Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1059: How Could There Be a Path to Immortality in This World? (67)

Da Zhe had spent time in society and had once lived a life of mixing with unsavory circles. Back then, he started small and worked his way up. To rise in rank, it was common to infiltrate enemy factions and sabotage them from within.

So when Wang Hu accepted the suspicious fruit—although Da Zhe didn’t know exactly what was wrong with it—he figured that anything Miss Maid specifically instructed about couldn’t be simple. His expression remained unchanged, but internally, he prayed for Wang Hu.

A certain guest, who had unknowingly offended Miss Maid in some way, was still locked in the restroom…

“This is a Vermilion Fruit?”

Wang Hu looked a bit surprised at the dozen or so fruits in Da Zhe’s arms.

“Vermilion Fruit?” Luo Qiu was curious… This kind of thing often appeared in wuxia novels.

“It’s definitely Vermilion Fruit.” Wang Hu nodded and casually took a bite. “My clan grows a few Vermilion Fruit trees. They bloom once every hundred years and bear fruit once every hundred years. Eating them strengthens the body and improves constitution. Boss Luo, your employee is really lucky to have picked over ten of them. Even in my clan, each harvest only yields about a hundred. Go ahead and eat, it's good for you.”

He added, “Though to be honest, only the first few have real effects. After that, it's just for the taste.”

Still, for someone as physically drained as Wang Hu, the Vermilion Fruits were useful for recovery. At the very least, they helped restore his energy more quickly.

Da Zhe didn’t think they were as miraculous as Wang Hu described—he had eaten several along the way. Sure, they were sweet and refreshing, and gave him a bit of a boost, but nothing too extraordinary.Miss Maid delicately peeled one and handed it to Luo Qiu.

As usual, with Miss Maid beside him, Luo Qiu turned into a passive receiver. He took a bite and smiled, “Tastes good. Don’t throw away the seeds. Let’s take them back and see if we can grow them.”

Miss Maid carefully wrapped the seeds in a handkerchief.

Wang Hu chuckled, “Boss Luo, this thing is hard to grow. Even if it sprouts, it takes a hundred years to flower and bear fruit. Don’t waste your time. If you like it, I’ll have some sent to you from our reserves.”

It was a typical behavior of rogue cultivators—trying to grow Vermilion Fruit trees without the proper cultivation techniques was futile. But Wang Hu didn’t point it out and just treated it as a joke.

“Mr. Wang Hu, have another,” Miss Maid said with a smile as she handed him another fruit. “Hydrate yourself.”

Wang Hu didn’t refuse. He needed the fruits to regain strength and swallowed it whole.

Da Zhe’s expression didn’t change, but he silently prayed again for Wang Hu.

As a few fruits entered his system, Wang Hu felt a warm flow surging through his body, rapidly restoring his physical strength. Ordinary cultivators would need time to digest such fruit, but as a descendant of the White Tiger, his powerful physique absorbed it almost instantly.

However, a severed arm wasn’t something that could just grow back.

Wang Hu was the open-minded type. Losing an arm was unfortunate, but staying alive was what mattered. He still had his left arm and could still throw punches.

With his strength mostly recovered, Wang Hu stood up. “Which direction did I fall from?”

Da Zhe glanced at him and found nothing wrong. Maybe the fruit hadn’t taken effect? Regardless, he pointed, “You flew in from over there… Planning to retrace your steps?”

Wang Hu nodded. “Yeah, thinking about it… As for you all—”

He remembered that Boss Luo had mentioned they came to this place for other reasons.

Luo Qiu said, “Let’s go together. It’s safer to travel with company.”

Wang Hu frowned. The suggestion had been made earlier.

Taking these people along… oh well, they had saved him. He could at least look out for them a bit.

At the very least, these three were good-looking—far easier on the eyes than that crazy-haired old ghost.

“Alright, let’s go,” Wang Hu agreed.

