"Lin Jie," Ye Jiao called out his name as she smiled wryly. "It seems that you have reached rank 1 at last."
Lin Jie rolled his eyes at Ye Jiao's tone. The two of them have been competing against one another when they were in Hell Island number 4. It was actually just a competition from his side as Ye Jiao didn't care, but for Lin Jie, it was a pure torture. No matter what he did, he couldn't surpass Ye Jiao at all.
"Of course I've reached rank 1. I won't stay on that island forever!" Lin Jie replied.
Ye Jiao nodded. "Are you here for your first group mission?"
"Yeah. I just reached rank 1, so my seniors are accompanying me for my mission," Lin Jie replied proudly. "Are you going to do a group mission too?"
"Yeah."
"This time I won't lose!"
Ye Jiao just waved her hand. "Then good luck. I'll be going first."
"Hey! Don't cheat!"
Ignoring the boy's call, Ye Jiao headed to Lu Wan's side. She smiled apologetically. "Sorry, it's just an acquaintance that I have from Hell Island."
"It's fine, but what did he mean by he won't lose?"
"He's just comparing me to everything we did before," Ye Jiao replied. "Somehow, he tries to defeat me in every aspect, but the result is not in his favor."
Recalling Ye Jiao's stories of her experience in Hell Island, Lu Wan felt slight pity for the boy named Lin Jie. He had heard of how quick Ye Jiao's progress was and how she treated the wolves as her sparring partner. Any ordinary children would surely faint if they were in the same situation as this girl.
However, Lu Wan didn't mention any of it as he already felt his pride crushed when he heard her experience. Compared to her, his achievement seemed so small that it was negligible.
"He's truly an idiot."
"Aren't you speaking of yourself, Senior Brother Yu?"
"W-what are you talking about? I'm not an idiot!"
"Forgetting to eat, forgetting to sleep, forgetting to change clothes, putting on the wrong robe…."
"Stop! Stop! Why are you listing them out!"
As Ye Jiao was staying with Lu Wan, she had seen numerous sides from her senior brother. One of the things that she remembered the most was how Lu Wan seemed to forget everything once he was engrossed in thinking of his poison. One time, he even wore his robe upside down, nearly making himself a laughing stock if she didn't stop him from getting out of his house.
Ye Jiao just laughed. "Let's go to the destination village, Senior Brother Yu."
"Yeah. Don't be lagging behind."
"I should be the one saying that to you."
"By the way, what are you going to do with your hair? Are you planning on using that lame hat all the way?"
"Oh, I'll paint it brown on our way. No worry."
The two of them completely forgot about Lin Jie as they travelled in the forest. As they have a time limit and their master was so 'considerate' that he picked a location several hundred kilometers away from the capital city, they had to spend more than five days to reach the destination.
"Even after running for 15 hours a day, it seems that the village is just that far," Lu Wan remarked as they arrived by the village.
Ye Jiao smiled bitterly. "At least, we finally arrived by the village."
The two of them barely have any rest during the time they traveled in the forest. They only stopped for a while to eat and sleep before running again. From the time the sun rise until it set down, they spent the entire time running.
"I'm amazed that you can match up to my speed, though."
"Your junior sister is not worse than you at all," Ye Jiao stuck out her tongue. "Anyway, what's your plan for our identity?"
"Do we need it?"
"Senior Brother Lu, don't tell me that you didn't act when you're doing your first mission before?"
"I…"
"Hey, what are you two kids doing over there?"
The two of them turned their heads to see a man walking in their direction. From the clothes he wore, they could guess that this must be a farmer in the village. As the village itself was rather small, most of the villagers were rather poor and they didn't have many who became Eon Energy Masters.
"W-we're lost," Ye Jiao stammered as she tried to reply.
"Lost?" the man was confused.
As she saw the man's expression, she just recalled the terrain of this village. The nearest village was located more than 20 kilometers away from this village. If they said that they were lost, the first assumption would be they came from the nearby village.
To get lost for over 20 kilometers would be an achievement in itself.
"Ah, I mean, our parents are adventurers and we got separated from them when we're in the forest…"
Ye Jiao felt that her skill in making up a story was too bad. Even she herself felt that it was hard to believe her story. Even though this place was filled with Eon Energy Masters, there were not many people who would travel along with their family unless they wanted to move.
The forest was dangerous and without enough power, they wouldn't dare to bring along children. Ye Jiao and Lu Wan's appearance didn't help either as they wore ordinary training clothes. Ye Jiao didn't have any expensive clothes while Lu Wan just used the one he was most comfortable in.
"Adventurer? I think that this place is not a place for adventurers, though," the man remarked. "There's barely any ranked beast around here."
Ye Jiao felt like digging a hole right now.
She completely forgot to study the terrain of this place. Even though this was a remote place, it was relatively safe, which was one of the reasons for the lack of Eon Energy Master. The villagers felt safe enough until the recent murder case, so there was no need for Eon Energy Master.
"This is why acting is difficult."
"Ah, Brother Yu."
Lu Wan stepped forward and took out a bottle, which he opened the lid. Sweet fragrance originated from the bottle filled the air in the next second. The man's eyes slowly turned lifeless as he stared blankly.