Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1021: How Could There Be a Path to Immortality in This World? (29)

"Master, you’re back."

At the same time, the maid, Miss, suddenly spoke in a cheerful voice. Before this, Yōu Yè had likely been busy in the kitchen. When she emerged, she was holding a tray with some food on it.

This created an interesting triangular formation—the three of them happened to be standing in a perfect triangle.

The sound of the grandfather clock in the corner had not yet fully stopped. The chimes had rung about eight times by now.

Luo Qiu coughed lightly and casually said, "Yōu Yè, bring Miss Nero a set of clothes."

The maid smiled at Luo Qiu and nodded before walking up to Nero, presenting the tray to her.

Nero, who didn’t seem to find anything strange about her current state, happily took the tray with both hands and exclaimed, "Ah! I’ve been looking forward to this, Miss, your cooking!"

"There are actually prepared clothes for you, Miss Nero," the maid said softly. "Also, could I trouble you to eat in the restroom?"

Nero blinked… Eating in the restroom? That sounded like a rather sad situation.

"Can I…?" The maid, Miss, smiled again and asked."…Alright."

Somehow, Nero felt that if she refused, she might drop dead the next second. She quickly secured the tray with both hands and stepped backward, disappearing into the hallway.

"Master, the unclean things have been dealt with," the maid said as she turned back.

Dealt with… Luo Qiu could only smile awkwardly.

"Welcome back," the maid quickly followed up.

This was Luo Qiu’s first return since the club had moved back.

"I’m back," Luo Qiu nodded. "For now, let’s head to the study, shall we?"

…

The sound of pages turning.

Luo Qiu was looking through the business transactions Yōu Yè had handled while he had been on vacation. The club’s business had never stopped, even though Luo Qiu had not been paying attention during this time.

Whether when he was still in South America or after his brief return, Yōu Yè had already completed quite a few deals.

They were mostly ordinary people trading their memories, talents, or health for something they deemed more important.

Luo Qiu skimmed through the records but found nothing particularly interesting.

There was a knock on the study door. Yōu Yè entered again, carrying a tray with a steaming bowl on it.

Luo Qiu caught the scent but hadn’t seen the dish yet, so he curiously asked, "What’s this?"

"Freshly made dumplings. I heard that there’s a tradition of eating dumplings during the New Year here, just like how people eat turkey on Christmas."

She placed the dumplings in front of Luo Qiu, along with a dish of fragrant vinegar. It seemed she had done her research thoroughly.

"Freshly made?" Luo Qiu looked at Yōu Yè in surprise.

Yōu Yè nodded. "I bought the ingredients this afternoon. Since I thought Master might return, I prepared the filling in advance. While making the dumpling wrappers, I sensed some unusual activity from Nero Miss’s black card, so I went out for a bit."

Yōu Yè quickly summarized the situation with Nero.

"Xuanyuan Palace, huh?" Luo Qiu murmured in thought. He reached into the air, and a rolled-up parchment scroll suddenly appeared in his hand. Opening it, he began reading.

It was information about Xuanyuan Palace—intelligence he had just purchased from the altar.

"It looks like we’ll be dealing with more extraordinary organizations soon," Luo Qiu sighed and set the scroll down. In truth, this wasn’t his first encounter with the supernatural. However, organizations like Xuanyuan Palace and the Daoist Association had never truly crossed his path before.

"Does Master dislike this?" the maid suddenly asked.

Luo Qiu had a feeling that if he nodded, her next words might be, Then I’ll erase them.

He shook his head. "Not really."

Luo Qiu chuckled. "Ordinary people have qualities that deserve admiration. As for the extraordinary… they are still human at their core. The difference is that they have power far beyond the average person and have experienced things others never could. That makes them… well, more interesting, I suppose?"

"I thought Master might think that way," Yōu Yè nodded. "That’s why, regarding Miss Nero’s request, I chose to withdraw rather than take a more… thorough approach. This way, she and those people will likely cross paths again in the future."

Since a conflict had already occurred, future encounters might create demand.

