At the tip of the upright pathfinder staff, the thin veil swayed gently as if a light breeze were rustling a curtain.
Huang Xu, Wang Zhi, and Cheng Yunze all knew that it could be withdrawn back into the wooden staff at any moment.
The ability to return to the exact point one regretted and make a different choice… The group watched the scene before them with reverence, as if witnessing a divine miracle.
“No wonder the enemy was so powerful… “
Cheng Yunze did not rush to enter.
“Let’s try one experiment first. ” Under the eternal twilight, Cheng Yunze calmed himself and addressed Huang Xu, who was trembling beside him, and Wang Zhi, who was still in a daze.
“What kind of test? ” Wang Zhi snapped back to reality.
“That inn. ” Cheng Yunze cast a sidelong glance at Huang Xu, who stood beside him, staring transfixed at the curtain ahead, almost mesmerized.
Catching Cheng Yunze’s look, Wang Zhi immediately understood what he meant.
Perhaps it was because of the return trip. The people on the new Track of Fate in the bus had all fallen into the vast sea of the Scroll Painting Sea when the train passed through the gate. Now, if someone wanted to go along, Cheng Yunze wasn’t sure if it would work, but compared to that, another experiment was more important.
“Let’s first piece together that stone room from the train. “
“No way, can it still work across the Track of Fate? “
“Hmm? Hmm, heh heh, I suddenly have a feeling it might. But… ” Cheng Yunze squinted. “We need to find a safe place. But where in this lost frequency land is suitable? “
“Of course, it’s the bustling grand first-party trade hub. ” Wang Zhi, who had been shuttling between the lost frequency land and the hub town, blurted out the name without hesitation.
“Huh? ” Huang Xu turned his head in shock. “What are you talking about? “
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it. ” After speaking, Cheng Yunze said to Wang Zhi, “That place is too chaotic, especially that Luo Bin guy. Don’t let him know about our affairs. “
“Right. ” Wang Zhi tilted his head in thought. “It seems there’s only one place that’s relatively good. “
“You mean… that place? “
“Mmhmm. Only Rose Creek. “
……
“Sister Bai, when will Sister Rose come to see us? “
Yingying, who had already grown a few centimeters taller, had a fair and tender face. In just a few months, the little girl had been nurtured as if she had been transformed.
“Didn’t Sister Rose come to see us just the day before yesterday? “
A maiden of about seventeen or eighteen years old, sitting in front of an old-fashioned loom in front of them, was stepping on the wooden pedal connected to the spinning wheel. She spoke very gently to the six or seven-year-old girl beside her.
This little girl, called Yingying, had not been at Rose Stream for long before she won everyone’s affection because she was well-behaved, sensible, and always took the initiative to help with the work.
In particular, some people knew that the small settlement where her parents lived had originally been one that supplied goods to Rose Stream. However, in the earthquake disaster caused by that earth-shattering battle between divine beings, the entire settlement was purified by the editor-in-chief of that young journalist into halos containing the numbers of the timeline. As a result, the surviving little one was even more cherished by the older sisters here.
“Yingbao, come and help me fluff the cotton. “
“Okay. ” Hearing this, the little girl with her hair in pigtails put down the colorful cloth and the spool of thread she was playing with and ran over. But just as she crouched down, another girl came running over.
“Quick, Xiao Ying, that uncle who sent you to us is here. “
The little girl jumped up joyfully at these words.
……
At that moment, the train had already appeared in front of the large stone hall in the middle of Rose Stream, and many people had gathered around to look at the stone slab being lifted down from it.
Cheng Yunze met the Rose Queen Xu Aiyuan for the first time.
Whether it was her demeanor, her figure, or her face, Cheng Yunze had to inwardly admit—no wonder the Rose Queen was so renowned across the Lost Frequency Land.
The sudden arrival of the long-missing superstar Little Machao made Xu Aiyuan drop her work and rush over quickly. After getting acquainted with the newcomer and learning of their intentions, Xu Aiyuan looked puzzled at the stone slabs placed beside the steps before the hall.
“How can I prove that this stone house you’re going to build is truly not dangerous? “
After Cheng Yunze finished speaking, Xu Aiyuan, feeling her own heartbeat quicken, looked up at them.
Cheng Yunze turned his head to glance at the Demon Train, then looked back at Xu Aiyuan and said:
“You can go and ask it directly. I believe the Demon Train shouldn’t have been able to conspire with me to have a prepared answer for every single detail. “
Xu Aiyuan’s beautiful eyes rose, casting a sidelong glance at the Demon Train, which stood there naively and honestly, allowing the chattering little girls to pet and stroke it.
Suddenly, a young girl came running over, pulling along a six or seven-year-old child. From afar, she spotted the thirty-something young man standing apart from the crowd, coughing slightly.
