Chen Fan rolled her eyes at Chen Fan after Yoruichi this, then looked at Ashido and asked, "Who are you? Which division do you belong to? Why are you here? Are there any other Shinigami here?"
"Hey! Do you still think you're the captain of the 2nd Division? We're in Hueco Mundo right now, and we're both criminals, so stop with the interrogation tone!" Chen Fan said, waving his hand at Yoruichi.
"Second Division Captain!" Ashido was shocked to hear this. He hadn't expected that Soul Society would exile a captain here. Did Soul Society really have so many talented people that they were willing to sacrifice even their captains?
"Over 400 years ago, when I was still Shinigami, my companions and I were hunting Hollows during a mission. We accidentally entered the Forest of Menos together to fight. However, in the ensuing battle, there were simply too many Hollows, and my companions died one by one. To keep my promise to them, I stayed behind to fight alone. This is the origin of Hollows. If we keep killing Hollows here, I think the number of Hollows in the Human World and Soul Society will decrease. Has the number of Hollows in the Human World and Soul Society decreased?" Ashido asked Chen Fan and Yoruichi.
Upon hearing Ashido's words, Shihōin Yoruichi fell silent. She hadn't expected that there were Shinigami like Ashido in Soul Society, and she was also reluctant to speak the truth.
"I can tell just by looking at you, right? I've killed countless Hollows over 400 years, but I still haven't seen the end. The Hollows are increasing in number. You need to be careful too. You can't fight like you did today. There are countless Hollows here. My companions were constantly attacked by their countless numbers and died at their hands after exhausting their last bit of spiritual energy." Ashido took off his mask, and Chen Fan and Yoruichi saw Ashido's face. Ashido had short, reddish-brown hair and looked very handsome.
Ashido touched the mask with his hand. It was this Hollow that killed his last companion, and he killed the Hollow in return. Every time he saw this mask, he would recall the way his last companion looked when he died. He couldn't bear to let the mask disappear, so he wore it on his face so that he couldn't see it but could still feel his companion's presence.
"Have you never thought about going back to Soul Society?"
"At first I thought about it, but then I got used to it. What would be the point of going back? My friends and comrades from 603 have all left me. I'd be alone even if I went back to Soul Society. I might as well just keep fighting here and die in the end!"
Yoruichi was at a loss for words; it was the first time she had ever seen a Shinigami fighting for their beliefs.
"Alright, let's not talk about such depressing things. We've just arrived here and don't know much about the geography of the Forest of Menos yet. Please explain the situation here to us first. We'll be staying here for a while, so the more we know about the Forest of Menos, the better," Chen Fan said.
"I'm sorry, it's been a long time since I've talked to anyone, and I said some unpleasant things," Ashido said.
"It's nothing!" Chen Fan said, waving his hand dismissively.
Next, Ashido explained the Forest of Menos to Chen Fan and Yoruichi. Compared to the vague explanations in the anime and manga, which failed to clarify the time and location, Ashido's explanation was much more detailed. The Forest of Menos is distributed over a very wide area, and even after more than 400 years of constantly hiding and changing locations, he still hadn't figured out just how big Forest of Menos was.
However, the Forest of Menos does have many exits leading to the upper levels. Ashido also warned Chen Fan and Yoruichi that they needed to be very careful if they wanted to stay in the upper levels, as there was Las Noches up there. The inner circle of Las Noches was surrounded by numerous guards, and the outer circle was also inhabited by various Hollows. Those who were extremely weak would not even have the courage to live in the Forest of Menos.
There is another type of extremely powerful Adjuchas, which constantly hunts and strives to evolve into Vasto Lorde, and there are even several Vasto Lorde;
"Vasto Lorde?" Yoruichi couldn't help but say.
"They are Hollows above Adjuchas, whose strength is immeasurable. I heard that the master of Las Noches is Menos of this level, and even Captain-level cannot deal with him." Ashido said with a serious expression.
Chapter Twenty-Two: Schemes
(Old Ice expanded the Forest of Menos a bit. Is it a joke that there are only a few Adjuchas in the anime? Byakuya alone brought them over and wiped them out. It's like there's only one Karakura Town in the Human World. Are you kidding me? Where is the dignity of censorship in China?)
Even in Hueco Mundo, there are day and night. When night fell, Chen Fan and Yoruichi left and came to a cave in a rock wall where they rested for the time being. Ashido was a respectable Shinigami, so Chen Fan did not intend to implicate him. He did not have the ability to protect others amidst numerous dangers; his ability to protect people had never been very strong. His true strength lay in killing all his enemies.
The two lay in bed, and Chen Fan told Yoruichi his story, of course, about what happened in the previous world of Fairy Tail. After Yoruichi suddenly became very fascinated by Fairy Tail, especially after learning about Chen Fan's abilities. Her mouth dropped open; it sounded simple, but in some ways, it seemed even more terrifying. Moreover, Fairy Tail seemed to be a level above their Shinigami world, with dragons and all sorts of magic. So Chen Fan's life back then was so colorful? Yoruichi felt envious.
She was different; from a young age, she was destined to be the next head of the Shionin Family. Her life was monotonous and boring. Her only friend as a child was Kisuke Urahara. Later, after she became the head of the family, it seemed that she developed this personality in order to vent her childhood dissatisfaction.
So much had happened in one day that their minds were overwhelmed and both of them were exhausted. In the end Yoruichi fell asleep in Chen Fan's arms.
Just as Chen Fan closed his eyes to rest, red eyes appeared in the darkness of the forest several hundred meters away from their resting place. When these things emerged from the darkness, they turned out to be fake dogs. So that's how it was; they tracked Chen Fan and Yoruichi down using their sense of smell.
The dogs sniffed the ground and air, reopened their eyes, then turned and quickly retreated; the other dogs did the same, retreating swiftly.
After a while, more blood-red gazes appeared around Chen Fan and Yoruichi, and their numbers grew larger and larger, but Chen Fan and Yoruichi did not notice.
"Crack crack crack...! As expected of the Beast Tamer, your darlings are indeed incredibly skilled at finding things." A tall Adjuchas spoke up. This Menos had four arms, thick and powerful, and his body was like a centaur. He was a mid-ranking Adjuchas and seemed to be the leader of the Hollows that attacked Chen Fan and his group.
"Hehe, you flatter me. If you hadn't eliminated all my spiritual pressure and sound, my treasures would have been discovered before they even got close," a low-ranking Adjuchas said. To survive in the Forest of Menos, he wanted to add as much protection as possible. He had the ability to tame these dog-like Hollows, which could be used as weapons to attack enemies or as guards to detect those he couldn't defeat and allow them to escape. That's how Hueco Mundo works; the law is survival of the fittest, and the weak become food for the strong.
"Ready!" The Adjuchas that had been there earlier raised its hand, and the other Adjuchas saw it too, issuing commands to the Hollows they controlled.