Chapter 397: Immortal Pats My Head

The Blade of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild!

Hearing that, Chen Xiaolian nearly choked to death!

Just what kind of luck do I have? I was just going to the toilet, but I ended up bumping into such a character!

That is the boss of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild that has been missing for years now!

This was practically him creating trouble for himself… if only I had known this would happen, I would have kept holding on and not go to the toilet! No one had ever died from holding it in for a while!

Chen Xiaolian was so furious, he rued the fact that he could not slap himself.

After a moment, Fatty spoke up again in a whisper, “Whatever, I’ll tell you the truth.”

He paused a moment before sighing. “Truth be told, I am really not setting you up. What happened tonight will not cause any problems for you. It’s the truth. The box I asked you to fetch for me is of no particular importance. It is just something that my father left behind. There is nothing special about it.”

Chen Xiaolian shook his head and said, “I don’t buy it.”

“I’ll be truthful,” said Fatty. “Our guild is now in deep trouble. If this was back when my father was still around, would the other resident guilds dare trouble us? My old man’s strength is beyond extraordinary. With his own two hands, he created a guild with the qualification for permanent residence in Zero City. When the name ‘Skyblade’ is mentioned, even the famed bosses of the other resident guilds would have to give him praise.

“However, my old man inexplicably went missing.”

Chen Xiaolian harrumphed. “I already know about that matter. But what does that have to do with this box that you asked me to fetch for you? Could it be that this box could help you find your father?”

“How is that possible?” replied Fatty with a bitter smile. “Back when my father disappeared, all those items in my home, as long as it is suspicious, it would be inspected over and over again by boss Bluesea and the others.

“If there were any important objects that could give them any clues, would it be left in the study of my home for so long?

“Boss Bluesea is an extremely intelligent person. He had gone through the items here a hundred times over.”

Chen Xiaolian considered it for a moment before accepting Fatty’s explanation.

Indeed, if certain items contained clues regarding Skyblade’s disappearance, would it still be left in his home? Considering how long it had been and how intelligent Bluesea was, Bluesea would surely had gone over those things countless times.

“Then, what about this box?”

Fatty sighed. “This box contains an item. It is a personal item that my father was very fond of playing around with. I’ve had memories of this thing since my younger days. Whenever my father is free, he would go to the study, take it out and play with it. It is his favourite personal item.

“There’s nothing wrong with telling you about it. It is an ancient painting, a very simple ancient painting. Boss Bluesea had inspected it before and had verified that it is not some famed work of art. It is just an ancient painting of unknown origin. The boss also said that the painting skill of the painting is only so-so and cannot be considered a famous work. The only thing of note is that it is old.

“The painting had been checked using various instruments before and nothing unusual could be detected… forget the painting, even the furnishings in my home, even the chopsticks did not escape boss Bluesea’s eyes. He had them all carefully checked.

“However, boss Bluesea is a sentimental person. After he was done checking, he restored them all and placed them all in their original position as something of a memorabilia.”

Chen Xiaolian grunted. “Those old fellows sure have quite the friendship between them.”

“That’s only natural. Those old fellows are all brothers through life and death,” Fatty immediately said.

“Since this painting is not something important, why do you want me to fetch it for you?”

Fatty was silent for a moment. Then, he said in a hushed tone, “I’ll tell you the truth. I am now being confined by boss Bluesea.”

“Confined?”

“Yes,” Fatty sighed. “Today, we had overheard the conversation between boss Bluesea and the others. You know that the guild is now in trouble. I won’t hide it from you. This time’s trouble is too big and boss Bluesea and the others find it difficult to resolve it. Even boss Bluesea would have to go risk his life.

“But even if he is to risk his life, it is likely that the guild won’t make it.

“I had argued with boss Bluesea back in the afternoon. However, boss Bluesea had made up his mind.

“He… he wants to send me out of Zero City!”

“What?” Chen Xiaolian was slightly shocked.

“It’s true.” Fatty let out a bitter smile. “I am just an ordinary human and not an Awakened. The reason why I had been living inside Zero City all these time is because I am Skyblade’s son. That is why the other old fellows of the guild would care for me.

