Chapter 141: Exaggerated Learning Speed

"This is truly incredible!" the old man exclaimed. "It must be because the Emperor has shown his favor!"

Ye Tian...

After a lengthy attempt at communication through hand gestures, the three of them reached no conclusion. Ye Tian finally gave up and made a motion of flipping through a book.

Sachiko, the girl, was quite sharp. She eventually understood his intent and hurried to lead him into a room. Before long, she retrieved a children's primer on the Japanese syllabary. It contained simple, everyday vocabulary—likely a book from Sachiko's own childhood.

It introduced basic Japanese grammar. Mimicking the pronunciation provided, Ye Tian managed to squeeze out a few clumsy Japanese words.

"Study, language, book!"

"You want a book to study Japanese, don't you?"

Sachiko had a sudden moment of realization. She quickly bid her grandfather goodbye, then brought out an old, oil-burning motorcycle from the backyard, signaling for Ye Tian to climb on behind her.

Ye Tian nodded and hopped on.

The pair traveled through country paths and onto the main road. After riding for a full half-hour, they finally reached a bookstore in town.

"Welcome!"

"Sister, please give us one copy of our Japanese dictionary and one pronunciation guide!" Sachiko said with a bright, innocent grin.

The clerk asked with a smile, "Please wait a moment. Is this for a child at home to study?"

"No, this fellow here needs to learn," Sachiko said, pointing at the tall, broad-shouldered Ye Tian, who was looking around curiously.

"Wow, this young man is quite handsome!"

"Right? I fished him out of the sea. He’s a foreigner, so I want to teach him some simple local language. Maybe it will help him out."

"Fished out of the sea?! Miss Sachiko, you are truly kind!"

Soon, the clerk returned with two books and handed them to Sachiko. Once he had the books, Ye Tian immediately opened them and began to read intently, his brow furrowed. With his cultivation level at the Hedao stage, his memory was such that it was no exaggeration to say he never forgot what he read. Every word and character he saw was etched into his mind after just a single glance.

"He's such a keen learner!" the clerk said with a maternal smile. "He’s a cute, handsome young man. Sachiko, you don't have a boyfriend, do you? Why don't you ask him if he’d like to stay and keep you company?"

"Oh, stop it! I’m only eighteen; I’m not in any rush to get married."

"My dear, in Japan, you can get married at sixteen! You're at the perfect age now. If you like him, don't let this chance slip away!"

With just two sentences, the clerk had Sachiko blushing so deeply she dared not respond. She sat quietly beside Ye Tian, watching him as he became completely immersed in his reading.

Before long, however, the young man turned toward her, pointing at various words and then at his own mouth.

"Do you want me to read them to you?"

Sachiko understood immediately. She began to read the words Ye Tian pointed to, one by one, using the most standard pronunciation she could manage.

"This one, this one, and this one too!"

As Sachiko read, Ye Tian listened, using every ounce of his focus to record the patterns of pronunciation in his mind. The two sat in a pavilion at the entrance of the bookstore until nightfall.

"Phew, we finally finished the entire dictionary. That wasn't easy," Sachiko said, stretching her arms. Just as she was about to use sign language to ask Ye Tian if they should head back, she heard the young man snap the book shut and say in proper, local-accented Japanese, "I have learned it all. Let's go back."

"Ah!"

The girl’s scream echoed through the darkening evening sky.

"You—you learned our language in just one afternoon?"

"Yes, it is a simple and easy-to-understand language. It’s just that my pronunciation is still a bit unpracticed, so it might sound a little strange," Ye Tian explained.

"No, not strange at all! You speak even better than some Japanese people!" Sachiko marveled. She even began to wonder if he had been pretending to be a foreigner all along to trick her. But the tall young man standing before her clearly had facial features quite different from the Japanese. He was undeniably a foreigner.

Generally, any Japanese person you met on the street had bowlegs and messy teeth. Japanese people were typically of average height and lacked such sharp, handsome features. A cute girl with a round face like Sachiko was already quite rare.

There was only one explanation: he was a genius at languages!

Sachiko felt a surge of excitement, though she couldn't quite explain why. In her innocence, she simply felt that Ye Tian was incredible and someone worthy of admiration.

"Thank you for saving me earlier. As a reward, I can grant you some wishes—wealth or power, whatever you desire."

"Nani?"

Sachiko was busy driving, wearing her helmet, and hadn't heard a word of what Ye Tian said.

Before long, they returned to the countryside.

"Alright, can you tell me about your background? If you haven't lost your memory, that is," Sachiko said, sitting at the dinner table and pushing the only bowl of fresh fish toward Ye Tian. "I'm curious how you ended up drifting to our Hokkaido shores."

"I was a passenger on a plane, and the plane crashed," Ye Tian explained concisely. "I am from the Dragon Kingdom. The plane was flying from the Peninsula to the Dragon Kingdom, but an accident occurred along the way."

"So that's what happened. You are so lucky to have survived something like that!" Sachiko exclaimed in wonder. "Perhaps the Emperor had mercy on all living things and saved you, even though you trespassed into our territory!"

*What does this have to do with the Emperor...* Ye Tian wondered. Were the Japanese people really this ignorant, believing that those selfish figures would be willing to bless them? Besides, they weren't gods, let alone immortals; they had no ability to bless anyone.

"In any case, thank you for your help," Ye Tian said sincerely. If Sachiko hadn't fished him out, he might have been carried by ocean currents into much deeper waters by now. If that had happened, it would have taken an immense amount of energy to return to the Dragon Kingdom, and he might have even died at sea.

"So, what I wanted to say is, as a reward, I can grant you some wishes. Money or anything else you might want."

"Ah, wishes..." Hearing such an ethereal word, Sachiko was momentarily stunned. She had lived in a fishing village her whole life; although she occasionally worked in town and knew a little about the outside world, her greatest understanding was merely hearsay about Tokyo, the capital of Japan.

The young man before her seemed like someone quite extraordinary... but she didn't have any particular wishes. Money, or something else?

After a moment of thought, Sachiko pouted and reluctantly said, "Why don't you come out to sea with me and my grandfather for a while? It's the peak fishing season, and we could use an extra pair of hands."