Chapter 222: Pleasant Sounding Name

The Countess could sense that Chen Xiaolian’s gaze toward her was gradually becoming peculiar. She frowned and asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Chen Xiaolian gave a faint smile and turned his gaze away – he was not one to blindly ask her about something like that.

Even if those things were really in the Countess’ hands, this shrewd woman would never admit to it.

Mm…

The Holy Grail or Holy Lance might not necessarily be in the hands of the Norman family…

However…

There was a very high possibility that they possessed the Sword of Promised Victory!

The Sword of Promised Victory was like the Sword in the Stone, one of the weapons used by King Arthur!

The sword with unparalleled sharpness, the Sword of Promised Victory, the Sword of the Lake… that sword was an existence superior to the Sword in the Stone!

“Well then, let’s stop beating around the bush,” Chen Xiaolian said slowly. “Since you’ve admitted that the Sword in the Stone is in your hands, then… … what would it take for you to give it to me?”

The Countess was silent for a moment, and she began to speak in an odd tone.

“I do not understand just what kind of people you fellows are or how your world looks like.” The Countess shook her head. “The so-called Sword in the Stone, the so-called symbol of royal authority… in my eyes, all of these are but legends.

“What era are we in right now? Even the royal family currently holds no power. Who would view a sword as the symbol of royal authority?

“In my opinion, no matter how precious that object may be, it is only an antique within my family collection.

“That is what I have always thought about it.

“From what I know of history, my family have once exhausted all their efforts to find the other half. As for me, I have never placed any real consideration into this matter.

“Perhaps I had interpreted their actions as an act of one who was unable to let go of the past. That line of reasoning gave birth to the desire to put the sword back together.

“As for the so-called magical powers, symbol of royal authority… … in my opinion, those are just outrageous nonsense.

“It is just an antique. Additionally, it is also an antique with unknown origins. After all, the legend of King Arthur is just a fictional story and not real history.”

Chen Xiaolian listened quietly. He did not say, “Since it’s just an antique, you might as well just give it to me.”

He knew, of course, that there was a reason the Countess had said those words.

As expected!

“ … … but after what I experienced today, I think that might no longer be the case.

“No, it is more accurate to say that the strange things that have been happening to me all these years have made it so I could no longer understand many things!

“Perhaps… the things in this world are not as how I understand it to be.

“At the very least, after witnessing today’s incident, I will certainly not continue to idiotically assume it to be a mere antique.”

Chen Xiaolian frowned.

This woman had become aware of the value of the Sword in the Stone’s blade.

This is going to be difficult.

“Just come out with it, I want it,” Chen Xiaolian said coolly. “State your conditions.”

"Of course you want it!" the Countess slowly said. "I am already certain, you have the hilt! Also… you and your companions, and also those that ambushed me… … all of you seem to possess abilities that are beyond the norm!

“I am very curious. If the hilt and blade were to fall into your hands and were put together… would something magical happen, creating a miraculous situation?

“It’s not like I am someone who have never read mythical type novels. By acquiring a treasure that a powerful person left behind, one could gain the powerful person’s powers.

“Tell me, do you wish to obtain King Arthur’s powers?”

The Countess gave a faint smile and said, “At least now I know, completing the Sword in the Stone seems very important to you.”

“Just state your condition,” Chen Xiaolian said impatiently.

“Why?” The Countess waggled her eyebrows. “Earlier, you saved my life and could be considered as my saviour. Now… are you planning to change your role from that of a saviour to that of a kidnapper?”

Saying that, she shrugged her shoulders and continued, “At any rate, I am now alone and in your hands.”

“Playing the weakling? Did you think that by doing so, I would not be willing to put pressure on a woman like you?”

Chen Xiaolian knitted his eyebrows before suddenly revealing a faint smile.

When the Countess saw the smile on his face, her heart skipped a beat.

Contrary to her expectations, it would appear that this young boy was not as easy to deal with!

“If the ambush had not occurred, I might not have thought that it was necessary to quickly get hold of the Sword in the Stone.

“However…”

Chen Xiaolian laughed coldly and pointed at Bei Tai who was lying against the wall not far away. He said, “My companion had received such a heavy injury and paid such a hefty price of losing an arm!

