Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1397: Foolish Big Guy

Actually, we didn’t need Dingdang to remind us, as we could hear the sound of humans not far ahead—how do I know just by sound that it’s humans and not forest beasts?

Come on, would birds and beasts swear like that?

"Sounds like someone’s fighting with something?" Qianqian perked up her ears to listen, couldn’t resist heading towards the source of the sound, "Ah Jun, let’s go check it out, maybe someone needs help."

Even without her saying so, we definitely needed to check it out, as this was clearly a good chance to engage with the locals. Many instances of interdimensional travel over the years taught me one thing: stepping in to assist in times of trouble is the first step to friendly interaction with locals from Otherworld. Differences in culture, attire, and customs are hard to overcome with words and introductions alone; rescuing someone in danger is a universally accepted gesture of goodwill. Many times, situations only unfold after we do good deeds. Sometimes, I even consider writing a guide for newbies traveling to Otherworlds, teaching those who don’t travel often how to open up connections in Otherworlds—it’s a spiritual wealth left by the Imperial Leader to the billions of citizens in the Macro World. I didn’t write it because I was afraid of misleading people, as my ability to articulate things is not strong, and if the reader’s understanding is poor, teaching someone to travel and then digging a pit to lay traps at someone else’s doorstep, waiting for the locals to fall in and cry for help before assisting and introducing oneself—wouldn’t that cause chaos?—In the Great Thousand World, unexpected things occur, and after meeting Bingdisi, I know I should be wary of natural-born hooligans like this.

However, it’s strange: after arriving in Otherworld, within ten kilometers, we’re bound to encounter locals in distress—either a strong and skilled master inexplicably pinned down by two thugs, or a beautiful and wealthy young lady inexplicably unable to marry while roaming the deep woods. Saving them usually results in instant gratitude or wide-eyed surprise—but why can’t our adventures unfold in an epic way just once?

As I was distracted by these thoughts, we were already close to the source of the commotion, and upon glimpsing figures moving ahead, Bingdisi gestured for everyone to stop, and then everyone activated camouflage, stealthily approaching without being noticed.

In a more open clearing within the forest, two entities faced each other with murderous intent.

One was not human but a beast that appeared larger than Auto, and even more intimidating than the saber-toothed tiger Visca and Qianqian were playing with earlier. This beast was covered in black and yellow fur, with stout, powerful limbs, a bear-like head, yet protruding from its mouth were two exceptionally fierce tusks, its small yellow-brown eyes overflowing with murderous intent, fixated on its opponent: a human over two meters tall, an iron-built giant not much leaner than the bear. This local wore a dark leather vest over his robust upper body, leaving muscular arms exposed, broad baggy burlap shorts, and beast-skin shoes. His hair stood on end, with a Western face brimming with battle spirit, his curly chestnut hair already quite messy, now combined with the killing aura and intimidating expression, resembling a lion’s mane. This man and beast clearly endured a lengthy battle, not just because of the commotion we heard but also due to the chaotic aftermath around the site. Surprisingly, there were no visible injuries on the large man, suggesting his combat ability was strong—at least strong within the ’human’ specifications, considering the beast opposite him was large enough to require six or seven men to encircle it.

Even in this temporary standoff, the disparity in strength between the two sides was still too obvious, unless the big guy is truly some Fighting Spirit wielding, Divine Skill armored, magic and martial master from Otherworld, who becomes green in anger and carries a can of spinach. Otherwise, I really don’t see how a mortal could overpower a beast larger than Auto. That’s my first impression, anyway.

"Soon when the two... two bears... two man-bears... whatever, once they start fighting, you and I should rush in to help," Bingdisi patted my shoulder, "Rescuing someone after a bear paw strike leaves a more lasting impression than helping when they’re just staring at each other. On TV, there are way more scenes of saving someone from a knife than prison breaks."

I look at this excited female hooligan, thinking what a lousy analogy.

At this moment, the two man-bears, seemingly unable to hold back, began to move. As expected, the beast acted first; animals lack the stability and tactics of humans, and once agitation overwhelms reason, the black beast suddenly roared and lunged at the large man opposite.

But the large man’s response was unexpected: he seemed frozen, like he’d been scared stiff, staring blankly at the incoming mass of flesh. Bingdisi and I saw this couldn’t wait, immediately deactivating camouflage and rushing out: "Hold it!"

The burly man, startled by the sudden appearance and sound from our direction, stupidly turned to look at us: "What’s happening?"

