Chapter 230: Seaview Tower
“In a way, it also means that I’m part of the a.s.sa.s.sin Sect?” asked Xia Fei. Now that he was knee-deep, he might as well go along and try to save his life. Who was Bloodshadow? Xia Fei did not know, nor did he want to find out.
“Yes. Technically, you’re one of us. Has your family ever mentioned anything about this to you?” asked Craneshadow.
Xia Fei shook his head and said in a pitiful voice, “I lost all my kin when I was young; I’ve never heard any of this.”
Craneshadow nodded. Xia Fei’s unfortunate past had him quite emotional.
“It appears that the stars lined up. Since you’re already here, have you ever thought of joining the disciples.h.i.+p?” asked Craneshadow.
Xia Fei quickly nodded and said with a serious face. “I have the same idea as well. Since my techniques are highly related to the a.s.sa.s.sin Sect, it makes sense for me to follow your teachings. I just wonder if the elders are willing to take me in?”
As Xia Fei was saying this, he would direct his gaze onto Silvershadow from time to time. Of course, Craneshadow knew that Xia Fei killed Silvershadow’s disciples, and he thought that the young man was afraid of Silvershadow causing some trouble.
Phantom was left speechless. Xia Fei’s acting was incredible. He was just like a nomad child who finally found his home. He had all the subtleties when he was speaking, fully expressing his intentions yet not being too exaggerated about it.
Silvershadow gave an unfriendly look to Xia Fei. Silvershadow was already quite unhappy when Craneshadow suggested letting Xia Fei live, so of course Silvershadow was not about to agree to Xia Fei joining the disciples.h.i.+p, but as long as Craneshadow had no objections, there was no need for him to voice his opinions.
Craneshadow spent a few moments thinking. He then observed Silvershadow’s expressions and sighed. “Xia Fei, although you have strong connections with our disciples.h.i.+p, it’s not quite right accepting you, too, for you have never gone through our teachings. How about you be an envoy for us, instead?”
“An envoy?” Xia Fei was confused.
Craneshadow patiently explained the tasks of an envoy, exaggerating slightly. He thought that Xia Fei, who had finally found this place after a lot of trouble and was eager to join the disciples.h.i.+p but found that he could not, must be feeling quite sad.
He had no idea that Xia Fei was actually getting happier the more he explained. If he was an envoy, he would not need to stay holed up in this dump. No matter how one thought about it, it was much better than joining the sect itself, but on the surface, Xia Fei made his face look sadder and sadder, so as to appear quite upset that he could not join the disciples.h.i.+p.
When Craneshadow finished speaking, Moonshadow furrowed his eyebrows. “Currently, we have plans to reform the disciples.h.i.+p. I think that we should get rid of everything that we are standing for right now. However one views it, Xia Fei fulfills all the criteria of joining the disciples.h.i.+p. Why don’t we take this opportunity and make the first step toward reformation?”
Phantom was hating on the fact that Xia Fei was lying to his disciples.h.i.+p, but Moonshadow’s words made Phantom think that it might not be a bad thing for Xia Fei to join his a.s.sa.s.sin Sect. A big part of Xia Fei’s abilities was taught by him, so it would almost be equivalent to him helping his disciples.h.i.+p if Xia Fei could return the favor in one way or another as he cultivated a qualified a.s.sa.s.sin.
However, trouble followed wherever Xia Fei went, and this made Phantom slightly worried. It was not a good thing to bring trouble back to the disciples.h.i.+p, after all.
Silvershadow let out a cold snort. “Sect Brother Moonshadow, Xia Fei has the blood of two members of the disciples.h.i.+p on his hands. We’re already being nice by not taking his life. If we let him in and be trained as an a.s.sa.s.sin, many of our disciples will surely be unhappy.”
Moonshadow laughed. “Heh! Sect Brother, I’m afraid that you’re the unhappy one, aren’t you? Greenshadow and Phoenixshadow’s secret has long been known to us from a long time ago. You’re being too nice by giving them pity instead of death. For me, Xia Fei isn’t guilty of anything by killing those shameless, useless things; on the contrary, why can’t Xia Fei, who took action against those bad people, join our disciples.h.i.+p?”
Silvershadow gave the armrest a strong slap and demanded angrily, “Third brother, are you saying that I don’t know how to discipline the people under me?”
Moonshadow let out a sly smile and replied plainly, “You were the one who said that; I didn’t say anything.”
Xia Fei was getting nervous. He did not actually want to join the disciples.h.i.+p and become an a.s.sa.s.sin. He wanted to leave this place as soon as possible as there were many things awaiting to be done by him. Aside from the magnificent plan of building t.i.tan, the compet.i.tion was only a few weeks’ away, and it was up to him to put the name of Quantum Holdings out there.
“Please stop your quarrel; I’ll follow the sect master’s order.”
Craneshadow thought that Xia Fei did not want an internal fight because of him and chose to back off. This made him admire Xia Fei more as the young man knew to think for the greater good, as well as when to advance and retreat.
“Alright. That’s decided,” Craneshadow said, feeling slightly irritated. “Xia Fie will be an envoy of the disciples.h.i.+p from today onward. According to the rules, the a.s.sa.s.sin Sect will give you a skill to protect yourself with. You can pick the one you want at Seaview Tower early tomorrow morning.”
