Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
“Your brother… why are you worried about your brother? That he will be overwhelmed by sorrow?” Mo Fan asked.
Zhao Manyan shook his head, “Forget it, we’ve just won the tournament. I shouldn’t mention something like this to ruin the mood.”
“Don’t mention it, we grieve and celebrate when the time is right, even when the two are mixed up. There’s no need to force your feelings,” Mo Fan agreed.
“Do you mind giving me some time to think about it? I’ll talk to you again once I clear my mind.” It was obvious that Zhao Manyan was still bothered by some other things. As a matter of fact, he was still unsure about the truth.
“Alright, I’ll be in my room, or Mu Ningxue’s. Just come find me whenever you want,” Mo Fan did not force him.
Mo Fan turned around before he left and saw Zhao Manyan slowly moving toward the seawall. It was quite obvious that Zhao Manyan was very troubled by this matter.
Luckily, he had long prepared for it.
Being prepared for the death of close ones was totally different than suddenly receiving the news of someone passing, since people had time to gradually accept the truth when the person was going to pass away soon. The grief would slowly turn into respect for the deceased. Zhao Manyan did not really have any regrets. After all, he had achieved an impressive feat before his father passed away. The old man could rest in peace now.
On the other hand, news of the sudden death of close ones would take anyone by surprise, like a lightning bolt landing right on them. Mo Fan had witnessed too many deaths during the Calamity of Bo City and the Calamity of the Ancient Capital. It was the reason he had been putting so much work in his cultivation, to ensure his loved ones could live in peace amid the chaos brought about by the demon creatures.
Unfortunately, every life would come to an end one day. People would eventually have to embrace it and continue on with their lives. If they spent their whole lives in shadows and rainy days, they would be the person that died instead!
—
—
Zhao Manyan was still at loss in front of the seawall. The sky had completely darkened. The lamps in Venice lit up, while some of the islands nearby disappeared in the darkness as if they did not exist.
A couple was approaching. The man was in his thirties, with a scar on his tanned forehead. He was hugging the woman beside him tightly with a huge smile, as if he was extremely pleased by their relationship, like a young man passionately in love.
The woman seemed to be in her thirties, too. She looked quite ordinary, the kind that Zhao Manyan would not bother giving an extra glance to. The woman was wearing a shy smile, but her eyes were glancing around. She sneakily looked over at Zhao Manyan.
“Friend, can you take a photo of us?” the man asked, holding a camera out.
“Sure.” Normally, Zhao Manyan would just walk past the couple arrogantly. He only allowed himself to show off his relationship to others, instead of the other way around. However, he was in a bad mood today, so he did not mind doing someone a favor, collecting some blessings for his father who would soon pass away.
When Zhao Manyan reached out his hand to take the camera, the man with a scar suddenly grinned viciously.
The man’s eyes flickered murderously as a long poisonous snake with eight claws poked out from his sleeve. It coiled around Zhao Manyan’s wrist and bit his arm!
Zhao Manyan did not feel any pain from the bite, but his blood suddenly froze, and continued to spread to the other parts of his body!
“You!” Zhao Manyan was astounded. He quickly cast a defensive spell.
The Sacred Shield Protection was about to complete itself when Zhao Manyan was dazzled all of a sudden, the same way he felt when he was drunk last night.
The last Star Orbit broke in half. Zhao Manyan had failed to set up his defense in time. The poison was spreading too quickly. Not only did it paralyze him, it was also messing with his mind!
“Who are you!?” Zhao Manyan yelled. He was still able to speak.
“What’s the point of asking so much? Isn’t it better to die without knowing anything?” the woman grinned. She slowly took out a poisonous needle.
The needle was the length of a dagger. It was clearly a vicious piece of magic equipment, similar to Guan Yu’s claw gauntlet. The Weapon was suitable for assassin-type Mages. They were not that useful against demon creatures, but were deadly against Mages!
“Who sent you!?” Zhao Manyan was so infuriated that his eyes were about to spit fire.
“It looks like you will be able to keep your father company in the afterworld!” the female assassin giggled coldly as she stabbed the needle into Zhao Manyan’s heart.
The poisonous needle easily penetrated Zhao Manyan’s skin and entered his flesh. It would soon reach his heart. However, a golden light erupted out of nowhere. The insignificant necklace that Zhao Manyan was wearing drove back the two assassins with the strong light, preventing the poisonous needle from moving any further.
“As expected of a fuerdai, you have a piece of magic equipment that even surpasses the power of the Ring of Venice. But is your final struggle going to make any difference?” The female assassin was still grinning, as if she was not too surprised by his magic equipment.
The two assassins were incredibly strong, especially the man with the Poison Element that had ambushed Zhao Manyan first. Even if Zhao Manyan was paying attention, the man could still have subdued him easily.
Zhao Manyan had been a playboy for a long time. He had only spent the last two years cultivating diligently to please his father. He had never offended anyone with great status before, so it was fairly impossible that anyone would send assassins after him…
The golden light was protecting Zhao Manyan, but the power of the magic equipment would not last long,and it was unlikely that anyone would come to his rescue at such a remote place.
Zhao Manyan knew his death was approaching, yet he was unwilling to accept it or to believe it!
“Zhao Youqian, show yourself! I know it’s you!” Zhao Manyan yelled. His veins were surfacing on his face from the poison.
There was no response.
“Zhao Youqian! You have the guts to kill me, but don’t you have the guts to face me in person!?” Zhao Manyan screamed. He had a feeling that Zhao Youqian was nearby!
As he thought, a tightly-clothed man walked out from behind an aged tree not far away.
The man had even covered his hair, revealing only his eyes. He was being extremely careful that no one could see his face.