…

…

After drinking the liquid from Su Zijun’s vial, Qin Chuyu’s spiritual power quickly recovered, and her wounds began healing at a visible rate.

Once she regained some strength, she, Su Zijun, and Jessica left the area.

No one knew when Gaia might show up again.

Considering Gaia could thrash a Divine Beast Transformation stage opponent like Huang Baifu, Su Zijun had nothing nice to say about it. She naturally avoided talking about Gaia’s power.

The stone forest had been mostly destroyed but was now slowly repairing itself. However, the strange, disorienting spatial effects had weakened considerably. With her strong understanding of formations, Qin Chuyu quickly found a way out and located a temporary hiding spot to rest.

She immediately began healing again.

After this battle, she understood just how dangerous this place was and needed to restore herself as soon as possible—especially now that she had found clues about her master.

Just then, Jessica returned from outside the cave. “Master, I looked around and didn’t see anything unusual.”

Actually, there were many treasures lying around outside, but Jessica didn’t recognize them and didn’t dare touch anything, so she came back empty-handed.

Su Zijun, being a princess of the Xuanyuan royal family, was used to luxury and didn’t care for the rare items outside. What caught her interest was the Green Lotus Sword Song near Qin Chuyu.

Jessica noticed Su Zijun staring at the ancient sword with a fascinated look and couldn’t resist reaching out to touch it.

The moment her fingers brushed the hilt, a streak of green light surged out, slashing along her arm and leaving a gash over a foot long.

Startled, Jessica quickly withdrew. Had she not reacted fast, her whole arm might’ve been severed by that light. Shaken, she stumbled back a few steps.

Qin Chuyu opened her eyes, glanced at Jessica, and calmly tossed her a porcelain bottle. “This is my specially mixed healing salve. It’s effective for sword wounds. But the sword qi contains the Green Lotus Sword’s intent. It won’t heal quickly. Even with your unique body, recovery won’t be easy. Take care—and don’t get curious again. I already told you, only those who’ve cultivated my sect’s secret art to a certain level can handle that sword. Others will only suffer if they try.”

“Alright,” Jessica shrugged. She knew it was her own fault for being nosy and could only silently accept the consequences.

“Your master may have even nurtured a sword spirit,” Su Zijun suddenly commented.

Qin Chuyu frowned but responded, “I’ve tried calling to it… but it hasn’t answered. It seems to be asleep. Its closeness to me may just be an instinct. But… I have a way to wake it.”

As for that place... as long as she returns and finds that Boss, she should be able to awaken the sword spirit. Then the mystery behind her master’s disappearance years ago would finally be revealed.

Qin Chuyu had initially come to the Mt. Tai Assembly just to search for traces of the Taibai Sword Immortal.

Now, by some twist of fate, the Green Lotus Sword Song had sought her out on its own. For Qin Chuyu, this was the biggest clue—at this point, she no longer cared whether this place was truly Penglai or not. Instead, she felt an urgent desire to leave and head to the Club.

No matter the cost… she had to awaken the Green Lotus Sword Song’s spirit!

“You want to leave, don’t you?” Su Zijun looked at Qin Chuyu, sharply picking up on her thoughts.

Qin Chuyu didn’t intend to hide it and nodded. “You’re the one with the clue to get out.”

Su Zijun shrugged. “I’m still looking… but I’m not in a rush to leave. This place is strange—I’m quite curious about it.”

Qin Chuyu said nothing.

Suddenly, Su Zijun suggested, “How about we team up for now? If we run into that thing again, going solo would be the worst idea.”

“Alright,” Qin Chuyu agreed without hesitation.

…

…

Inside the Imperial Tomb.

According to the map left by Xu Fu that Mu Xianghua had brought, the secret path to the main burial chamber was several kilometers long. In theory, a normal walking pace could get them there in under an hour.

But the winding paths and traps throughout the tomb made the journey far from easy.

