Chapter 1421: Traveling Buddha’s Family
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Disaster!
Xia Fan had named his frigate Disaster!?
Traveling Buddha did a spit-take when he saw the name printed on both sides of the ship, and then he laughed so hard that his stomach hurt. Who would give their ship such a weird name?
Xia Fan didn’t care what other people thought. On the Holy Tomb planet, his grandparents had frequently said to him, “When we were young, we were all Disasters of Ashen Moon. Once you grow up, you need to be a good person and learn from our mistakes.”
Disaster was not the nickname Xia Fan had given his grandparents, but the name they had called themselves. Xia Fan had given the Mauler this name to commemorate the old men and women who had raised him. They were all his loved ones.
!!
…
Not long after the Disaster completed its repair work, their graduation assignment finally came down. Headquarters had determined that Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha were to head to the Deron Region.
“It’s impossible to relax with you two,” Blue Shield said in frustration. “You’re clearly extremely capable, but you’re going to work in the Logistics Division. Headquarters took an entire half a month to get your assignments settled precisely because they felt like the Logistics Division was far too unsuitable for you.
“But don’t celebrate too early. The Deron Star Region is one of the most chaotic regions of the Union. As it’s near the border, there are many criminals and defectors who live in the area. Even if you guys are working in Logistics, you should still be careful.
“In addition, Headquarters thinks you two make pretty decent partners, with complementary superpowers, so they aren’t willing to split you up. When you arrive at Deron, the two of you will probably still be working together.”
Traveling Buddha and Xia Fan weren’t as pessimistic as Blue Shield. They didn’t think that there was anything particularly shameful or unsuitable about the Logistics Division.
At that moment, the Blue Clan’s old servant came in and told them that they could eat now. Thus, they went into the courtyard and seated themselves around a round table. Blue Shield was in a good mood and opened a bottle of red wine, having Traveling Buddha and Xia Fan drink two cups to send them off.
Blue Shield still had some poison in his body, so he restrained himself and drank only three cups.
After three cups of wine, Blue Shield said to Traveling Buddha, “Before heading off to the Deron Region, shouldn’t you pay a visit to your home?”
Traveling Buddha replied impatiently, “Let’s save it for later. I have no plans on listening to my old man’s nagging.”
Blue Shield said sternly, “You must go back! You’ve been with me for a whole seven years, so why are you still acting like a child, starting a quarrel with your family whenever you get the opportunity! While your father has been a little harsh on you, he’s doing it all for your sake!
“To tell you the truth, your mother calls me every week to ask me how you’re doing. While your dad hasn’t said anything, I know that he’s next to her, listening.
“There’s no such thing as a long-term grudge among family. Even if you disagree with your dad, what about your mother and little sister? Do you not miss them?”
Traveling Buddha pursed his lips defiantly, but his eyes twitched.
Xia Fan knew that Traveling Buddha was tempted. He often brought up his little sister and seemed to love her dearly. He had to miss them.
Blue Shield said to Xia Fan, “I’lll leave this to you. No matter what, before you report at Deron, you should have this guy visit his home.”
“I’ll try,” Xia Fan said with a smile.
He had heard that Traveling Buddha’s family had a transcendent status in the Union. But how had such an elite background raised a kid with such a slovenly personality? It was truly baffling!
…
Their friends Soul Flying Bird and Heizi were still at the League Tournament grounds. Xia Fan gave them a call and said that he had graduated and had to immediately head to his new assignment, so he couldn’t wait for them to come back.
They indicated that they understood. As classmates, they all empathized with one another. They arranged to meet up again in the future, but Xia Fan knew that the Starcloud Union was vast, spanning seventy-three star regions. Once they were scattered about, it would be very difficult for them to meet again.
There was nothing to be done about that. People had to look ahead. Xia Fan put away his emotions, boarded the Disaster with Traveling Buddha, and left Blue Boiling Point.
Their first destination was Traveling Buddha’s home. Although the guy grumbled that he didn’t want to go back, when Xia Fan set the autopilot mode to take them there, Traveling Buddha didn’t try to stop him.
—
After four silent days, the Disaster arrived at the Planet Hunting God, where Traveling Buddha’s home was.
Traveling Buddha and Xia Fan stood in the command deck. Traveling Buddha gazed at the distant green planet and said in shock, “So fast? I needed nine whole days to get from my home to Blue Boiling Point.”
Xia Fan said nonchalantly, “It’s nothing. I already told you, the Disaster is a brute, but it’s also an extremely fast ship. There’s a Mech Core in the hold that can boost the engine’s power by forty percent. Moreover, the designs and materials of this ship are top-class, so its overall performance is fifty-six percent superior to other ships of its class!”
