Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1470 - 1463: Thick-skinned

Chapter 1470: Chapter 1463: Thick-skinned

"Hmm..." Balan fell into deep thought, hesitated for a long while, and then carefully said, "There is a small hole in the wall of the great witch’s backyard. Axiang and I are good friends; she always asks me to bring her tasty treats and fun things. Every time we meet, I pass them to her through that hole."

"Are you going to meet now?" Cheng Ziang asked with concern.

"We just met yesterday." Balan honestly replied.

"Didn’t she and the great witch perform a ritual last night to protect the village? Shouldn’t you go and visit her and thank her?" Cheng Ziang gently persuaded.

"It seems so..." Balan scratched his head, seemingly confused.

"Why does the great witch not allow them to interact with outsiders?" Cheng Ziang curiously inquired.

"I’m not sure, but their status is very sacred. They only meet with everyone during rituals and help the great witch conduct them," Balan answered.

"There shouldn’t be any conspiracies," Baiyue analyzed after hearing Cheng Ziang’s description, "If I were the great witch, I wouldn’t allow those girls to randomly interact with outsiders either. It causes a lot of trouble, and what if someone gets hurt or pregnant? Missing just one person would weaken the effect of the Magic Array, you know, and it’s meant to protect the village."

"We should try to interact with them when we get a chance," Cheng Ziang said.

"That’s if we get a chance; Miss Zisu already said that we are setting off today," Baiyue reminded him.

"Look at this weather; can we set off?" Cheng Ziang spread his hands.

As the words fell, both of them simultaneously looked towards the balcony. Outside the house, the rain poured heavily, the sound of it stirring them up. The rain had started last night and hadn’t stopped since, growing even stronger.

"Not going might be good too, I wanted to rest a bit myself; it was cold all last night." Cheng Ziang said, wrapping the blanket around himself, only then realizing it was cold enough to see his breath.

"I’ll sort out yesterday’s documents too. If the weather gets a little better, you can come out with me to gather some more local folklore," Baiyue said as she continued to arrange her documents.

"Why do I have to go?" Cheng Ziang asked, puzzled.

"Nonsense, you speak the language of the Ghost Race. If you don’t come, should I ask Feng to translate for me?" Baiyue gave him a look and spoke irritably.

"Oh well, whatever," Cheng Ziang shrugged, showing a nonchalant expression.

When not speaking, Balan stared intently at Feng. Perhaps because Feng had saved her, despite knowing Feng was a girl, she couldn’t suppress the affection brewing in her heart.

Feng didn’t like being stared at like this; feeling cornered under Balan’s gaze, she moved closer to Baiyue, adopting a dependent posture beside her.

"When did this girl become so clingy?" Baiyue was focused on organizing her documents, so she didn’t know what had happened, she reached out to pat Feng’s head while continuing to write her notes without looking up.

"Speaking of which," Cheng Ziang suddenly thought of something, picked up his mask, and with a beaming face said, "This craftsmanship, this texture, it’s simply fantastic. Are you all so skilled at making masks?"

"Do you really like our masks?" Hearing his words, Balan asked with some delight.

"Ah, of course," caught by how easily Balan bit the hook, Cheng Ziang perked up and quickly joined in the conversation, "We are very interested in the customs of other nations, heard that the Ghost Race is famous for their masks, so we wanted to learn about your mask culture."

"If you like, we can give you a few... no, as many as you want..." Balan said excitedly.

"This might not be appropriate, no no..." Cheng Ziang pretended to be surprised, waving his hands repeatedly.

Though Baiyue couldn’t understand their conversation, seeing Cheng Ziang’s actions and hearing his exaggerated tones, she roughly guessed the content. She sighed helplessly, shook her head, and felt somewhat embarrassed herself.

"My mother has always been troubled, always feeling like she wants to repay the benefactor but doesn’t know how. If you need them, our family can give you masks, our family has many masks, we can give them all to you!" The Ghost Race uses short syllabic phrases, so Balan’s pauses became notably accentuated when she was excited.

"Uh... does making a mask take a long time?" Cheng Ziang scratched his head and asked awkwardly, unsure if he was genuinely embarrassed or just pretending.

"My mother needs about five days to make one mask, but if it’s the village craftsmen, they can make one in just two days; they are very skilled," Balan honestly answered.

"Um... haha... haha..." Hearing her words, Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but grin.

He turned his head to look at Baiyue, who gave him a look of disdain, shook her head helplessly, and lowered her head to continue with her own work.

"Actually," Cheng Ziang pressed his palms together, interlaced his fingers, and said sincerely, "we really like your mask culture, we think it’s cool. Using masks to express one’s identity and mood is a genius idea, so... actually... we’d like to have our own masks, rather than just pick any... because it always feels too casual, feels like we can’t fully integrate with you."

Cheng Ziang said so much and so tactfully, but the core message was just one sentence--he wanted a custom design.

"I can help," Balan clenched his little fists and volunteered, "If you want your own masks, I can help. I believe my mom would be very willing to make personalized masks for you."

"It sounds troublesome, maybe let’s not," Cheng Ziang posed as though playing hard to get.

"No, it’s not troublesome. If we can’t even do this, not only would my mom be very upset, but the Grand Shaman would also be displeased," Balan seriously replied.

"Well then, okay, okay," Cheng Ziang put on a reluctant face and cheekily said, "The thing is, we actually want to design the patterns ourselves and then have you help us make them, you see..."

"You guys want to design it yourselves?" Balan tilted his head and asked.

"Is that not okay?" Cheng Ziang asked somewhat guiltily.

"No, no, of course that’s fine!" Balan waved his hands.

Getting Balan’s affirmative response, Cheng Ziang was so delighted that he almost burst into laughter, but to maintain composure, he held back.

He turned to Baiyue and said, "Yue’er, give us a hand."

"What help do you need?" Baiyue asked, looking up puzzled.

"Designing the masks, let them help us make them," Cheng Ziang winked and said.

"You figured it out?" Baiyue asked in surprise.

"Of course!" Cheng Ziang replied, proudly putting up his thumb.

"You really are a dead pig is not afraid of boiling water..." Baiyue showed a look of disdain again.

She sighed deeply, flipped to the last few pages of her notebook, took up a pen, and asked, "What to draw?"

"Um, just draw the four guardians, Azure Dragon and White Tiger," Cheng Ziang thought and said.

"The four guardians?" Baiyue paused at his words.

"Can’t draw it? Is it too abstract?" Baiyue asked.

"That’s not it, I just worry if they might misunderstand it," Baiyue said.

"Oh, it’s fine as long as it has the right feel," Cheng Ziang waved off the concern.

"Alright." Baiyue nodded and bowed her head to start drawing.

"Thank you." Cheng Ziang turned to look at Balan and thanked him sincerely.

"No, I should be the one thanking you. Without you, I can’t even imagine what I would have faced," Balan said, his eyes dimming, and his body trembling slightly.

"It’s all in the past now. Be careful next time. When the Faceless Ghost comes again, make sure to hide well and not run around. Otherwise, we might not be here to help you next time," Cheng Ziang comforted.

"I wish you guys wouldn’t leave," Balan said sincerely.

"Don’t say that, we are only staying here temporarily, we still need to go home. Of course, if there’s a chance, we will also come back to visit you," Cheng Ziang smiled and said.