Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1015: How Could There Be a Path to Immortality in This World? (23)

The moment the treasure bestowed by his sect shattered, Yun Hui felt a sharp pain deep in his heart.

But there was no time to dwell on the pain, as Windchaser had already raised his fist for a second strike.

Such an overwhelmingly powerful attack—he could throw another one without hesitation? And it seemed like he didn’t even need any buildup time?

What kind of monster was this?

Yet, there was no time to think. As Windchaser’s second punch landed, Yun Hui’s consciousness completely faded away.

This punch didn’t directly hit Yun Hui or Lao Lang—it was just a strike through the air. But the shockwaves and pressure alone were enough to knock them both unconscious instantly.

Windchaser exhaled slowly, maintaining his punching stance as the shadow behind him gradually dispersed.

“Why did you stop?” Mo Xiaofei asked curiously.

Windchaser scratched his head irritably. “I just really hate that kind of attitude, but it’s not to the point where I have to kill them… Besides, I don’t want to bring trouble to everyone. And… Big Bro wouldn’t want to see me kill someone.”

—May you have good fortune. If not, may you learn compassion in misfortune. May you be loved by many. If not, may you learn tolerance in loneliness… May you, little by little, grow up.The moment killing intent surged within him, for some reason, these words echoed in Windchaser’s mind.

A voice that seemed to embrace even his soul wiped away his anger in an instant.

…

“I see.”

Mo Xiaofei nodded but said nothing more. He just found it fascinating—this wild, untamed little demon had a surprising gentleness about him.

“Big Bro, what are you doing?”

Mo Xiaofei remained silent, but he was already moving. He crouched down and picked up the box Yun Hui had taken out earlier, fiddling with it.

“Fingerprint lock?” Mo Xiaofei frowned slightly, then grabbed Yun Hui’s hand and pressed it against the designated area on the box. Moments later, a projected interface appeared.

“Big Bro?” Windchaser stepped closer.

Mo Xiaofei spoke calmly, “No matter what, we need to understand how the current government views demons and cultivators. Besides… these two already know about my presence. Even though my true identity hasn’t been exposed, still…”

Mo Xiaofei glanced at Windchaser, who looked at him in confusion. After a moment of contemplation, he said, “Windchaser, go find some rope.”

“Huh?”

…

When Gongsun Shiyu arrived, Lai Caisheng stopped playing, and the melody came to an abrupt halt.

Gongsun Shiyu glanced at Lai Caisheng’s hands—smooth and unblemished, like those of a newborn baby, almost unnaturally perfect. “Why didn’t you finish playing White Snow in Early Spring?”

Lai Caisheng’s hands remained on the strings as he looked up with a faint smile. “Winter is still here, and the snow has not yet melted. How could there be an early spring?”

Gongsun Shiyu sat down and casually took Lai Caisheng’s guqin, placing it in front of him to continue the unfinished piece.

However, just as he was about to play the final segment, the guqin’s string suddenly snapped. His fingers paused, and he frowned slightly.

A snapped string—an ominous sign for any musician.

Lai Caisheng spoke softly, “I told you, the snow has not yet melted. How could there be an early spring? Some things cannot be forced.”

Gongsun Shiyu chuckled. “For someone destined to be the 72nd generation head of Heavenly Heart, saying something like ‘some things cannot be forced’—don’t you find that ironic?”

Lai Caisheng quietly began preparing tea, while Gongsun Shiyu patiently waited.

They drank tea in silence until light snowflakes drifted outside the pavilion. Only then did Lai Caisheng finally say, “I need you to retrieve something for me.”

“Retrieve?” Gongsun Shiyu looked at him in surprise.

Retrieving something meant that it originally belonged to Lai Caisheng but was either stolen or loaned out without a proper way to reclaim it.

“It’s an item needed for the final ritual of the grand ceremony,” Lai Caisheng explained. “A fellow cultivator originally sent it to me a few days ago, but it was stolen midway.”

