The onomatopoeia "Duang" made Riven smile, and it also amused Dean. After shaking his head, he continued his story.
"Due to lack of proper food, I was quite weak during that time, like a malnourished patient, without much ability to resist. But this Heartsteel allowed me to use Blood Magic, so I quickly found an opportunity and dealt with those guys who were conducting the experiments."
"It's a pity that the Black Rose, having learned from previous mistakes, had already prepared an early warning system. They sealed off the laboratory, and I couldn't escape. That lab became my territory; I was inside, and the Black Rose guards were outside—they couldn't get in, and I couldn't get out."
"Until the Shadow Order caused a huge commotion in the Immortal Bastion. Perhaps it was an assassination, or perhaps a plunder, but in any case, they attracted the guards' attention, and that's how I managed to escape. But I never imagined that the Shadow Order would eventually turn their attention to me. If I had known this would happen, I would have gone west to the free territories or simply defected to Demacia."
"And then you came to Ionia." Riven was a little surprised, "The ports here... should still be blockaded, right?"
"As long as you pay enough, a blockade is never an issue." Dean revealed a contemptuous smile. "The war situation in Ionia now is different from when Swain was in charge. Look at the people Noxus has sent here: children under fourteen, slaves from the gladiatorial arena, relatives of criminals... Tsk tsk tsk, it's over."
Dean's words plunged Riven into silence—she recalled her warband, her comrades. They were all brave, but they were betrayed in the chaotic war and even became sacrifices for weapon testing.
The empire... was thoroughly rotten.
"Not many parts of my mind are unsealed." Dean pointed to his temple. "Among them are many interesting evaluations, a list of trust. I don't know how I got this list, but at least from my experiences so far, this list is quite reliable."
"Reliable is good." Riven finally pulled herself out of her thoughts. "After all that talking, do you want some water?"
"Actually, I'd rather have something to eat." Dean began to look around. "It's a shame about the lunch we prepared; our next meal won't be until Yun Gu Tan (Cloud Valley Pool)—luckily, I found something good."
Something good?
Feeling Dean's pleasant surprise, Riven followed his gaze to a nearby bush. Among the vines, she discovered a green fruit larger than a human head. It looked heavy, pulling its stem down.
"Honeyfruit, a gift from the chosen!" Dean excitedly moved closer. "I smelled the moisture from live water nearby earlier, and I didn't expect to find not only a stream but also Honeyfruit!"
Plunging into the bush, Dean carefully picked the fruit. After returning to Riven's side, he first gave her a look that said, "Watch this," then bent his index finger and gently tapped the stem at the end of the fruit.
With a "pop," the huge fruit burst open, ejecting eight or nine translucent fruits. Because Dean was prepared, all but two that flew too high and landed somewhere unknown were caught in his arms.
"Try it." Dean discarded the empty shell and, holding the front of his robe, came before Riven. "Eat it quickly; if it sits too long, it will solidify and become harder than a stone."
Riven took a fruit in her hand and observed it carefully. Inside the translucent skin, it was filled with what appeared to be thick juice, and in the very center was a green oval seed, slowly rotating.
"It looks like liquid inside, how do you eat it?"
"Suck." Dean concisely bit open a small hole in the skin and took a strong slurp. "Just like that—cough cough cough, it's too sweet, a bit irritating to the throat."
Riven nodded and, imitating him, bit open the skin and took a gentle suck.
It was indeed Honeyfruit; the juice tasted as sweet as honey!
However, as she savored it, Riven also detected a hint of malt aroma, which made Riven, who grew up on a state-owned farm, feel very familiar.
"Not bad, right?" Dean said to her with a smile. "With this Honeyfruit, it doesn't matter if we arrive at Yun Gu Tan (Cloud Valley Pool) a little later today, and we won't go hungry if we miss dinner."
"You seem to know a lot about ionian plants?" Riven asked curiously while sucking the juice. "Have you been here before?"
"Perhaps. Although I've sealed many memories, the knowledge distilled from those memories has not been lost." Dean picked up a second fruit. "How exactly, we'll only know when we reach the Garden of Forgetting and I unseal my memories."
"No problem." Riven discarded the shriveled Honeyfruit. "I'll go with you to find that garden."
...
With three Honeyfruits each, Dean and Riven finally got rid of the problem of not having a good lunch.
After identifying their direction, the two quickly left the dense forest and were back on the road—during which there was a small interlude. Just as they were finishing the Honeyfruit, a monkey scurried down from a tree, baring its teeth and hissing at Dean. Dean didn't tolerate him at all and hissed back decisively, scaring the monkey into running away with its tail between its legs.
Riven curiously asked him what he was saying to the monkey.
"That's a Python Monkey, a very primitive Vastaya species." Dean explained, "It told me that the Honeyfruit was its, and I said it didn't have its name on it. It couldn't argue with me, so it just ran off."
"So you also speak Python Monkey language?"
"It's Vastaya language." Dean stroked his chin. "A spirit realm language, not sounds and words, but similar to our current telepathic communication... Do you want to learn?"
Blinking, Riven remembered Dean's serious expression, winking and hissing at the Python Monkey just now. She barely suppressed the smile on her face and silently shook her head.
Learning ionian language would be good, but the monkey's hissing and chattering? No thanks!
Thus, the two chatted and laughed as they returned to the main road, winding their way northeast, crossing mountains and ridges, and chatting in two languages, allowing Riven to gradually develop a feel for the ionian language.
They traveled all day, from moonrise to sunset, under a sky full of stars. After crossing a mountain ridge, Dean and Riven finally saw their campsite for the night—Yun Gu Tan (Cloud Valley Pool).
