Chapter 1380: A painful farewell!
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
An entire week had pa.s.sed, and that lightning outside the ancient tomb was still crackling. The black clouds looked ominous, and the terrible weather got everyone feeling very depressed.
Today finally, under the blind old man’s behest, the scoundrels gathered at the altar of the ancient tomb for a meeting.
The altar of the holy tomb was made of gold and was ninety-nine meters wide. All around, there were twelve golden holy monuments, each bearing no words or lettering, and all that was on it was a large eye.
In truth, there was neither a single character nor word found in this entire tomb or even the entire planet that they were on. The only thing carved anywhere was the shape of an eye, whether it was the moss-covered tablet in the forest, or the hanging mural on the cliff walls. This image of the eye was everywhere, yet none of the scoundrels could make sense of it at all or of what it symbolized.
Everyone present, including the scoundrels, discovered that the person taking charge of the meeting was not the doctor but rather the ever-mysterious blind old man. The machinist had brought a seat over, allowing him to be seated on the altar.
!!
“Is Xia Fan still training?” asked the blind old man in his hoa.r.s.e voice the moment he opened his mouth.
The fisherman nodded. “He’s practicing his stealth skills by the lake. My little creatures are accompanying him, so if he’s making his way back, I’ll know.”
The blind old man heaved a long sigh. “It’s about time. Today, I shall tell you all something very important, but you must keep this a secret from Xia Fan.”
Only after all the scoundrels nodded in agreement did the blind old man continue. “We don’t have too much time left, so as fantastically as what I’m about to tell you, I guarantee that it’s nothing but the truth.
“A hundred and thirty-eight years ago, a group of vicious criminals, who had come from all over the Ashen Moon Universe, gathered together to barge into this place in hopes of finding the treasure rumored to be hidden within and get rich. Those people were you all.”
These scoundrels felt the words that the blind old man had used were very odd. He was also someone who had come here, hoping to strike it rich, but the way he had just spoken sounded as though he had nothing to do with any of that.
The blind old man swallowed. “Back then, while all of you joined hands to get into the Holy Tomb planet, you actually didn’t know one another. Even now, you use aliases and don’t divulge your real names, nor do you wish to do so, much less reveal your true ident.i.ties, and that’s because most of you are fugitives.
“At this point, I’d like to ask everyone: Do any of you remember seeing me when you first gathered?”
The scoundrels under the altar discussed this among themselves for a bit. Some said that it had been too long for them to have a clear recollection of what had happened then, while others replied with a ‘no’; there were some who seemed to recall that they had had. One even said that it was impossible for them to remember everyone’s faces, given that hundreds had originally gathered then.
Hearing all these words, the blind old man chuckled.
“You people are really audacious to the extreme. Did you all dare to plunder this place without knowing where it’s even?
“I’ll be honest, when you all gathered to set off, I wasn’t among you.”
Shock!
These scoundrels nearly exploded. None of them could guess where this blind old man had come from since he was not actually one of them when they had first a.s.sembled off planet. He could not possibly have jumped out from a crack in the land, could he have?
When the scoundrels displayed flabbergasted looks over this revelation, the blind old man looked very satisfied and laughed. “This place is obviously my tomb, and all of you woke me up with your arrival. Later, everyone began killing each other, all for the sake of profiting the most, which I found to be very interesting, so I stayed around to enjoy the show.
“Who knew that all of you would fight and kill until no one wanted to carry on any more? The doctor voiced that there’s no longer any meaning in continuing the slaughter and that everyone might as well divide the energy crystals equally.
“During that time, I happened to be sitting at the side, and you all thought that I had come along with you, so I was included in the division.
“Back then, I was practically laughing until my belly ached. All of you came to steal my things, only to end up presuming me to be a fellow compatriot. Split part of the spoils with me? That’s definitely the greatest joke in the world!”
Shock!
Extreme shock!
The color on these scoundrels’ faces got drained. The ancient tomb had become so silent everyone could hear their rapidly beating hearts.
As a killer, the doctor furtively reached behind his back and touched his silver surgical scalpel. If this really was this blind old man’s ancient tomb, then there was no way anyone could say what would happen next. The doctor’s killer instinct told him that the situation was about to take a turn for the worse, which was why he had decided to make the first move.
Quite a few shared the same idea as he had. Since they were notorious scourges from all across the universe, not one of them was obviously averse to the deed.