Traveling Buddha didn’t understand the concept of overall performance very well. He just knew that the Disaster was incredibly fast!
—
They set down at Spaceport Three of Planet Hunting God.
Xia Fan noticed that everyone in the spaceport seemed to be staring at them, from the engineers of the maintenance department to the porters of the shipping department, and even the customs officials. They all threw aside their work and stared, making Xia Fan very uncomfortable.
“Young Master!” a middle-aged customs official suddenly shouted.
Traveling Buddha raised his head, looked at the man, and gave him a slight nod.
“It’s really the young master!”
“Young Master has returned!’
“Inform everyone that the young master has returned home!”
Spaceport Three instantly rumbled to life, the engineers throwing down their tools and sprinting away while countless people grabbed their phones and shouted at the people on the other end of the line that the young master had returned.
It wasn’t long before several hundred people were following Traveling Buddha and Xia Fan, and their numbers were only increasing. This assembled crowd was more impressive than the treatment the Union’s number one superstar, Yue Qianqian, would receive.
Even an investigator with special privileges would need to make a report to customs before being let through, but nobody even mentioned anything of the sort at Planet Hunting God. The chubby Chief Customs official personally called a car for Traveling Buddha to send him home.
Traveling Buddha frowned. “Is this okay? My dad hates special treatment.”
The chubby Customs Chief shook his head and said righteously, “It’s fine! How can this be considered a special privilege? When does someone have to report when going back to your own home? Young Master, relax. Leave everything to me and go home in peace!”
He immediately closed the door of the luxurious hovercar and waved at the driver.
The hovercar activated its flight function with a whoosh, took to the sky, and flew off to the mountains to the east. Numerous people in the spaceport took off their hats and waved after them while shouting Traveling Buddha’s name.
Xia Fan looked out the window at the clouds below, asking Traveling Buddha, “Where is your home? Can we see it?”
Before Traveling Buddha could reply, the excited driver answered, “Sir, you must not know, but all of Planet Hunting God is the young master’s private property, down to the smallest blade of grass.”
Xia Fan was stunned. The entire planet belonged to Traveling Buddha? Wasn’t that a little too exaggerated?
Union law stated that while one person could own a planet, it could not be an A-grade habitable planet. After all, one planet could host a population of billions. If tycoons were able to own them all, where would ordinary people live?
Traveling Buddha’s family was able to break this precedent and own an A-grade habitable planet? This was truly extraordinary.
“If I had known that, I would have just parked the Disaster in your yard. That would have been much more convenient,” Xia Fan said with a chuckle.
Traveling Buddha waved his hand. “That won’t do. The old man hates special privilege. In a little while, the car won’t be allowed in. It should park outside the yard.”
“As you say, Young Master!” the driver replied swiftly.
…
If those towering walls could be considered ‘yard walls’, then Traveling Buddha’s home truly did have a yard.
The moss-covered walls were ninety-nine meters high and enclosed an area with a diameter of one thousand kilometers. There were three lofty mountains located inside the walls, a field of grass for grazing, a dense primordial forest, a silvery beach, and an enormous lake with an island in the center.
Xia Fan, who hadn’t seen much of the universe, was dumbfounded. The mountains were linked to the lake, and the lake and beach were linked to the ocean. As for Traveling Buddha’s home, it was on that island in the lake!
The place was huge, but Traveling Buddha’s family was small. Besides his parents, grandfather, and little sister, there was only their butler, Uncle Lang.
Uncle Lang was a genial middle-aged man with a thick beard. He wore a black suit and spoke little, but he was very respectful to Traveling Buddha.
They took a speedboat to the island, where a woman and younger girl greeted them at the pier, Traveling Buddha’s mother and little sister. The silver-haired old man with them was Traveling Buddha’s grandfather, but Traveling Buddha’s father didn’t make an appearance.
Traveling Buddha’s mother was a sweet and gentle woman; one could see a little of his mother on Traveling Buddha’s face. He had also inherited his large eyes from her.
Traveling Buddha’s little sister was like a little fairy. She was around eleven or twelve and wore white pantyhose, black leather shoes, and a lilac blouse. Her skin was fair and her features delicate, like a princess out of a picture book.
The most unique of them, though, was Traveling Buddha’s grandfather. Though he was very old, he still had a sharp aura, and his penetrating gaze seemed like it could see through everyone.
“Grandpa! Mom! Little Sister!” His hesitation from before instantly vanished, and Traveling Buddha ran over with a smile and raised his little sister into the air, and then let her ride on his neck.
“Mm, you’re finally back, and you brought a friend?” His grandfather glanced at Xia Fan.
