26 Yes, Mr. Bastard.

Pen turned back swiftly and saw no one. Then he proceeded to make a 360° scan around his axis to find the source of the voice but it was to no avail. He couldn't find anyone. There was no trace of someone around the area. The grass and the trees were moving in unison with the wind without the slightest deviation.

"It's futile to search for me... Mr. Pen."

"Show yourself, coward!"

"It's funny how you are calling me out as a coward... when you are a coward yourself... Mr. Pen."

"Ngh... Who are you? Where are you? What do you want from me?"

"I just told you that I wanted to have a word with you Mr. Pen. Where I am is not the question you should be asking."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You can hear my voice clearly because I am communicating with you telepathically. I am not in there. Haven't you felt it by now? The space around you is different from... reality. More specifically, I moved you into a different dimension. "

"What...?"

Peng Hu tried to feel his environment, testing nature and see whether what this stranger has told him to be true. Although it was faint, Peng Hu could feel small irregularities in the space he was. One of the things Peng could identify was that his intuition was telling him that the space he was currently into was not ordinary and real. The most important aspect that revealed the flaw in the space was the wind.

"This... the wind hasn't changed direction for a long time... and it's going on with the same intensity..."

"Yes... very good Mr. Pen. Very perceptive. I have made the space you are into with small flaws so that you could verify what I told you. Aren't I being nice?"

"You are a bastard... you are playing with me..."

"As for who I am... I have been called with many names... Why don't you go ahead and name me yourself? It would feel more personal that way."

"How about I call you Mr. Bastard. It fits very well with your nature of doing things. Or perhaps you are more into being called Loki? Trickster? Or wait... perhaps you are a woman? Ms. Bastard? or Mr. Bastard? Which one do you prefer? One can not simply underestimate people nowadays, now that it is so popular to change your sexual orientation and whatsoever."

"Hahaha... you are a funny guy Mr. Pen. I can be whatever you want me to be..."

"Get down to business Mr. Bastard. You are sickening me. Kai is waiting for me out there."

"Haha... for a coward... you sure know how to demand others."

"Well, if I stay any longer, who knows what kind of irregular fetish you would submit me into? I still want to be pure until I meet my fated partner."

*Cough* *cough*

"Enough... your lack of respect is starting to piss me off. I have come to warn you Mr. Pen. If you keep connections with the Village of Siluca, you will get hurt in the end."

"The Village of Siluca... although I was treated bad initially, the villagers have started to accept me little by little. Also, it's the first place I have made a connection with. There is no way I am going to betray the place that received me over a petty warning from someone I don't even know and that doesn't show himself!"

"You will be accepted by them... then you will be used for their own purpose. They will brainwash you with the idea that the village needs everyone's effort. You will work hard for them... and then you will be betrayed. Your expectations will be betrayed... The people you know will stab you in the back... Heed my warning... Mr. Pen. I am warning you for your own good."

"Hmph. Really? I have already gone through all the things that you have mentioned. You think you will sway me by saying that?"

"Fool! You are destined to do great things! Don't let your emotions drive you..."

"I'm sorry Mr. Bastard, but I am human and that's what humans do the best. To believe in their emotions. Do you seriously believed that you could sway me by saying all of those pathetic cliche lines? Don't you know that the first time a person lose their virginity, it would be a memory they won't forget? That's my feeling regarding the Village of Siluca."

"Even if the future proves to be thorny?"

"Yes, Mr. Bastard."

"Hahaha... you really entertain me Mr. Pen. My warning was just a way for you to use the shortcut and avoid all the unnecessary trouble you could have avoided..."

"And you think I could just believe whatever you would say? If I were to follow your warning... it means that I would have to leave Kai. I made a promise to Kai... that I won't betray him and I would always be his friend. Also, I want to see him become the best mage in the world!"

"Hahaha... Fair enough Mr. Pen. It was quite entertaining to have a chat with you. It seems that you are determined to play the game in hard mode. Hmph... ha... hahahaha! I would look forward to what you are planning to do... Mr. Pen."

"If I were to find you, be sure that I would smack you in the face."

"I will look forward to it. Also... if you want to contact me... you will need these verses that I'm going to imprint in your mind."

"Who would want to ca-"

Feeling a sharp pain in his brain, Peng Hu agonized over the pain. It was as if he was feeling a strong headache, booming on his ears over and over again.

"Done. Now you know how to call me Mr. Pen."

"Urgh..."

"Please don't be shy about it. Also, I won't answer your calls during non-working hours. I work from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Be sure to remember that."

"Urgh... who wants to remember that!! Also, you made me learn something so disgusting! You shameless bastard!"

"Until next time... Mr. Pen. Oh, before I forget... You will be moved into the central plaza when this dimension disappears."

"What... don't deci-"

"It's a gift from me so that you can quickly solve the matter at hand."

"-de for me."

"Farewell."

And with the blink of the eye, the mirage of dimension that Peng Hu was trapped into started to disperse, showing the Central Plaza of the Village of Siluca. In its center, Peng Hu was lying on the flloor.

"Urgh... I really need to beat the crap out of you... WuKong..."