Chapter 1460 Ice Queen
Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha did not alarm their colleagues as they quietly left the Special Bureau, returning to the hotel suite they had rented.
According to what Tong Guan had told them, the task force would quickly reach out and contact them, but no one gave them a call as they waited from afternoon until dusk.
Traveling Buddha was annoyed, but he did not dare leave the room. There was no guarantee that the telephone in the room might ring while he was away.
After all, they no longer had the communicators the Bureau had given them, so the only way of contacting Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha right now was through the public line.
!!
*bang bang bang!*
As Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha were feeling extremely bored, there suddenly came a knock on the door.
Traveling Buddha was closer to the entrance, so he got up and went over to open the door.
The carefree Traveling Buddha never thought to check the video monitor installed in the entrance to see who had arrived, opening the door abruptly.
In that moment, Traveling Buddha was stunned. That ever-insouciant expression of his instantly turned completely red and his cheeks bulged.
Xia Fan was surprised and curiously looked over to the entrance.
All he saw was a woman approximately twenty-seven years old. She was dressed in a short black dress and a straight top. She wore a lovely pearl necklace around her fair neck and was even wearing a pair of black-framed gla.s.ses.
This woman looked the part of an office manager. She was very eye-catching, and there was an icy temperament she exuded that made her irresistible. A woman like her was probably what people would refer to as an ice queen.
“Why are you here…” Traveling Buddha asked, somewhat tongue-tied.
“Are you not going to invite me in?”
“Of course. Please come in.”
The ice queen was invited into the room by Traveling Buddha. Xia Fan had no idea why he was so nervous, looking like he had seen a ghost after meeting this woman.
The ice queen unceremoniously sat down on the single sofa in the living room, and looked around the room.
“Traveling Buddha, you’re living so luxuriously. How much are you spending living in such a fancy hotel room?” the ice queen asked.
Traveling Buddha hurriedly waved his hands, “Nothing, it’s not expensive at all. Things in the Deron Star Region are very cheap, sister-in-law. Do you wish to drink anything?”
Sister-in-law?
Xia Fan was startled the moment he heard Traveling Buddha address the ice queen.
Traveling Buddha’s brother was Drunken Buddha, and it was said that he was even more talented than Traveling Buddha. By age, Drunken Buddha should already be thirty, and would be a good match for this ice queen who was between twenty-seven and twenty-eight years old.
It was just that Drunken Buddha had been missing for years, and he had never heard a word about him getting married. So why did Traveling Buddha call this ice queen his sister-in-law?
The ice queen’s face was impa.s.sive, only a quick flash of sadness that pa.s.sed by. She did not refute what Traveling Buddha was calling her, and answered softly, “Go brew some tea. On top of that, don’t talk about things that happened in the past.”
“Yes!” Traveling Buddha seemed quite afraid of the ice queen as he nodded his head in agreement.
Thus, Traveling Buddha busied himself with brewing the tea, but because he was so nervous, he ended up putting in too much, and it would affect the taste of the final product, so Traveling Buddha had to use a pair of tweezers to take some out and store it back into his tea leaf canister.
Xia Fan remembered that particular tea leaf canister was Traveling Buddha’s treasure. He had once wanted to have a taste of what was inside, but Traveling Buddha refused him outright. He said he would only brew a cup of those tea leaves for Xia Fan to taste when it was his turn to get married.
But the moment this ice queen had arrived, Traveling Buddha did not hesitate to take out those prized tea leaves of his. It clearly showed how important she was to Traveling Buddha.
Traveling Buddha must have had his own reasons to protect these precious leaves of his. Pouring hot water at precisely eighty-five celsius into the teapot, a mesmerizing fragrance flooded the entire living room in the suite.
This scent was like no other. With how powerful Xia Fan’s sense of smell was, he was still unable to think of anything similar.
The ice queen could also smell it, and she chuckled with restraint, “Ah, that’s the Holy Drunken Buddha. You sure are accommodating…”
Remove the word holy from Holy Drunken Buddha, and you’d get Traveling Buddha’s elder brother’s name. This promptly made the ice queen recall plenty of things in the past, and she went silent once more.
“Well, that’s because sister-in-law is here. I remember your favorite is the Holy Drunken Buddha, and you even forcibly s.n.a.t.c.hed away my elder brother’s canister.”
The ice queen looked away as she muttered in a small voice, “Had I known what would have happened, then I would have left it with that person.”
That person? She must have been referring to Drunken Buddha.
Traveling Buddha handed a cup of his brewed tea to Xia Fan and the ice queen. Xia Fan took a sip, and sure enough, it was different from all the other teas that he had ever tasted before. The remarkably unique fragrance meant Xia Fan had a hard time describing in words the smoothness and refres.h.i.+ng sensation he felt after drinking it.
Xia Fan could already guess that this ice queen must be their contact person for the mission, but neither Traveling Buddha or the woman was speaking. They were both quietly tasting the tea, and making it somewhat awkward for Xia Fan to just start the conversation.
Finally, everyone finished their cup of tea. The ice queen set her cup down and glanced at Traveling Buddha, before s.h.i.+fting her gaze toward Xia Fan.
She squinted at him, and instantly Xia Fan could feel a sort of power coming from her eyes, one intentionally hidden by her old-fas.h.i.+oned black-rimmed gla.s.ses.
