Gaston paused, looking at every man at the campfire one by one to emphasize the point.
"But that does not mean we are safe!
"Every extra night that passes we run the risk of leaving behind traces for them to discover, or to be outright found.
"We need to get out of this forest, which is territory that we do not know, and that they know very, very well."
Hasso nodded his head in agreement along with the others, but asked something that he wasn't sure about.
"I also think we should leave their territory Mr. Rainer, but how do we go about doing that?
"The nearest human kingdom is several months away."
What he said was true.
They had been lucky in the fact that they arrived on this new land in the first place.
Their precise landing location however, was not so lucky.
Surrounded on all sides by different creature's territories, it would take a miracle for 4 Innate Realm Warriors to travel across such a distance without being spotted even once the entire way.
And that is what it would take.
According to the Blue Ape Leader, humanity is not on the best of terms with every other civilization that isn't human, which is all but a handful.
Should a human be discovered this far behind enemy lines, this deep into hostile territory, they would be hunted to the ends of the Earth.
Or... to the ends of whatever this planet's name was.
The bad news didn't end there however, as Gaston had additional information on the matter.
"I wouldn't be so eager to return to human civilization Hasso, you may not find what you are looking for."
Hasso turned his head to look at Gaston, who was staring at the campfire as he continued on talking.
"Whilst the Blue Ape Leader was speaking, he revealed something unintentionally that is very important to us.
"According to him, there was no way that we weren't a part of nearest human kingdom, as there were no other humans within even a year's walking distance from this place.
"If we really weren't a part of the nearest human kingdom, then he jokingly remarked that we must have then come from across the sea, from the Poisoned Land!"
Turning his head, Gaston looked back at each one of the men that he had taken this journey with and took in the changes in their expressions.
It was his first time hearing his continent being called by the name of "Poisoned Land," and he wanted to know if this was news to the others or if someone had already known about this.
Unfortunately, Gaston didn't get the reaction he was hoping for, as all four of them looked surprised by this revelation.
As the most temperamental one amongst them, despite the fact that he had been a hunter for the last two decades, Nicolaus was the first to react.
"Poisoned Land? What does that mean?"
Raising his hand to prevent Nicolaus from barraging him with questions, Gaston told them all he knew about the matter.
"Apparently, this Blue Ape had learned of this while it was studying at it's local academy."
Before he could continue however, Nicolaus burst out laughing, whilst the others were doing their best to suppress their laughter.
Wiping a tear from the corner of his eyes, Nicolaus asked, "These animals have their own academies?
"What do they study there, ape math and science? Hahaha."
His joke finally broke the other men sitting around the campfire, as laughter broke out.
Gaston however, wasn't laughing.
After a little while, the laughter gradually died down as they saw that Gaston was not joking. When it became quiet again, Gaston continued.
"Yes, Nicolaus, they have their own academies. They have their own armies, they have their own entertainment, and they also have their own social structure.
"They are a civilization, and when those four Blue Apes do not return from where they came from, you will also learn, Nicolaus, that they also have their own hunting parties.
"I for one, Nicolaus, don't want to experience the feeling of being hunted down like an animal all across this forest that they are familiar with, and we are not.
"So, would you like me to finish explaining to you so that we can get as far away from their territory as possible, or would you like to continue to crack jokes?"
Under Gaston's calm and expressionless stare, Nicolaus's face dropped, as he slightly lowered his head.
"In this academy that he went to, the Blue Ape learned that far away, across the Blood Sea, there was a Poisoned Land that was once human territory.
"What had happened to it, it was not too familiar with, but it did say, that it was common knowledge that there were no living beings on that continent.
"In fact, nobody has come out of the Poisoned Land alive, for more than 100,000 years."
Pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts and let the new information sink in for his men, Gaston then continued.
"Now, if we are discovered to be the first humans to have come out of there alive after such a long period of time, we will be captured and have our souls searched for information, by beings far above the Qi Refining Stage.
"So, the truth can never be brought to life.
"Luckily for us, this Blue Ape Leader was far more familiar with the nearby geography than most of it's kind.
"According to it, there's a human village that's isolated from the nearby Human Kingdom, just over two month's walking distance away from us.
"Apparently, as punishment for some crime, a minor noble had been exiled from the Kingdom and been made to live on the outskirts of the border.
"That had been more than 300 years ago however, by now, the noble was long dead.
"Nowadays, his descendants, the people living there are nothing more than farmers, struggling just to survive.
"The only bad news, is that we have to travel across Blue Ape territory in order to reach it."