*Boom*
Just as the scoundrels were undecided, the blind old man suddenly looked up and opened those two eyes, which had supposedly already lost vision!
At that instant—
A mysterious golden light burst forth from his eyes!
All the scoundrels were enveloped in that golden light. They felt their bodies lift from the ground as this unparalleled force pulled them up in the air!
Each one of them felt like they were being stifled, unable to breathe, while the blood in their veins was seemingly flowing in reverse; the agony they felt was akin to having their entire body be cast into h.e.l.l itself!
The torturous pain made these scoundrels wish that they could scream; alas, no sound would come out.
Terror!
Absolute terror!
The scoundrels felt so terrified they wished for death!
*Puff*
However, it was at that moment that the blind old man shut his eyes again.
The mysterious golden light disappeared along with it, and the scoundrels collapsed heavily on the ground, every cell in their bodies wracked by extreme pain.
“Now, do you all believe me?” The blind old man chuckled.
He then spoke in this somewhat sheepish tone. “Ah, I’ve been badly influenced by that rascal, Xia Fan. I clearly wanted to threaten all of you, but I ended up not being able to hold back my laughter.
“Oh, well. So be it. Time has already changed everything. While I am the owner of this ancient tomb, I don’t have any plans of killing you, and that’s because you’ve all brought me plenty of joy over the years.
“In terms of combat strength, each of you is sc.u.m, and all you know are some random tricks and skills.
“I’ve been asleep in this tomb for too long. So much time has pa.s.sed that even I forgot how many epochs there have been. It’s why I was not only not mad when all of you barged in here, I even felt slightly amused.
“It’s also because I felt too lonely, and when all of you gave me a share of the energy crystals, I decided to join in, but I didn’t dare to reveal my eyes, as I would then be discovered by you all, which caused you all to begin calling me ‘Blind Man’.
“Unfortunately, interesting days can’t continue forever. When all of you discovered that you’d been trapped under the sky dome, everybody became sullen and depressed, sighing and frowning. It’s only upon Xia Fan’s sudden arrival that this place found itself renewed with life.
“Why’re you telling us all this? Could it be related to the constant thunderstorm happening outside?” shouted someone from among the scoundrels.
The blind old man nodded. “I already told you all: We don’t have much time left. There’s a powerful old nemesis nearby.
“What all of you see as a thunderstorm is actually a warning from my nemesis.
Everyone below the altar was in disarray once more. The enemy of the blind old man was about to come? Just how scary would that person be?
The blind old man spoke as he recalled things. “I’ve told you not just once before: A day will come when all of us will die. That’s because this is a forbidden area of the Ashen Moon Universe. Since you came, none of you shall leave with your lives.
“Everything I’ve told you today is done on the account that we’ve spent all these years in peace with one another. I’ll be giving you all some time so that you can prepare your last affairs.
“I’ve already been alive for a very long time, so death means nothing to me, but while I am fine with dying, I don’t wish for Xia Fan to suffer the same fate as I do. He’s still young and has a great future ahead of him.
“That’s why I’ll use up all my strength to send Xia Fan away. As for the rest of you… I’m sorry. The strength I have left is only enough to send him alone.
“Okay, that’s what I wanted to tell you all. None of you must leak a word of this to Xia Fan. When he returns, I’ll be sending him off, so if you have any words you wish to relay to him, do so soon. As for whether any of you understand why I’m doing this or not, I’ll be honest: I don’t care.”
While everyone was still in shock, the blind old man stepped down from the altar.
All of a sudden—
Someone grabbed him by his shoulder, and it was the dancer couple. The two of them appeared to be very excited.
“Did you just say you’ll be sending Xia Fan away from this place?”
The blind old man furrowed his brows slightly and then nodded.
“That’s marvelous! Absolutely marvelous!” The male dancer felt so excited he was nearly in tears. He turned to his wife and said, “Quick! Let’s go and prepare something for Xia Fan to take with him. This is the day I’ve been looking forward to all these years!”
The blind old man was nonplussed. “I’ll just be sending Xia Fan alone. The rest of you will be staying here, awaiting death.
“We know; we know!” The female dancer had a kindly smile on her face. “Xia Fan is like a son to us, and there’s simply nothing else we could ask for than him being able to leave this place and lead a proper life.”
With that said, the dancer couple actually knelt on the ground at the same time and kowtowed deeply to the old man.
“Blind man—no, grandmaster! Please accept our grat.i.tude!”
