Chapter – 5 - You're The Boss!

Ye Luo stared at the un-moving human dumpling lying with her back towards him. His face was cold and expressionless, but his emotions were turning cartwheels within his mind.

'What....Isn't this a girl?...And she barely looks to be 10 years old!...Ohhh!...That must have hurt badly...I should check...Wait! What is a 10 year old girl doing alone in this forest?.....And she is not even a cultivator!.....I didn't come across any groups with missing members!...Could she be a shape shifting monster?...Yup, that must be it....must have hidden his cultivation level to trick other people and then trap them when their vigilance is down!....Oh....so sneaky!'

The shock and pain of the fall had frozen Rihanna from inside out. After what seemed like eons, her mind finally rebooted itself, and she let out a long muffled groan.

'That HURT!'

As she moved her limbs and neck she could swear that she heard her bone creaking. After a long while, Rihanna finally managed to pull herself to her feet, turning around to face this ruthless monster of a man!

The black clothed young man had already moved nearer and was sizing her up. From up close his features were even more delicate and refined.....very good looking...in an almost effeminate way! And his ears half hidden by his long hair.....weren't they a little too big and pointed?...He really did look like an Elf! But why was his brows furrowed?...He definitely didn't look too happy to see her!

Rihanna also stared back at him, wary and on high alert. This fellow was way beyond what she could currently handle. She wasn't even confident that she could escape unscathed. Both looked at the other, neither willing to break the impasse.

Finally Ye Luo lost his patience. He had more important things to do. The snake had already derailed his schedule. He needed to figure out if this girl was a threat and if he needed to deal with her. If not, then he could just move on.

"What kind of a demonic beast are you? You don't even seem to have any spiritual cultivation, so how did you manage to shape-shift? And how many people have you already trapped with this trick of yours? Do you kill them or do you have any other purpose? You better be careful in how you answer – any lies and you'll leave your head behind."

Rihanna blinked. Then shuddered. Then blinked some more. Of all the possibilities she had already comprehended in her mind – these questions were completely out of syllabus! She didn't know whether to laugh or cry!

She cautiously looked at him. "Ummm.....Uhhh.....I am not exactly sure what you are trying to ask, but.....I am human..."

Ye Luo's frown deepened as a look of displeasure flashed in his cold eyes. Before Rihanna had finished, he lashed out at her with a vine-whip.

Rihanna panicked and scrambled out of the way. The whip followed wherever she dodged. Very soon she was reduced to a pathetic looking beggar, her clothes askew, hair in a bird's nest, deep and shallow cuts ripping through her clothes and skin as blood trickled down. She cursed the man and the relentless whip in her heart, but kept dodging and screaming at the same time. Hopefully he would show some sympathy.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! You don't need to start attacking even if you are unhappy with me! Can't we talk and sort this out....like normal civilized people?!....This is a misunderstanding....I am really human!....Come on....there must be some way you can tell if I am really human or some shape-shifting beast!"

Something flashed in Ye Luo's mind – something his master had once said when he covered this part of the lesson. He had said that no matter how powerful the beast, but since they were of two different species, even their human forms would have differences. Like, their blood was either green or orange. This disheveled, pathetic looking girl on the other hand, was definitely bleeding red through her myriad wounds.

A feeling of guilt rose in his heart and he immediately retracted his vine-whip. Looking at the girl pull herself to a boulder, groaning in pain, and sit down to catch her breath, he took out a couple of medicine bottles from his inner world. Then he awkwardly reached out and placed them before her. Rihanna looked at the bottles, then looked at the guy like he had a few screws loose.

"Ahem...cough.....How did you end up in this forest? You don't even have any cultivation and yet dare to venture into Poison Swamp without any cultivator companion....You sure have guts!"

Rihanna – who had just picked up one of the jade medicine bottles, stared at the young man in bewilderment. This guy who was scolding her with an awkward blush spreading up his ears.....was he the same one who was trying to take her life a moment ago? She retracted her gaze and concentrated on the bottles before her. One of them contained a strange yellow liquid with a very strong medicinal scent. The other contained some thick black paste with a very strong pungent smell.

"Ahem.....drink three drops of the liquid. The paste is to be applied on your external wounds."

Rihanna looked at him again. This fellow seemed to be quite different from her first impression. Her heart settled down a bit.

"You are poisoned...shouldn't you be taking care of yourself first?"

Ye Luo glanced down at the wound on his ankle. He was at Mid-Stage Foundation Building Level, so this kind of wound was superficial and could not cause much damage. Still...it did hurt.

Both of them settled down in their own space, cleaning and patching up their respective wounds.

"Here" Rihanna handed back the medicine to the guy. "My name's Rihanna. You wounded me, but you also gave me medicine. So shall we call it even? What's your name?"

"Ye Luo."

Ye Luo looked at her in surprise. There was something off about this girl, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

'This guy who looks like an elf, has a Chinese sounding name!'

Rihanna once again shook her head at the weird concoction of geography, ethnicity and culture of this strange planet.

"I don't really know who I am. I woke up near the cliff near the south side around a month ago. The only thing I could remember was my name."

Of course she was not going to tell someone that she had transmigrated. This world seemed much more dangerous and unpredictable than her home planet. So till she had a better idea about how things worked in this place and what the people were like, she could only fall back on the much used and abused, the favorite trope of all television soaps – Amnesia!

Ye Luo could feel his eyebrows twitching. Seriously?!.....Well...if it was true then it was quite pitiful.....but he had a mission to follow. He was here to find the Flaming Ice Coral which grew underneath the swamp at the border of the second and third layer. And then had to rush back to his Master. There were too many dangers, and he couldn't afford an extra burden. But....

"If you fell down the cliff at the south side, most probably you came from around Moon-Grave City. There is a path near the boundary of first and second level which will take you out. I will be crossing near it, so you can follow me till there, and then take the path out. But you need to follow the rules – don't wander around and follow closely; Follow every instruction I give you without question; And during fights with demonic beasts, make yourself as invisible and inconspicuous as possible."

Rihanna mused over it for only a second. None of the rules were difficult to follow. Most importantly, he was a walking encyclopedia for her – she could find out a lot about this world with least effort. No losses, only gains – what's to think?

"Okay. You're the boss. No matter what you say, I'll follow it to the T. So boss – lead the way!"