Otherworld Advance Team-Chapter 54 - 50 Setting Off

54: Chapter 50: Setting Off

54 -50: Setting Off

After everything was ready, everyone left the villa and arrived at the manor.

In the middle of the road, a horse carriage was parked.

On it sat an Aud man who looked very sturdy.

He wasn’t very talkative, and upon seeing the crowd approach, he simply bowed his head slightly in a humble way without uttering a word.

The carriage looked quite unadorned, like a typical mixed goods and passenger vehicle, with wooden planks for seats on either side.

A tarp was draped over the top to shield against wind and rain.

A strong, brown horse was hitched to it, looking robust.

Before Luo’er and the others boarded, the carriage had already been filled with cargo: grain and supplies needed for their journey.

Luo’er was the first to board the carriage, which creaked under his weight.

The sound stirred a sense of unease in the others, but the carriage itself proved very sturdy, at least to Luo’er’s judgement.

For those who have been living in a modern society, they found it quite novel to encounter such an old-fashioned means of transportation for the first time.

One by one, everyone got on board.

Tangmo was the second to scramble up and immediately leaned against Luo’er, grinning broadly.

Cheng Ziang climbed on with ease, then turned back to lend a hand to Hu Daoke, who appeared clumsy.

Hu Daoke glanced at him.

Despite the hint of a smile on Cheng Ziang’s usually cold face, he brushed his hand away irritably and clambered into the carriage.

Once he was aboard, everyone felt the entire carriage sink noticeably.

The carriage driver looked back and caught Luo’er’s eye.

Luo’er gave a brief nod, which the driver returned, though with a sense of disdain in his eyes that Luo’er found baffling.

Turning his head, Luo’er locked eyes with Baiyue.

Her expression was still as cold as ever, but Luo’er could sense a hint of displeasure in her gaze, which left him even more confused.

Once everyone was aboard, the staff accompanying them gave the driver a few instructions.

The driver then raised his whip, and the carriage slowly began to move.

The route from the manor to Yazhi City was asphalt, courtesy of the influence of Earth.

As a frontier city connected to Earth, Yazhi City had adopted many of Earth’s styles and concepts.

Plus, the trans-world trade made the lord of Yazhi City extremely wealthy, resulting in the city’s and its surrounding areas’ infrastructure being much more developed than other cities.

They traveled on the smooth asphalt road until they left the boundaries of Yazhi City; beyond that, the treatment wouldn’t be as good.

Thanks to the smooth asphalt road, the carriage moved relatively quickly.

Luo’er pulled back the canvas cover from the carriage’s window, peeled his eyes on the distant cityscape—an amalgamation of Earth and Otherworld architectural styles.

The towering walls of Yazhi City protected the main body of the settlement, but outside the walls, scores of high-rise buildings and streets had sprouted up, extending outward continuously.

The Otherworld Gate situated within the city’s outskirts was eye-catching and could be spotted at first glance.

The gate reportedly required magical energy to function.

At the Otherworld Gate, Luo’er didn’t feel the flow of magic within his body.

But the further they moved away from the gate, the more he could feel the rich magic coursing through him.

It felt weird, yet not uncomfortable in any way.

Urged on by the driver, the robust horse trotted along, pulling the carriage bearing several passengers without any strain.

They passed by other carriages from time to time, who, like them, kept to the right.

Trees planted by the roadside sped past them.

The boundary of Yazhi City wasn’t that vast, and by sunset, they had already left and moved onto the so-called official road paved with cobblestones.

Despite the rough surfaces of the worn cobbles that jostled them about, the carriage continued to travel, albeit at a significantly reduced speed.

The bumpy ride left everyone in the carriage feeling rather uncomfortable.

Luo’er barely managed to cope, while Tangmo had already thrown up a few times.

He lay slumped against Luo’er, squinting his eyes as he tried to rest.

As the sun completely set, the carriage stopped near a forest to make camp for the night.

Nights in the Otherworld were much more dangerous than on Earth, with not only bandits lurking by the wayside but also famished wild beasts.

In such a place, lit mostly by the moon, venturing out in the dark was clearly a risky move.

After setting up camp, they started a fire.

Luo’er efficiently took out cooking utensils and ingredients from the carriage cargo and began to prepare dinner.

He was quick and soon whipped up a pot of fragrant potato meat stew, which was served with baked bread.

The aroma and taste were both so delicious they left everyone wanting more.

After serving everyone, Luo’er turned to see the carriage driver, who sat a short distance away, nibbling on coarse bread.

So, he scooped up a bowl of stew for him as well.

The driver looked at the steaming bowl of stew before him, then up at Luo’er, his eyes filled with an indescribable emotion.

After a moment of hesitation, he accepted the stew and set it on the ground, expressing his gratitude to Luo’er with multiple bows.

Luo’er acknowledged it with a smile.

He wasn’t particularly bothered by the disdain in the driver’s eyes.

Or rather, he didn’t think it was worth getting angry about.

Hu Daoke was a big man with a big appetite.

He finished his food quickly but still felt unsatisfied.

Luo’er took a look at his own bowl and then handed it to him.

If you’re still hungry, have mine, he suggested.

What about you?

asked Hu Daoke, rubbing his hands nervously.

