Hope of Leaving

Danheng's aura made Zhu Zhuyun hesitate.

Although Danheng looked very young, anyone who could travel through the Star Dou Great Forest likely possessed some measure of strength.

"Hmm?"

But the next moment, Zhu Zhuyun noticed that Danheng's gaze had fallen upon her younger sister, Zhu Zhuqing, over there.

This irritated her. That sanctimonious bastard actually dared set his sights on her little sister!

At that moment, Danheng was considering whether he should take the cat-eared girl being besieged away. That way, he could learn about this place from her.

After all, to put it arrogantly—

No one here could withstand a single move from him!

Anything that could be solved with force.

"Attack!"

Seeing the frost on Zhu Zhuyun's face, Danheng was briefly confused. What had he done?

Confused or not, when faced with the ambush of those hidden in the shadows, Danheng merely sidestepped a few times, leaving his attackers unable to touch even a corner of his clothing.

"I told you, I'm just lost here and want to find a way out."

After several attacks, Danheng's steps returned to where he had started. His attackers grew wary and looked toward Zhu Zhuyun, awaiting her orders.

"Pah! You lecher! You're clearly after my little sister!"

Hearing Zhu Zhuyun's accusation, Danheng raised a hand to his forehead. Fine, fine. Looking at your sister means I'm after her.

Then do the people surrounding and attacking your sister—some of whom even touched her—deserve death?

"Forget it. I can't be bothered explaining myself to you."

Danheng lost his patience as well. In the blink of an eye, he vanished before Zhu Zhuyun and her attendant.

Damn it all. Getting attacked after entering Amphoreus had already been irritating enough.

Now he had arrived in this place, lost contact with the Astral Express, and run into an unreasonable woman.

When Zhu Zhuyun and her attendant saw Danheng disappear, they immediately assumed defensive stances. The attendant broke out in a cold sweat.

He was a dignified Soul King, yet he could not even see a young man's movements clearly.

No, it was not that he could not see clearly. He had not seen how Danheng moved at all!

In other words, if Danheng had truly intended to kill them, their entire group would probably have been left here today!

"Over there!"

When Danheng failed to reappear, Zhu Zhuyun glanced toward Zhu Zhuqing in a panic.

There, she saw Danheng surrounded by Green Wind, his figure swift as he passed through the crowd in just a few movements and reached Zhu Zhuqing.

"Stop him! Dead or alive!"

Zhu Zhuyun shouted angrily. That guy truly was coveting her little sister's body!

Upon hearing Zhu Zhuyun's command, the people around them launched attacks at Danheng far fiercer than those they had used against Zhu Zhuqing.

".Utterly absurd."

Danheng formed a green rope in his right hand and looped it around the cat-eared girl's waist. With his left hand, he casually flicked as though brushing away flies.

A violent Green Wind suddenly gathered, sweeping all the pursuers back the way they had come with overwhelming force.

Under that fierce gale, the once-dense forest was instantly reduced to a scattered wreck, transformed into a vast clearing!

Across the clearing, pits left by uprooted trees seemed to be branded into everyone's minds.

This young man... holy shit!

"Y-you, who are you?"

Elsewhere, after taking Zhu Zhuqing away, Danheng increased his speed slightly. In less than half an hour, they had already traveled far away.

After setting Zhu Zhuqing down, Danheng had just been about to speak when Zhu Zhuqing forced herself to stand despite her unsteady body and asked warily.

Danheng had moved too quickly just now. Zhu Zhuqing only felt dizzy and nauseous.

Danheng found Zhu Zhuqing's wariness perfectly normal. Hopefully, this younger sister was not like her older sister.

"Don't be nervous, miss. My name is Danheng. I'm a traveler who got lost in this forest. Earlier, I merely wanted to find someone to ask for directions. I didn't expect things to turn out like this."

"Taking you away was also a last resort. Please forgive any offense."

Only after hearing Danheng's explanation did Zhu Zhuqing relax slightly.

"My name is Zhu Zhuqing. I'm from the Star Luo Empire."

The Star Luo Empire? An empire established by human civilization here?

"Mm. Then do you know how to get out of this forest? Or could I trouble you to take me to the nearest city?"

"No problem."

Danheng's words made Zhu Zhuqing's body relax slightly. It seemed he truly was just someone who had gotten lost.

At that thought, Zhu Zhuqing suddenly collapsed onto the ground. The earlier battle had drained too much of her strength.

"Right, there are still some things I want to ask."

"Go ahead."

Danheng sat down as well and faced Zhu Zhuqing.

"I want to know... what kind of place is this?"

"Huh? What else could it be? The Star Dou Great Forest?"

Zhu Zhuqing froze. Was there really someone on the Douluo Continent who did not know about the Star Dou Great Forest?

"Uh, I think I need to explain. I'm not from here. I came from outside, and I know nothing about this place."

After thinking for a moment, Danheng felt it would be better to simply say that he was an outsider. If he started talking about the Astral Express and the Nameless, this young girl would probably be confused for quite a while.

"You came from beyond the Douluo Continent?"

Zhu Zhuqing was stunned. A place beyond the Douluo Continent... was he a Sea Soul Master?

But he clearly controlled wind-aspected power.

And even a Sea Soul Master could not possibly know nothing about the Douluo Continent.

"Yes. I accidentally ended up here and am looking for a way to return home."

"Um... that may be difficult to explain. Is there somewhere you need to go?"

Zhu Zhuqing found herself at a loss. She had never introduced the Douluo Continent to anyone before!

It was not something that could be explained in a short while.

"No. If it takes a long time to explain, I can travel with you for now and protect you along the way. Consider it my payment."

"No, no, you're being far too courteous."

Zhu Zhuqing hurriedly waved her hands. How could she possibly deserve the protection of such a powerful person just for explaining the Douluo Continent?

Zhu Zhuqing had seen every bit of how Danheng had casually crushed all of Zhu Zhuyun's people earlier.

Even the Soul King guarding Zhu Zhuyun had been defeated in a single move by Danheng.

In Zhu Zhuqing's eyes, Danheng's strength was at least at the level of a Soul Emperor.

Yet he did not seem much older than her.

Someone so gifted...

Oh, right. He had come from beyond the Douluo Continent, so it was normal that she had never heard of him.

If such a young Soul Emperor had appeared on the continent, information about him would have long since been delivered to every major faction.

Thus, Danheng and Zhu Zhuqing began traveling together for the time being, while Zhu Zhuqing explained the basic knowledge of the Douluo Continent to him.

This included Martial Souls, Soul Power, Soul Beasts, Soul Rings, and the distribution of powers across the continent.

As the daughter of the Zhu Family of the Star Luo Empire, even if Zhu Zhuqing was not especially concerned with continental affairs, she had absorbed enough through constant exposure to know them well.

Just as Danheng finished learning this basic knowledge of the Douluo Continent, the phantom of an Astral Express carriage suddenly appeared in his mind. Before his eyes, part of that carriage became solid!

Turning his head, he saw that Zhu Zhuqing showed no unusual reaction, as though she could not see the Astral Express carriage.

"Because I learned about this world, the carriage solidified. So... does this mean I have to explore this world?"

Danheng quickly deduced why the carriage had solidified, but the realization brought another concern.

If that was the case, would he not have to remain in this world for a very long time?