No one understood what Father was trying to say. No one but Big Sister and I. She nodded. "I see. Little Brother has enough magical powers but he lacks finesse. He needs more understanding and comprehension of high magic."
I scratched my head. "Wait," I tried to make myself clear, albeit impatiently, "So, like in an RPG-game, I now possess a high-level technique but I do not have enough experience points to level up? So I still cannot use this high-level technique?" Father frowned at the comparison but he nodded nonetheless. "Roughly put, but yes. You really take after me after all. You remind me of when I was young." And that remark made Mother, who was sitting just beside him, giggled in agreement.
"So what can I do?" I asked again, vainly earnest for a solution, "Surely you won't tell me that I have to wait until I'm thirty or even fifty before I can use it? And what about Big Sister? She's been using sword telekinesis for barely how many years? Why is i
It was the first time Edelweiss had laid eyes on Jin Qichen and naturally, she only understood half of what we were saying. Ponderously, I told her about our visitor, "He is the one behind this whole debacle. A member of the group of people who wish to lay their hands on me and the Shiyan Blade. This Jin Qichen is a son from the line of the Manchus of the Qing Dynasty and so his goal is, as anticipated, the revival of the Qing Empire.""He came unarmed. I could have easily lopped off his head and be done with it. Why did you allow him to leave?" Edelweiss frowned and I pinched gently at her cheeks. "He's the least of our concern for now. To put it frankly, he's only cannon fodder for those so-called comrades of his, a daydreamer who fantasizes about of being emperor. But among those comrades of his that now remained hidden are our true quarries. One of them is my nemesis and the other is that strange but malevolent organization. So Jin Qichen is nothing but an inconsequ
"What happened to you, Shiyan? I heard you were injured. How are you now? Where were you hurt? Let me see it!" Lu Shengnan pelted a flurry of questions at me before I could say anything. "How did you know I was hurt?" I almost laughed out loud and she chuckled. "Humph. What makes you think you can keep secrets from us?"Smiling weakly to myself, I shook my head. A rascal that should have been born a boy instead of a girl. She must have heard from somewhere that I was injured although something told me that she was not here only for a simple visit. Lu Shengnan was never known to be fastidious about manners with me and me her as well. "So, what brings you here?" I asked directly. She plopped into the couch opposite mine and lighted herself a cigarette. "I hope I can rely on you to remember most of our classmates in university?"I shook my head and I was serious. Aside from Lu Shengnan, I had almost forgotten everyone else from my class. I was usually distant
"Come on, this is MY rate. An honest one to boot!" I glowered at Lu Shengnan with tremendous exasperation. "What makes you think the rates charged by swindlers and hustlers are the correct ones?"Only Lu Shengnan seemed to misunderstand me. She was thinking I was being too courteous. "Wow, I've known you for so long, Shiyan. This is the first time you're so soft-spoken! I'm not a complete amateur! I know the market rates for exorcising spirits! They usually charge at least tens of thousands!"Edelweiss and I broke into fits of laughter. "And were they effective?" "Urm..." Lu Shengnan stuttered, "Well, I know at least that those Huang Li went to were useless. Otherwise, she would never be forced to come to you. She had looked for more than ten of them, having spent hundreds of thousands for nothing!"Wow, so being a swindler could still be such a lucrative calling, I almost burst into another fit of guffaws. I was pondering on ways to explain to
More of the mysteries that haunted me began to unfurl as the hidden hands hiding in the shadows began to show themselves. Among them included a descendant of the Emperors of the Qing Dynasty, Jin Qichen, and the Order of Pain which Zhang Zhigui had been fighting against; and now, our latest discovery, a woman in black whom we discovered to be an heir of Tribe Nine Li, the tribe once led by the legendary tribal leader Chiyou from prehistoric China.According to what paltry information Jin Qichen was willing to divulge, the three parties were vying for the same goal: the possessorship of the Shiyan Blade. What was more, everyone seemed to be aware of the disappearance of the Dragon-slaying Blade and this clearly indicated that anyone could freely reawaken any of the dragon leys and claim them to become king without suffering any consequences and this culminated into a race for the Shiyan Blade.Right now, one of my former classmates from university, Lu Shengn
Lu Shengnan stared at me with the paper held between her fingers for seconds until she finally uttered, "You said you are neighbors?!" "Urm... Heh heh heh," I giggled sheepishly and said, "I'm staying in Unit 105." Lu Shengnan gaped with disbelief at me for another few seconds. "Oh, my God! You're hiding a huge fortune, are you!? The villas there cost millions each!"Never to miss out any chance to brag, Lin Feng placed a hand on my shoulder, quipping triumphantly, "Heh, as if that amount would matter to Shiyan! He can easily win that amount of money in a single bet! I'm sure you've heard of the children abductions that happened before around Wu Zhong? The case that involved some evil cultists? That was solved by us! One million yuan, piece of cake!"The hoiden Lu Shengnan watched as Lin Feng carried on with his histrionics with awe, rubbing her hands, her eyes dreamy and mystified. At this, I hurriedly waved my hands and said, "All right, enough there! Don
It was ten by the time we left. We limped out of the bar, clinging on to each other. Chongxi was looking as if he was suffering from a stroke. At least Lin Feng was still able to walk on his own. I was feeling tipsy myself with the dizziness that had me walking in circles and figure-eight round and round. Lu Shengnan was worst; she would have collapsed if not for me still struggling to keep her on her feet.I was the undisputed best in drinking out of all four of us. But cocktails, which were nowhere near the beers we normally gulp down like water, were really way out of our league and we were now paying the price for our ignorance and brashness. In a slurry voice, a half-drunk Lin Feng yelled, "W-wait up! Ah (I) will get the cut (car)!" I grabbed at the scruff of his shirt and shook him, "Look... at yourself... You can't even... speak... Quit driving... I want to live... a... long life..." Lin Feng stowed his keys back into the pocket and crouched on the pavement.
Unlike Huang Li earlier, Cao Xuedong had inadvertently betrayed his fear of me. Smiling wryly at the former instructor's inability to fully rein in his emotions, I said, "I'm fine, Instructor Cao. I believe you need our help to see what's wrong with your house?""Of course," Cao Xuedong chuckled and said, "Huang Li told me about your visit. I have been expecting you. Come on in." He whirled around and began walking deeper into the darkness of the house and we followed just behind.The last of us had barely entered through the threshold when the door swung with an invisible force and clicked shut, plunging all of us into pitch-black darkness that I could not see anything. Blasted hell! I cursed quietly, It's all because of the bloody liquor that I have become careless and clumsy to have fallen into such a trivial trap!"Godd*mmit!" Lin Feng was the first to burst with an expletive, "It's a trap! *hick*" His knees began to give way and with Chong
Shaking off my confusion and puzzlement, I hastily acknowledged and said, "Heh heh heh, it's been a long time, Instructor Cao.""Oh, a long time indeed, Murong Shiyan," Cao Xuedong replied, turning to face me with that unsettling smile of his. What's happening!? I gasped to myself quietly, Has Time been reversed when we were trapped in the dark? Is this even possible?!"Huang Li told me about your visit. I have been expecting you. Come on in," he said and he pivoted around just like he did earlier, once again plunging into the dark interior of the villa. Lin Feng shot me a look that seemed to say: This is completely the same as just now?! There's no way this is an enchantment! Two persons cannot have the same hallucination at the same time!"Am I mistaken in thinking that we are reliving what we experienced just now all over again?" Lin Feng stammered in a shaking, doubting what he had just seen and wondering if he was going mad. I grabbed at h