Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 984: Chapter 28: Like a Form of Inheritance

When Solomon and Daji’s duo discovered Lord Longyang, he was sitting at the edge of a desolate land, with his eyes closed, playing an instrument known as the sheng.

Daji was not unfamiliar with the sheng; when she lived in the imperial palace, she had her own team of musicians and a teacher.

But Solomon was evidently curious, taking a couple of extra glances at the unusual instrument—the Transcendents living in the interstices of dimensions were not particularly closely connected.

If not for the urgency between the Thrones, they were mostly separate—of course, some Transcendents had varying degrees of private friendships.

Solomon knew about Lord Longyang’s existence but rarely spoke more than a couple of sentences when they met, merely exchanging greetings. However, Daji’s friendship with Lord Longyang was quite good privately.

“Lord Longyang, I’ve sought you several times, just hoping to hear your performance,” Daji smiled slightly. “But it’s always a rare coin. What inspired you today to have such refined leisure?”

Lord Longyang laid down the sheng in his hands, stood up, and nodded with a smile at Daji, “Just a feeling spontaneously. Empress, if you like, I will certainly visit and play for you another day.”

Daji sweetly smiled, exuding countless charms—this woman seemed to have a unique allure granted by the heavens, even Transcendents found it difficult to resist.

Often, Solomon had to refrain from looking into Daji’s eyes—not because his will was not strong enough, but because Daji’s power emanated from the eyes that seemed to hook souls and steal hearts.

Not just him, many Transcendents struggled to handle Daji’s beauty, especially men… perhaps only someone like Lord Longyang wouldn’t be troubled by it?

But now wasn’t the time for idle chatter.

Solomon said seriously, “Lord Longyang, Daji and I teamed up, captured many Elemental Demons, and not long ago encountered a fully formed Ancestral Void Demon, exceeding what the Thrones had assigned… what about you? Didn’t expect to run into you here.”

Perhaps this was an opportunity to have more communication with Lord Longyang.

Though already a Transcendent, having once been a Great Emperor on earth, it seemed inherent to draw others into his camp.

“My luck wasn’t great, only caught one. However, this Elemental Demon is quite interesting,” Lord Longyang looked at Solomon, briefly recounting the details of having captured a Void Primordial Demon with a human head and serpent body.

He now looked at Solomon, his gaze lighting up slightly, small smile, “A very high-quality one, perhaps it could reach far as a Void Primordial Demon in the future… using it to complete the Thrones’ plan this time is indeed a pity.”

“Haha, that’s easy,” Solomon responded cheerfully, “I’ve got extras, if Lord Longyang doesn’t mind, I’ll gift one to you.”

“Much appreciated,” Lord Longyang didn’t hesitate, but looked at the former heroic emperor of a foreign land, his gaze slightly intense.

Daji’s gaze swept between the two, then narrowed, as if waiting for something interesting to happen.

Unexpectedly, Lord Longyang suddenly asked, “By the way, have any new members joined recently?”

Solomon was startled, instinctively said, “Haven’t heard about that. However, some of our companions responsible for guidance recently found some decent newcomers. The one most praised by the Thrones is named ‘Arex,’ but he seems to be receiving guidance from Lord Qichadi Qiansha between the Thrones and hasn’t appeared yet. The other newcomers are still in the assessment phase… So, who does Lord Longyang refer to?”

“Arex?” Lord Longyang slightly surprised opened his mouth and said, “To be recognized by that lord, it seems he has remarkable potential… hmm, the one I encountered, didn’t even get to ask for a name. But I noticed he seemed very unfamiliar with the interstices of this dimension, probably not one of the newcomers chosen this time.”

“Oh?” Daji said with interest, “If not brought by Jieyin, there are only two or three possibilities for arrival here. Either their Power reached, sensing they could no longer stay in the main world, or accidentally stumbled into some hidden interstitial gap.”

Lord Longyang recalled, “This young brother is rather strange, according to him, he came here searching for something… perhaps not accidentally stumbled in.”

“So, he got here by his own skills?” Solomon’s eyes suddenly brightened, “The Thrones have always valued those who transcend on their own; this needs to be reported to the Thrones. Lord Longyang, what does this person look like?”

For Transcendents, brain development cannot be described by ordinary logic, photographic memory is likely just instinct.

“That’s simple,” Lord Longyang laughed, “Perhaps among our many companions, some might know him… let me make a sketch.”

Saying this, Lord Longyang gently drew out the Sword in his hand, intending to use the Sword as a brush.

He closed his eyes and stood quietly with the Sword, but after quite a while, Lord Longyang still hadn’t moved—the level of artistry was undoubtedly lifelike, but now Daji noticed something amiss with Lord Longyang.

“Lord Longyang, are you having trouble?” Daji whispered.

Only then did Lord Longyang open his eyes, looked at his two companions with an odd expression, and frowned gracefully, “I… can’t remember what the young brother looks like.”

“What?” Solomon said in surprise.