“If we had not come looking for you, if we had not thought about looking for the Sword in the Stone, this matter may not have happened.

“If I may ask you this, Your Excellency… if you were me, after having sacrificed such a heavy price for the sake of a matter or an object, would you be willing to just give it up?”

The Countess closed her mouth.

She lowered her head, seemingly thinking about it for a moment.

Then, this woman raised her head and said, “I have three conditions. If you satisfy my three conditions, then I will give the Sword in the Stone’s blade to you!”

Chen Xiaolian did not indicate yes or no and said, “State your conditions.”

"First, you have to ensure my safety… … that means you need to help settle my problem for me! Those who had ambushed me, you need to help me deal with that problem!” the Countess said coldly. “There is no room for discussions for this condition. I am well aware that without people like you protecting me, I would be in serious danger! I highly doubt my bodyguards could deal with people like those. As for calling the police… I believe that the both of us know that that is a joke.”

Listening to the condition, Chen Xiaolian weighed it in his mind.

This condition appeared difficult. However, thinking it carefully, it may not be that difficult.

Chen Xiaolian possessed neither the ability nor the strength to constantly protect the Countess.

The black-clad man who resembled Qiu Yun possessed a mysterious strength and strange skill.

However…

This was still just an instance dungeon’s quest.

As long as they complete this quest and obtain the Sword in the Stone. Then… the reason to compete with the other side would no longer exist.

Simply put: If the Sword in the Stone was a quest prop, once they get their hands on the Sword in the Stone, this random quest should end.

As for what will happen later on, that would have nothing to do with the Countess.

There was no need to constantly protect her. There was also no need to consider about the future.

After the instance dungeon ended, everyone will go their separate ways.

Additionally…

The Countess held another identity, Miao Yan!

A High-class Player with an Exclusive Account needing his protection?

Stop joking around!

"Go on," Chen Xiaolian said coolly.

The Countess glanced at Chen Xiaolian and said, “The second condition is the one I requested in the beginning. You must unravel the nightmare in my heart! Just… just what does the name Miao Yan represents… the nightmarish experiences that I’ve had to endure, however much you know… you must disclose all of them to me!”

Chen Xiaolian thought about it…

If it comes down to it, I will probably just have to offend Miao Yan this one time… it probably wouldn’t be a big deal.

Since Miao Yan could erase the Countess’ memories once, erasing it another time would probably not pose a huge problem for her.

“And the third?” Chen Xiaolian looked into the young woman’s eyes.

“The third… …” The Countess’ eyes swivelled around and she said, “The third condition… as a woman, I just want to satisfy my curiosity – you have the sword hilt, don’t you? I want to see this sword hilt. At the same time… I want to be there when you are putting the sword blade and hilt together. I do not wish to have any regrets about this. This is an object that my family had spent so much effort in finding. As the successor of the Norman family, it would be unacceptable for me to not know what function that object has.”

Chen Xiaolian rubbed his chin and said, “Let me guess. You will definitely not be willing to give it to me now. You want to wait until I complete the first two conditions, take care of those who ambushed you and tell you the secret within you… … only then will you be willing to give it to me, right?”

"You guessed it right."

“How do I trust you?” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “After I take care of those who ambushed you and tell you the secret… … if you go back on your words, I would not be able to bring those people who ambushed you back. So, if you do go back on your words…”

“I am a woman, a weak woman.” The Countess waggled her eyebrows. “I am within your hands. Is there any form of insurance more reliable than this? I am a hostage!”

…

“Did you find anything?”

A few minutes later, Chen Xiaolian went into a small storage room in the back.

Lun Tai was rummaging through the place. He held onto a shovel in his hand. He then picked up another that was hung on the corner of the wall and tossed it to Chen Xiaolian. He said, “I’ve checked it. The work done on the steel is not bad.”

Chen Xiaolian smiled and threw it into his Storage Watch.

"I did not find anything useful. This should be an abandoned stone room. However, just now I saw a few easels placed within a room. There seems to be some wrapped up paintings in there. But, the amount of dust there is too thick and I didn’t feel like going in.”

