Chapter 1532: Chapter 1530: Tiger and Tiger
All the way forward.
On the journey, Richard naturally learned the names of the Cat People group he was with.
The male swordsman was named Ruth, the female swordsman was Ellie, the Ratman was Heitu, and the Little Fox Boy was Pike. These were all fairly common names—there was no evident difference from the Wizard World in this regard.
However, what slightly surprised Richard were the names of the young Tiger Man and the elderly Orange Catman.
The Tiger Man was named Tyson, which sounded similar to a famous boxer on Earth.
As for the Orange Catman, his name was even more peculiar, surprisingly... Hachishi.
Yes, Hachishi.
A cat, a Catman, named Hachishi.
This made Richard feel a bit amused.
Beyond the amusement, though, there was a strong sense of curiosity.
Even though he had seen images of the Ancient Wizard Civilization in Heaven and knew that many humanoid intelligent beings existed in it, and it was normal for these humanoid intelligent beings to survive in various sealed planes after the white light catastrophe appeared.
But coming from the Wizard World, which is the Test Plane, there were no Beastmen. Now, seeing the Orange Catman Hachishi, the Tiger Man Tyson, the Ratman Heitu, and the Little Fox Boy Pike, all with animal appearances but acting almost the same as normal people, Richard couldn’t help but want to explore a bit.
It’s important to know that human actions and behaviors are closely related to physiological structures. So, do these Beastmen, whose movements are so similar to humans, have similar physiological structures? Or are they different, possessing other mysteries?
More than once, Richard fancied the idea of "friendly" and "in-depth" research on the other’s body, but considering this was just a trivial matter that couldn’t compare with the big things he was currently doing, he suppressed it.
However, suppressing this thought did not earn him any goodwill from the others. It was unclear whether they sensed Richard’s intention or for some other reason, but although they traveled together, their attitude towards Richard was not friendly and remained cautious throughout.
Richard didn’t really mind. On one hand, he felt entirely superior in strength, unafraid of any mishap. On the other, he understood that it’s hard for two groups of strangers traveling together to be completely open with each other. A degree of caution is normal; having no caution and sharing one’s heart would be abnormal.
Just like he hadn’t told them he was from another world, he noticed that there were clearly secrets among them too—they were extremely cautious about the direction behind them during the journey, as if some enemy was pursuing them.
As for which enemy might be pursuing them and what exactly was going on, they didn’t explain, and Richard didn’t bother asking.
Thus, Richard traveled with them in a mildly cordial manner. Along the way, they passed several places where the elderly Orange Catman would appropriately provide explanations: which direction from here and how far away, there would be very dangerous areas suitable for training.
Each time after hearing the Orange Catman’s explanations, Richard would temporarily leave the team to explore, discovering that although there were certain dangers present, they weren’t the space jump point location he was searching for. He would then catch up with the Orange Catman group to rejoin them.
The young Tiger Man and the others naturally didn’t believe that Richard could reach the locations indicated by the Orange Catman Hachishi and explore within such a short time, but out of courtesy, they only whispered among themselves and didn’t question him to his face.
Richard had no interest in revealing his true strength to some strangers from another world, so each party continued to harbor their own thoughts as they progressed, getting closer and closer to the so-called Dunma Valley.
...
A few days passed in a flash.
Continuing north with the Orange Catman group, after crossing countless mountain ridges in the forest, Richard encountered cold air, and it was evident that the temperature was beginning to drop.
The surrounding trees also began to change, transitioning from deciduous varieties to evergreen coniferous types, resembling pine trees.
Upon reaching this point, Richard noticed that the Orange Catman group seemed to feel that they had shaken off their pursuers from behind and were somewhat relaxing, evidenced most clearly by the increase in conversations among the group.
The two human swordsmen were the main speakers, the Ratman Heitu contributed many insights, the young Tiger Man Tyson occasionally forced himself into the conversation with a sentence or two, and the Little Fox Boy Pike along with the elderly Orange Catman Hachishi mostly listened, perhaps due to their age.
Richard, on the other hand, listened intently, acquiring some information about this world from the side.
"Hey, do you think when we get to Dunma Valley, the people from the mountain village there will welcome us?" the male swordsman asked.
"They couldn’t possibly not, right? Back then, when the people from Dunma Valley came to our village, we treated them warmly," the female swordsman asserted confidently.
"It’s hard to say." The male swordsman seemed a bit worried, "After all, the situation now is quite different. At the time, the people from Dunma Valley had just been hit by the Beast Tide, and the situation was dire. Now they have become one of the few major powers in the north."
"They should still repay our kindness." The female swordsman pursed her lips.
"These days, it’s not uncommon for people to repay kindness with enmity," the Ratman Heitu said, "Although I don’t think the people of Dunma Valley would really do that, we should be cautious just in case."
"I agree," the male swordsman nodded lightly.
"Hmph, what’s the point of thinking so much? It would be great if the people from Dunma Valley are polite, but if they dare to be impolite, we are not to be trifled with." The young Tiger Man said with a temper, swinging the Broadsword in his hand, "At least the weapon in my hand is definitely not one to mess with."
The two human swordsmen and the Ratman Heitu exchanged a glance and had a slightly peculiar expression upon hearing this. But they knew this was just Tiger-man Tyson’s character, weird yet leaving them somewhat helpless.
Ratman Heitu opened his mouth and wanted to persuade Tiger Man Tyson a few words, but suddenly Tiger Man Tyson turned his head sharply to the side, and the Orange Catman Hachishi was even quicker, giving a warning: "Careful!"
Huh?
Everyone was startled and turned their heads to look to the side simultaneously. The next moment, they heard a beast’s roar, followed by a huge Black Shadow leaping out of the forest. It was a tiger over two meters long, lunging straight at the Orange Catman Hachishi.
Despite his old appearance, the Orange Catman Hachishi was nimble, agilely dodging the pounce and continuing with an Iron Sword stab at the tiger’s back.
The tiger, sensing danger, took a leap forward, causing the Iron Sword to miss, and immediately leaped toward Tiger-man Tyson.
In a sense, clearly of the same kind, Tiger-man Tyson faced with the tiger’s attack, showed no mercy at all, swinging the Cutting Sword and fiercely battling with the tiger. Though appearing slightly on the losing side, he still held his ground.
A few rounds later, the Ratman Heitu, male and female swordsmen, and the Orange Catman Hachishi who had finally responded, swiftly armed themselves and came to support, successfully forcing the tiger to retreat.