Xia Fei was slightly shocked. This meant that, not only did he get away with it, unpunished, he even benefited from all this, but where was this Seaview Tower?
“It seems that the sect elder has taken a liking to you. It’s true that envoys of the disciples.h.i.+p will usually get a skill book, but usually, the sect master will pick a random irrelevant one. n.o.body has ever been allowed to pick as they please; you’ve benefited quite a bit this time.”
Silvershadow was obviously angry and said to Craneshadow, “Sect elder, I think that isn’t quite by the rules?”
Craneshadow retorted with a serious look on his face, “It’s about time that we change the rules.”
Although Silvershadow hated Xia Fei to the bones, no matter what, he did not dare disobey Craneshadow’s orders. He pretended that everything was fine but kept this incident in mind; no matter what, he could not let Xia Fei be too full of himself.
…
Xia Fei woke up early the next morning. After having breakfast, he got a chair and sat in the yard as he enjoyed the white carnations with a cigarette.
“What’s up? Are you in a hurry to return?” asked Phantom.
Xia Fei nodded. “After getting the skill book from Seaview Tower, I’ll find an excuse to set out. I don’t want to stay here a second longer than I need to.”
Phantom curled the corner of his mouth. He did miss his disciples.h.i.+p and was quite worried when the sect master said that he wanted to reform the disciples.h.i.+p; who knew what he was planning?
Phantom would be even more shocked if he found out that Craneshadow planned to reform the disciples.h.i.+p from top to bottom. He grew up on this mountain, after all, so he had gotten used to everything quite early on and could not even imagine anything changing.
“Still, where is that Seaview Tower?” Xia Fei asked.
“Oh, Seaview Tower is one of our skill books storages. It’s on the eleventh floor. Although it’s not the most comprehensive or the biggest collection, it’s the oldest one. Rumor has it that someone once found a s.p.a.ce-tier hidden weapon technique; who knows if that’s true?” said Phantom.
Skill books were separated into five-tiers: man, earth, heaven, s.p.a.ce, and time. s.p.a.ce-tier skill books were incredibly rare in the Alliance. If he was able to get one of those skill books, this would have been a worthwhile trip.
The disciples.h.i.+p was as old as the stars and they had countless skill books in their collections. Even the people who looked after these books had no idea just how many of them there were, so what he found was completely up to luck. If he was lucky, he might get a decent find.
To Xia Fei, the potential benefits were secondary; the most important thing was to leave here as soon as possible to return to earth.
After all, Quantum Holdings was presented with the biggest opportunity in its history. Whether it could grab this opportunity or not and become a notable company in the Alliance all depended on its performance in the next few months. Xia Fei did not want the slightest mistake to occur after pouring in blood sweat and tears for this potential harvest.
After waiting nervously for an hour, an old man approached Xia Fei’s courtyard and led him up the mountain.
There was not much land on this planet, so one could start to see the sea beyond from the sixth floor onward. It was because of this that the Seaview Tower got its name.
The mountain the disciples.h.i.+p resided on did not have a name just like the planet. It was as though the founder wanted to remind the disciples to forget their names in order to become killers and be used to being alone.
The sun shone on the frontside of the mountain. Lush greenery was at the bottom, a cliff was behind him, and the endless ocean with waves stretched before him beyond the horizon.
After walking around the mountain, they arrived at an old five-story building that had the mountain close behind it. The lowkey a.s.sa.s.sin Sect usually lived in square bungalows, so five-story buildings were a rare sight. The design of Seaview Tower was quite interesting; it utilized the mountain behind it, and despite being five stories tall, there was not a single drop of dew on it. One could easily miss it if they did not take a close look.
The old man brought Xia Fei to the front of Seaview Tower, pointed at a closed door, and left.
Xia Fei was in no hurry to knock on the door. Instead, he stood on the cliff and looked downward. The ocean here was quite different; the one at the frontside of the mountain was extremely calm, yet it was quite violent here.
Huge waves crashed on the sheer again and again, making sounds akin to explosion.
“What violent water,” Xia Fei muttered.
He turned around and faced the door. There were two huge bronze rings on the wooden door, of which the paint had long faded.
*Boom boom boom!*
Xia Fei knocked on the door thrice using the hoops before taking a few steps back as he awaited someone to open the door.
A few moments later, the door finally opened and a wretched-looking person poked their head out to look at Xia Fei.
He had a red nose, two rows of crooked teeth, eyes the size of soybeans, and messy, unshaven, white facial hair.
He also had a hunchback that almost touched the ground. It was even more extreme than the hunchback of Notre Dame, and his looks were even more wretched, too.
The inside of Seaview Tower was quite dim. The old hunchback brought Xia Fei to the bas.e.m.e.nt without a word.
Xia Fei furrowed his eyebrows and asked, “Are the skillbooks underground?”
Phantom shook his head. “It’s my first time here; how would I know?”
The hunchback opened the bas.e.m.e.nt, and a rotten smell filled the air, but Xia Fei continued pus.h.i.+ng on. The old man then closed the door, leaving Xia Fei alone inside.
Watching Xia Fei being delivered into the bas.e.m.e.nt, Silvershadow, who was hiding in a dark corner, finally revealed himself. He nodded at the hunchback before leaving with a satisfied smile on his face.