When the ice queen s.h.i.+fted her eyes onto Xia Fan, he felt as if he was being examined under X-rays, and she was seeing through everything about him!
“You are Xia Fan?”
“Yes. Xia as in summer, and Fan as in normal.”
“Normal? I don’t think you’re that at all. If you could be considered normal, then there’s no way you’d be sitting right across from me today.”
Xia Fan let out a habitual chuckle and said nothing more.
The ice queen turned to Traveling Buddha, “Did the Bureau brief you two already?”
“Just a bit, but not the whole picture.”
She nodded, “No need to blame your superior, since he probably doesn’t know much, either.”
“Actually, I’m here today because I’ll be your contact person for this mission.”
Traveling Buddha frowned. “Just what exactly does the Union want us to do?”
“We need you to do something very dangerous. When the Outer Frontier holds the special-ability tyrant battle, the two of you will be partic.i.p.ants, and join the compet.i.tion.”
Traveling Buddha and Xia Fan were shocked. The special-ability Tyrant Battle was being organized by Murder Shrine, and there were plenty of desperados from the Outer Frontier that would be partic.i.p.ating. The Union actually hoped to send the two of them to go mix with those people? Sure enough, this will be a very difficult a.s.signment!
The ice queen said slowly, “Traveling Buddha, although you’re the Little Old Buddha, not many people actually recognize you. And as for Xia Fan, he’s not a disciple of any known clan, which makes him a perfect fit for this mission.
“Compared to the already established warriors from the Union, the advantages you two have is in your young age and unknown ident.i.ties, while your weakness lies in your insufficient experience, and that your combat strength might not be at the standard of those famous warriors.
“But don’t forget, Murder Shrine is a force comprised of defectors from all three Federations, so if any of those older famous warriors from before were to be the ones infiltrating the compet.i.tion, they would surely be identified by the people of Murder Shrine.
“That is why only young men like the two of you would be qualified to take part in this undercover mission.”
Traveling Buddha had his doubts, “Even if there aren’t many that recognize me, the moment the glow from my Battle Buddha’s Golden Light shows up, there’s no way they wouldn’t be able to add two and two together.”
The ice queen smiled and then shook her head, “That is why you cannot use your Battle Buddha’s Golden Light. Though you will be working together with Xia Fan, you’ll be acting as his aide, while the one truly going undercover isn’t you, but Xia Fan!
“Your job is to a.s.sist him, and to ensure his safety at critical junctures.”
“So that’s how it’ll be.” Traveling Buddha understood what the ice queen had said, and he reached out to grab Xia Fan by his shoulder, “No problem. Xia Fan is my good brother, and even if I have to risk my life, I’ll make sure he’s safe.
“But sister-in-law, I’ll be honest. I don’t think Xia Fan needs my protection. He is very powerful, and a Speedster. He doesn’t even blink an eye when he’s killing.”
The ice queen answered, “Of course I know that Xia Fan is a Speedster, just like the Skywings, sharing the same surname even…”
Xia Fan’s expression remained unchanged, but Traveling Buddha became a little panicked, “Now that you mention it, how coincidental it must be! Besides, that’s something that happened 40,000 years ago. Who cares about ancient history!?”
The ice queen replied unhurriedly, “What are you so fl.u.s.tered for? Of course I know it’s purely coincidental. If Xia Fan was really an enemy, how could he have survived until now?
“Besides, that is how the mission is being arranged. Besides the two of you, there are several other teams, and the overarching mission is all to infiltrate the special-ability Tyrant Battle.
“These teams are in a similar situation as you, all warriors from unremarkable backgrounds, partnering with a legacy special-ability companion.”
Traveling Buddha’s eyes shone when he heard that, “Who are they? Will Hei Bolong from the old Hei family be among them?”
The ice queen shook her head, “He’s not qualified.
“Among the infiltrating teams that you’d know, it’ll probably be Thousand Ink of the Thousand Soldier Clan. You wouldn’t know any of the others, so you don’t have to learn their names, either. As a one-time important covert mission, the less you know, the better.”
Traveling Buddha simply nodded, having no further thoughts, but Xia Fan’s heart was pounding like mad!
With the Holy Buddha and Thousand Soldier Clan added together, that would be the Thousand Holy Buddha Soldier!
Both those clans were founding clans of the Starcloud Union!
A recitation of Holy Buddha, a brush with Thousand Soldiers; how could anyone in the Union not know of the awesome prowess of those two legacy clans?
Traveling Buddha and Thousand Ink were joining the infiltration teams, and the ice queen had even said that Heizi, despite his already high status in society, was considered unqualified for the mission. It could thus be seen that all the members of the other teams would surely be from impressive backgrounds as well.
The ice queen added, “Oh right. Your grandfather will be in the support team, but you probably won’t have a chance to meet him, because you’ll be immediately sent on your way once I’m done briefing you on your mission.”
Traveling Buddha’s grandfather? Was that not the Grand Old Buddha?
This operation would actually have Grand Old Buddha being his support? That was far too ridiculous!
Xia Fan was internally beginning to vaguely look forward to finding out just what the coming storm was about, causing the Starcloud Union to send out such a formidable line-up!