“I’d like to meet the person who could steal from you,” Gongsun Shiyu remarked with a smirk.

Lai Caisheng handed him a slip of paper. “This contains an estimate of their current whereabouts. Supposedly, it’s a white-haired woman, so she should be easy to spot.”

Gongsun Shiyu frowned. “An estimate? That doesn’t sound like the kind of precise information you usually provide.”

Lai Caisheng shook his head. “Mt. Tai has become a complete mess recently, like a murky pond where no one can see how many fish are swimming in it… After all, you’ve come as well, haven’t you?”

“Well, since it’s for the ceremony, I have no choice.” Gongsun Shiyu pocketed the note, stood up, and left the pavilion.

Lai Caisheng watched him go, then rubbed his hands together and blew into them for warmth. “It’s really cold…”

…

…

The medical checkup didn’t take Song Ying and Zhang Qianrui long. Soon, they walked out of a hospital called Ren Ai.

There were no abnormalities with their bodies, but they couldn’t get their blood test results that same day—after all, the hospital’s medical equipment wasn’t particularly advanced.

Still, they both let out a sigh of relief—at least the physician who took their pulse said their conditions were normal.

“Want to grab something to eat?”

Song Ying bought two jianbing guozi (Chinese pancakes) from a street vendor in an alley, and they sat in a small park outside the hospital to eat.

Zhang Qianrui had initially planned to wait for dinner, so eating now felt a bit out of place. But Song Ying thought she was being too rigid. “Girls have a separate stomach for afternoon snacks. Don’t worry about it!”

Zhang Qianrui found that logic ridiculous… but jianbing guozi wasn’t something she ate often.

“I heard from my grandfather that there’s some collaboration happening between your family and mine,” Song Ying suddenly mentioned. “Do you know when it’ll start?”

Zhang Qianrui thought for a moment. “According to my grandmother, it should begin right after the Lunar New Year.”

Song Ying chewed her food and mumbled, “Tomb excavation, huh… It still feels so distant from my life.”

Zhang Qianrui was curious. “I’ve heard that the Song family has taken on various commissions. My grandmother also said that our families have worked together many times before…”

Song Ying shook her head. “I don’t handle that side of the business. My grandfather or uncle usually takes care of those things. In fact, for the past four or five years, my uncle has been the one overseeing relic explorations. I just manage the internal affairs of the corporation… What about you? Do you visit those kinds of sites often?”

Zhang Qianrui set down her food, looking somewhat uneasy as she gazed out at the street. “No, this will be my first time.”

Song Ying gave her a surprised look.

Zhang Qianrui spoke softly, “My grandmother said this is part of the Li family’s legacy. Now that I’m the only descendant left from both families, even if I don’t manage this business in the future, as a Li family member, I should at least gain some experience in it. She told me that our ancestors were deeply obsessed with exploring Emperor Qin’s tomb… I suppose it’s their lifelong dream? That’s also why they agreed to this collaboration with Japan. After all, opportunities like this don’t come often.”

Song Ying curiously asked, "But since it's your country's own historical site, is it really okay to develop it in collaboration with foreigners?"

Zhang Qianrui sighed helplessly, "There's really no other choice, is there? They have the map to enter, and even if we refuse to cooperate, they'll still find someone else. Once an imperial tomb is excavated, damage is inevitable… Rather than letting someone else do it, it's better if we handle it ourselves. At least we’ll be mindful of protecting it as much as possible."

There were rumors that this family often found ways to return valuable artifacts to the country.

"You have it tough too." Song Ying sighed in empathy.

She herself had to shoulder almost half of a corporation's responsibilities, while Zhang Qianrui had to balance two prestigious family legacies… and had also lost her parents at a young age.

Suddenly, she felt a sense of camaraderie.

"Hey, Zhang Qianrui, how about—" Song Ying instinctively wanted to say something.

"That person…" But Zhang Qianrui spoke at almost the same time, still looking at the street outside the park.