“His name is Xia Fan, a friend I got to know at the Training Camp. When I was protecting the ancestral grave of Old Blue, I got into a fight with a pack of plunderers. If not for Xia Fan, I would have been blasted to bits by those guys. He saved my life,” Traveling Buddha hastily introduced Xia Fan.
After hearing that Xia Fan had saved Traveling Buddha’s life, Traveling Buddha’s grandfather nodded, his eyes brightening, and his gaze changed subtly.
“Second Brother is trying to trick us,” Traveling Buddha’s little sister said, her lips pursing. “He’s so thin that even I might be able to beat him. How could he have saved your life?”
Traveling Buddha laughed. Petting his sister on the head, he said, “You don’t get it. While Xia Fan’s rank might not be higher than mine, his special ability is Speed!
“Among all the martial arts of the world, only speed is invincible. Isn’t that something we all learn when we’re very young? The Speed lineage has always dominated the stars. Your big brother Xia Fan is only two years younger than me, but he’s already an Intermediate Star Base user, so he’s very powerful!”
There were four siblings in all: the eldest Drunken Buddha, the second oldest Traveling Buddha, the third oldest Small Buddha, and the fourth oldest Bridge Buddha. When their names were put together, it meant “Drunkenly traversing across a small bridge.”
It was said that Traveling Buddha’s father was very conservative. Even though he had already fallen in love with Traveling Buddha’s mother, he refused to confess to her. One night, he intentionally got himself drunk, using the alcohol to work up the courage to meet up with Traveling Buddha’s mother on the small bridge in the rear garden, at which point they finally became an item.
Traveling Buddha’s father had a lifetime of glories and honors, but his proudest achievement was marrying his wife. Thus, he named his children based on that encounter.
Alas, Traveling Buddha’s youngest brother, Bridge Buddha, died not long after he was born, and Traveling Buddha’s father grew even quieter after this, a grim look on his face every day. He also began to treat the rest of his children more harshly, so much so that Traveling Buddha had no happy memories of his childhood.
After entering Blue Boiling Point Training Camp, Traveling Buddha’s rebellion against his father had erupted in full force, and he had spent seven years messing around in Blue Boiling Point. The more his father wanted to see him progress, the more Traveling Buddha did the exact opposite.
His older brother Drunken Buddha was even more rebellious. He had been gone from the family for eight years, and there had been no news of him at all. Nobody knew if he was even dead or alive. Traveling Buddha’s mother wept whenever she thought of Drunken Buddha.
Perhaps because he had managed to produce two rebellious sons, or perhaps because Small Buddha was a girl, Traveling Buddha’s father wasn’t as strict with Small Buddha’s upbringing. Small Buddha had the most normal personality of the siblings.
Small Buddha’s eyes went wide after hearing her older brother’s words. She said to Xia Fan, “Big Brother Xia Fan, you’re a speedster? Can you run across water? I’ve heard that speed experts can use their swift steps to run across water as gracefully as a swallow.”
Xia Fan chuckled. “I’ve never tried that before,” he admitted.
“Why don’t you try now? Please? I really want to see it.”
Small Buddha was being a little too familiar. Despite only just meeting Xia Fan, she still wanted to see him run across water.
With no other option, Xia Fan went up to the side of the pier, took a deep breath, lowered his body, and explosively shot forward!
Whoosh!
Xia Fan sprinted across the lake at an astonishing speed, almost like he was flying. Borrowing the tension of the water at his speed, he really did manage to run across the water without sinking.
Small Buddha clapped her hands excitedly. “Wonderful! He really doesn’t sink!”
After running a full circle, Xia Fan returned to the pier. Fushao felt Xia Fan’s pants. While the lower parts were soaked with water, the upper half of his pants and his jacket were clean and dry. She stuck out her tongue in awe at Xia Fan’s speed.
“Brother, I want to see what it feels like to be fast! Can you have Big Brother Xia Fan carry me around while he runs? Is that okay?” Small Buddha pulled on Traveling Buddha’s sleeve and made eyes at him.
Traveling Buddha was put in a tough spot. His little sister had always been cute and naughty. If someone agreed to one of her requests, she would definitely have another, and they would just keep coming until she got bored.
Traveling Buddha’s mother spoke up. “Stop making trouble. Brother Xia Fan is a guest. How can you order around a guest?”
The girl pursed her lips while Traveling Buddha’s mother said apologetically, “It’s my fault that she’s so spoiled. Come, come, let’s go into the house to sit.”
Xia Fan kicked off the water on his shoes and prepared to enter Traveling Buddha’s home. Raising his head, he saw a grim-faced middle-aged man looking down from a third-floor window. He was probably Traveling Buddha’s father. He was clearly at home, but he didn’t come out to welcome Traveling Buddha. It seemed things were still awkward between the father and son.
