"How are you?" Facing such a beauty, Qin Jian struggled to maintain his composure. He crouched down, extending both hands to help the girl sit up.
A blush spread across the green-haired girl's cheeks. Physical contact with a male was a first for her.
Qin Jian felt the smoothness of her skin. The faint fragrance lingering around his nose gradually relaxed his spirit. He glanced back again, confirming the giant gorilla was no longer a threat before relaxing.
Young Master Qin dearly wanted to take this opportunity to cradle the girl in his arms, but when he saw the clarity in her eyes, he felt embarrassed. He quickly straightened up, putting some distance between them.
He regretted it almost immediately, inwardly cursing himself for pretending to be pure.
"Thank you!" The girl, unaware of Young Master Qin's lecherous thoughts, blushed deeply as she nodded her thanks.
"What is this place?" Qin Jian reluctantly released her hand. Pretending to wipe his face, he brought his hand to his nose and sniffed—a clear fragrance rushed into his nostrils. Only now did he notice the dense forest surrounding him.
The girl looked at him curiously, her large eyes filled with confusion.
"Is there something on my face?" Qin Jian asked, perplexed, touching his own cheek.
"Sorry, could you speak in Elvish? The Divine Summoning Ritual should have imprinted Elvish in your mind," the girl replied somewhat sheepishly, quickly averting her gaze, too shy to meet Qin Jian's eyes.
Young Master Qin's face-wiping motion froze instantly.
Elvish?
No wonder the girl's speech had sounded odd. Now that he thought about it, although her words felt familiar and he could understand them, the pronunciation and syllables differed greatly from Chinese. It was a crisp, melodious, yet tongue-twisting language.
And he actually understood Elvish?
What was the Divine Summoning Ritual? Qin Jian's mind became a tangled mess, as if firecrackers had been set off inside.
Magical beasts! Magic! Elves! Could this be the so-called other world? The more Qin Jian thought, the more bitter he felt.
"I know you're confused. Honestly, I am too!" The girl lowered her head, tucking her legs together in an attempt to conceal the glimpses of skin revealed by her torn hide. "The Divine Summoning Ritual should summon an elemental spirit, but this time... it was you! I can't sense any elemental spirit aura from you."
Qin Jian had no idea what to say. He knew his face must be pale now.
After a long moment, when the girl swayed as if about to faint, Qin Jian hurriedly reached out to support her. The girl was exhausted; using the Divine Summoning Ritual had drained all her strength.
Looking around, Qin Jian spotted a large tree. He simply scooped the girl up in his arms.
The girl was very light, but her face flushed crimson! Trembling like a kitten, she nestled into Qin Jian's broad chest.
Only when Qin Jian gently placed her at the base of the tree, letting her lean against the roots, did the girl's tense mood relax.
Normally, Qin Jian would have been delighted to let the girl lean on him, but now, he had lost that mood.
Young Master Qin took a deep breath and looked at the girl with a resolute expression. "Can you tell me what's really going on?"
His Elvish wasn't smooth; it was his first time using it. But Qin Jian managed to express his meaning clearly.
"I am an Elf," the girl organized her thoughts. "Could you sit down? This might take a while."
Qin Jian sat cross-legged on the ground without ceremony, facing the girl, eyes wide open, afraid of missing any crucial details.
"Strictly speaking, I am a Priestess of our Elven race. Though I haven't been formally crowned, the ability to use the Divine Summoning Ritual signifies my qualification to inherit the Priesthood." The girl spoke slowly, pulling her body closer to the tree roots as she tightened her posture.
The forest wind was strong, and the sky darkened. Rain seemed imminent. Without thinking, Qin Jian took off his shirt and draped it over the girl.
"Thank you!" The girl thanked him demurely. A bewitching and noble aura appeared on her simultaneously.
"I sneaked out to gather materials for potions. On my way back, I encountered the Gorilla!" The girl glanced at the giant ape with lingering fear. "So I was forced to use the Divine Summoning Ritual, hoping to summon an elemental spirit to fight it. But I never expected..."
"I'm not an elemental spirit!"
"I know." The girl looked at Qin Jian with a trace of guilt, her voice growing softer. "Actually, my strength hasn't reached the level required to use the Divine Summoning Ritual. Normally, it would take me fifty years to truly become an Elven Priestess and gain that qualification. This time, forced by circumstance, I used the ritual... and that's probably why... I summoned you."
Qin Jian felt an urge to cry.
He gathered one piece of information from the girl's words: her insufficient strength had caused the Divine Summoning Ritual to fail indirectly. The elemental spirit wasn't summoned; instead, he was dragged over.
"I'm sorry!" A layer of mist clouded the girl's large eyes. Her gaze towards Qin Jian grew increasingly uneasy.
"Can you send me back?" Qin Jian asked the question he most wanted answered. Though this beauty was rare, thinking of the earlier battle made him desperate to return to his original world.
Even being killed by a truck was better than being swallowed alive by a monster.
"I can't!" The girl's eyes reddened. Qin Jian wanted to blame her but couldn't bring himself to say it.
"This might be the Moon God's punishment for me!" The girl's voice choked with sobs.
An elemental spirit was crucial to an Elven Priestess's future. A Priestess could only perform the Divine Summoning Ritual once in her lifetime. Success granted her the qualification to become a Priestess, and that elemental spirit would accompany her for life until death.
Throughout the Priestess's cultivation journey, the elemental spirit would provide her with the most powerful assistance!
But now... the girl hadn't summoned an elemental spirit; instead, she'd summoned Qin Jian. This was undoubtedly the Moon God's punishment.
Moon God... The two words popped into Qin Jian's mind. The ritual had imprinted all this knowledge into him; he naturally knew of this existence revered by the Elves.
The Moon God, Ai Ni Lu, was the spiritual pillar and source of power for all Elves.
Watching the girl sob, her shoulders shaking, her mouth constantly apologizing, Qin Jian couldn't bring himself to say a harsh word. He just patted her head gently. "It's okay. I don't blame you."
His father had told him to travel the world. Now he'd traveled to another world. He wondered if his father would be comforted knowing that.