And where there’s demand, there’s business.

"You always handle things well," Luo Qiu smiled and then said softly, "Come here for a moment."

With a hint of curiosity, the maid walked around the desk and stood by Luo Qiu’s side.

Luo Qiu stood up, pulled a tissue from the desk, and gently wiped Yōu Yè’s face. "You had some flour on you."

"Must’ve been because I was in a hurry," Yōu Yè apologized. "I’m sorry you had to see me in such a messy state."

"It’s nothing," Luo Qiu shook his head. "And actually… it’s kind of cute. The contrast, maybe?"

Though, it was odd. The nearly flawless Yōu Yè shouldn’t make small mistakes like this.

Was it on purpose…?

But Yōu Yè showed no signs of being different from usual, so Luo Qiu quickly set his small suspicion aside and sat down to enjoy the dumplings.

Anything made by Yōu Yè was bound to be top-quality.

Even though he had already eaten Old Master Song’s New Year’s Eve dinner, there was still room for dumplings.

"By the way, where’s Tai Yinzi?" Luo Qiu asked while eating.

"Him? He seems to be planning a New Year’s event in the game world," Yōu Yè recalled. "I heard it involves a special event boss for players to fight. It seems pretty lively… for those ‘players.’"

"A Christmas event last time, and now a New Year’s event?" Luo Qiu chuckled. "He’s putting in the effort, this GM… What about Eighteen and Da Zhe? Everything fine with them?"

Yōu Yè replied, "Nothing special. Ever since Eighteen chose his target, he’s been focusing on it. As for Da Zhe, Seventeen threw him into the dimensional rift, probably to force him to quickly unlock Zhanlu’s power through actual combat."

Eighteen… still playing his nurturing game, huh? Wang Yuechuan…

Luo Qiu tapped his fingers on the table.

As the Boss, caring more about employees than customers was part of the job.

So, since Seventeen wasn’t violating any club rules, Luo Qiu had no reason to intervene.

"Hmm, the dimensional rift," Luo Qiu mused. "I went there myself not long ago and got a rough idea of the environment."

"Master went into the dimensional rift?" Yōu Yè’s eyes widened in surprise.

"Was that reckless?" Luo Qiu asked curiously.

"It was reckless," Yōu Yè rarely looked so stern as she stared at him. "I’ve already said, even if Master can’t die, I don’t want to see you in pain."

"Sorry, I won’t do it again," Luo Qiu said with a slight smile.

Yōu Yè sighed. "The previous Boss took me there a few times. In the rift, there are beings on par with me, even slightly stronger. While they can’t truly harm Master, the cost of moving there is higher. It’s an unnecessary expense."

"Yeah, I noticed," Luo Qiu nodded. "Energy transfer there is slightly hindered, though the effect is minor… But it requires extra payment? I see. I’ll keep that in mind next time."

"About ten percent extra," Yōu Yè estimated. "The previous Boss mentioned it before."

"Ten percent?" Luo Qiu was momentarily stunned before jokingly saying, "It almost feels like an exchange rate or maybe an import-export tax."

"After all, the dimensional rift is an uninhabited zone outside the history of all worlds. Strictly speaking, it exists beyond the primary structure of the world, making it an illegal territory." Yōu Yè nodded.

"So that means where we are is legal… The club is within the law?" Luo Qiu suddenly asked.

However, Yōu Yè abruptly froze. Her eyes, expression—everything—seemed to pause as if time had stopped.

Luo Qiu opened his mouth but then shook his head.

This had happened before.

It wasn’t that she was being monitored but rather that she was restricted from discussing certain topics. If the conversation stopped here, it meant his question had already touched the boundary.

Illegal, legal…

Sub-administrator Alaya…

Different sequence worlds…

Inside and outside the structure…

…

"After all, the dimensional rift is an uninhabited zone outside the history of all worlds. Strictly speaking, it exists beyond the primary structure of the world, making it an illegal territory." Yōu Yè nodded.

"Then I’ll have to be extra careful." Luo Qiu smiled slightly.

