As Jack walked toward the river…
Lili was also walking down slowly.
Old Jack walked slowly because he was old.
Lili walked slowly because he was a fucking sloth.
Lili heard a stick tapping against the ground, followed by footsteps behind him—but, like usual, he didn't care.
Buuuuut—
For Old Jack, it was different.
What he saw shocked him to his core.
He saw a fairy.
A beautiful woman.
Old Jack froze, unable to move at all. He was completely mesmerized by the sight before him—a woman wearing a yellow kimono, long dark-purple hair flowing down her back, eyes the same deep purple, unbothered and empty. She was tall, standing there like she didn't belong to this mortal place.
Old Jack gulped.
He knew what this meant.
She was a Soul Master. A cultivator.
And offending one was like offending the Buddha himself.
What could a village possibly do against a master?
Use their blue silver grass?
Their sickles?
Their sticks?
Their pots?
Their spoons?
Their knives?
Their chickens?
And many more useless soul tools?
Exactly.
So Old Jack—an experienced veteran of life—slowly formed a smile. With a polite, respectful tone, the kind used when addressing someone far more powerful and senior than himself, he spoke.
See? Told you. That's how respect is earned.
Old Jack addressed the woman. His voice was shaky. He stood about seven to nine feet away from her, yet he could feel something off—not just her ethereal beauty, but her skin.
It was pale.
Too pale.
Like a corpse.
Old Jack gulped again.
"May I know who this great Soul Master is?" Old Jack said, slightly bowing his head.
Then he waited.
And waited.
Silence.
Old Jack expected this. He was prepared to be ignored… or even killed by the silence alone.
But then—
The woman's voice flowed into Old Jack's ears and echoed directly into his mind.
It was deep and calm.
A mixture of a woman's voice and a man's at the same time—feminine, yet hoarse.
That was what Old Jack heard.
But…
He didn't understand a single word she said.
Not even a bit.
♤
Back to Lili…
Lili was walking down toward the village. There was a paved pathway, probably made by the people here. As he walked, he noticed an old man holding a cane.
Lili met the old man's gaze—but the old man immediately lowered his head. Lili could see him start to tremble, sweat dripping from his forehead.
Lili didn't care.
He kept walking, slowly passing by… but then he heard the old man speak.
It sounded familiar.
Lili knew this accent. He knew this way of talking.
But where were the subtitles?
Aren't there supposed to be subtitles below?
…Oh.
Wait.
I'm not watching some show.
I'm standing inside the show.
This realization hit him like lightning clapping in the background—but he quickly shook it off. Too bothersome.
Using his 1% IQ, Lili asked the system to do some magic so he could understand what the old man was saying. The system did its thing—acting as a middleman.
Not the scammer type of middleman.
A translator.
Guys, beware of middlemen.
You might be a victim someday.
A system panel appeared before his eyes.
Ding—
□ Language
Voice translation: "May I know who this great Soul Master is?"
"Hm… great Soul Master?"
Lili looked around but saw no one else nearby.
So this old man was probably talking to him.
"What's a great soul shit?" Lili asked the system.
The old man heard Lili's voice—and that only made him tremble harder. Goosebumps erupted all over his body.
Meanwhile, Lili continued questioning the system.
"Can you do something about this language barrier shit? It's annoying having to read every time someone talks—like watching and reading subtitles at the same time. Or just give me a Sharingan instead," Lili said sarcastically.
Then the system panel appeared again.
Ding—
□ Language
System will intercept the host's mind functions to understand and use this world's language.
"Ohhh… such a function. I love you, Shakky," Lili said to the system.
His face, however, remained completely uninterested and unbothered.
Ding—
□ Language Installation Progress
1% / 100%
10% / 100%
20% / 100%
30% / 100%
40% / 100%
50% / 100%
60% / 100%
70% / 100%
80% / 100%
90% / 100%
91% / 100%
93% / 100%
95% / 100%
97% / 100%
99% / 100%
99.1% / 100%
99.5% / 100%
99.99% / 100%
100% / 100%
Ding—
□ Language
Successfully installed. The system will now automatically translate this world's language and your language simultaneously, erasing the language barrier.
"Oh… I don't really get it, but as long as it works," Lili said, having patiently waited through the loading.
He then looked at the old man, who was still bowing and trembling in front of him.
Lili spoke in his own language—but when the words came out, they were automatically converted.
"Old man, do you perhaps know a way for me to travel fast to Suotuo City?"
He said it directly—no bullshit, no extra words. Just what he needed.
If the old man knew the answer, good.
If not, Lili would just move on.