“This time however, according to Boss Bluesea, the guild is in too big of a problem. Everyone in the guild would have to put their lives on the line! It is likely that many people would die.

“As for me… I am an ordinary human after all. To continue living in Zero City would be pointless.

“I am not an Awakened, so I don’t have to worry about instance dungeons. After leaving Zero City, I can live a very good life. There’s boss Qiao Yifeng who can take care of me outside.

“Boss Bluesea is afraid that I might cause trouble in Zero City and even more so that I might go die with them. Thus, he immediately locked me up. By tomorrow, he will send me out of Zero City.”

Chen Xiaolian was lost for words.

Fatty gasped and continued, “I have no other way… honestly, I don’t have much plans for this item that I asked you to fetch for me tonight. It’s just, boss Bluesea had made up his mind and I cannot stop him. Once I leave Zero City, he will not give me any chance to return. He knows my temperament and knows that I might end up throwing my life away if I come back. So, this departure of mine is one of no return.

“That’s why… I had asked you to sneak into my old home tonight and help me fetch an item belonging to my father. I will take it with me when I leave this place so that I can have something of a memento.

“To others, the painting in the box is of no value.

“But to me, it is simply priceless. It is the personal item favoured by my father when he was around. I want to take it with me as a remembrance.”

When he heard that, Chen Xiaolian said, “If that is the case, is there any need to blackmail me? Your boss, Bluesea doesn’t seem like someone unreasonable. Just tell him about it face to face that you want to take one of your father’s items as a memento. Surely, he won’t reject? Why come blackmail me?”

“You don’t understand. Back then, my father had disappeared in a bizarre manner. Thus, it became a sensitive issue among the guild members. Although boss Bluesea and the others had inspected the items inside my home countless times, they continue to keep a close watch on those items. They feared that they might have missed something. Thus, if I ask him for one of my father’s items, he would most likely be unwilling to give it to me.”

Listening to Fatty’s explanation, Chen Xiaolian felt himself becoming slightly more trustful of Fatty’s words. However, he still felt a slight sense of unease toward Fatty.

He considered it and said, “If that is the case… no, I still cannot trust you. I’ll open this box to check its contents first.”

“Just check! Go ahead and check! Just remember, the painting is very old. Don’t wreck it! Make sure you handle it with care!”

Chen Xiaolian opened up the box as he listened to Fatty’s tirade.

There was indeed a very short painting scroll inside. He placed it on the table and slowly unrolled it…

An ancient painting was spread out before him.

It was a mounted painting but the paper had turned yellow. No small number of paper cracks could be seen.

It was an ink painting.

Within the landscape, there on the peak of a mountain was a young man who knelt down on one knee. Before that young man was a figure. This figure had one hand outstretched, gently touching the forehead of the young man.

The young man showed a sincere and reverent expression on his face. The man who was standing while touching the young man’s head on the other hand, had an ephemeral and immortal like aura. His posture emanated a celestial atmosphere as he took on a harmonious and compassionate appearance.

The painting of the landscape was hazy as fog swirled around it. Additionally, it seemed as though there was a drizzle accompanying the fog.

Behind the two figures was a large stone and a cave could be seen on the surface of the stone.

That was the content of the painting.

Beside the painting was a poem.

“The immortal pats my forehead; the knot is tied as I accept everlasting life.”

This poem was not hard to understand.

Judging by the contents of the painting, the general meaning behind it was: An ordinary human was kneeling before an immortal, who patted his forehead, imparting the immortal techniques for everlasting life to the man.

This theme was not something unconventional. It was something used in many ancient paintings.

Chen Xiaolian glanced through the painting. When his gaze fell upon the face of the ‘immortal’ in the painting, Chen Xiaolian became shocked!

His pair of eyes widened greatly as he stared at it!

The immortal had one hand stretched out to pat the ordinary human’s forehead and his face was set in a smile.

Additionally, the painting was very vivid and the outline of the immortal’s face was painted out clearly. The moment Chen Xiaolian saw it, he was unable to stop himself from sucking in a cold breath of air!

Mr San?