Yōu Yè looked at him curiously. "Master, you've already finished eating?"

She glanced at the ceramic bowl on the table—it was practically empty. But something felt off. She didn’t recall seeing him eat that much.

"Yes, the food was too good, and before I knew it…" Luo Qiu stretched and stood up, casually closing the account book on the table.

"Master, are you going back?" Yōu Yè asked softly.

"Yes." Luo Qiu nodded. "It’s been a while since I last went back."

Yōu Yè was slightly surprised, then quickly understood. "You mean… Miss Ren?"

"Come with me." Luo Qiu extended his hand toward Yōu Yè.

— — —

Almost midnight.

A dark corner of the night.

A swift chop—hand strike.

A figure lurking in the shadows was instantly knocked unconscious by a simple hand strike. But before the person could hit the ground, someone caught them.

The one who caught the unconscious infiltrator was Jessica. And the one who knocked them out was, of course, her current master—Su Zijun.

Jessica set the unconscious figure aside, then looked at Su Zijun in confusion.

Logically, this infiltrator was likely spying on something, but even so, they shouldn’t have any direct connection to them. She didn’t understand why Su Zijun took action.

Su Zijun glanced at the distant villa complex. "That place belongs to my family's property. Some acquaintances live there. Seeing this guy spying around annoys me."

Jessica was even more puzzled… If that was the case, wouldn’t capturing and interrogating them be the better choice?

Su Zijun continued, "This guy is a 'Silver Sword Commander'—technically, one of my retainers."

So… Your retainer was spying on your acquaintances who live in your property…?

Jessica found the situation a bit convoluted.

"Big Sis!!"

A slightly excited voice suddenly rang out from the darkness.

Jessica was startled, immediately assuming a defensive stance. But then, a shadow flashed at a speed beyond her perception and appeared before them.

It was an exceptionally handsome young man, though his complexion was pale. His lips were thin, carrying a hint of a demonic purple hue.

The young man’s expression was filled with excitement—but at least he wasn’t exuding hostility. He seemed to be someone her master knew.

Big Sis…? So, he was her master’s younger brother?

"Gui Ying… Why are you here?" Su Zijun frowned.

Clearly, encountering Gui Ying here was unexpected but not shocking. Gui Ying’s origins were unique, and his race had a special ability to detect auras. Even she could be sensed if she wasn’t careful.

"Lord Kui ordered me to handle some affairs outside. I just returned and decided to check on this place." Gui Ying explained.

"Here?" Su Zijun frowned. "Since you knew this place was under surveillance, why didn't you deal with it?"

"Lord Kui said that since we know who placed the spy, there’s no need to alert them. If we remove one, another will take its place anyway, so why bother?"

"That lazy old turtle just didn’t want to deal with it, huh?" Su Zijun scoffed.

She glanced at Gui Ying and noticed he was holding a file folder. Curious, she focused on it. But as soon as she did, Gui Ying quickly tried to hide it.

Realizing his reaction would only make her more suspicious, he knew what was coming next.

"Hand it over."

As expected, Su Zijun wasted no time issuing the command.

Gui Ying had always prioritized Su Zijun’s orders over Kui Qianyi’s, so he obediently handed over the folder.

Lord Kui… Sorry about this.

Gui Ying’s expression looked somewhat guilty, which only made Su Zijun more curious about the contents. She opened the folder and found a stack of photographs. Frowning, she began to examine them.

"That old pervert… When did he develop this kind of hobby?"

The photos were of a little girl—some angry, some silent, some smiling…

"Uh… I won’t comment on Lord Kui’s interests, Big Sis." Gui Ying muttered.

Su Zijun shot him a suspicious glance, then continued looking at the pictures. Suddenly, she asked, "Who is this kid? She looks so familiar… And for some reason, the more I look at her, the more pissed off I get."

Lord Long, looks like I have to betray you too…

"Actually, she is—"

Just then, in the distant Mt. Tai

mountain range, a beam of light suddenly shot into the night sky!

(End of Chapter)