Daji also showed a look of astonishment.

“I can remember what he said, but his appearance has become very vague in my memory,” Lord Longyang took a deep breath, “Later, I tried to explore my memory and found this memory growing increasingly obscure.”

“Oh?” Solomon raised an eyebrow, “Could it be that the newcomer’s ability has the potential to influence or even alter others’ memories? If that’s true, then it’s a rather troublesome ability.”

“In that case, we should hurry and reach between the Thrones.” Daji suggested at this moment.

Lord Longyang nodded, “Agreed.”

…

…

When Luo Qiu returned to the lower part of the passage between the dimensions from the Mirror World, the floating wilderness where he originally landed had completely vanished, leaving behind a void all around.

Luo Qiu didn’t find Paul. His intuition told him that continuing to search in the dimensional passage wouldn’t lead to finding Paul, yet he hadn’t died — which left only one possibility.

His body slowly ascended from the passage— as he gradually removed himself from the dimensional passage, the gateway to the Mirror World began to rapidly close.

The moment Luo Qiu completely departed from the abyssal passage, the surroundings reverted to their original appearance — the abyssal passage also transformed back to the mirror world airport lobby.

Underfoot was a dust-free tile floor that could almost reflect a person’s face.

“Luo Qiu!”

Having just arrived, Luo Qiu heard Song Ying’s voice filled with tension and urgency — He followed the voice and saw Song Ying standing there anxiously.

Song Haoran was also present, although at this moment, Song Haoran stood motionless… Or rather, at this point, Song Haoran had transformed directly into a stone statue.

He was completely petrified.

“Did something happen?” Luo Qiu approached Song Ying and turned to look at A Lai Ye.

Song Ying opened her mouth, hesitating to speak.

But A Lai Ye replied without pressure: [Response: This individual is deemed dangerous, suggesting behavior inhibition.]

Luo Qiu looked towards Song Ying, who reluctantly said, “You know Song Haoran’s character… He’s not inherently bad, just overly curious, and maybe asked about something…”

She dared not mention Song Haoran’s attempt to secretly record.

However, Luo Qiu glanced at the shattered phone fragments on the ground, and he had a rough guess… Song Haoran was merely temporarily petrified, not in life-threatening danger.

A time-space is like a precise clock, with each entity being an indispensable part of this clock; as a sub-administrator of this time-space, A Lai Ye wouldn’t randomly destroy any component.

“Has the temporal disturbance been restored?” Luo Qiu asked A Lai Ye.

[Response: The chaotic factors have been resolved.]

Luo Qiu nodded, and suddenly said, “Do what you need to do, as long as there’s nothing special, I won’t actively enter the Mirror World of this time-space.”

This time, A Lai Ye didn’t respond, merely maintaining a silent demeanor.

Thus, Luo Qiu suddenly waved towards Song Ying and Song Haoran — in that instant, they directly exited the Mirror World.

Luo Qiu glanced at the spot where Han Bingjiang’s corpse should have been lying, but found that the body was gone, presumably ‘processed.’

As for the revived Qiao An created by A Lai Ye, she had opened her eyes.

However, this Qiao An’s eyes were empty, showing no spiritual light, like a puppet… but it would be hard for ordinary people to differentiate once she officially ‘initiated.’

Because once she ‘activated,’ it means she’s already a normal person in this time-space.

“Seems you’re quite accustomed to this process.” Luo Qiu smiled slightly.

A Lai Ye replied [Affirmation: This is the 19,235th incident, the database has ample cases for reference.]

“19,235…” Luo Qiu was slightly surprised, for a world with a large population base, this is but a drop in the ocean — yet nearly twenty thousand is not a small number either.

Slightly pondering — In truth, Luo Qiu didn’t have many things he wished to learn from A Lai Ye.

But there was one exception.

“Have you, besides me, seen any other root authority?” Luo Qiu looked into A Lai Ye’s eyes.

The light within the blue pupils began to flicker non-stop, and Luo Qiu noticed that whenever A Lai Ye was thinking or analyzing, there was always such a glimmer in her eyes.

He waited.

[Answer: No.]

“No?” Luo Qiu was taken aback and then contemplated for a while. Suddenly, he asked, “If the root authority requires you to delete a certain segment of your memory, would you comply?”

[Affirmation: Root authority is above the sub-administrator.]

Luo Qiu nodded, said nothing more, and then slowly retreated in front of A Lai Ye, and as he retreated, Luo Qiu’s figure gradually vanished from this Mirror World.

In the Mirror World, quiet to the point of dead silence, the only sound was the unwavering voice of A Lai Ye.

[Execute correction follow-up…]

She raised her hand, letting the recreated ‘Qiao An’ begin to move.

…

When Song Haoran’s senses returned, he found himself back at the place in the same airport where he was initially drawn into the Mirror World, where Han Bingjiang and the three different Qiao Ans encountered each other.

“Song Ying?” Song Haoran instinctively looked at Song Ying.

