The Western Regions' Chatterbox

The wheels ground over the dust of the official road, making a monotonous rumbling sound. They had left the bustle of Pebble Town behind, and the scenery on either side of the road gradually gave way to lush, green hills.

Chen Qing drove the carriage, his expression as calm as ever. A Ning sat beside him, nibbling on a candied hawthorn skewer, her big eyes occasionally glancing toward the tireless figure riding alongside them.

Lan Tianye rode a magnificent white horse from the Western Regions. Its ornate saddle, like its owner, drew plenty of attention. He seemed completely unaware of Chen Qing's cool demeanor, chattering away with great enthusiasm.

"...Brother Chen, you have no idea how big the moon is in the Western Regions! It's as bright as a golden platter! When it shines on the desert, even the sand glows—you don't need a single lantern! Unlike the Central Plains, where it's pitch-black at night... Oh, but the Central Plains has so many trees and so much water, all lush and green. Just looking at it makes you feel cool..."

His words came tumbling out like beans from a sack. He spoke with a distinctive foreign accent, yet was remarkably fluent.

"I told you about the time I took on more than a dozen bandits from the 'Sand Scorpion Gang' all by myself, right? Ha, that was nothing! The real thrill was the time I ran into a giant desert lizard taller than a house on the edge of the Sea of Death! I used one of my 'Swallow Dips Water Three Times' moves... No, no, that's not right—it was our Loulan secret technique, 'Great Desert Lone Smoke'! Swish, swish, swish! I circled that giant lizard seven or eight times, and it couldn't even touch the hem of my clothes! Then I spotted an opening and plunged my knife right into the softest spot on its back! Pfft—it let out a howl and ran off! Hahaha!"

He waved his arms and acted out the perilous scene, his expressions so vivid he could have put on a whole stage show.

Chen Qing kept his eyes on the road, occasionally offering a terse reply. "Oh." Or, "Is that so?"

But that did nothing to dampen Lan Tianye's enthusiasm. If anything, it seemed to encourage him, and he chattered on with even more gusto.

He even began giving a detailed description of how to make a certain kind of roast mutton from Loulan, listing the spices and explaining how to control the heat, as if he were about to set up a stove by the road and give a demonstration.

A Ning chewed her travel rations slowly. She seemed to spend more time watching Lan Tianye's mouth open and close excitedly and his eyebrows dance than she did admiring the scenery. This odd person... did he have no end of things to say? She didn't understand it, but found it rather novel.

Just then—

"Awooo—!"

A deep, resonant wolf howl, tinged with impatience, drifted from the distant woods and echoed through the valley. Clearly, the Wolf King, left outside town, had been waiting too long and was voicing a complaint as well as urging them along.

Lan Tianye had just reached the part about "using aged spices for the best flavor" when the sudden howl startled him so badly he nearly bounced off his horse. He yanked on the reins, and the white horse snorted uneasily.

"Wh-what was that?" Lan Tianye's smile vanished. He looked around nervously, hand going to the ornate curved saber at his waist, as though facing a formidable enemy. "A wolf? From the sound of it, it must be huge! Don't worry, Brother Chen. I'm here! I'll keep you and A Ning safe!"

He tried to make his voice sound dependable and heroic, but the unease in his darting eyes gave him away.

Chen Qing's expression didn't change in the slightest. He merely gave the reins a light flick, keeping the carriage moving at the same steady pace, then glanced at the nervous Lan Tianye.

"It's fine." He paused, as if weighing his words, then finally offered an explanation.

"A Ning's friend. It's hungry."

"..." Lan Tianye stared with his mouth open. All the heroic words he'd been preparing were stuck in his throat, his expression frozen in place and looking rather comical.

A... friend? Hungry?

That wolf, whose howl alone sounded so threatening... was Brother Chen's friend?

And from the sound of it, Brother Chen seemed to think it was only natural that the wolf had been left waiting so long that it was complaining?

Lan Tianye looked at Chen Qing's calm, impassive profile, then instinctively glanced toward the source of the howl and swallowed with difficulty.

Suddenly, his glorious tales of "taking on a giant lizard" and "wiping out bandits" seemed a little... feeble in the face of Brother Chen's offhand remark.

He gave an awkward laugh and sheepishly lowered the hand resting on his saber. "S-so it's your friend, Brother Chen! Haha, truly... extraordinary, extraordinary..."

He urged his horse to catch up with the carriage. The chatterbox in him seemed to have been interrupted by that little episode and temporarily gone into hibernation. Every now and then, however, he stole a glance at the young man in the blue-green robe beside him, his curiosity now mixed with a hint of awe. Chen Qing seemed ever more unfathomable.