Chen Xiaolian’s interest was piqued and he asked, “Where is it? Bring me to it.”

Lun Tai shrugged his shoulders and led him along the way.

The studio was located in the left back room of the stone castle. The door had already been opened by Lun Tai… … obviously, it was forced open.

There was a strange smell inside. It was the smell of dried paint, of rotten wood frames, paint and dust all mixed together.

The window was been sealed leading to no ventilation for the room. Chen Xiaolian stood at the doorway, forcing down his impulse to sneeze. After that, he was able to barely walk in with a frown on his face.

It was a very standard studio. There were several easels that were already greatly rotten. Who knew how long it had been since someone had visited this place.

Chen Xiaolian walked to a side and picked up two paintings that were placed at the corner. He ripped out the linen wrapping the paintings and gave them a glance.

Chen Xiaolian laughed and turned to look at Lun Tai. “Do you recognize them?”

Lun Tai shook his head.

Chen Xiaolian pointed to the painting in his left hand. “Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.”

“… Van Gogh? Who is that?”

Chen Xiaolian sighed. “He is a big shot whose painting can sell for tens of millions of dollars in the US.”

Lun Tai’s eyes turned wide and he pointed at the Sunflowers painting in Chen Xiaolian’s hand. He asked, “This… this stuff is worth tens of millions of dollars?”

“The original is… this is definitely not. If this could be sold for a few thousands, then that would already be considered not bad. Chen Xiaolian shook the frame held in his hand and said, “It is just a copy of the work. It doesn’t look like some famous work.”

"You know how to paint?" Lun Tai smiled.

“No.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head in a frank manner. “I just feel that if this is a famous work, no one would throw it into this dilapidated room covered in dust. It would have long since been hidden inside some treasure vault.”

“… … that sounds logical.” Lun Tai nodded his head.

Chen Xiaolian picked up one of the paintings and checked it. He realized that there was a signature at the lower left corner of the painting.

“Mm… {ethereal voice}. Is this the name of the painter?” Chen Xiaolian gave it a glance before gazing to the side. Then, his eyes suddenly came to rest upon the other painting resting upon the ground.

That was a portrait!

It was a young woman in white dress. She stood before a long mirror that reached the floor and was barefooted. Her feet were set to a tiptoeing motion.

The young woman in the painting was undoubtedly very beautiful. She had a slender body, her face was curved and smooth, and her facial features refined. Her pair of laughing eyes accentuated her beautiful and lovable looks.

Most importantly, the one in the painting was clearly… the Countess!

Evidently, this painting was done a few years ago. The girl in the painting was obviously much younger and was probably only 15 to 16 years old.

“Do you people have a habit of breaking into other people’s room?”

The voice of the Countess came from the doorway.

She stood outside the studio room. There was a look of indifference as she observed the two of them inside the room. Her eyes swept through the dilapidated easels in the room before falling onto the painting in Chen Xiaolian’s hand. She furrowed her eyebrows.

Chen Xiaolian pointed to the girl on the portrait placed on the floor and asked, "Is that you?"

The Countess walked inside, picked up a piece of cloth and covered the portrait. Then, she raised her head to look at Chen Xiaolian. “Is there a problem?”

“The painting is not bad, vivid and quite similar,” said Chen Xiaolian. He rubbed his nose and smiled.

“… … should I be feeling thankful for your praise? Do you know how to paint?” The Countess pursed her lips to the side.

“Mm? Wait a minute… … those words of yours… you mean, all these paintings were drawn by you?” Chen Xiaolian was a little shocked. He looked at the Sunflowers painting in his hand before looking at the portrait of the girl that had been covered up – it turns out that was a self-portrait.

“I’ve said it before, this is my studio. I said that while we were on our way here, you just weren’t listening.” The Countess shook her head. Then, she walked over, moved a rotten easel against the wall, and looked around at the dilapidated studio. Then, she let out a gentle sigh. “What is so strange about me having learned how to do oil painting? It’s been a long time since I last came here.”

Chen Xiaolian was shocked. He looked at the signature on the Sunflowers painting.

“{Ethereal_voice}. Is this is your name?”

