9 The Road to Rantori Village

"I forgot to ask," Hong Zhao said to break the silence of the hours long walk through the woods. "What is the name of your village?" It had been a day since leaving the camp. Li Wei had instantly took a liking to Shadow and could hold him from time to time when Hong Zhao wanted a break from him.

"We have had this plan for a few days now, and you are just asking us the name of the place we are travelling to?" Li Wuhan rolled his eyes at Hong Zhao. "You really are care free aren't you?"

"The plan is more important than the destination. You two know where we are going, so I can always ask you throughout the trip." Hong Zhao smiled. "I didn't think you would appreciate me asking a thousand questions all at once."

"Are you sure you are only five years old? Sometimes when you talk, you remind me of my grandfather sometimes."

Hong Zhao's smile faded. He didn't know how to be a five year old again. He knew he was going to stick out like a sore thumb when he reached civilization. Not many children had the abilities he had or the know how to use them. If given the opportunity, he could probably train the population in guerrilla tactics and how to maintain borders to prevent invasions, he definitely didn't know any five year old children from his old world who could say the same. It might be a little difficult for him to maintain the illusion of being a child for long.

"Rantori Village is our home." Li Wei said as she pet Shadow in her arms. "When we get there, we will have to go to Elder Huang Ji to ask for you to live in the village." Her eyes seemed to darken slightly when talking about the village.

"Is it difficult to join the village then?"

"Not if you can afford it." She snorted derisively. "But if you can afford it, good luck getting out."

"Maybe you shouldn't be telling him this before we get home?" Li Wuhan said as he looked at his little sister. "You might scare him off."

"Seeing as though Rantori Village will be the first civilization I've seen in a long time, I doubt it could scare me away." Hong Zhao said honestly. He needed to see what life was like in this world, even if it was in just a small village. Besides, if there was a library in this small village, maybe he could learn about the world around him. It wouldn't be ideal to live in a world one is oblivious to.

"How long have you been in Jade Forest anyway?" Li Wei asked.

"I'm not sure, I kind of just woke up here." Hong Zhao was slightly prepared for this question. He had wondered how he would explain the absence of his parents, or his ignorance of the land he walks. "I didn't even know the name of the place we were located. This is a forest huh?" He looked around in thought. "I probably should have realized that a while ago." He chuckled to himself.

The two siblings guffawed at his musings. "What do you mean you just woke up here? You have to have parents right?" Li Wei started to look worried. Hong Zhao didn't blame her. If he really were five years old, he probably would have been scared waking up in the middle of a forest with no memory of what happened to his parents or even who they were.

"I don't remember them," Hong Zhao said sadly for the benefit of the Li siblings. "I woke up in the forest with nothing but a name and this ring." He said as he looked at the ring feigning ignorance.

"The Li Clan does not have much in the way of resources or comforts, but I'm sure we can share what we do have with you." Li Wei sympathetically looked at the five year old boy. If he were five, he was sure this was what it would feel like to have an older sister looking out for him.

Hong Zhao pondered over what they had told him about Rantori Village. He didn't want to draw any conclusions right off the bat, but the more he heard, the more corruption he felt. These two seemed to be brought up humble, as he would see many children in his own world, yet maybe he couldn't imagine children in his world going up against fierce beasts. They might just sit on the ground and start crying for their parents. He smiled at the thought of how different their worlds were and wondered just how much change he could bring as a seventy year old special forces operative.

For the next few days, they traveled in silence. The fierce beasts slowly dwindled down to nothing as the treeline started to disappear. As they traveled, they ate the fierce beast meat that Hong Zhao had in his storage ring. When they stopped to eat, they would only have a small meal, giving small scraps of the meat to Shadow. After meals, they would cultivate for a few hours before bed.

At night they kept watch in two hour shifts, and each had at least eight hours of sleep with only little interruption from fierce beasts. The few encounters they did have, they woke Hong Zhao and he took care of them easily. It seemed that further from the center of the forest that they went, the less powerful the beasts were.

