Chapter 289 - Such a Poetic Name...

What the hell, where did that black tornado come from? Zhang Che hadn’t sensed a thing!

Indeed, there wasn’t anywhere absolutely safe in the secret plane!

-If it wasn’t for the fact that I had enough food with me from the start and didn’t kill those wild animals the moment I saw them, wouldn’t I be left without a corpse right now?- Thinking of that, cold sweat poured down from Zhang Che’s forehead.

How could anyone avoid such unthinkable danger the first time they came across such a situation?

Zhang Che almost wanted to turn around and leave immediately, returning to the pale grey area where all kinds of powerful strange creatures might be hiding everywhere.

At the very least, he only had to be more careful and not get discovered by those creatures that were way too powerful for him. That way, there wouldn’t be much danger to him.

In this cursed place, however, you might lose your life if you were ever so slightly careless!

Zhang Che looked at the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon at the side. Four pitiful beasts were still hanging from that fellow’s claws.

-I’d better release them quickly. What if he makes them bleed by accident?-

As if sensing Zhang Che’s worries, the muscular man immediately said out loud, “Don’t worry, brother. That subdued beast of yours is cold-attributed, right? You can have it directly freeze them to death and it’ll be fine.”

Zhang Che was slightly taken aback, “Freeze them to death and it’d be alright?”

The man nodded, “Right, nothing will happen at all as long as they’re dead before bleeding.”

-What a strange rule!- Zhang Che realized that there really were all sorts of strange things in this part of the secret plane.

After thinking for a while, he asked, “Then, what if a beastmaster or subdued beast bleeds? Will that strange black wind appear too?”

The man nodded, then shook his head, saying, “Beastmasters bleeding will attract the black wind to blow their way. If it was a subdued beast, however, due to the uniqueness of their state of living, nothing will happen no matter how much blood they lose.”

-Is that so…- Zhang Che nodded, pretty much understanding the situation.

In other words, in this “green land”, only real living creatures bleeding would cause that strange black gale to blow their way, while creatures like subdued beasts who didn’t have a soul of their own wouldn’t.

-Hmm, in conclusion, it means that the strong wind will blow if creatures with their own souls bleed!- Done thinking, Zhang Che immediately gave an order to the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon. A faint mass of blue darkfiend aura suddenly gushed out from the latter’s claws, freezing the four wild beasts in an instant, their souls dissipating.

As he’d been told, no strange signs appeared in the air.

Zhang Che let out a long sigh of relief. The four wild beasts held in the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragons weren’t wild beasts at all; they were like four nuclear shells filled with destruction!

Now that the four nuclear shells were successfully destroyed, there wouldn’t be any further threats to his safety.

Zhang Che recalled Hanxue back into his spiritual sea, then walked towards the group of three men along with the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon, still holding the four frozen wild beasts in his claws. He thanked from the bottom of his heart, “Thank you so much for big brother’s reminder, or I might have already lost my life here. In the beginning I was still thinking you wanted to snatch those wild beasts from me, judging a gentleman like you as a vile character!”

That man waved his hand, not minding at all, “Eyy, that’s nothing. Anyone in your position would think we were trying to snatch food from you! There’s really not much food to be found in this damn secret plane. People might die at any time outside of the green lands while fighting for food; it’s as normal as can be!”

“No, I still have to thank you, big brother!” Zhang Che said seriously, “My name is Zhang Che. If there’s anything you need my help with after we’re out of the secret plane, just say the word. This brother will definitely not say no if I can help!”

To this man, although all he did was call out to Zhang Che from afar, in Zhang Che’s perspective, this man had truly saved his life!

“You’re too polite, Brother Zhang!” the man smiled, “My name is Luo Wenjun, the same Luo as the one in Luoyang city. If you don’t mind, you can call me Brother Luo-”

Finishing up, he looked at the strange expression on Zhang Che. He couldn’t help but show signs of embarrassment on his crude face, explaining, “Haha, this… my family was without a girl. My mother named me when she was still carrying me, and nearly died from anger when she gave birth to me. She couldn’t even be bothered to change my name then. I feel like crying just talking about it; it’s fine to have this name if I was born a fair-skinned, good looking boy, but my looks grew rougher and rougher, and turned into what you see now in the end…”¹

Zhang Che suppressed his urge to laugh forcibly, then waved his hand and said, “Well, a name is just that, a name. Actually, it doesn’t matter what you’re called. In fact, in my opinion, someone as warmhearted and virtuous as Brother Luo is fully worthy of being called Wenjun!”

“Hahahaha!” Luo Wenjun laughed out cheerfully. He pointed at Zhang Che, saying, “Brother Zhang’s words are so flattering, but I love hearing it. Since my appearance started to change in my teens, everyone who knew me said that it’s weird to put a crude-looking person like me and such a poetic name together. Pei! What do they know?! I sure am befriending you, Brother Zhang!”

Luo Wenjun had probably never heard of anyone saying that his name suited him since his appearance started maturing roughly. Meeting Zhang Che made him feel like he had just met a long lost brother.

“Alright, we’re brothers from now on!” Zhang Che said, extending his palm out to high five Luo Wenjun. Afterwards, he turned his head and looked at the two silent middle-aged men beside Luo Wenjun all this while, asking, “Right, I haven’t had the opportunity to ask these two brothers’ names.”

“Luo Da,” the man on the left with a slim, long face said, nodding.

“Luo Er,” the man on the right with a wide, flat face nodded at the same time.

-Why don’t you call yourselves Xiong Da and Xiong Er!-²

Zhang Che understood the situation now; they should be the bodyguards assigned to Luo Wenjun by his family.

Although this guy’s appearance was as crude as Zhang Fei, his family background was definitely not simple!³

To be able to arrange for three people to enter the secret plane, no matter their prestige, or the amount of resources needed to gather three different people, it was definitely not something middle or small-sized families could do!

Regrettably, Zhang Che didn’t have a good understanding of the influential families. He had no idea who the Luo family was.

He didn’t waste time thinking about it, either. After greeting Luo Da and Luo Er with a nod, Zhang Che looked back to Luo Wenjun and said, “Brother Luo, the sky is about to turn dark. Why don’t we find a place, cook these wild beasts and have a good meal together?”

As he spoke, he pointed to the four frozen corpses held in the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon’s claws.

This time, the Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon acted very appropriately when he made his move. Although the four wild beasts seemed to be frozen into ice blocks, it didn’t affect the meat.

However, after Zhang Che made the suggestion, he saw a bitter smile on Luo Wenjun’s face.

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Translator’s Note

1: Wenjun(文君), Wen means cultured, and Jun means gentleman. However, it is gender neutral when it is used in a name.

2: Luo Da and Luo Er means Luo Big (Or in this case, Eldest) and Luo Two. Xiong means bear; Xiong Da and Xiong Er are the names of two bears in a Chinese animated cartoon, the Boonie Bears.

3: Zhang Fei is a military general who served under Liu Bei during the Three Kingdoms era. He is said to have had an uncouth appearance.