Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 115

After reburying Xiao Hui’s secret treasure trove, Ying Feng packed up the tools, and the man and wolf headed indoors.

The small room was still as cramped as ever. Ying Feng had lived here for so long and only added some books to the room; most of everything else was left by Ling Xing, with the decor remaining unchanged.

Xiao Hui stepped into the house and deftly switched on a device with its back legs. Ying Feng didn’t stop it. Instead, he was accustomed to such behavior, as if, over the years, they had spent every day this way.

Ling Xiao’s figure appeared in the center of the narrow room, his voice adding a touch of vitality to the quiet environment, making it seem not so desolate. “I’m about to undergo a treatment, after which I might lose all the memories of these past three months…”

Accompanied by Ling Xiao’s image, Ying Feng organized the sketch of the newly discovered plant and prepared to check the library for any relevant information to confirm its identity. If time allowed, he could still add it to the upcoming revised edition of the botanical atlas.

It was during this time that Fu Yao’s call came. Over the years, Ying Feng, a recluse, seldom kept in touch with old acquaintances. Fu Yao was one of the few who had always taken the initiative to contact him, and their relationship had been maintained this way.

“Ying Feng, are you free? Come to the history museum.”

Since his victorious return from the Huoxiu expedition, Fu Yao had been promoted from Major General to Lieutenant General, but his habit of getting straight to the point had not changed. Ying Feng couldn’t think of a reason why he was being asked to go to the museum.

“What for?”

Fu Yao’s voice was slightly deeper than usual. “The archaeological team found something. They want you to help identify it.”

Perhaps it was his unusual tone or the content of the speech that enveloped Ying Feng with an ominous premonition. He put down the materials in his hand, and just as he was half a step out the door, he unexpectedly received another call.

For someone as antisocial as Ying Feng, receiving two calls in one day was rare. The terminal displayed an unfamiliar number. He answered, and a stranger’s voice came through.

“Hello, may I speak with Mr. Ying Feng?”

“Yes, speaking. Who’s this?”

“This is the history museum…”

Ying Feng interrupted, “Are you asking me to come over? I’ve already been notified and will be there soon.”

“Eh?” The other party was also surprised. “You don’t need to come personally to pick it up. Just leave your address, and we’ll deliver the package to your door.”

A package? Ying Feng frowned. “Aren’t you with General Fu Yao?”

“You might be mistaken, sir,” the person on the other end of the communicator replied. “We are staff from the National History Museum. You have a time capsule package, gifted by a mysterious friend of yours ten years ago, and today is the day it is due to arrive in your hands. Just provide us with your address, and we will personally deliver it. The charges have been settled. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Ying Feng, who had walked up to the Flying Shark, finally realized that these were two unrelated matters, coincidentally happening at the same time.

“I understand, but I happen to be going to the museum anyway. Where are you? I’ll pick it up on the way.”

“Well, we’re on the third floor in the folk relics exhibition area. You can find us at the souvenir counter, right next to the ‘Memorial Stone’ exhibit.”

“Alright.” Ying Feng hung up the call and set the museum as his destination. It was his first visit there since he and Ling Xiao had visited ten years ago.

Fu Yao was waiting for him at the conference center on the top floor. When Ying Feng arrived, he realized that there were many people present. Besides Fu Yao and Nie Yun, whom he recognized, he had not seen anyone else.

“You’re here.” Fu Yao’s greeting drew everyone’s attention to Ying Feng, especially the sunglasses on his face, which garnered special attention.

Ying Feng nodded to those he knew. Fu Yao, familiar with his personality, only gave him a brief introduction:

“These are the museum’s leaders and cultural relics appraisal experts. They asked for you to help appraise something.”

Cultural relics appraisal experts were asking him, an amateur, for an appraisal? Ying Feng didn’t understand.

Fu Yao shifted his gaze to another person present, and that expert immediately stood up to take over the conversation.

“It’s like this, we discovered the ruins of an ancient Tianxiu gladiator arena six months ago, and since then we have been engaged in excavation and restoration work. Last month, a very special artifact was unearthed from the ruins.”

“A special artifact?” Ying Feng couldn’t help but repeat.

“Yes, judging from the degree of weathering, this artifact has a history of several thousand years. However, what’s strange is that it also has the carving craftsmanship of the near-modern era, which is a huge contradiction.”