“Uncle~ ” The little girl came over and hugged the man’s leg. “Oh my, Yingying has grown so well-behaved, ” said Huang Xu, lovingly patting the head of the little girl who had inexplicably started crying.
Xu Aiyuan’s fingers stiffened slightly as she recalled the girls mentioning that Yingying had been brought by a one-handed man. Moreover, that man had originally intended to save a severely injured girl but had passed away on the way.
“Who is he? ” Xu Aiyuan asked, her tone softening considerably.
Cheng Yunze turned to glance at the man, recalled Little Machao’s address for him, and said, “He’s called Director Huang. “
“Then let Little Machao come over. I’ll ask… it a few things. “
Xu Aiyuan walked deeper into the main hall, and soon, the demon train and the little spirits scurried into the stone hall together.
By the time this basement, originally meant to be relocated to the Crown Ring Continent for settlement, was re-erected, it was already the afternoon of the following day.
Since the Frequenceless Zone had no sun, many people’s schedules no longer followed the natural cycle of day and night but were instead based on work or personal habits.
However, at this moment, Xu Aiyuan, who hadn’t rested well to begin with, had no inclination to sleep at all. Instead, she remained standing guard inside this rock building that seemed specifically set aside for weddings or small meetings.
“Alright, ” Cheng Yunze said, wiping his forehead as he walked over.
Li Sumei and the others beside the Rose Queen were also drenched in fragrant sweat from exhaustion. And at this moment, those who were helping still believed they were just building a small underground storage room here, perhaps a shelter to hide in case of danger. The fewer people who knew the truth, the better.
“You all leave first, ” Xu Aiyuan said to the people beside her.
Besides Li Sumei, everyone else left. This time, without needing any pledge from Cheng Yunze, Wang Zhi had already brought over three weapons of the Century Weapon level and began to enthusiastically introduce them to Li Sumei. The young girl was momentarily at a loss, wondering if the red model on her chest was malfunctioning.
“I know you, Queen of Roses, still have some worries. But later, you’ll be able to test whether my words are true. “
“Can we really get through this room and go directly… to Captain Yang? “
“You won’t know until you try. “
Cheng Yunze took a deep breath, staring at the open basement entrance that lay across the floor.
“Let’s go. “
Wang Zhi was a bit surprised. “Aren’t we going to prepare anything else? “
Huang Xu immediately set down the items in his hands and sprinted over from beside the long wooden bench in the spacious venue, carrying a wooden staff.
“Facing an enemy like that, there’s nothing left for us to prepare here. Only those by Yang Zicang’s side are capable of fighting them. “
“That… that’s true indeed. ” Wang Zhi nodded as he finished speaking.
He suddenly felt the atmosphere was a bit off and turned his head.
Huang Xu stared at them as if frozen in place.
“Uh… ” Wang Zhi bowed his head and pondered for a moment, then lifted his gaze to take a sidelong glance at the man, who seemed like a refugee in his tattered old coat with frayed edges.
“Are you afraid of him? ” Cheng Yunze asked Huang Xu.
“I… “
“This is your chance to prove yourself, ” Cheng Yunze said, his voice calm but carrying an undertone of insistence that was hard to refuse. “If you succeed this time, I can hardly imagine what kind of precious gift you’ll receive. At the very least, I believe this is more than enough. Because for me and my teammates, none of this would have been remotely possible otherwise. “
Xu Aiyuan watched the two men standing by the long wooden bench, a flicker of confusion in her eyes.
“They must be really strong already, but me… I’m so weak, ” Huang Xu said, his tone bitter and reluctantly self-aware as he slightly turned his head away.
“Yes, Yang Zicang has someone by his side who could kick a rock from land all the way into the Atlantic Ocean. But even so, that person isn’t the strongest. “
“What do you mean? “
“In all these days, the strongest person I’ve ever met was an old man who had lost an arm. “
“Huh? ” Huang Xu stared at him in disbelief.
“He was just an ordinary person. As for why I say he’s the freest—well, come along and you’ll find out. “
With that said, Cheng Yunze headed toward the basement entrance. Behind the stunned Huang Xu, the train car silently slid to his back, directed by Wang Zhi’s subtle signal.
“And Yang Zicang isn’t as strong as you think, ” Cheng Yunze paused. “At least in terms of sheer power, he’s no different from how he used to be. Nothing’s changed, aside from having more time on his side. “
“This… ” Huang Xu felt the timidity in his heart settle down considerably. “Mm, ” he murmured, looking at the wooden staff in his hand, a surge of boldness rising within him. Indeed, he now had a new reliance, and the present was no longer what it used to be.
But then… he suddenly thought of something and shook his head. Although Yang Zicang was a bastard, so far he hadn’t seemed to do things like actively robbing others. Still, he’d need to be on guard against him.
“Alright, then let’s go. ” He walked forward, leaning on the wooden staff.
