"Farts? What do you mean?" Gray kept his face a perfect mask of polite curiosity.
Matriarch Zareena continued. "It was quite the spectacle. But what Ziye and I can't quite wrap our heads around is the mechanism. It seemed to trigger only when he spoke a falsehood. Even in the higher realms, we have truth-seeking artifacts, but none are so... crude, and so specific. How did you do it?"
This was the question he had been dreading. Gray knew he couldn't tell them about the talisman.
That would lead to questions about where he got it from.
As someone who had barely set foot outside the clan, where in the world would he get such an item?
No matter what, he must not arouse suspicion, especially regarding the System; it was a secret he would take with him to the grave.
He had to play dumb, and he had to be convincing.
He put on a look of genuine confusion. "The... what? You mean Jamal? I thought he just had a really bad stomach ache."
Ziye's cold gaze sharpened. "Do not play the fool. It was perfectly synchronized with his lies."
"Wait, you're saying it only happened when he lied?" Gray asked, his expression a perfect picture of dawning realization.
"Honestly, I was so focused on the hearing, I didn't even notice the pattern." He looked down, as if embarrassed.
"I'm just a cripple, Matriarch. I don't know any secret techniques that could do something like that. I was as surprised as everyone else."
He then looked up, a thoughtful expression on his face as he concocted a piece of folk wisdom on the spot.
"Although... my Grandpa Meno always says that when a person lies with a truly guilty conscience, their inner Qi becomes chaotic and 'leaks' out the lower gates. I just assumed that's what was happening. Is that not a common phenomenon?"
Ziye stared at him, her expression unchanging. "How ridiculous."
But Matriarch Zareena just laughed, a sound like tinkling bells.
"Hahaha! Oh, that's a good one! You're a terrible liar, little monkey." Her tone wasn't threatening, but playful.
"But that's fine." She waved a dismissive hand. "Keep your little secrets for now. It makes you more interesting."
Gray let out an internal sigh of relief, though his face remained placid.
'She knows I'm lying,' he thought.
"So, where exactly are we going?" asked Gray, trying to change the subject.
"We don't really have a fixed destination, although we are searching for something, the chances of actually encountering it is quite low." Ziye said.
"For now, we simply explore the surrounding areas, scanning for anything interesting."
Matriarch Zareena nodded. "When we go to an area, Ziye uses a special technique to deep search the surrounding area, which includes the multiple folds of space.
It usually takes us about three days to fully search a 100,000-kilometer stretch of land before we move on to the next."
Gray, who had been listening absentmindedly, blinked. "Eh? So that means next, we'll be traveling for 100,000 kilometers?"
"That's right." Ziye smirked. "For someone like you, who's never even ventured more than 100 kilometers from your clan, it must be an unimaginable distance."
Gray fell silent. 'Forget 100km… I don't think the previous Gray even made it further than 10.'
As they travelled through the wilderness, the vastness of the world truly hit him then.
The previous Gray had spent so much of his life confined within the same walls, following the same routines, never even daring to dream of anything beyond them.
Even in his previous life back on Earth, he could circle around the whole world and the distance still wouldn't be half as much as 100,000km.
But now, here he was, venturing into lands unknown, his first real step into the world of immortals and gods!
The flying carriage, sleek and elegant, which Ziye expertly piloted, moved effortlessly through the sky, a stark contrast to the turbulent emotions swirling within Gray.
Then, suddenly—
A monstrous presence filled the air.
Gray turned his head just in time to see an enormous flying Fierce Beast hurtling toward them.
Its sheer size was staggering, it stretched over five kilometers in length, with its wingspan blotting out the sky like a living storm.
Before Gray could react, before he could even process the fear creeping up his spine, something unimaginable happened.
Ziye flicked a single finger.
The monster exploded.
It was instantaneous. There was no struggle, nor resistance, just a grotesque rain of shredded flesh, staining the air with the scent of blood.
Gray sat there, frozen.
He had already known Ziye was strong.
The fact that even the clan head feared the two of them spoke volumes about their power.
But to see it firsthand, to witness such absolute destruction with nothing more than a casual flick of her finger…
His mind reeled as he muttered, "Whoever becomes this girl's husband is surely going to be in for a ride."
"What was that?" Ziye asked as she gave him a side-eye.
"I said, wow, that was impressive!"
Matriarch Zareena, however, was not pleased.
"You idiot." she snapped. "That was a Blue Clawed Waterbird, you should've spared the body! What a waste of a wonderful meal."
Ziye merely shrugged, unbothered.
With an irritated sigh, Matriarch Zareena muttered, "Just how are we supposed to find another one as tasty as that?"
"Are you a foodie, Matriarch?" asked Gray curiously.
Matriarch Zareena's eyes lit up with a rare sparkle, the kind that only surfaced when food was involved.
She straightened her back proudly, as if Gray had just touched upon her very identity.
"Food isn't just sustenance," she declared, her voice carrying both gravitas and passion. "Food is art. Food is life. Food is war and peace all on one plate. Let me tell you, Gray, back in my homeland I wasn't just respected for my cultivation or strength! No, no. I was revered as the Wild Empress of Gourmet!"
She puffed her chest with such pride that even the air seemed to ripple around her, as if the heavens themselves recognized her title.
Gray blinked, feeling quite impressed. "The… Wild Empress of Gourmet?"
"Indeed!" Matriarch Zareena's lips curled into a smug smile.
"The fiercest warriors trembled before me not for my blade, but for my cooking. They would line up for hundreds of kilometers just for a single bite of my roasted Sky Serpent or my honey-glazed Fire Hare. Even the Nine Supreme Elders of the Dao Opening Sect once begged for my recipe for braised Phoenix egg! But of course…" she flipped her hair with pride.
"I refused! Some secrets are too sacred to share."
Gray muttered under his breath, "Although I have no idea who those people are. It definitely sounds impressive."
Ziye, completely unbothered, yawned and said, "Old woman, not everyone wants to hear about your bragging."
Matriarch Zareena's eyes narrowed dangerously as her eyes swept against Ziye, but decided to ignore her and instead turned to Gray.
"Not everyone understands greatness, Gray. One of these days, when your teeth sink into the flesh of my roasted Blue-Clawed Waterbird, you'll weep tears of enlightenment."
Gray could only swallow hard. Somehow, he felt like failing Matriarch Zareena in this matter of food was far more dangerous than crossing her in combat.
…
Soon enough, another flying Fierce Beast emerged from the horizon, drawn by the scent of blood. It was a 10,000 year old Silver-Winged Skywhale which had a cultivation of Peak Truth Realization.
This time, Ziye didn't obliterate it outright. Instead, she raised a hand, and an unseen force crushed the monster's life from within.
Its body dropped limply from the sky, landing with a dull thud far below.
"Tch, I guess this will do. It's not as good as a Blue-Clawed Waterbird but it's better than nothing." Matriarch Zareena complained, still resentful about Ziye obliterating the Blue-Clawed Waterbird's body.