Ying Feng was silent for a while before he finally asked, “What is it?”

The people in front of him stepped aside one by one, revealing a glass display case at the end of the conference center, inside which lay something quietly on display.

Ying Feng slowly made his way through the crowd, as if traversing through four thousand years of time, to stand before the person he yearned for day and night.

The exterior of the artifact in the display was severely corroded, and its outline could barely make out what seemed to be a dagger, its engraved patterns worn by time no longer reflecting its past appearance.

“I know the actual item might not be clear enough. This is a restoration image simulated with our most cutting-edge equipment.”

The expert turned on the projector, and a highly realistic 3D projection appeared in front of Ying Feng. To allow for a clearer view, the projection was rotating slowly.

The dagger was exactly that dagger, and the place where the handle met the blade was brought to life by the restored image of the Kui.

He and Ling Xiao came together because of the unexpected appearance of the Kui, and thus chose the Kui as the totem on their respective daggers—one with intaglio and one with relief, which could fit together tightly without seams, each one unique and irreplaceable in the world.

He placed his hand on the glass, his gaze no different from the way Xing Lou used to look over the royal emblem of the past. When the dynasty changed, Xing Lou condemned Ying Feng to lose his love forever. In the inexplicable cycle of karma…

However, those present could not see such a gaze because all the sorrow was perfectly hidden behind the sunglasses, betrayed only by a faintly trembling voice.

“You just said its estimated age is…?” he asked.

The expert replied carefully, “It dates back to the ancient Tianxiu era, about four thousand years ago.”

The Tianxiu people didn’t leave bodies behind—only daggers that never left their side, and when only a dagger existed, it often signified a person’s relic. If it was indeed as everyone suspected, its significance was already quite clear.

The room fell into a deathly silence. Including Ying Feng, no one made another sound. Everyone else turned helplessly towards Fu Yao, who shook his head, indicating there was nothing to be done.

After a long time, Ying Feng took out another dagger and silently placed it on top of the glass case. Those close by saw clearly that the pattern carved on it was the positive version of the pattern on the dagger in the restoration image; had history’s cruel erosion not occurred, they surely could have fit together seamlessly, without a gap.

The museum director thought he was lending the dagger for research and hurried to thank him. “Thank you for your support. Once we have made a copy, we will return it…”

Ying Feng interrupted him, “No need.”

He paused before adding, “Although it is not an artifact, please, let the two of them be together.”

Ignoring the puzzled looks from everyone, Ying Feng left the conference hall. Nie Yun felt his action was ominous and, unable to calm down, tugged at Fu Yao’s sleeve.

Fu Yao chased after him. “Ying Feng!”

His voice echoed in the empty museum.

Ying Feng turned around; his expression forever calm behind the sunglasses.

Fu Yao approached him, unable to find any flaws in such a composed Ying Feng.

“You…” He started to say something but then changed the question. “Theoretically, even if Ling Xiao’s dagger is an unearthed cultural relic, it legally belongs to you. Are you sure you want to donate both daggers?”

“Yes,” Ying Feng replied calmly. “Ancient artifacts require professional care, which is beyond my ability.”

Fu Yao didn’t believe him. “Is that really what you think?”

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving first.”

Fu Yao watched him turn to leave, unable to help calling out. “Ying Feng, I want to remind you that you are now in a fledgling state. You cannot be reborn.”

Ying Feng actually stopped, then asked him, “Do you think I will form a pact with someone again?”

Fu Yao was left speechless by the question. Ying Feng continued, “Since that’s the case, whether this day comes sooner or later, what difference does it make?”

His straightforward answer confirmed that Fu Yao’s worries were not unfounded.

He thought that after nine years, with Ying Feng spending his days gardening and raising dogs, acting as if nothing had happened, everyone had let their guard down around him. But he didn’t expect that as soon as Ying Feng learned there was no hope for Ling Xiao’s survival, he immediately decided to end his life, which was infuriatingly frustrating.

“I’m telling you, in your case, even the Nightmare Hall won’t take you in!”

“But the Nightmare Hall isn’t the only way, is it?”

Ying Feng pressed the elevator button, leaving Fu Yao outside. He directly pressed for the ground floor and called the priest.

“I have sorted the manuscript of the Botanical Encyclopedia. It’s on the table in my room. Please take care of the publishing.”

