t know magic, you don’t fool me…"
"This is a personal habit, you can’t control it." Hao Ren gently knocked on the lid to gesture the little mermaid inside to keep quiet. The little kid was probably playing with the MDT, making some cracking sounds. Then, he began to wave his arms to disperse the crowd. "Let’s disperse. Just an experimental accident, nothing special…"
"Everybody, go back to whatever you were doing. Don’t block the road." The two soldiers also began to disperse the crowd. And the freckled boy walked up to Hao Ren after he dispersed the passersby and said, "Follow us to the garrison to register."
This made Hao Ren's head ache. He did not expect to have such just right after they entered The Plane of Dreams. He was not sure if he could fool them if they really went into the garrison. He tried awkwardly to discuss with them. "We have something urgent to do now. I wonder if you can…"
"Hey, just a standard procedure," another soldier smiled and said. "The control in our little place is quite lax. Also, these experimental accidents involving wizards can get kinda troublesome. Just registering your name will do. In case there's any request from the Wizard Guild, we can explain it."
Hao Ren looked at Vivian and the rest, thinking that it was certainly not a problem to resist arrest with their skills. They could even just run away. However, if he wanted to carry out the investigation in this world smoothly, he could not get into trouble. While he was hesitating, Y’zaks suddenly said, "We'll go then. Just register our name."
Now, Hao Ren just remembered how the great demon was a moral pacesetter. With this man, Hao Ren had no choice but to be a moral pacesetter as well…
The two soldiers glanced fearfully at Y’zaks. One of them stayed behind to guard the entry. The other one (the freckled boy) brought into the town. Nangong Wuyue was at the back of the team, her shoulders drooped. She heaved a sigh and said, "Such bad luck. Landlord, how did you manage to get us into this?"
Hao Ren laughed awkwardly but did not speak. Lily, who did not seem to have the slightest negativity in her mood, began her journey of exploration. Even though she could only follow the team, she still ran around as far as possible. One moment she was studying the wall decorations, the next moment she was studying the things being sold on a roadside stall and another moment she was playing with cats and dogs by the roadside. She was really happy and enjoying herself there. It was the first time for Lily to enter The Plane of Dreams. She saw such a different world with marvelous style and this really excited the husky girl.
The pedestrians by the roadside were also attracted to this group of foreigners who had on outlandish costumes, especially after Lily kept jumping around excitedly. The situation was getting worse. Hao Ren had no choice but to drag Lily’s collar, pulling the girl back again and again. "Can’t you calm down?"
"I can’t," Lily replied straightaway. "The... There’s so much fun here!"
"I've wanted to ask you this since just now." The freckled soldier who led the way had never seen such a group of wizards, especially someone like Lily, who seemed so excited. "Are you guys really wizards? Why aren't you wearing robes?"
Hao Ren lied. "Oh, we are a small team from a self-formed faction. The faction's rules allow us to not wear wizard robes."
"Is this big brother a wizard too?" The freckled soldier gingerly pointed at Y’zaks. "Why does he look like a mountain berserker?"
"He is an all-rounder," Hao Ren laughed and said. The information he got from Becky last time was coming in handy, including information about the wizard’s nature and the existence of the 'magician knight' type of career in this world. "So, you've seen the mountain people?"
Hao Ren found the soldier very easy to talk with. Therefore, without being suspicious, Hao Ren tried to ask him for some information. The soldier answered him without doubting him too. "Mountain people, I’ve seen a few times. Isn’t there a small village of theirs in the Far West? Many mountain people have started to move to the plains. They also communicate with people from the outside frequently. But I really found out for the first time that the mountain people also learn magic."
Y’zaks smiled perfunctorily and said, "I know a little bit of it."
When the freckled soldier saw Y’zaks’ 'friendly' smile, he immediately stopped going on with the topic.
They did not forget to observe their surroundings as they walked on the street. Vivian studied the ancient symbols depicted on the outer walls of houses by the roadside since the very beginning. She moved closer to Hao Ren and whispered, "They're really Letta runes but, I don’t see anything valuable. These are all the simplest sentences used to pray for well-being and peace of the homestead. Plus, there are many spelling mistakes and far-fetched sentences with almost no practical magic effect."
"Meaning... they're just for decoration?" Hao Ren whispered.
"Well, they do only serve as decoration," Vivian muttered, "And the mysterious Letta runes on Earth may only be common words that people use in their daily life here so, people here won't deliberately use them to cast spells."
They finally reached a fortified building in the middle of the town, the so-called garrison. However, when Hao Ren got ready to step in, a slightly familiar voice suddenly rang from the side. "Ah! The one who broke the head! You’re still here?"