Stranger Danger

About a teatime later, a gigantic island appeared before Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou. The island was covered in lush trees. Their green canopies looked like umbrellas from a distance, and the flowers looked like strips of silk on the ground. All kinds of extraordinary birds and beasts were playing in them. It looked lively and vibrant.

Even better, the island was moving in the direction of the sun.

Upon closer inspection, they discovered that the island was, in fact, not a real island.

It was a giant whale. An unimaginably gigantic whale.

An ordinary whale was about a hundred meters long on average[1]At. However, this one was over a thousand meters long, and its massive, undulating body looked like a mountain range.

Its size and the fact that its back was covered in plants, birds and beasts were why it looked like an island.

"What a humongous whale!"

Ye Qing looked down at the giant whale with clear astonishment in his eyes. "Is this the Sunchasing Dragon Whale?"

The reason he said this was because the head of the giant whale was shaped like a dragon's. For starters, it had thin, long whiskers growing out of the corners of his mouth. It generally looked like a fish, but there were golden dragon scales growing out of its stomach, gills, and other places. It was also brimming with true dragon power and giving off tremendous draconic pressure.

"I think so."

Feng Qingyou was overflowing with curiosity herself. "This is the first time I saw a Sunchasing Dragon Whale."

"OOO OOO..."

It was at this moment the Sunchasing Dragon Whale slowly lifted its draconic head and let out a deafening, resounding roar at the direction of the sun. Its roars sounded like the blare of a horn, loud and echoing.

As it roared, the forest on the Sunchasing Dragon Whale's back erupted into a flurry of activity. The birds flew everywhere, and the beasts took off in multiple directions like ants. It would be a long time before they finally calmed down.

After the Sunchasing Dragon Whale was done roaring, it sank its head into the sea water and began swimming in the direction of the sun.

Feng Qingyou smiled at Ye Qing. "It looks like you guessed correctly, Joyless. The legend of the Sunchasing Dragon Whale is true."

"Yeah, it looks like I got lucky this time." Ye Qing was watching the forest on the Sunchasing Dragon Whale's back curiously. "Wanna go down and check it out?"

He had seen a whale tomb before—a large floating island born from the death of a large-sized whale Stranger—but the whale tomb he saw was much smaller than the forest on the Sunchasing Dragon Whale's back, not to mention that this Stranger was still alive.

How did such a large forest thrive on the back of the Sunchasing Dragon Whale? How did it have so many different types of flora and fauna? And how did this natural ecosystem co-exist with the Sunchasing Dragon Whale? It was all so curious.

"Sounds good."

Feng Qingyou replied affirmatively. Clearly, she was no less curious than he was.

The two of them put away the Cloud Boat and floated down into the forest.

The Sunchasing Dragon Whale did not respond to Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou's intrusion at all. Then again, would a giant elephant care if a pair of ants climbed onto its body, or a pair of mosquitos happened to fly past its eyes? Probably not.

In the Sunchasing Dragon Whale's eyes, they were just insignificant insects.

The duo began taking a stroll after landing in the forest.

They didn't realize it just now because they were in the sky, but now, they realized just how massive the trees were.

Unlike any other tree they had seen on the continent, these trees were huge, tall, and perfectly straight. They had massive canopies of branches, leaves, and fruits.

The trees were all the same species, and yet the fruits they bore were incredibly varied. Some were crystal clear, some were as white as snow, some were red as fire, and some were juicy and emerald, some were pink and fragrant.

The forest floor was adorned by lush green grass and colorful flowers, and darting between the tree canopies and the forest floors were all sorts of birds and beasts that Ye Qing had never seen before. They were also snakes, insects, mice, and ants coming and going as they pleased.

Conspicuously, the animals weren't fighting or devouring each other. The law of the jungle did not exist here. Somehow, they were co-existing in harmony with each other.

Case in point: Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou were uninvited guests who had intruded upon their sanctuary, and yet none of the animals responded negatively toward them. They simply eyed them until they satisfied their curiosity before going back to whatever they were doing.

There was neither wariness or hostility.

"What a magical place this is!"

Both Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou felt like they were exploring a hidden paradise right now. Everything was wonderful and peaceful.

"There's people here?"

The duo eventually passed through the forest and arrived at a flat, massive clearing. There were many evenly distributed square fields on it.

Each field was growing a different type of crop. There were corn, wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, sorghum, soybeans, and other fruits and vegetables.

Most of these crops should not appear in the same season or even the same region, but this place was an exception, apparently. Not only did they look incredibly healthy, it looked like they were moments away from harvest.

Beside the fieldlands were several treehouses. Judging from the smoke rising from the chimney, someone was cooking a meal.

It was at this moment a door opened, and a young girl about eight or nine years old stepped out.

The girl was rubbing her eyes and yawning like she had just awakened. She was clearly dragging her feet and swaying as well.

Suddenly, the young girl seemingly spotted Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou on the other side of the fields.

Maybe it was because she was groggy with sleepiness, but she thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her. She rubbed her eyes again and took a deep yawn.

When she looked again, she realized that the two strangers were still there. She wasn't seeing things. She immediately froze in place like a statue.

About five or six breaths later, the young girl's mouth slowly turned into an O-shape. Then, she let out an ear-piercing scream.

"Ahhh!!!"

"It's early morning! Why are you shouting?"

An impatient voice came from inside the house, and a woman in her thirties stepped out.

"What's wrong, Lil Yu?"

The woman was impatient at first, but she grew worried when she saw the terrified expression on her daughter's face.

"Mom... human... look... a human..." stammered the young girl while pointing at Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou.

"Human? What human? Where—"

The woman subconsciously followed the young girl's finger. She did not manage to finish her sentence before she saw Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou standing at the distance. She froze in place.

In response, Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou gave her a nod and a polite smile.

Kwang!

The ladle the woman was holding hit the floor, but she did not seem to notice it. A few breaths later, she too started screaming, "Husband? Husband! Old Fang! Scholar—"

"What's wrong?" The people inside the rest of the wooden houses appeared after hearing the woman's shouts.

"Humans! They came from outside!"

The woman pointed a finger at Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou with clear shock and excitement in her voice.

Her neighbors caught sight of the duo at the same time and became incredibly happy and excited as well.

That's right. None of the villagers exuded any malice whatsoever. There was only pure excitement and joy. It was as if they were meeting an old friend they hadn't seen for a very long time.

The villagers immediately stepped around the fields and strode toward them.

Naturally, Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou went over to them.

1. I suspect the author wanted to type a hundred feet but er, fucked up because I don't think there are 100 meter long whales like, ever. Then again maybe 100 meters is standard in this world. ☜