Chen Qing noticed that he had quieted down a little, but paid it no mind.

As for traveling together, he still had no opinion.

At dusk, Chen Qing stopped the carriage beside a clear stream to rest. The water burbled along, reflecting golden ripples in the setting sun.

At once, Lan Tianye perked up again. He jumped off his horse, eagerly volunteering to gather firewood, and began talking about how the Western Regions' methods for starting a fire differed from those of the Central Plains.

As he turned with an armful of firewood, his pupils suddenly contracted. He froze in place, nearly dropping the bundle.

Downstream, beside the stream, a gigantic wolf with silver-gray fur and a fierce gaze lowered its head to drink. Its powerful muscles rippled beneath its coat, and every swallow carried the menace unique to a beast of prey.

"A w-wolf! A giant wolf! Brother Chen, watch out!" Lan Tianye's voice tightened as he reached for his curved saber again, bracing for a fight.

Chen Qing was taking food from the back of the carriage. He glanced over at the sound and casually said, "Mm. It's here."

Just then, A Ning hopped down from the carriage. Seeing the Wolf King by the stream, she walked over in small, measured steps.

Lan Tianye's heart leapt into his throat. "A Ning! Don't go over there! It's dangerous!" He nearly rushed over to pull the little girl back.

But what happened next left him dumbfounded, his jaw nearly hitting the ground.

The fearsome giant wolf, whose mere presence had made Lan Tianye's heart pound, didn't bare its teeth when A Ning approached. Instead, it lowered its head and gently rubbed its huge, fluffy muzzle against her little hand, making a low rumbling sound that was almost a whine for attention.

A Ning reached out and stroked the Wolf King's wet nose, her movements easy and affectionate.

"It... it..." Lan Tianye pointed at them, tongue-tied. He looked from the giant wolf to the composed Chen Qing, then to A Ning interacting with the beast, his mind struggling to catch up.

Chen Qing set a bundle of travel rations and several freshly caught fish on the ground, then explained, "It's A Ning's friend too. It won't hurt anyone."

Lan Tianye was utterly speechless. It was astonishing enough that a giant wolf whose howl alone was frightening was Chen Qing's friend. But now this even more intimidating beast was apparently the quiet little girl's... pet?!

He felt his understanding of "expert" and "friend" had been completely overturned that day. His awe of Chen Qing and A Ning deepened, mingling with an overwhelming curiosity.

That night, the bonfire crackled beside the stream, driving away the spring night's chill.

Lan Tianye eagerly volunteered to show off the grilling skills he'd been boasting about all along. He skewered the fresh fish and prepared cuts of meat, then roasted them over the fire, turning them with practiced ease. Once he sprinkled on his own Western Regions spices, the mouthwatering fragrance filled the air.

"Come on, Brother Chen, A Ning, give our Loulan flavors a try!" He handed them both skewers of meat, browned and glistening with oil, his face beaming with pride. "I'm not bragging, but this spice blend is a family secret. You absolutely can't find this flavor in the Central Plains!"

Chen Qing took one and tried a bite. It was crisp on the outside and tender within, and the spices were indeed distinctive and rich. He nodded. "Not bad."

That praise made Lan Tianye beam even more. The floodgates of his chatter swung wide open again.

As he gnawed on a piece of grilled meat, he launched into another lively monologue. "Come to think of it, the Western Regions aren't just famous for roast meat. Our singing and dancing are wonderful too! Brother Chen, you have to visit Loulan someday! At the bonfire parties, beautiful girls wear veils and dance the Hu Xuan. Their waists, their eyes... Ahem..." He glanced at A Ning, who was quietly eating, then hastily cut himself off and changed the subject.

"Uh... We also have grape wine! Now that's a true nectar of the gods! Pour it into a luminous cup, and under the moonlight it looks just like a ruby! The wine in the Central Plains just doesn't quite measure up... How much can you drink, Brother Chen? When we reach a big city, I'll treat you to the finest Western Regions grape wine. We'll drink until we drop!"

He started dreaming aloud about the future. "Once I make a name for myself and become a renowned hero across the Western Regions and the Central Plains, I'll go home and expand my family's trade routes threefold! Then, if there's any Western Regions specialty you want, Brother Chen, just say the word! It'll be done!"

The firelight illuminated his young, vibrant face. His eyes shone, full of confidence and boundless hopes for the future.

Most of the time, Chen Qing listened in silence, occasionally offering a brief reply. A Ning nibbled at the especially tender pieces of meat Lan Tianye had grilled for her. Every now and then, she blinked her big eyes and looked from the animated Lan Tianye to the dancing flames, then to Chen Qing and the Wolf King, as if she too were feeling a little happier.

