Chapter 739: Shadows Under the Lamppost (3k)
The Old Man’s story also attracted Su Xiao Yu, who was “staking out” at the door. She slowly sauntered over to the back of the sofa, propped her chin on her hand, seeming to want to listen carefully to the story. She scratched her head and said somewhat sheepishly:
“Mr. Li never told this history before. I must say, it’s quite interesting.”
“Heh heh, interesting? That period of history is a scar that even we old folks don’t like to recall.”
Glancing at the other person, the Old Man continued to gulp down his drink. The wine in his cup stained his white beard, giving him the illusion of an old man feeling youthful again. The cup landed on the table with a “bang!”
Holding the wine bottle, Su Jiu didn’t move, but he could see the dust rising from the table. At this moment, the Old Man’s voice echoed in his ears with a strange smile:
“Several of us, civil officials of middling rank, rode a thousand carriages to Bear Country. Bear Country wasn’t called Bear Country back then, but the Snow Night Empire. Bear Country was the largest duchy, and the parliament was merely auxiliary. The imperial family dominated everything. At that time, the young man who served as a court official suggested that we pretend to be envoys from Dragon Country, since the country was in such chaos…”
As he spoke, the Old Man chuckled twice, his words laced with a hint of playfulness:
“As expected, because the northern border had heavily defeated the foreign troop, the Empire treated us with utmost respect and even sent envoys to inquire about our domestic situation, hoping we would send reinforcements – but they didn’t know that our situation was like a small play called ‘The Imperial Envoy’.”
“It was during this time that we gathered some information. Not only us, but people from Western countries also came here from further afield, all hoping to find opportunities to resist the foreign invaders. However, because they weren’t here in their capacity as official representatives of their countries, they didn’t even have a place to stay…”
“…”
Listening to the Old Man’s story, Su Jiu subconsciously took a sip of wine. It had been a long time since she had been so leisurely listening to a story. She could feel that these scholars from the Old Man were different from the scholars of past dynasties; they weren’t pedantic but rather like a group of chivalrous warriors.
As he spoke, the Old Man wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth. The smile on his face grew more intense, and there was an inexplicable depth in his cloudy eyes.
“I lost a dice roll and was forced to go to [Alie Street] to investigate. Damn it, it was freezing cold that day. Only that scoundrel from the Ministry of Rites knew Bear Language, so I could only sit there like an idiot on the park bench, until…”
A smile slowly spread across the Old Man’s face. The smiles in his eyes etched his wrinkled face into a dried chrysanthemum. He chuckled lightly, “A foreigner, holding a cup of steaming honey water, came over. Her name was Roland…”
As the snowstorm blew in his eyes, whitening his young hair, the story slowly unfolded…
“I don’t know what Night Peak is like. I’ll have to see another day.”
Under the crystalline streetlamp, soft light illuminated the Young Man’s gown. The green gown intertwined with the gentle lamplight. The cold wind carried snow, landing on his waist-length hair, decorating it with a bit of frost blossom.
“Why are you staying here alone?”
Suddenly, a woman’s voice, with a hint of intellect, rang out.
The Young Man turned his head and saw a tall woman in a Western-style long dress standing before him. The woman wore a monocle and held a cup of honey water, from which a slight steam was rising.
“Ah? Miss, I am Mr. Li Er…”
The Young Man quickly stood up and met the gaze of the woman’s mature face. Looking at the tear mole at the corner of her eye, he opened his mouth, not knowing how to respond.
If she had recited a few classics, it would have been fine, but how could he respond to this gibberish?
“You’re from Dragon Country, aren’t you?”
Seeing the Young Man’s nervous demeanor, the woman’s eyes curved, and she suddenly smiled. She even uttered a couple of fluent sentences and handed him the honey water she was holding. “Miss Carin Roland, from Fog City, acting Deputy Director of the Royal Research Institute.”
“Yes, I am a scholar from Dragon Country. I also wish to try my luck at Night Peak, hoping to dispel the foreign invaders with its power.”
Taking the cup of honey, the Young Man glanced at the woman and also declared his “family background.” After all, he was playing the role of an Imperial Envoy, so he couldn’t reveal his true identity, could he?
“Do you believe in Night Peak?” the woman asked the Young Man with interest.
The Young Man drank some honey water, and his stomach felt warm. He looked up at the woman, and the scene of the city gates about to fall flashed through his mind. He said with a bitter smile, “If I don’t believe, I have no choice but to believe.”
“Then keep believing.”
The woman glanced at the Young Man, then shook her head and walked towards the lamppost ahead. Her long dress was dusted with snowflakes, looking inexplicably beautiful.
“Then do you believe, Your Excellency? In this era where the country is in disarray and the people suffer, the powerful huddle within their Alchemy Arrays, only seeking to survive. We merely seek a way to survive, is that wrong?”
The woman’s attitude made the Young Man somewhat indignant. He questioned her retreating, slender back, his robes fluttering, displaying his scholarly spirit.
“Heh heh, of course I believe, but I believe in different things…”
Hearing this, the woman stopped and suddenly chuckled. She turned her head slightly, and under the lamppost, her fair face looked inexplicably delicate. “They say Night Peak is a challenge, but don’t you understand? This is a gathering, bringing together saviors from all over the world who have faith, to go there.”