Only to see Song Ying shaking her head, a little panicked and somewhat worried, “Are you okay now? You turned into stone just now! You really scared me!”

Song Haoran frowned, and then suddenly said, “Give me the cellphone!”

“Why are you still thinking about this…” Song Ying was about to chastise for a couple of sentences when she saw Song Haoran suddenly grip his sleeve.

At the wrist of the sleeve, now dripping with blood, Song Ying opened her mouth in surprise, “When did you hurt your hand?”

Song Haoran didn’t speak; he quickly wiped away the blood from the wound — once the blood from the wound was wiped away, the significance of this wound before Song Ying became clear.

A Lai Ye.

This wound on the wrist was actually this name… Song Haoran had secretly carved this word into his body, “Quick, take a picture of this wound… while we can still remember it. She mentioned erasing our memories!”

“This…” Song Ying hesitated slightly but couldn’t resist Song Haoran’s fervent gaze, and could only fetch the cellphone hesitantly.

Just as Song Ying was about to take the picture, another hand suddenly rested on Song Haoran’s wrist.

Simultaneously, Luo Qiu’s voice was heard, “Injured? Let me see… Hmm, it’s healed now.”

When Luo Qiu’s hand withdrew, the bleeding wound on Song Haoran’s wrist had already vanished.

The two were shocked as they looked toward Luo Qiu, only to see at that moment Luo Qiu extended his hand between them and snapped his fingers.

Both momentarily lost their senses, standing quietly.

Luo Qiu glanced at Song Haoran, whispered, “In the future, you will have a day of encounter.”

…

…

In the airport explosion incident, the suspect named Han Bingjiang managed to escape during the trial. During Han Bingjiang’s escape, he even stabbed a foreign youth, with many witnesses at the scene confirming it.

As for Han Bingjiang himself, while hastily fleeing, he accidentally fell off an escalator somewhere in the airport, suffering severe head trauma, resulting in massive bleeding and death despite rescue efforts.

The reason why the suspect tried to make the bomb became a mystery due to the suspect’s death.

Song Haoran, Song Ying, and Luo Qiu were walking back to the hotel inside the airport. Song Haoran, with his hands behind his neck, walked with a relaxed face, suddenly said, “In the end, we still don’t know whose children the parents are?”

Song Ying said, “Didn’t the security personnel say the parents have already taken the child away… Seriously, it was all over, then you insisted on going out, hungry looking for food. Now it’s fine, stumbled upon the scene of Han Bingjiang’s accident and almost got questioned by the police! What if our identities get exposed?”

“You can’t blame me for this!” Song Haoran hooked an arm around Luo Qiu’s shoulder, “I came out to find him with you!”

“Song Haoran!!”

“Ah, I almost forgot! I ordered room service for my room! I’m heading back now!”

“Don’t go! You jerk!!”

Chasing, teasing.

Luo Qiu watched as the two chased each other, slowly stretched lazily, then opened the door to his room inside the hotel.

When he returned to the room, a sketchbook was lying on the snow-white sheets.

Luo Qiu poured a glass of water, sat by the window with the sketchbook, and began flipping through it — the latest page contained a sun drawn with orange-red crayon.

Below was grass and flowers almost as tall as the house, mother and child hand-in-hand.

Luo Qiu took a sip of water from the teacup, and continued to flip through the sketchbook.

One page depicted this: a woman lying in a pool of blood, another woman standing by with a knife beside the body.

“For children, what are parents?” Luo Qiu pondered for a moment before finally closing the sketchbook.

Then he opened the curtains, seeing the morning airport, “Maybe… some kind of inheritance.”

…

…

In distant timespace.

A child suddenly appeared in the room.

This child looked almost identical to the child already sleeping in this room — truly a bewildering sight.

Perhaps they were just twins… perhaps so one might think.

However, when the sleeping child suddenly woke up, he distinctly looked surprised at a child standing by his bed who looked exactly like him.

“Who are you?” The child who just woke up asked curiously.

“Um, is mom good to you?” The child standing by the window suddenly asked.

Though strange, the child who just woke up was quite dazed, instinctively nodded and happily replied, “She treats me the best!”

“Oh, that’s good.” The child beside the bed nodded.

But suddenly, the child beside the bed grabbed a pencil from the table near the window and, without hesitation, jabbed it into the neck of the child by the window.

“That’s my mom now!”

Soon, very soon, the child on the bed became unresponsive, eyes wide open, a pencil stuck in his neck.

Blood spattered across the face and body of the child beside the bed.

Just then, a gentle voice came from downstairs in the house, “Paul? Paul? Are you awake? Get ready to brush your teeth and have breakfast, okay? The school bus is coming!”

The child beside the bed wiped the blood off his face, and the blood gradually faded from his body.

He then showed a radiant smile like the sun, happily saying, “I’m awake, mom!”

This child changed his clothes, then opened the door, “Mom, what’s for breakfast today!”

As he shut the door, the hinges let out a slight creaking sound of engagement.

Thud—click.