“Please accept our grat.i.tude!”
“We are truly thankful!”
“If there’s such a thing as a next life, I’ll be willing to be your cow or horse!”
The scoundrels all gathered around the altar and bowed to him in unison. Even the usually ruthless doctor was no exception.
“This…” The blind old man was startled. A dawning realization then appeared on his face and he mused. “So I see. Xia Fan isn’t just some child; he’s a child we all share. Even a vicious tiger won’t eat its cubs, and no matter what evil things you’ve all done in the past, the love that you have for Xia Fan is as true as that of actual parents.
“I’m very touched that you all think like this. Unfortunately, I really can’t save any of you. Except for Xia Fan, even I will be dying this time as well.”
“No matter. We’ve always remembered your words,” the fisherman stood up and said with a straight face. “A day will come when we will all die, but Xia Fan will inherit our will, live on in this universe, and that is already enough.”
…
Xia Fan ended his afternoon lesson and returned to the ancient tomb.
It was a little strange today; that group of rats the fisherman raised kept accompanying him everywhere. No matter where he went, the rats would all follow him, unwilling to leave his side, all the way until he reached the tomb.
The rats were very quiet, and their eyes carried with them some sadness. They looked like they were unwilling to part from him, and Xia Fan found this to be very curious. All these years he spent learning the beast control technique, this was the first time he had witnessed such a situation.
“Oh, everyone’s all here!” Xia Fan saw all the scoundrels surrounding his room outside and exclaimed in surprise.
The female dancer walked up and took hold of Xia Fan’s hand. It looked like she had just been crying, as there were traces of tears that had streaked down her cheeks.
She handed Xia Fan a bundle and said in a scratchy voice, “There’s a pair of boots inside, called Light Cloud. It is frighteningly light, and it won’t even disturb the clouds if you step on it. Back then, it was all thanks to this footwear that we could steal things everywhere. Today, we’ll be giving it to you.”
“Giving it to me?” Xia Fan was beside himself with happiness, but soon he asked, puzzled, “On my birthday several days ago, didn’t you already give me a gift?”
…
“Don’t ask so many questions. Just take it. In the future… In the future, just be sure to remember the two of us!” The female dancer forced that pair of Light Cloud Boots into Xia Fan’s hands and then crumpled into her husband’s back, suppressing her soft sobbing. The male dancer gave her a hug to console her.
“This is the little robot that I’ve promised to give you all this time. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many materials in this ancient tomb, so I wasn’t able to give it any powerful capabilities. I could only record the voices of everyone here.” The machinist gave XiIa Fan a little robot with a somewhat simple appearance; it was no bigger than Xia Fan’s palm and could move as well as mimic everyone’s voices.
“I actually don’t know how to fish, so this fis.h.i.+ng pole is my gift to you. It’s made of ebony wood, and the thread is Nightchill Cicada Silk. Perhaps you’ll be able to use it in the future.” The fisherman handed Xia Fan his precious fis.h.i.+ng pole.
Everyone gave Xia Fan a gift, and each of these was the most treasured possession of every individual present.
After everyone was done, the doctor patted Xia Fan on his head. The man who had never once smiled was now showing a wide smile on his face, and it was a smile that revealed indescribable relief and rea.s.surance.
“These are your things. We already helped you pack everything. Quickly go see your blind grandpa; he has something very important that requires your doing.” The doctor told Xia Fan this.
With that, the machinist handed over a box, and inside were the clothes that Xia Fan usually wore.
The scoundrels all surrounded Xia Fan and walked with him toward the deeper parts of the ancient tomb, carrying the box and all the gifts that everyone gave him.
“Blind grandpa wishes to see me, so why aren’t we heading to his room?” Xia Fan asked inquisitively when they pa.s.sed the entrance to the blind old man’s room.
“Don’t ask too many questions. You’ll know the answers soon enough.” The female dancer cajoled Xia Fan.
The path kept leading deeper down until they reached the bottom floor of the tomb. There was a room here that had been kept sealed off all year round, its heavy metal doors bolted tightly with an enormous golden lock.
Xia Fan remembered that this was a room that had always been shut tightly. According to the machinist, this golden lock was extremely st.u.r.dy and was so ingenious, so he wondered if there was anyone out there that could even unlock it.
However, to Xia Fan’s astonishment, this golden lock, which was said to be impossible to be picked, had actually opened at this moment!