"That person?" Song Ying followed her gaze in confusion.

She saw the back of a tall woman in casual clothes… long golden hair. The way she walked instantly reminded Song Ying of an etiquette instructor from the elite girls’ school she had attended in her youth.

"What a perfect silhouette… What about her?" Song Ying asked curiously. Zhang Qianrui seemed slightly dazed.

"She…" Zhang Qianrui hesitated before looking at Song Ying. "She looks like Luo Qiu’s girlfriend."

"Oh…" Song Ying nodded absentmindedly, blinked, then suddenly shot to her feet. "What did you just say?!"

"Calm down." Zhang Qianrui shrank back slightly. "I only met her once, so I might be mistaken…"

Though she said that, someone so striking would be hard to forget or misidentify after seeing them once.

Song Ying, however, immediately grabbed Zhang Qianrui’s wrist and pulled her up.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"What do you think? We're following her!" Song Ying declared as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We need to see who she really is! Gather intelligence—no, no! As a member of the Song Family, I have a duty to know who will be marrying into our family! I won’t let just anyone in!"

What a flimsy excuse…

But somehow, she wanted to follow along too.

The two figures stealthily left the park and searched around until they spotted the golden-haired woman again.

Sneaky.

…

Onions, chives, dumpling wrappers.

The store’s owner cheerfully wrapped up the items and handed them to a tall blonde woman at the counter. A foreigner—though this was a small town, it was also a national tourist area, so seeing foreigners wasn’t rare.

Of course, seeing one this beautiful usually only happened in movies or on posters.

"Thank you very much."

"You’re too polite!" The store owner laughed warmly. Such a well-mannered girl was truly pleasant to interact with… and her Mandarin was impressively fluent. Had she grown up in China?

"Are you planning to make dumplings?" The store owner couldn’t resist a little small talk—after all, it wasn’t every day she got to chat with a foreigner, especially one this stunning. This story alone would be worth bragging about for days.

"Yes, I thought I'd give it a try."

"You haven't made them before?" the store owner asked curiously.

The blonde woman smiled gently. "I know how, but I don’t make them often. This will be my first time doing it properly."

The store owner squinted with a knowing expression. "You're making them for your boyfriend, aren't you?"

The blonde girl’s smile didn’t change. "Why do you say that?"

The store owner smirked. "Because of the portion size. If it were for a family, it would be way more. This is just enough for one or two people… a couple, perhaps?"

Faced with this question, the blonde woman simply smiled gracefully and nodded before leaving the store.

The store owner blinked in confusion after she left, looking around. "Huh? When did she disappear?"

Still, her attention was quickly drawn to two other beautiful women passing by in a hurry… though they seemed a little sneaky.

…

"Where is she?"

Song Ying widened her eyes in frustration. She hadn’t been trained in tailing people, but she had picked up a few tricks over the years—unfortunately, she had lost her target.

"She should’ve gone this way, but I really can’t see her now," Zhang Qianrui shook her head.

Though they had followed for a short while, neither had actually approached or asked anything directly.

"I don’t believe this." Song Ying frowned.

Just as she turned around, she stepped on something, lost her footing, and fell hard onto the ground.

She landed with a painful thud, letting out a groan—she had slipped on a frozen patch of snow.

"Are… are you okay?" Zhang Qianrui hurriedly helped her up.

"What do you think…" Song Ying grimaced. Her lower back ached terribly, and even walking felt difficult.

"Maybe we should just head back," Zhang Qianrui suggested. "I might have been mistaken… Besides, if it really was her, Luo Qiu wouldn’t just do nothing, right?"

"Help me up…" Song Ying sighed. "And you’re driving."

Zhang Qianrui couldn’t help but chuckle but supported Song Ying as they slowly made their way to the car.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a seven-story building nearby, a pair of deep blue eyes watched them leave. The wind tousled her hair as she tucked a strand behind her ear.

"These two women… are they going to be a bit of a problem?" she murmured.

(End of Chapter)