Ye Liang looked at the two people rushing toward him and decisively chose the latter!
He released the old man and pulled Nao Uzumaki into a tight hug.
"It's alright, it's alright! I'm back now, aren't I? Why are you both so teary-eyed?"
Nao Uzumaki twitched her lips slightly!
She had no intention of hugging Ye Liang at all—it was just that when Ye Liang let go of Old Man Shizhi, he accidentally pulled her into a hug.
"There's no need to be so courteous, Master Ye Liang!" She struggled hard to break free from Ye Liang's arms and finally escaped his embrace. "Master Ye Liang, where did you go? And why haven't we seen you in so many days?"
"I went off to train," Ye Liang replied casually, then glanced toward the village. "By the way, you still haven't answered me—where did all the villagers go? Also, where's the village headman? Actually, I really should thank him!
If not for him, I wouldn't have found so many Yomi beasts!"
After speaking, Ye Liang threw down half of an Ice Spring Beast's head he had been carrying.
Shizhi Xiao and Nao Uzumaki finally saw clearly what Ye Liang had been carrying.
"This... this is an Ice Spring Beast! Master Ye Liang, did you go to another major region?" The old man carefully examined it further, growing even more shocked. "Its skull is already this solid—it's an Ice Spring Leader! How is that possible!"
"Hahaha!" Ye Liang laughed out loud. "This is mainly thanks to the village headman. If it weren't for the location he pointed out, I wouldn't have gotten such a huge reward! Not only did I find the Ice Spring Beast this time, but I also happened to locate a Yehuo Beast as well!"
"A Yehuo Beast?"
Upon hearing that, Shizhi Xiao's expression immediately turned odd.
"Oh right! Where's the village headman? I still need to thank him too!"
"Uh..." Shizhi Xiao swallowed nervously. "The village headman has already been arrested by Her Ladyship."
"Arrested? Why?"
"Because he lured you into a dangerous area, seriously violating our community's principle of mutual help among villagers. Naturally, Her Ladyship wouldn't let him go unpunished."
"Lured me? No way. I actually thought I should thank him."
Nao Uzumaki suddenly blushed red-faced: "Master Ye Liang! Please, just stop talking about it! Your killing of a villager's son has already gotten out, and during the incident, the man's wife was nearly completely naked while you were there...
Anyway, please behave yourself a little more!"
"What?!"
Ye Liang was completely stunned!
He understood exactly what Nao Uzumaki meant, but he never expected her to take it that way.
"I admit it—I did kill someone! But there's another side to this story!" He hurriedly tried explaining, but once Nao Uzumaki heard him confirm his involvement, her expression immediately darkened.
"So you really are that kind of person after all," Nao Uzumaki said coldly and turned away, unwilling to hear anything else behind her.
Old Man Shizhi shot him a knowing look and eventually walked off too.
"Damn it! I was forced to defend myself!"
The next day,
News about Ye Liang returning to the village had already spread far and wide!
As the central figure involved, Ye Liang now felt tremendous pressure. He scanned around at the people nearby—seemingly nobody wanted to stand close to him anymore. Even his former friends, Old Man Shizhi and Nao, were keeping their distance.
Even though he wanted to explain himself, no one seemed willing to listen.
"Alright! Since everyone's here, we'll get ready to head out." Mikamitsu Shirabe led the group at the front.
Today was the day they were heading to the competition. Besides Ye Liang, many other young people from Peach Blossom Village were participating as well, such as Nao Uzumaki and Ichiro Matsushita.
Originally, the Village Headman's son also had a spot, unfortunately he was killed by Ye Liang!
Seeing nobody paid him any attention, Ye Liang silently walked to the side of Mikamitsu Shirabe. Both were equally ignored—Mikamitsu Shirabe was also walking alone.
"Her Ladyship, I really didn't do that thing! I admit I killed someone, but sleeping with the village headman's daughter-in-law—I really didn't do that!"
"What's the point of telling me all this? I don't care anyway."
Mikamitsu Shirabe's voice had turned even colder, which annoyed Ye Liang greatly.
He knew that although Mikamitsu Shirabe talked a lot, there was still a slight bias toward outsiders. If not for his outstanding talent, it wouldn't have been the Village Headman lying in the jail today—it would've been him!
The group arrived at a desolate, empty area.
There were no living creatures here, only scattered Lost Fallen wandering around.
Ye Liang scanned the surroundings. He'd actually been here before! This was the exact place where he awakened after falling into the Yomi World!
"Aren't we going to the Yomi deity's palace? Why are we coming here?" Ye Liang murmured to himself, but no one paid any attention. At that moment, another team appeared in the distance.
This other team consisted entirely of men, with the leader being a muscular guy with his shirt off—obviously another subordinate of the Yomi deity.
Ye Liang noticed that Mikamitsu Shirabe personally went forward to greet him, immediately understanding the situation.
He scanned the opposing team with sharp eyes—and suddenly recognized someone familiar!
"White Fang!"
At the end of the opposing team stood his old acquaintance he'd met when he first arrived in the Yomi World.
"You're Ye Liang!" White Fang spotted Ye Liang waving and strode right over. "Hey! How come you're here too? Aren't you supposed to be hiding in another settlement?"
"Haha, don't ask. Originally I wanted to find the Yomi deity to escape, but then I ran into all sorts of things..." Ye Liang began recounting the events he'd encountered.
Of course, he carefully left out quite a few crucial details.
"So that's how it is! So now you're under Her Ladyship's command?" White Fang suddenly understood.
"Mm-hmm." Ye Liang nodded. "By the way, what about you? Didn't you used to protect the village? How come you're here now? Are you here to participate in the guard selection too?"
"Exactly! That area has always been under Lord Oda's jurisdiction. One time when I was fighting Fallen outside the village, Lord Oda happened to see me. Seeing my strength, he invited me to join the selection team."
"Congratulations then," Ye Liang offered his wishes to White Fang.
"By the way, has your secret about being human been exposed?" White Fang asked again. Ye Liang quickly covered his mouth. "White Fang, we can talk about anything else, but better not mention this. I feel like revealing my identity is definitely no good."
He looked at White Fang solemnly, his eyes heavy with unspoken weight.
"I see..."
"Uncle White Fang nodded solemnly. Since Ye Liang didn't want to talk about it, he saw no point in bringing this up—it would do neither of them any good.
When they were done talking, each returned to their own side.
As for being human, Ye Liang no longer wanted to make this public.
Previously, he had made a deal with Izanagi no Mikoto: if he could steal a wooden comb from the Yomi deity's palace [the underworld goddess's domain], the latter would help him escape to the living world.
If his human identity were exposed, it might bring up a host of dangerous complications!
This was something Ye Liang definitely didn't want to see.
Rather than entrusting his fate to a complete stranger—some unknown Yomi deity—he'd rather give Izanagi no Mikoto—the old schemer—a chance to prove himself!"
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