In Xu Aiyuan’s eyes, the sneaky demon train opened its eyes wide, a wisp of wind curling around it as it rushed towards the ground below.
Would it really leave?
Xu Aiyuan and Li Sumei, who was clutching the three swords so tightly she was shaking with nervousness, walked forward.
{I’m starting. }
From below came the train’s muffled and rumbling voice.
“Hey hey, big star, if you don’t let us on, does that mean only you’ll be going back? “
“No. Since we’re doing an experiment, we’ll do it properly. I believe that without a train, the me from that time would still be on the train. “
Li Sumei turned her head. “Sister Rose… I don’t understand what they’re saying anymore. “
Rose Queen’s eyes showed a flicker of thoughtful contemplation.
Suddenly, they felt a surge of unexpected desolation. Xu Aiyuan ran forward a few steps and saw circles of rippling air beneath the darkness below, like illusory water ripples sweeping over them. Eventually, the darkness was smoothed over, leaving nothing behind.
“Oh my god… ” Li Sumei’s small mouth gaped wide enough to fit an egg.
Xu Aiyuan also gasped and rushed forward a few steps, knelt at the edge of the cave, and gently brushed her skirt aside.
“It’s really gone. “
……
“Welcome to Felü Inn. “
In the retro room 203, Wang Zhi turned around with a grin like a host. He bent his waist, raised his arm, and gestured gracefully in front of him to Huang Xu who was staring wide-eyed around the room, performing a gentlemanly gesture he had learned from some old gentlemen of this world.
“How amazing, ” Huang Xu murmured.
{It’s truly incredible. } A soft, delicate voice reached their ears.
Cheng Yunze turned in surprise and saw two little elves stretching lazily as they flew out of the train. They dashed into the room, looking around and continuously making expressions of astonishment.
These two little guys actually followed him. Cheng Yunze was momentarily speechless. He glanced at the train’s large head, which looked somewhat innocent; the entire body of the train was now ethereal, only the front part displayed a solid, tangible reality.
Cheng Yunze quickly walked to the door, turned the handle, and opened it. Outside, it was eerily quiet.
“Wait, Captain Cheng. ” Wang Zhi ran over and whispered, “After all, he’s Big Brother Yang’s rival. I suggest you write his name on that roster. “
“Roster? What’s that? “
“Uh, well… ” Wang Zhi grinned sheepishly, “Looks like the Chairman really trusts you guys. “
“Trust. ” Cheng Yunze hesitated for a moment, repeating the word.
“Yeah! The very first thing I did when I entered this hotel with the big star was to register my name on the roster. And then, hm, I became a member of Chairman Yang’s Unified Management Committee in this hotel. “
He shrugged helplessly, “Anyway, from then on, I wasn’t qualified to snatch rooms already under Big Brother Yang’s control, or those belonging to other committee members. “
Cheng Yunze glanced at the room signs on the ground-floor counter of the hotel, and his mood rippled slightly.
He fixed his gaze on Huang Xu, who was approaching, and immediately said in a firm tone, “Then I’ll follow your arrangement. “
Wang Zhi, who always felt he had been treated like a wallflower, had never felt this capable in his life.
He suddenly became brimming with determination.
“Mr. Huang Xu. “
“Huh? “
“From now on, we’re all good buddies! Come on, let me show you who our brothers are. “
“Here? Are they all here right now? ” Huang Xu asked, somewhat startled.
“No. Just a roster. Come with me to sign your name, and from then on you’ll be a member of our Beacon Travel Agency.” Wang Zhi grinned mysteriously. “But the so-called agency only exists in this inn. Once we’re out there, we won’t have such a unified identity.“
Huang Xu, who had initially been a bit reluctant, felt a little better hearing this.
The three of them, along with the battery-powered carriage and the two little elves wobbling and flying about, made their way together to the counter.
“Welcome to the feilü Travel Hotel.” Manager Mus behind the counter still wore a smile.
Following Wang Zhi’s request, he took outthe Beacon Travel Group Unified Tenancy Hotel Administration Associationroster.
“Take a look at the names here.” Wang Zhi pointed proudly at a few names down the list, signing one of them as his own.
Seeing the dense array of names, an unfamiliar feeling swelled in Huang Xu’s heart—such liveliness. Then his gaze shifted to the chairman listed on the roster: none other than Yang Buchen. Not familiar. His eyes drifted past and landed on the notes next to it.
“No individual bidding?“
“The rooms in this inn are extremely valuable. As you saw, most of the people here don’t have room access. To avoid trouble—like arguments among us—we have that rule. But not all that relevant to you or me anyway.“
On this point, Huang Xu had to agree.
“Come on, to avoid trouble, sign your big name here.“
Without much hesitation, he grabbed the pen and—with a left-handed crooked scrawl—scribbled down his name.
The two little sprites behind excitedly took out their small notebooks and quickly dotted two tiny black marks.
Leave a Reply