Sn Chapter 17 (1/2)

Chapter 17 – The Starting Point

Original and most updated translations are from volare. Please don’t read elsewhere and stop supporting theft.

Li Yiming sat down before the tea table at Pure Water Herb Hall and sipped the tea infused by Qing Qiaoqiao herself. He swept his eyes across the chairs around him and felt as if he had begun a new life.

“I was really lucky this time…” Eyegla.s.ses slid his hand across his broken limb and sighed emotionally. He had begun his retreat the moment the man in black noticed him and successfully avoided the center of the explosion. Nonetheless, he lost a leg in the process. As for the others, they quickly came back to their senses once they were transported to the hospital and walked out of it on the same day after taking Grandma w.a.n.g’s potion.

“That domain…” sighed Qing Qiaoqiao.

“Qiaoqiao,” scolded Qing Linglong, “Did you forget what I told you? What happens in domains stay in domains, and we don’t talk about them afterwards. These are the rules, you better forget about all that happened.”

“Yes, and, to say the least, our efforts bore fruit.” Grandma w.a.n.g was once again wearing a green scarf around her head, and she threw a deep look at Li Yiming.

“Speaking of fruits…’ said Qing Linglong with a smile as she drew out an elegantly decorated chest. “We haven’t split the rewards yet…

“One Dragonsnake fruit, two accessories for increasing focus, one intermediate movement technique tome, and a storage bracelet. I think that the unexpected changes were worth it… How should we split it?” asked Qing Linglong as she opened the container.

An apple, a necklace, a jade pendant, a book and a bracelet.

“Give me the Dragonsnake fruit, it’s useless for you anyways,” said Grandma w.a.n.g first.

“I want the necklace…”

“I want the pendant…”

Qing Qiaoqiao and Eyegla.s.ses voiced their desires simultaneously.

“What about Mr. Li?” Qing Linglong did not answer them, and instead sought Li Yiming’s decision.

The item Qing Linglong craved was the movement technique tome, since it would suit her talent the most. From a value perspective, the least valuable item was the storage bracelet. These were plentiful in domains, and almost every guardian could get their hands on one, the only difference being the amount of storage s.p.a.ce available. Since Qing Qiaoqiao had indicated her preference first, Qing Linglong, despite being the interim leader of the group, needed to wait until the end.

“Then give me the bracelet.” Li Yiming knew what he wanted: what use would he have for a tome he cannot learn anything from? However, with that bracelet… Li Yiming was somewhat eager to possess an item like that.

“Then I’ll have the technique tome.” Qing Linglong looked at Li Yiming with grat.i.tude and split the items accordingly.

Grandma w.a.n.g waved her hand and the apple disappeared from sight. Eyegla.s.ses and Qing Qiaoqiao put on their accessories immediately, while Li Yiming fastened the bracelet around his left wrist; it was a trinket of atavistic design, not made of metal nor of wood, but Li Yiming knew that it was not the right moment to scrutinize it.

“So…As promised,” Qing Linglong pulled out three small boxes and gave one to each person.

“Thank you,” said Eyegla.s.ses. Grandma w.a.n.g did not say anything, but nodded at her with a smile.

Li Yiming received the box without looking at it and stuffed it into his pocket.

Suddenly, an invitation appeared in front of each person; they were all the same as the one given by Big Bro in shorts. They burned slowly in the air until nothing, not even ashes, remained.

“To a fruitful cooperation,” Qing Linglong said with a smile as she stood up.

Li Yiming walked out of Pure Water Herb Hall. He felt as if he had come back to a different life when he gazed at the bustling entrance of the Second Provincial Hospital from the crossroads he had traversed many times before. The afternoon sun in August was one that burned the skin, but Li Yiming enjoyed its warmth. The crowded street, the clamor of the pa.s.sers-by. ‘It’s good to be normal.’ thought Li Yiming as he reached for his left ear, only to remember that he had already given his transmitter back to Eyegla.s.ses. To the surprise of the other pedestrians, his lazy stretch came to a halt halfway through its completion when a sudden thought occurred to him.

‘Everything from the domain was fake. Then, Ji Xiaoqin… No. The domain started at 10:30 on the morning of August 15th, but I arrived in Hangzhou on the evening of the 14th…’ Li Yiming’s heart was a.s.sailed by a renewed despair.

‘Should I go see her?’ Li Yiming hesitated as flashbacks of what had happened in the domain unfolded in his mind.

‘The will of that domain was “love”. The invitation from Big Bro in shorts was enough to bring me into the domain with the other guardians. Perhaps it was because of my own emotional state at the time, which matched the will of the domain. Was it intentional from Big Bro, or was it simply a coincidence? My own thoughts fermented into a will, and created that camouflager. His existence was erased by the fake Ji Xiaoqin in the end, which prompted the end of that domain… That’s how it should be… But, how am I going to face the real Ji Xiaoqin?’

Li Yiming’s chaotic thoughts brought him back to his apartment before he could notice it.

‘A maserati?’ Li Yiming immediately noticed the luxury car in its conspicuousness right outside of the apartment. Two silhouettes emerged from the entrance with a smile on their face; Ji Xiaoqin cuddled happily against Guo Xiang.