“That was the name I gave myself. Back then, I was still young and I dreamt of becoming a romantic painter. However, I later came to understand my limited talent for painting. Thus, I gave up,” the Countess answered openly.

“{Ethereal_voice}. This is quite the interesting name. A soft fluttering tone that seemed to originate from the immortals… Xian Yin, he he, it’s a good name. [1]”

“Xian Yin?” the Countess imitated the pronunciation by Chen Xiaolian with quite some difficulty. “Is that the language of your country? It sounds… quite pleasant.”

“It does sound quite pleasant.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head.

“… … not bad,” the Countess said thoughtfully. “I have always hated the name Miao Yan. Although I do not know what the name signifies, however, it sounds to me like the words used by your country’s language. I hate that name! Now, I too have the same type of name.

“Mm, Xian Yin. I really like this name. Next time, you can just call me Xian Yin. This will be my Oriental name.”

After saying that, the Countess – mm, more accurately, Xian Yin appeared to be in a more relaxed mood. She cast a glance at the shovel that Lun Tai was holding and asked, “Are you people planning to dig here or what? There’s not much time left. I remember there’s a kitchen at the back where we can go to find something to eat. I’m going over, are you fellows coming?”

Chen Xiaolian’s gave a wry smile and said, “You’ve brought up a weakness of mine… … matters of the kitchen is not my forte. You go.”

Xian Yin cast a deep glance at Chen Xiaolian before turning around and leaving.

“You don’t know how to cook? If you don’t know how to cook, we would have starved to death back when we were in your house.” Lun Tai he shook his head and sighed.

“Knowing how to cook or not is one matter. The willingness to cook is another,” Chen Xiaolian replied coolly.

“Right, how did the discussion between you two go just now? Will we be able to get the item?”

“… … it’s not too difficult, but certainly not easy.” Chen Xiaolian considered their agreement and continued with a cautious tone, “However… I managed to figure out one thing.”

"Oh?"

“It would appear that she won’t be changing to Miao Yan,” said Chen Xiaolian. He thought about it and said slowly, “Earlier on, when I was discussing the conditions with her, I had deliberately used an impolite tone. She should be feeling dissatisfied and angry. Yet, she had been keeping her feelings in check – she understands the current situation.

“There is also the time when we were ambushed. Back then, she had not changed to Miao Yan…

“You know this as well…

“If she were to change into Miao Yan… even though we are together, we would likely be incapable of fighting against her.

“If the one I was facing was Miao Yan, after speaking to her with such an impolite tone while forcing her to give us the Sword in the Stone, she would have gotten angry and started a fight.”

Lun Tai nodded his head. “If we are to look at things this way…”

“I made a rough speculation.” Chen Xiaolian walked to the door and looked outside, ensuring that there was no one in the corridor outside. Then, he turned back to face Lun Tai and whispered:

“We are currently in an instance dungeon. However, this instance dungeon’s area just happened to occur within London.”

“Once an instance dungeon is opened, the area of the instance dungeon would be temporarily separated from the original world. It would become a separate space with a time flow that differs from the outside world.

“Thus, according to this law, this area of London and the people within it have been separated out from the real world.

“Since it is a temporary separation, then… … perhaps, under the law of the system, during this time when this area have been separated out, Miao Yan is unable to enter her body.

“She won’t be able to because her Exclusive Account have been cut off from the main world.

“Thus, this Countess that we are currently facing is the real NPC. During this period of time when the instance dungeon is running, Miao Yan cannot control or enter her body.”

“… … and so?”

“So there might be some advantages to this,” Chen Xiaolian said coolly. “Isn’t she very curious to know who she is? Doesn’t she want to know who Miao Yan is? Doesn’t she want to know the secrets revolving around her?

“I can satisfy that request of hers.

“At any rate… … once this instance dungeon ends, London will be refreshed and the Countess’ memory will probably be refreshed as well.

“If so, there is no need for me to worry that Miao Yan will come looking for me.”

…

1 Xian Yin (仙音) is the interpreted name from {ethereal_voice}. Xiān (仙) means immortal, Yīn (音) means sound. ↩