"Who are you? Where did you come from?"
Lianshan finally deigned to ask Zhao Bai a question, and Zhao Bai answered without hesitation:
"I'm a chef. I came to the seaside in search of legendary ingredients, and to do that, I traveled a very great distance."
"A chef?"
Lianshan Clan frowned slightly. "It's dangerous here. Chiyou is about to arrive. Even a strong man like me could die in battle, yet you, a mere chef, weren't frightened into fleeing inland, somewhere the sea could never be seen?"
"Would running away be of any use?"
Zhao Bai answered honestly. As long as he added "would it be of any use?" to the other person's question and threw it back at them, it made for a perfect answer.
Sure enough, Lianshan Clan nodded repeatedly.
"Though you are merely a chef, you possess the heart of a warrior."
"You are not bad."
"It is simply what should be done. You flatter me."
Zhao Bai answered modestly. Lianshan Clan suddenly frowned again, his bare foot stomping heavily onto a fallen tree. With a sharp tearing sound, the tightly intertwined wood fibers completely gave way.
Lianshan Clan retrieved his wooden staff.
"Did you see a pillar of light shooting into the sky?"
Zhao Bai shook his head and replied, "Though I'm not afraid of death, I do value my life. When I heard the commotion, I hid. I heard nothing, saw nothing, and know nothing."
It seemed he would get no answer.
As the host, Lianshan Clan invited Zhao Bai to his city-state.
It was a display of great confidence. Only because he was confident in his own strength would he invite a stranger into his clan's city-state. He was not afraid that this stranger might cause any trouble.
As they passed through the dense