Chapter 492: From the Shadows
Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations
The Half City Shop and the Jiuhua City Shop had begun recruiting new clerks.
Since each shop had two senior and experienced employees, the new clerks didn’t have to be very familiar with the games and business in the shop.
The process went on smoothly.
Boom!
The sky above Jiuhua City turned pitch-black.
It was 9 AM of a day in spring. The weather had been getting warmer, but it suddenly turned colder than winter.
The booming thunders seemed to be pouring their fury into the ground, and black waves surged in the wide canal in Jiuhua City and pushed the boats and ships docking at the harbor by the bank up and down.
The strong gales howled in the sky and across the river. The black water in the river got darker, and the gales pushed up huge waves, almost sweeping a few strong boatmen off their boats. Fortunately, these boatmen had some basic training in martial arts and tightly held onto the ropes on the boats.
Chilly water surged up onto the banks, turning the canal in Jiuhua City into turmoil. Cold winds howled in a remote alley by the bank that no one paid attention to. The invisible wind and the raindrops seemed to condense at this place and form a ghost-like figure.
Jiuhua City had always been prosperous. Ever since cultivators from major forces swarmed into this city from all places, it got even more crammed with people. The pedestrians including cultivators, warriors, and even ordinary people thronged on the streets. In the inclement weather, they hid under eaves or dashed back home while covering their heads with wide sleeves.
A dark figure watched the pedestrians in the rain like an observer of this mortal world, and this figure murmured to himself, “Like short-lived cicada who do not know the seasons, these lowly ants don’t have to worry about the future. How lucky they are.”
“The time is here; doom is coming.” The figure seemed to merge with the pedestrians who were finding shelter from the rain and then vanished.
…
More and more players entered the shop. Although they had to wait for seats, many of them seemed to find a way to kill time. After watching several episodes of Pokémon, Dong Qingli turned her head and froze. “How come there are so many people around us?”
In the crowd, a black shadow moved a little to the side subconsciously. Was I… discovered?
Since all the computers were taken, it had stood behind and watched the anime for a long while.
Dong Qingli turned back around and continued watching the anime.
The crowd behind the two girls watched several episodes of Pokémon and a few episodes of Tom and Jerry with them until it was their turn to get on computers.
After Dong Qingli and Zhang Wanyu went onto the computers, the crowd behind her could do nothing but wait patiently for their turns. Since they came in later, the wait was obviously longer.
“Well! The show is over! Nothing more to watch!”
Without Dong Qingli who was playing the anime, the crowd soon dispersed, and the black figure lurking behind was about to leave as well.
At this moment, a strange sour aroma floated over.
With a purple bowl of instant noodles in his hands, a young man wearing a purple warrior outfit walked toward the lounge area with his friends.
They were Song Qingfeng and his buddies.
With a new communication jade in his hand, Song Qingfeng heard the chatter of the people nearby.
As old players of Qzone, they had opened large pieces of vegetable fields in their spaces and thus earned lots of money.
“Young Master Song, how come they seem to be talking about anime too?” Lin Shao asked curiously.
“I thought only we watched anime,” Xu Luo said.
“Anyway, I downloaded several episodes of the anime named Detective Conan!”
“What do you think of it? Is it good?”
“Let’s watch it!”
They sat down on a couch and began to watch.
“Ugh…? They are watching this, too?!”
“More anime to watch?”
Lin Shao who had been absorbed in watching the anime suddenly looked back, scratching his head. “Junior Master Song, how come I feel chilly?”
He had a feeling that someone was staring at them.
He saw black-gloved hands moving back silently while holding a bowl of instant noodles.
Song Qingfeng said curiously, “Now, it feels better.”
…
The weather at the shore of the Heavenly Abyss Sea had been gloomy lately.
The guards at the checkpoints on the shore took a little nap while a drizzle began to fall from the sky.
It was silent except for the sounds of raindrops; it looked as if even the sky and the earth were sound asleep.
At this moment, no one was awake in the small town.
A few guards fell asleep, feeling as if their eyelids were as heavy as lead.
Strong gales blew rocks off the cliff, revealing a tall figure who was hidden in a black cloak. This figure appeared without a sound as if it had come from the pitch-black night and was going to merge into this pitch-black night soon.
Dark clouds surged up in the sky, and black winds swept up raindrops.
“When I arrived at the Morning Star Sea Realm, I waited for more than 8 hours to get a seat. How are things going with you?”
“I went from Yuanyang City all the way to the Deserted Sea Realm and finally got a chance to test the waters,” the chilly voice sounded in the sky.
“What do you think…?”
The chilly voice said, “We need to change our strategy… In the Heavenly Abyss Sea…”
He sounded fearful of the depths of the ocean.
His voice got lower and lower, and one could only hear the faint words such as playing games in the shop and anime.
“You want us to change the plan now and play the Legend of the Sword and Fairy in the shop? Do you think it wise? Besides…” The tall figure wearing the cloak said, “If others know that we go to the little shop in the mortal world everyday, they will laugh at us.”
In the howling wind and pouring rain, the chilly and faint voice in the sky said with conviction, “Don’t worry. If we keep silent about it, no one will know that we’ve been to that shop or that I watched Tom and Jerry and Detective Conan for hours.”
Its voice was full of confidence.
A while later, the voices vanished; it seemed like the two figures had left.
…
Everything seemed to have quieted down, no matter if it was the Heavenly Abyss Sea or the shops.
It was midnight, and the lights were still on in the shops.
A group of cultivators and warriors gathered in the lounge area; they were watching anime while sipping milk tea or eating instant noodles. It looked tranquil.
It gave people the illusion that the whole world was peaceful and tranquil like this.
No one would imagine that huge changes were taking place in the center of the Heavenly Abyss Sea which was famous for its mystery and all kinds of legends; it was also the border between the Deserted Sea Realm and the Spiritual State.