While speaking, he casually knocked out the charging black beast, then effortlessly tossed the estimated five-ton pile of meat aside like it was a small chicken. With a thud, the ground followed with a shiver...

Bingdisi and I maintained a horse-riding pose while gliding mid-air for half a second. The good news was Bingdisi didn’t land on the ground; the bad news was she didn’t land because she landed on me—I flew lower than her.

Lying on the ground, I recalled the question and realized: well, the epic reveal happened.

Meanwhile, Qianqian, Pandora, and others decided not to remain hidden, pretending to step from behind trees and reveal themselves—but in reality, they deactivated the Invisibility Field behind the trees. After all, until we understand whether this world has Invisibility Technique or not, we must avoid scaring this local. When the burly man saw a crowd following the two strange people who had charged out, he vigorously scratched his head, grumbling, "How did so many of you hide behind a small, barrel-sized tree? Are you lined up single file?"

Lying on the ground, I couldn’t help but twitch: how is this burly guy so amusing?!

Bingdisi lay on top of me for a moment before realizing she couldn’t continue feigning composure this way, so she quickly stood up, pulling me along to stop pretending. The two of us curiously examined this black iron tower-like giant, while he equally curiously scrutinized a group of strangers dressed in odd clothes in front of him. At this moment, I felt quite awkward, as the meeting scenario I’d imagined was disrupted by this hunk’s spectacular punch: How about stepping in to save someone from danger, then gratefully bow to them?

Recalling that spectacular punch, I finally found a topic, pointing at the already foaming-at-the-mouth black beast behind the burly man: "Um... You’re quite skillful!"

"Hehe, I’m the village hunter," the big guy bashfully scratched his head, "Just strong, really—almost got scratched today, accidentally stirred up a bear nest—luckily this black one finally got fatigued."

As he spoke, the Black Giant pointed far away, and only then did I notice a small mountain-like pile of seven or eight bears, ranging from QQ to Jeep-level sizes, presumably thrown by the tough guy before us—damn, now I understand why we heard prolonged fighting earlier, then saw this powerhouse casually deal with a beast with just one punch: it turns out he was individually bullying these unfortunate creatures.

Qianqian stuck out her tongue and slipped over to mumble softly, "Why are bears in this world living in groups?"

Bingdisi stared blankly at Qianqian, then muttered to me, "Qianqian’s perspective remains uniquely bizarre."

"Who are you all?" The Black Giant couldn’t help but ask in a rough voice when we didn’t speak, "Your clothes are really nice, can’t even see the stitching. Are you from the Imperial City?"

Quickly, I introduced myself, thinking that since this straightforward country fellow assumed we were from the "Empire," we might as well run with that: "Oh, we’re from over there, here on... a tour. Actually, I’m a traveling scholar, my name is Chen Jun—if you find my name strange, it’s because it’s a stage name. If you don’t know what a stage name is, just think of it as a title."

I realized they might be confused about our names, so I made up explanations right away—after all, I’ve got experience in disguises. The others also introduced themselves and casually made up identities (they’ve got plenty of experience too). Finally, it was the big guy’s turn, and he beamed with a goofy smile (what a contrast to his earlier intimidating War God demeanor): "Hehe, I’m a commoner, don’t have a name, just call me Foolish Big Guy; that’s what everyone in the village calls me."

We all looked at each other in surprise—what kind of name is that? But judging by the genuine expression on his face, it seemed he really didn’t have any other name. He was indeed a simple and sincere person. You could say he had a somewhat foolish look, so the name Foolish Big Guy was quite fitting. Having a local like him was actually a good thing: his uncomplicated nature meant he easily accepted our bizarre tale.

"So, Foolish Big Guy, is your village nearby?" I decided to have him lead us to his village, and he chuckled, "Yeah, you’re looking for a place to stay, right? I’ll take you. The folks in Pine Forest Village are hospitable. Wait a sec, I need to take one of these black cubs back for the villagers to eat."

I instinctively looked at the range of "bear" monsters in various sizes, thinking Foolish Big Guy intended to bundle them up, but he only planned to carry one back—what about the rest?

"Don’t worry, they’re just knocked out; they’ll wake up and leave," he laughed. "One black cub can feed the whole village for quite a while. We wouldn’t have hunted so many if we hadn’t stumbled upon a bear den."

With that, this human tank of over two meters tall went to select the "food" for the village. He picked one that wasn’t too big or small, slapped it on the neck, and from afar, I heard a crisp crack—it broke the bear monster’s neck outright.