By now, that young lady from the Zhang family should have safely escaped… at least, that’s what Song Haoran thought, given that over three hours had passed since the three factions split up after encountering the undead in that tomb chamber.

In fact, along the way, Song Haoran’s group had already run into several waves of undead… but all of them were easily dealt with by ‘Onmyōji’ Suzuki Chun Xin, to the point where they were less threatening than the tomb’s traps. Ironically, undead encounters had become the easiest part of their trek.

With the various mystical abilities Suzuki Chun Xin had displayed, even the disciples of the Song family—including Song Haoran—temporarily stopped doubting his Onmyōji identity.

The Suzuki-kai thugs were clearly quite fired up!

With a young master this capable, once things wrapped up in China and they returned to the Kanto region, wouldn’t the Suzuki-kai easily dominate the entire area?

“Once this is over, let’s find a place to go into seclusion. We’re not coming out until our strength is fully restored! I’ve already secretly transferred all of the Suzuki Group’s assets. It’s more than enough for us to splurge.”

‘Suzuki Chun Xin’ suddenly spoke telepathically to ‘Suzuki Yuichi’.

‘Suzuki Yuichi’ didn’t respond, but nodded slightly—restoring their strength was indeed the top priority. The only reason they’d gotten into this mess was because this guy liked to stir things up. If not for chasing after the Suihou Pearl, the Suzuki Group’s resources alone could’ve helped Ba Qi fully recover. It would’ve just taken more time.

Now, they weren’t even sure they’d get the pearl—and worse, they’d ended up playing bodyguards for a bunch of mortals. And to top it off, the powerful hidden being who had secretly helped them recover had already discovered their possession of the Suzuki father and son. Their background had been exposed. Escape was now their only option.

If not for the symbiotic contract, Ren Zhen would’ve already strangled this damned snake… So irritating!

And it had been a while since that mysterious being last showed up. No one knew whether they were still outside waiting.

Ren Zhen hated the feeling of groveling under someone’s thumb. Just thinking about it gave him a headache. He really needed to find a way to dissolve that symbiotic contract—and kill this snake once and for all.

“President, Young Master! According to the map, we’re only two or three hundred meters from the main chamber!” Mu Xianghua happily ran over with excitement all over his face.

The journey had been perilous, but the chubby overseas Chinese man was perfectly fine—other than a few blisters from all the walking, his spirits were high.

He even sped ahead, seemingly eager to be the first one to reach the burial chamber.

But just then, ‘Suzuki Yuichi’ let out a cold sneer.

Mu Xianghua, now at the front, turned back with enthusiasm, “Come on, everyone! Just a bit more! Soon, we’ll get our hands on those thousand-year-old treasures of the Qin dynasty! We’re all going to strike it rich—real rich…”

His voice abruptly cut off.

His eyes widened in shock, and his expression froze—because, without knowing how, a sharp blade had pierced right through his chest!

Seeing this, Song Haoran immediately frowned and raised his hand, “On guard!!”

Mu Xianghua instinctively turned his head—and what he saw nearly scared the soul out of him. The pain of the blade through his chest suddenly didn’t matter anymore.

Because behind him… a dark shadow had appeared!

That shadow was holding a blade—the very one that had stabbed through his chest!

“H-Help… help me…” Mu Xianghua cried out in terror, calling to ‘Suzuki Chun Xin’.

But his head flew off the next moment—the blade had been pulled out from his chest and then instantly swung, cleanly beheading him.

His blood splattered across the surrounding stone walls.

At that moment, the others quickly shined their high-powered flashlights forward.

And what they saw made them all gasp—before them stood a skull-faced… no, a full skeleton. A skeleton warrior!

This skeleton wore ancient soldier’s armor and held a weapon. It slowly advanced toward the group. And behind it, more and more skulls began to emerge one by one.

An entire army of skeleton warriors—clad in ancient military gear, wielding blades, marching forward with heavy, clanking footsteps.

They completely filled the passage ahead.

(End of Chapter)