I’m fine.

I’ll just have some compressed biscuits, Luo’er replied.

Well, that’s overly kind of you, Hu Daoke said, laughing as he reached out to take Luo’er’s bowl, only to be slapped away by Tangmo.

Sister Moumou, why did you do that?

A sullen Hu Daoke questioned.

Luo’er hasn’t eaten yet.

If you take his share, what will he eat?

Tangmo scolded, frowning at him.

I… Hu Daoke scratched his head, speechless.

I’m fine, you all need to eat well for the journey, Luo’er placated, smiling gently.

No way, if it continues like this, Luo’er’s health will suffer!

Tangmo glared at Hu Daoke, her stern face causing him to back off.

I’ll just make some more then, Luo’er said, standing up to put down his bowl.

“Luo’er, you need to stop spoiling him!” Tangmo lifted his head to speak to him.

“Little Ke is carrying all the supplies for our team, so he needs to eat well.

I think we have enough food with us to last until we reach Holy Heart City, so making more is no issue.” Luo’er replied, turning around to start preparing the meal.

“Luo’er should only be gentle to me…” Tangmo grumbled quietly, his cheeks puffing out in annoyance.

After they dealt with dinner, Luo’er checked his mechanical watch.

It was only 8:30 p.m., but they still had to continue their journey the next day so they had to rest early.

The seasons in Otherworld matched that of Earth’s northern hemisphere, and the day and night times were akin to the eastern eight zones of Earth.

Therefore, as it was summer time in the northern hemisphere of Earth, it was also summer in the Otherworld and it was night time in both places at 8:30.

However, though both worlds were similar, their circumstances were entirely different.

The politics, economy, and even the cultural system of Otherworld was at least a thousand years behind Earth.

When Earth already finished its third industrial revolution, Otherworld was still in its feudal era.

Despite the rapid development of military technology over the past thirty years of communication between the two worlds, it still fell below the pre-World War One standards on Earth.

Therefore, when Luo’er and his team set up camp at the edge of the forest, the only companions they had were the faint stars and the campfire.

The night was alive with the symphony of insects, partying in the wild, making camping without a campfire a dangerous matter.

According to their rules, they needed to assign someone to keep watch during camping to ensure someone was always conscious.

Tangmo, as the captain, inevitably pulled the duty of watching over the first half of the night.

Luo’er was to take over the second half after him, hence he had to sleep early.

Tangmo leaned against a tree trunk, cradling Luo’er’s loaded and safety-off pistol in his arms.

If danger struck, all he needed was to make a loud enough noise to wake the team instead of needing to use the gun for attack.

Luo’er closed his eyes, yet moments after dozing off, he felt someone approaching.

He opened his eyes to see Tangmo sitting beside him, on his sleeping bag.

“What’s wrong, Moumou?” Luo’er asked while looking at her.

“A bit scared.” Tangmo never hid her feelings in front of Luo’er.

“Would you still be scared if I’m here with you?”

“No,” Tangmo shook her head and said, “Luo’er, you sleep.

I’ll just stay here.”

“Remember to wake me up for the later half of the night.

Don’t push yourself.” Luo’er was about to close his eyes when he saw her fearful face in his peripheral vision.

He sighed, rose, and wrapped his sleeping bag around him to lean against the tree with her.

“You wouldn’t be so scared with me beside you, right?”

“Mmm.” Tangmo responded gently, moving to lean on his arm.

“I’m so tired today after riding the whole day.

We have to do the same thing for the next ten days.” Tangmo sighed, leaning on Luo’er.

“Regretting it?” Luo’er asked suddenly.

“Uh,” Tangmo shook her head then added, “It’s actually quite exciting to see different places and different views every day.

Plus, we’re all together so it doesn’t matter where we are.”

Luo’er opened his mouth as if to say something, but merely sighed in response.

“What is it, Luo’er?” Tangmo asked, tilting her head up to look at him.

“Sometimes I wonder if it was right to bring you all to Otherworld.

After all, there are too many unknown dangers here.

If anything happened to any of you, I would be to blame.”

“That’s not true,” Tangmo retorted, furrowing her brows at Luo’er’s self-blame.

“We chose to come to Otherworld ourselves, you didn’t force us.

If you keep worrying like that, you’ll be under too much strain.”

“And,” she added, “as team captain, I should be responsible for any trouble the team gets in, not you.”

“When have you ever acted like a captain though?” Luo’er chuckled, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry.

“It’s because you’re too outstanding, Luo’er.

It’s why I seem to fade beside you.” Tangmo looked at him earnestly.

“Really?” Luo’er averted his eyes in embarrassment.

“So, until I’ve grown up and taken on my responsibilities as captain, you can’t leave me, Luo’er!” Tangmo said with a squeeze of his cheek.

“I understand…” Luo’er’s voice got lower and softer, and Tangmo could clearly notice his cheeks burning.

“I’m going to sleep now.” Luo’er finally muttered after a long silence.

“You go on and sleep.” Tangmo repositioned him, leaving him undisturbed to doze off.

Looking at Luo’er’s peaceful face, illuminated by the fire and under the starry night, a surge of complicated emotions washed over Tangmo, making her exhale a long sigh.