Ying Feng often went out, so the priest didn’t suspect anything unusual. “Okay, have you decided to go on a trip again?”

The elevator reached the first floor, and Ying Feng walked out. “Yes, please take care of Xiao Hui for me.”

“Don’t be so polite. I will take good care of it and won’t let it run around.”

Ying Feng hung up the phone and walked to his car, considering if there was anything he had not yet taken care of. He needed to send a confirmation letter to the estate recycling center, but before that, he had to make a trip to Wolf Star to hold a new election for the Wolf King.

That strange number called at just the right time.

“Sir, have you arrived at the museum yet? We are about to close soon, so I wanted to confirm with you.”

Ying Feng then remembered he had forgotten about this.

“No need,” he replied. “I don’t need the package anymore.”

“How could that be?” the person on the other end hurriedly said, “It might be from someone close to you.”

After a moment of silence on the communicator, “I no longer have anyone close.”

Seeing that the person on the other line was about to hang up, the museum staff hurriedly called out, “How can you know it’s not important if you don’t take a look? This package has been waiting for you for ten years. If you give up on it like this, isn’t it a disservice to the intentions of the person who sent it?”

Ying Feng closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Alright then, which floor did you say you were on?”

The souvenir counter staff saw someone approaching from a distance, and the first thing they noticed was the sunglasses on his face, which made them take a few extra glances.

Due to their unique eye structure, they could see clearly in both strong light and darkness without suffering from any eye diseases. Some researchers wear flat glasses to record data, but sunglasses used to block light were rare, hence they drew particular attention.

However, because the eyes were covered, the staff couldn’t determine his identity and could only guess from the height that this was probably a Qizhu.

“I am here to pick up a package.”

As soon as he spoke, the staff recognized him. “Mr. Ying Feng, is it? Your package is here. Could you please sign for me?”

Ying Feng signed the tablet and then took the package from the staff. It was strange that someone would send him something, and that it was sent ten years ago.

“What’s inside?” he asked casually.

“It’s a remembrance stone,” the staff said with a smile. “This is a special service of our museum, originating from ancient artifacts that have been unearthed continuously for thousands of years. People used the same handwriting to carve words of longing on stones, a tradition that has never been broken for four thousand years. Although historians have not yet deduced how this has been done, people have become accustomed to using this method to express their longing for their partners.”

Ying Feng opened the package while the employee was explaining, and inside was a palm-sized stone engraved with characters he couldn’t understand.

“What does this say?” he asked.

“Oh, sami suka,” the employee replied. “In the ancient Tianxiu language, it means ‘I miss you.'”

“How do I know who sent this?” Ying Feng inquired.

“There’s a card under the stone.”

Following the instructions, Ying Feng picked up the stone, and indeed, there was a small card pressed underneath. The person who sent the gift might have been in a hurry or maybe had nothing to say because the message area was completely blank, with only a sloppy signature.

When he saw the name on the card, Ying Feng looked up anxiously. “You said there are many such stones? From four thousand years ago?”

“Uh, those are unearthed cultural relics. Your piece is from a visitor…”

“Where are those stones?!” he interrupted.

The employee, though puzzled by his excitement, still gestured with his right hand toward the side, “Right over there in the display case…”

Before he could finish, the strange visitor had already rushed to the display case, pressing his temple, and the sunglasses on his face disappeared with a click.

The employee opened his mouth in surprise; this fully developed adult had a pair of smoky gray eyes that only fledglings possessed.

He immediately thought of someone—the only pair in the entire Tianxiu—who had dissolved their blood pact, the “adult juvenile”, who shocked the nation when the news came out. Could it be him?

Ying Feng carefully examined each of the thousand-year-old stones up to the most recently discovered one, comparing every one with the remembrance stone in his hand, fearing he would miss any detail.

The same handwriting, the time that leaped constantly, repeatedly told the same phrase:

Oh, sami suka. I miss you.

He would drift forever in the crevices of time until his soul dispersed in the river of time.

Ying Feng’s hand, holding the remembrance stone, trembled slightly. The label on the stone in front of him estimated it to be 30–40 years old.

“He’s still alive.”

Ying Feng shook his head in disbelief, his face a mixture of sorrow and joy.

“Ling Xiao is still alive.”

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