Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Common Language

Actually, it’s quite simple to identify who is an expert; just see if there are many spectators. Generally, experts always attract a lot of attention.

Chen Shouyi wasn’t in a hurry to practice; he observed one person after another.

At this moment, he paused as he noticed a large group of people gathered ahead, even attracting glances from several nearby Archery Dojo coaches.

This was an indifferent middle-aged man, with a lean and compact physique. Underneath the casual sports short-sleeve shirt, his exposed arm muscles were fine and closely-knit, resembling tightly wound steel wires. Every time he shot an arrow, it emitted a sharp whistling sound.

His actions were filled with rhythm, as if carrying a certain pace. Although the speed of his shooting was neither fast nor slow, it gave people a continuous feeling like flowing clouds and water.

Chen Shouyi quietly watched for quite a while and then walked to the rest area, leaned back on a seat, closed his eyes as if resting his mind. He sat there for two hours. When he opened his eyes, that middle-aged man was already gone.

However, he didn’t mind, as he had already gotten what he wanted.

“Is there anything you need help with?”

“I want a 300-pound bow!”

Chen Shouyi received a bow and three quivers of arrows and went to an empty spot.

He tested the force of the bow and found it a bit light for his current strength, but he didn’t intend to change it since a 300-pound bow was the test standard for male Martial Artist Apprentices.

Generally, an ordinary adult could only pull a 40 to 50-pound recurve bow. Once a bow exceeds 100 pounds, it goes beyond a Hunting Bow into the realm of a War Bow. The power of a 300-pound bow at medium to short range could rival that of a rifle.

Similar to swordsmanship, archery also has a set of standard power exertion and movements, but it’s much simpler than swordsmanship and tests one’s eyesight, intuition, and prediction ability more. There aren’t many tricks, besides innate talent it just requires practicing repeatedly.

For someone as skilled in swordsmanship as him, getting started was no challenge.

He closed his eyes and recalled the muscle memory of that middle-aged man in the Memory Space earlier.

The next moment, he opened his eyes and immediately started shooting arrows.

The movements were smooth and seamless, incredibly perfect!

The arrow swiftly flew out, disappearing without a trace.

Chen Shouyi shook his head and shot another arrow; this time it hit the target, but only registered as a one-ring.

The third arrow missed the target again.

The fourth arrow hit three rings!

And by the fifth arrow, he could generally hit the target.

He continuously drew and shot arrows. With his strong physique and endless strength, a 300-pound bow was effortless for him, causing almost no exertion.

In no time, he had finished the arrows in three quivers.

He gathered more arrows, adjusted the distance of the target position, and continued shooting without resting.

For safety, each archery position here was separated by walls so one could retrieve arrows anytime.

His proficiency improved visibly and rapidly. By the time the Archery Dojo closed, his archery level had moved from (uninitiated) to initiated (10).

…

At half-past nine in the evening, he carried a briefcase and returned to the hotel.

Just as he was about to go upstairs, the receptionist called him: “Young man, your package has arrived.”

“Oh, thank you!” Chen Shouyi thanked and hurriedly went back to his room with it.

He closed the door, sat on the bed, and tore open the package. Inside were three thick books.

“Common Phrases for Communicating with Barbarians”

“Universal Dictionary of the Otherworld”

“Learning Barbarian Language with Pictures”

For some reason, within the currently explored regions by human nations, the language in the otherworld seems to be singular. Regardless of the spatial distance between Barbarian Tribes, whether the tribe believes in deities, or even among some other intelligent beings different from barbarians, the language is nearly the same.

This is an utterly incomprehensible phenomenon, beyond human reasoning.

Many scientists have conducted countless studies on this. Only in recent years, with the rapid development of genetics, has a more credible explanation been made. Studies found their genes have significantly more effective segments related to language, almost dozens of times more than humans, yet their linguistic capabilities are not stronger than humans at all.

In evolutionary terms, this phenomenon is a severe waste, a huge redundancy.

Some scientists speculated an astonishing hypothesis that their genes might be able to inherit language information.

However, since its inception, this hypothesis has been highly controversial because it can lead to an even more bizarre conclusion.

That is, all creatures in the otherworld originated from the same source.

This origin isn’t like Earth, where the first organic molecule emerged from the primordial ocean soup.

The “origin” of otherworldly life should at least be an intelligent being capable of language communication. After “it” perished, “its” cells and genes began to disperse. Countless lives evolved from this foundation.

And “its” language was inherited through genes.

…

However, for Chen Shouyi, regardless of how mysterious and unimaginable the origin of otherworldly creatures might be, at least for him, he didn’t have to worry that the Shell Lady’s language was some obscure and strange dialect beyond his ability to handle.

Thinking of the Shell Lady, Chen Shouyi quickly opened the newly purchased, brand-new briefcase.

Took out the bound Shell Lady from inside.

He tore off the tape stuck on her mouth and cut open the ties on her hands and feet.

The Shell Lady moved her hands and feet, gave Chen Shouyi a resentful glance, and turned her head in anger. But when Chen Shouyi handed over a colorful glass bead, she immediately beamed with joy.

She held it up to the light, gazing at the changing, enchanting colors, and the more she looked, the more she liked it, making her feet on the edge of the table sway back and forth involuntarily.

These glass beads, like those used in children’s bead strings, were quite cheap, only thirty yuan for a large box, and Chen Shouyi bought a box with several hundred, if not a thousand, in various colors.

Chen Shouyi reckoned they could last a long time.

After feeding her honey, Chen Shouyi placed her by the pillow, turned on the TV, and switched to cartoons.

And then he left her be.

She is now quite captivated by TV, especially cartoons. Even though she couldn’t understand, she watched with fascination just from the visuals, her eyes not blinking.

Meanwhile, Chen Shouyi picked up the easiest book, “Learning Barbarian Language with Pictures,” and began earnestly learning the otherworldly language.

After a while, he suddenly said to the Shell Lady, “Bo Zha Luo Ke Ba Duo!”

In the book, this sentence means: “We are friends!”

However, the Shell Lady seemed oblivious, her eyes fixed on the cartoons, fully engrossed.

Chen Shouyi took the remote, turned off the TV, and repeated it once more.

The Shell Lady was furious, stood with her hands on her hips, and loudly shouted, “Bei Qi! Bei Qi! Bei Qi!”

She no longer feared this giant much, as long as she could find enough golden sandstones for him, no matter how presumptuous she acted, he wouldn’t mind, except, of course, when she’s bound and confined.

“Bei Qi?” Chen Shouyi was not at all concerned with the Shell Lady’s anger. He listened intently to this slight sound, silently pondering in his heart, and quickly took out the dictionary to search by phonetic sound, but unfortunately, after searching for a long time, the meaning was still unclear.

Could there be a pronunciation error?

“Bei Qi, Tai Qi, Pei Qi, Pei Qi!”

“Pei Qi!”

At that moment, he suddenly recalled the cartoon she just watched, a flash of inspiration: “Peppa Pig!”

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