417: Chapter 417 Where do you think this is?

"Speaking of this sense of déjà vu, shouldn't something happen in the next moment to fit the plot?"

The bearded man beside him didn't understand what Zhou Yan was saying, but he seemed to sense something, and his originally lazy posture tensed up.

Under Zhou Yan's gaze, the man's next muscular movement suggested he intended to pick the lock of his shackles, flip over to leave, and run into the woods behind them.

And his subsequent actions made Zhou Yan understand why he had such a suspicion.

"Roar!"

A furious roar came from up ahead.

Many carriages were overturned or caught in the chaos.

Even the carriage they were riding in was forced to a stop. The bearded man seemed to have been waiting for this exact moment; he immediately pulled out a piece of wire and picked his shackles open.

Just as he was about to jump off the carriage, he turned back to look at Zhou Yan and the scrawny youth.

Half an hour later, inside a cave.

"Ha... ha, we should... should be safe now."

The bearded man leaned against the rock wall of the cave, gasping for air as he rested.

At the same time, he stared at Zhou Yan with some shock.

Good heavens, what's the deal with this young man? He looks filthy and just woke up from a coma, yet he ran all this way without even losing his breath. It seems I was worrying for nothing.

However, the youth surnamed Chen next to him wasn't doing so well. He was sweating profusely, and it was clear that the exertion had aggravated his wounds.

"Y-you... ugh... why did you save us?"

The bearded man was very displeased to hear this.

"You're practically at death's door, and you're still stammering away. Just lie there and get some rest."

After saying that, he looked at Zhou Yan with a fawning expression.

"Young hero, you must be a martial artist, right? From those moves just now, I could tell you're quite extraordinary."

Zhou Yan was currently speechless.

He hadn't expected to actually encounter this kind of plot.

The pack of wild beasts had attacked and struck the convoy just now. Because his mind had been a bit hazy, he hadn't noticed it immediately.

But this fellow opposite him had been observing the surrounding woods the whole time; he must have discovered something.

"As for martial arts, I am indeed proficient in some. Speaking of which, you were looking at the woods earlier—did you notice something long ago?"

Hearing Zhou Yan confirm it, the bearded man became even more excited.

He had originally saved the two of them with his own little schemes in mind; he wanted to use them to confuse any pursuers.

If the beasts were dealt with quickly and more people ran together, the odds would at least be a bit higher. If they all happened to survive, they could look out for each other in this wilderness.

But now it seemed he had unexpectedly picked up a treasure.

This dirt-covered young man clearly wasn't simple. He might be some expert who practiced unique martial arts and had just happened to be sleeping in the mountains.

With his help, they would surely be able to escape to safety soon.

"Hehe, Great Hero, you might not know this, but old me used to be a hunter. When things in these mountains change significantly, this happens."

"I didn't have much hope at first, but the beasts in these mountains suddenly became restless, likely from some fright. This, instead, became our opportunity."

This Language LV3 was truly useful. After only a short while, he had adapted to the other's language, and communication was no longer a major problem.

Seeing that Zhou Yan didn't continue speaking, Wu Dahai took the initiative to strike up a conversation.

"This old man is called Wu Dahai, and this scrawny kid is called Third Brother Chen."

"I'm not called Chen... cough, cough." The scrawny youth resting to the side wanted to retort upon hearing Wu Dahai's words, but he soon began coughing violently as he aggravated his wounds.

Wu Dahai also looked at him with disdain.

"Fine, just get some rest. A name is just a label; it doesn't matter what you're called as long as it's easy for the Great Hero to remember. Anyway, once we escape, we might never see each other again."

After saying that, he turned back with a fawning face.

"Great Hero, may I ask for your honorable name?"

"Me? You can just call me Daoist Yun Shu."

Zhou Yan gave a casual, perfunctory answer.

But Wu Dahai's reaction was even more exaggerated after hearing it.

"So it is Great Hero Daoist Yun Shu. 'Clouds rolling and unfolding,' elegant and composed—you must come from a very good background, Great Hero."

These words made Zhou Yan look at him with a bit more respect, and even the resentful Third Brother Chen stared at Wu Dahai in surprise, as if he were seeing him for the first time.

"You've studied?"

Zhou Yan sized up the person before him.

He was unkempt and looked like a beggar, but his build was quite sturdy. Even if his Qi and blood were depleted, his foundation was better than an ordinary person's. Even the calluses on his body and his muscle proportions showed clear signs of training.

So, he really should be a hunter.