"Either the humans of this world have evolved strangely or it’s a genetic mutation," Bingdisi muttered next to me, "a village hunter as strong as a bear monster..."

I wanted to say that Foolish Big Guy was tougher than a bear monster, and stronger than eight combined. Maybe Bingdisi was referring to his build—we should go to Atlantis and compare him to the giants there. Not to mention his combat strength, but in terms of size, he’s not smaller than those artificial gods...

We’ve met stronger individuals; someone who can take down a bear group barehanded is pretty common. Little Bao Bao is actually stronger than Foolish Big Guy, but this Black Giant still impressed us unexpectedly. It’s like seeing two immortals throwing spherical lightning isn’t surprising, but if you see two rabbits doing the same, it sure is—although such occurrences happen in Shadow City. It’s just a metaphor, considering we were planning to rescue people from the bear monsters, floating in the air in a horse-treading-swallow posture is a vivid memory...

Foolish Big Guy was already back, dragging the dead bear monster. Despite being over two meters tall, the sight of him dragging a creature bigger than a car was quite shocking, but he seemed unfazed by its weight. Grasping the bear’s back leg with one hand, he waved at a nearby tree with the other: "Little Black, let’s go home!"

I didn’t expect Foolish Big Guy to have a companion: a black silhouette swiftly jumped from the closest tree and landed gracefully on his broad shoulder, lazily stretching and greeting us with a "Meow—"

It turned out to be a black cat.

This tank-like man goes hunting with a foot-long black cat, which is even smaller than his hand—how did these two become a pair?

"Hehe, this is Little Black, I treat her like my sister." Foolish Big Guy cheerfully introduced the cat on his shoulder. The cat glanced at us lazily, flicked her tail in acknowledgment, and Qianqian’s eyes lit up upon seeing the cat. I quickly grabbed the belt of this girl, who spun around excitedly like a windmill about to lose control: "A cat! Ah Jun, didn’t we talk about getting a cat before? Can we get one too?"

"Calm down! That’s someone else’s! You already want plenty of pets! We’ve got enough strange creatures at home!"

After much effort to calm Qianqian, I was sweating bullets. The girl loves animals, especially exotic pets. Considering her imagination and initiative, you can guess how many pet cages she has at home. Since Shadow City and the World Tree, her pet-keeping has gone beyond normal levels. There’s even a "Royal Beast Pen" in the temple district for her pets, and she’s asked Dingdang to enhance them. Now her Brazilian turtles can almost do everything except transform into robot dogs; they need at least 25 players to defeat in a game, and only a Master Ball can catch them—but I digress.

Aside from the black cat hissing at Qianqian in warning, Foolish Big Guy had no complaints about the girl’s antics. He just grinned and led the way.

All this time, this bear-like man didn’t show much curiosity about us, nor did he doubt our made-up identities. He didn’t question why "scholars" from the "Empire" were wandering the forest, nor why there were two kids (Pandora and Visca) in a traveling scholar’s group. I’m sure our fabricated story had many flaws, as we didn’t know much about this Otherworld yet. We didn’t even know if "traveling scholars" were a thing here or what the so-called Imperial City’s people should look like—all we could do was make things up. In my experience, every world has its peculiarities, and no matter how much you learn from novels, TV, or personal experience, it’s never enough when facing an unfamiliar Otherworld. In other worlds, whatever stories we concoct always raise locals’ eyebrows, requiring Sandora’s Mind Interference to settle things, but Foolish Big Guy genuinely seemed uninterested for two reasons: either he was not very sharp and lacked experience, or he was caught up with surviving daily.

Both might be possible.

Foolish Big Guy was considerate of the two kids and the apparently fragile girls in our group (except for Bingdisi, the sturdy lady), so we started out slow, but soon he realized this group of outsiders had surprisingly good stamina: the two short girls kept pace with the adults with ease, so he sped up. After nearly an hour of trekking, we finally reached the edge of the forest: open fields and smoke curled in the distance.

"That’s the village," Foolish Big Guy pointed happily at the peaceful little village nestled against the forest. "It’s the only village in over a hundred miles from Pine Forest Village. Experienced travelers from Hasad Duchy or the Empire know this spot, but since the village is surrounded by mountains and forests with plenty of wild beasts, only those constantly traveling the continent would come—you won’t mind the poverty, will you... uh, since you came through the forest, you’re probably seasoned travelers, so I guess it was silly to ask."

It’s clear that Foolish Big Guy had much to say about his village.

We couldn’t help but chuckle, following him to the village known as Pine Forest Village. (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)