Within a week of their travels, the Li siblings had enough mastery over vortex thrust to keep up with Hong Zhao through the sparse treeline. Now they swiftly weaved past trees and made great time. Hong Zhao doubted it would take the month Li Wuhan had said it would take. He hadn't accounted for the large speed boost having a movement ability would give them.

The three would run out of qi every few hours and were forced to cultivate in order to replenish, resulting in their qi spirals growing ever so much more. Hong Zhao could feel that the bottleneck of the second star student rank was still far off, but even a drop of water an hour would eventually overflow a cup. He knew that eventually his qi would increase. He also knew that it wasn't just the qi that allowed the breakthrough. He would also need to use his abilities in life or death situations in order to excel. He would never tell Li Wei or Li Wuhan, but he was excited at the prospect of putting his life on the line in order to push forward. It was mostly what he did in his old world.

Li Wei and Li Wuhan had improved in the few weeks of travel. From constantly pushing themselves to the brink of exhaustion, they had lost much of their baby faces. Now Li Wuhan had much stronger legs than before, and even helped Hong Zhao take out a few of the fierce beasts they ran into. Li Wei tried to help a few times, but seemed to hide behind her brother when things got difficult. Hong Zhao would have to do something to break her of that habit. He still remembered her slapping her brother upside the head and knew she was daring enough if she were to just apply herself.

The trees dwindled into nothing as they raced towards a large hill in the distance. Hong Zhao marveled at how the blue sky seemed to encompass everything in this world. When they reached the top of the hill, he gasped. For miles around, it was just grass and nothing else. He remembered in his other life that most of the vegetation was taken over by a population of seven billion people. He remembered the thousands of cities and towns he had been to for his work. Some had a spacious view, yet most of his targets were in the center of large cities. Never in his old world would he have such a spectacular view of absolutely nothing.

"I suppose you haven't seen all of this before." Li Wei commented as she saw Hong Zhao's face light up like a candle. It was at those times she could truly think of him as a five year old child like herself. To see his face light up like that made her heart warm slightly. She had seen that face harden into something a five year old should never have. To see his kind eyes turn cold and merciless when he faced the two bandits.

The Li siblings decided it would be best to walk a distance, that way Hong Zhao could take in the scenery. They didn't know how he could stand to be in the claustrophobic forest for as long as he had.

As they walked, Hong Zhao noticed a path in the distance. When he pointed the siblings to it, they told him it was the trail that went towards their village. "It actually goes through our village to the capital city of Yuan, that's where the academy is located."

They quickly joined the path behind an elderly couple and continued towards Rantori Village at a slower pace. "Make sure to pay the appropriate respect to Elder Huang Ji. He gets really irritable if you do not bow before him when introduced. To not bow is to show disrespect to his family and would be a loss of face to him." Li Wuhan looked worriedly towards Hong Zhao. He didn't think the young boy was one to show respect to others, instead he had the aura of someone who demanded others to respect him.

"I'll do my best." Hong Zhao smiled. He knew that the type of person who demanded respect was often the one who didn't deserve it. It was always the one who didn't expect the respect that truly earned it. He himself would have to judge whether the man deserved what he had expected or if he had to be replaced with someone who deserved it.

Though he was a young child, his mind was flooded with scenario after scenario. Even if he was just going to Rantori Village to get a feel for this world, he had to be prepared for whatever might happen. He wasn't exactly a normal five year old after all. He still sat at the second star student level, yet he had slowly crept up the rank. His dantian was close to a quarter full, and he could tell it would still take some time to achieve the next rank.

"For now, it would be best for me to keep a low profile." Hong Zhao knew that a two star student was a match for no one in particular in a world like this. He had to get to a five star rank before he turned ten in order to be considered for the Yuan Academy. Only then would he start to climb the latter to the strength he needed to truly make a difference in the world.