Seeing this, Wu Dahai talked even more enthusiastically.

"Great Hero, you might not know, but I've been a slave for several years and have been traded several times."

"Originally, I was taken to be a laborer, but later the landlord saw I had good physical strength and gave me to someone else to be a guard."

"That family were all cultured people, so I learned a few characters by osmosis."

"But the good times didn't last. That scholar master seemed to have offended a big shot in the imperial court, and his house was raided. I was then sold off again."

"Later on, because my strength was decent and I knew some characters, my price was hyped higher and higher, and I was bought and sold all over the place."

"My knowledge slowly grew as well; after all, it counts as one of my selling points."

"Hmph, you're quite proud of it. Being sold around like that—where's your pride?" Third Brother Chen seemed to have recovered slightly and began mocking Wu Dahai again.

But Wu Dahai wasn't annoyed; he simply answered the question.

"As a slave, where there's a demand, there's a market. My abilities are okay, but there are always younger ones who can replace me. It's a waste to throw me away and a pity to let me go, so they just sell me."

"By the time I've been sold around until I'm too old to work, that'll probably be the end of it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have thought about running. After all, being a slave at least gets you a meal."

The insults Third Brother Chen had intended to hurl were stifled by the other's shameless attitude. Coupled with his own wretched state, he didn't feel like saying anything more and could only shrink back into the corner, his face full of resentment.

Zhou Yan didn't care about these details; instead, he heard something he needed.

This Wu Dahai had just mentioned a high official in the imperial court, which proved this was under the rule of a Dynasty.

Unlike countries, which were everywhere.

Dynasties were relatively rare. Aside from the two in the Northern Territory, they only existed in that Gu-rearing style chaotic struggle of a system in West River.

So, as long as he knew the name of this Dynasty, he would know where he was.

"Wu Dahai, right? Then I'll call you Dahai."

"You seem to have seen a lot. Do you know which Dynasty this is, or rather, where this is located in the Four Regions?"

"Four Regions?"

Wu Dahai's originally fawning expression suddenly froze, and he whispered the words back to himself.

He suddenly realized he had never heard this term before.

This was bad. He had just managed to suck up to him; he couldn't let the man think he was useless, or else how could he possibly take him out of here?

Wu Dahai had actually had an ulterior motive when he saved that scrawny youth.

He had thought that if the kid didn't make it, then so be it, but if he did, he could use him as a comparison.

Whether it was waiting for those people to catch up or if the person before him was truly capable, he could use comparison to show that he was more useful, thereby trading for a chance at survival.

But he hadn't expected that as soon as the other spoke, it would touch upon his blind spot.

This Great Hero was clearly from the outside and had come to Great Liang by some unknown means, but this also precisely proved the other's extraordinary nature.

However, thinking that he still had Third Brother Chen as a baseline, the other person probably wouldn't say anything over such a small matter. After all, from the look of things, this person seemed quite upright.

After thinking it through, Wu Dahai gave a forced laugh and scratched the back of his head, saying somewhat sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, Great Hero, I've never heard of this 'Four Regions'."

"I was a hunter before and a slave later. Although I've traveled far and wide, it was all passive."

"So I'm not very familiar with many places, but I still know what our Dynasty is called."

"The Dynasty here is called Great Liang."

"As for the location, I've heard it's called Eastern Purvavideha. At least, that's what those officials call it, but I haven't been to many places."

"The farthest I've ever gone was still within the borders of Great Liang, so I'm not very clear on the rest."

"Hmm!"

Zhou Yan hadn't cared much at first; after all, it was already good enough for such a miserable hunter to know this much.

If he hadn't transmigrated, his original self would likely only have known about Great Gan and Great Yu.

However, the moment Zhou Yan heard the term Eastern Purvavideha, he sat up in excitement.

"Where did you say this is?"

Wu Dahai seemed to be startled by Zhou Yan's sudden outburst. He spoke with a bit of a stutter, and just as he was hesitatingly organizing his words, a voice came from outside the cave.

"I didn't expect there to be a fish that escaped the net here. You really made this Daoist Master search hard!"

Zhou Yan looked toward the sound and saw a Daoist wearing a tattered, blood-stained robe, with dry, fluffy gray hair and sunken eye sockets, looking slightly plump.

He was currently leaning on a broken banner, stroking his thin mustache, and walking in with a look as if he had locked onto his prey.

As soon as this person entered, Zhou Yan immediately locked onto him and determined his cultivation level.

Only Foundation Establishment, but... why is his health bar so short?