“Then build an organization, an organization solely for the saviors.”
The Young Man was stunned, and then something flashed through his mind. His pupils suddenly shrank, and looking at the woman’s profile, he froze in place…
“Little Scholar, I look forward to seeing your name at the summit of Night Peak.”
The woman waved her hand, and the sapphire ring on her finger refracted light, hurting the Young Man’s eyes. He clenched his fist tightly, but he felt a flame burning in his heart. He replied:
“Your Excellency, don’t break your promise.”
“Interesting.”
The woman chuckled again, and as she walked further away, the wind and snow gradually obscured her figure, as mysterious and elegant as when she arrived, like a purple-gold flower.
“Perhaps I’ll even see Kunlun slaves, or even people from Southern Vietnam…”
Perhaps it was the woman’s words that gave him the impulse to befriend heroes from all over the world. At some point, a thin booklet appeared in his hand. The Young Man chuckled and lightly wrote down the woman’s name.
A flame appeared in his eyes.
Young chivalry, befriending the heroes of five cities.
Loyalty and courage, hair standing on end. In conversation, life and death are shared.
A promise is worth a thousand gold.
…
The wind and snow dispersed, revealing a pair of cloudy eyes. The Old Man looked at the empty wine in the wooden cup and licked his lips.
“Alright, that’s all for the story for now. This old man is a bit sleepy…”
He waved his hand, leaned back in the small chair, closed his eyes, and dozed off. Low snores erupted, as if he were having a good dream.
Perhaps seeing something beautiful, his beard quivered slightly, and the corners of his mouth, hidden beneath his beard, stretched into a smile.
“Is this how [Night] originated? How long has the Old Man lived…”
Looking at the short figure, Su Jiu suddenly understood a saying: the wine doesn’t intoxicate, but the person intoxicates themselves.
Moreover, it seemed from the Old Man’s words that the organization [Night] was not founded by anyone, but rather by elites and saviors from all over the world who had braved hardships to arrive here.
They rushed forward one after another, like moths, for the ember of their hearts, for the continuation of the spark of life.
The Old Man, half-asleep, suddenly raised his head and mumbled, “Roland, the snow is so heavy, it’s turned my hair white.”
His aged voice seemed to carry a hint of youthfulness for a moment, as if he were seeing his unforgettable “Lily of the Valley” in his dream.
Silently, Su Jiu drained the wine in her hand. Generally, the more interesting the beginning of such a story, the more painful the ending. Several of the Old Man’s sworn brothers and Miss Roland had disappeared into the long river of history.
They cultivated in the darkness and perished in the light.
Next, the moonlight grew more intense.
Knowing that the Old Man might not want to tell the rest of the story, Su Jiu and her younger brother exchanged glances. Then, Su Xiao Yu carried the Old Man to the sofa, covered him with the windbreaker, and looked at the sky with a helpless sigh:
“Xiao Yezi, haven’t they returned yet?”
“She’s always so playful…”
Putting the large wine bottle aside, Su Jiu seemed to sense something, rolled her eyes, and walked towards the window. She reached out and pulled a figure half her height from outside the window.
“Dad, new account, don’t attack yet.”
It was indeed the rapidly growing Xiao Yezi. She looked fearfully at Su Jiu, her hands covering her chest, and chattered a couple of internet slang phrases, appearing about seven or eight years old, with pigtails.
“Mr. Li Senior isn’t watching, and Xiao Yezi wanted to see the monsters on the coast at night, so I went with her. But something happened nearby, so I came back early.”
Outside the window, a white deer slowly raised its head. Its jade-like white body was adorned with feather-like markings. It was Lord Liu Yue, who had advanced to a true War God Level.
This being, like an old man, looked at Su Jiu and her daughter with a hint of paternal kindness. In His eyes, both were his juniors.
“What happened, Lord Liu Yue?”
Hearing that something had happened, Su Xiao Yu leaped to the vicinity of the windowsill, her face filled with curiosity, and asked again, “Did that serial killer commit another crime?”
At this moment, the phone at Su Jiu’s waist suddenly rang. She slowly picked up her phone, took a look, and saw that the caller ID was local IP – [Little Sisi].
“I’m not sure. A large manor nearby caught fire. The flames are spreading rapidly, covering several kilometers. The fire doesn’t look like ordinary flames.”
Lord Liu Yue the Deer’s eyes showed a hint of solemnity. He tapped the ground with his deer leg, then turned sideways, revealing the distant plume of smoke in the sky. “At that time, I was in mid-air, and it seemed like I could vaguely see the flames forming a ‘grasp’ character.”
“It’s the killer’s doing,” Su Jiu said slowly, listening to Bairnis’s voice. She looked at the distant smoke and narrowed her eyes, murmuring, “This might be a provocation, a provocation deliberately meant to attract our attention.”
…
On a certain giant ship, a figure stood alone. Occasionally, the lights of fishing boats shone, revealing the crimson of the hem of his clothes and a rather sinister smiling face.
“I’d like to see how you’ll face your former colleagues…”
The sinister middle-aged man, wearing white gloves, twirled the alchemy revolver in his hand, tossed the black invitation letter in the air, and then fired towards the light of the fishing boat ahead with a “bang!”
The bullet passed through the invitation letter and shattered the light. The sinister middle-aged man’s figure was once again plunged into darkness.