Lan Tianye finished his last bite and wiped his mouth with satisfaction. His gaze fell on the Wolf King, lying at the edge of the firelight like a silent little mountain. The giant wolf dozed with its eyes closed, but the green glow beneath its eyelids, which occasionally cracked open, showed it was still on guard.

"By the way, Brother Chen," Lan Tianye asked curiously, as if something had just occurred to him, "such a magnificent giant wolf must have a remarkable name. What is it called?"

Chen Qing was breaking a dead branch and tossing the pieces into the fire. At the question, his hands paused slightly. He glanced at the Wolf King, then shook his head, his voice flat. "I never named it."

"Huh?" Lan Tianye was stunned. Such an impressive friend didn't even have a name? He looked at A Ning, who was sipping water. "A Ning, you didn't give it a name either?"

A Ning lifted her head, looked at the Wolf King, then at Lan Tianye, and gently shook her little head. She and Chen Qing seemed to think of it only as "the Wolf King" or simply "it"; neither had ever considered giving it a specific name.

"Oh, that won't do!" Lan Tianye perked up at once, as if he'd discovered an important mission. "A mighty friend like this can't go without a resounding name! That would be a terrible waste! I'm good at naming things!"

He sat up straight, eyes shining as he stared at the Wolf King. Then he stroked his chin and began racking his brains.

"Hmm... It's enormous, with dark gray fur, like the embodiment of night... How about 'Black Shadow'? No, no, that's too ordinary..."

"Or 'Sky-Splitter'? That sounds a little tacky too..."

"Maybe something more imposing, like 'Slaughter' or 'Rock-Shatter'?... Tsk, those sound too bloodthirsty. They don't suit the chivalrous spirit of our martial world..."

He muttered to himself, rejecting one name after another.

The Wolf King seemed to realize that this chatterbox of a human was discussing it. It lazily cracked open an eyelid and shot Lan Tianye a sidelong glance with its gray-green eyes. Its expression held undisguised... disdain? It was as if it were saying, "Foolish human, what are you mumbling about?"

The glance didn't discourage Lan Tianye. If anything, it made him more enthusiastic. "Hey, you've got quite an attitude! I'll have to think of something worthy of it!"

He slapped his thigh. "I've got it! Look at you—howling at the moon as you arrive, magnificent and unmatched, looking down on all others! You've got the bearing of the Moon-Swallowing Heavenly Wolf from Western Regions legend! But we can't be too literal... How about 'Little Wind'?! What do you think?!"

He finished and looked proudly at Chen Qing and A Ning, waiting for their judgment.

Chen Qing felt a little helpless. After all that talk, he'd ended up naming it Little Wind...

But A Ning, who had barely reacted until now, looked at the Wolf King and softly, tentatively repeated, "Little... Wind...?"

She said it a little awkwardly, but her voice was gentle and soft.

Hearing his little mistress's voice, the Wolf King's ears twitched almost imperceptibly. It turned its head toward A Ning. At least, it didn't object to being called that by its little mistress.

Seeing that A Ning seemed to accept the name, Lan Tianye's face brightened. "See? A Ning likes it too! From now on, you're 'Little Wind'! Brother Little Wind, I look forward to getting along with you!" He even cupped his fists toward the Wolf King.

The Wolf King—"Little Wind"—snorted disdainfully through its nose, then turned away and showed Lan Tianye its rump. It swished its bushy tail over its face, acting as if it couldn't be bothered with the idiot. But the tip of its tail, swaying gently, seemed to betray that it wasn't completely indifferent.

"Hahaha!" Lan Tianye laughed at its reaction, unbothered. "What a personality! I like it! Brother Little Wind is truly extraordinary!"

Lan Tianye had finally talked himself tired and yawned, though he was still full of energy. He looked at Chen Qing, serene as still water, and A Ning, quiet and obedient, then at the giant wolf guarding them. Suddenly, he felt that though the scene was a little unusual, it also had an indescribable harmony.

He grinned, showing a row of white teeth. "Brother Chen, meeting you all is the first truly wonderful thing that's happened to me since I set out into the martial world! This world is even more interesting than I imagined!"

Chen Qing looked up at the brilliant starry sky but didn't answer. He simply added another fresh branch to the fire, sending a few sparks rising before they vanished into the night.

As for traveling together, he still hadn't given his approval. But Lan Tianye seemed to have already taken their acceptance for granted. Contentedly, he wrapped his cloak tighter, leaned against the luggage, and gazed at the stars. Gradually, he fell silent, a smile still on his lips as he dreamed of who knew what.

The stream burbled, insects chirped, and the night was gentle. They drifted peacefully to sleep.