The golden light would still last for some time, yet Zhao Manyan was feeling extremely hopeless. The two assassins had clearly killed many people before, and even a Mage like he stood no chance against them.
“I shall bid you farewell then,” the disguised man responded coldly.
Zhao Manyan felt a great chill running down his spine, as if his heart had been stabbed by the poisonous needle numerous times.
It was him. It really was him!
Zhao Manyan knew he had no chance of escaping, but he was hoping that someone else was behind it. He would rather think that it was someone he had offended unknowingly in the past…
They were brothers. Zhao Manyan had been suspicious of the man before. It was what Zhao Manyan wanted to talk to Mo Fan about. He sensed that Zhao Youqian was the kind of person that would do anything to achieve his goals, but considering that they were brothers related by blood, Zhao Manyan finally shook it off and decided not to tell Mo Fan about it…
He did not say it, as he was hoping that he had misunderstood his brother. Otherwise, Mo Fan would surely stay with him, just in case someone tried to murder him. He would not have ended up in his current situation, either!
When Zhao Manyan thought about how Mo Fan never hesitated to sacrifice himself to save him and the others back in Jinlin City, and a few times after that too, and compared him to Zhao Youqian who only dared show his eyes, he was immediately troubled by complicated feelings.
“Don’t you have any humanity?” Zhao Manyan asked.
“Aren’t you naive to ask that question? Isn’t it all our father’s fault, forcing me to come down to this? I, Zhao Youqian, have been under strict discipline since the age of ten, learning different languages, finance, how to talk with businessmen, and bluff around with greedy men. The money that I’ve earned for the clan, the effort I’ve put in… and you, you have been living a carefree life since you were born. The old man didn’t scold you even once, and let you spend as much money as you want without asking you to manage anything. He even prepared the path for the things you wanted to learn. I thought he was only spoiling you, without caring what you do. You could just live a comfortable life like a useless fuerdai. I thought he was raising me up as the successor of the clan, he was so very strict to me, so I could be better than him in the future…”
“But what did he do!?”
“What did he do!?” Zhao Youqian screamed. His voice was filled with hatred and malice.
“He left his will before you even won the tournament, asking you to inherit the Zhao Clan, and I, Zhao Youqian will be assisting you!… HAHAHAHA, what a good father, what a good father, he has been planning it since the very start, he treated you like his precious son, while I am nothing but a subordinate to him, and now he’s assigning me to serve you too!” Zhao Youqian yelled.
Zhao Youqian could not accept it. So what if Zhao Manyan had joined the national team and came in first in the World College Tournament? His contributions to the Zhao Clan were more than ten Zhao Manyans could have done! However, his father was so naive to think that Zhao Manyan was the hope of the Zhao Clan just because of a single achievement, and now he had to serve his useless younger brother like a pet…
“That’s father’s decision. Did you seriously think I’m going to compete with you after he passed away? I’ll focus on my magic, and you can manage the business. Why does it have to come down to this? Father is still alive, but you just could not wait to get your hands on me!” Zhao Manyan took a deep breath after seeing how twisted Zhao Youqian was.
“Just because he’s still alive… right before he dies, I will tell him in person that I’ve killed his precious son, to get my revenge for treating me like a dog for so many years!” Zhao Youqian could not have cared less.
“If that’s the case, how could you possibly send assassins after me right after he has fallen ill? I bet you hired them long ago, and just waited until the old man fell ill?” Zhao Manyan asked.
“That’s correct! You know what kind of person our father is, I needed to have a backup plan at all times. Don’t hate me, you should understand who’s even more inhumane!”
“I forgive you, you are my brother after all.”
“I didn’t want to do this, either.”
“Take care of mother,” Zhao Manyan said. It was meaningless to struggle further, since he did not see even the slightest hint of hesitation in Zhao Youqian’s eyes.
Zhao Youqian had really changed. The man felt like a complete stranger to him.
“I will. She won’t suspect me for it, she trusts me.” Zhao Youqian signaled the assassins.
The light protecting Zhao Manyan slowly dissipated, placing him in despair.
He could only stand there. If there was any regret, it was the fact that he could no longer go on adventures around the world with Mo Fan, and achieve higher levels of magic.
If only he had time to pick up all the chicks he liked…
Zhao Manyan had no idea why such a ridiculous thought would cross his mind right before his death. Perhaps he had also learned to face every wave with a smile after spending so much time around that man…
“Do it!”
The two assassins were incredibly strong. They might even be Super Mages, judging from their shocking auras. Even without the poison restraining him, Zhao Manyan would have difficulty resisting the pressure of their murderous auras.
Zhao Manyan closed his eyes. As death approached, he did not notice the glow of the wooden clapper in his soul, as if the thing had awakened from a deep slumber!
A loud roar was heard, rising from Venice’s coastline and the bay. The whole city trembled under it. The roar was extremely terrifying at night!
A black island suddenly rose on the ocean. Huge waves splashed and reached the clouds, before sweeping in all directions like a tsunami!
“Holy crap, what’s that?”
“It’s…it’s the island…”
Thousands of people in Venice watched the waves rolling toward them. Mages flew into the sky as the sirens went off, followed by a purple light shining down upon the city!
The shadow of the enormous island loomed over the city, blocking the moon and the stars. The city of Venice was like a little toy building in front of the island. It felt like it would be destroyed fairly easily…
Mo Fan was in the area facing the ocean. He stared at the fleshy body of the creature that had been previously submerged in the sea. The shock he experienced was the same as his first encounter with the Black Totem Snake!
“It’s…it’s…it’s the creature that has been following us!” Mo Fan recognized it.
An island…
A creature that disguised itself as an island…
The mysterious, enormous creature that once showed up in Japan, but had never revealed itself to them!
It had swum all the way to the Mediterranean, and stopped here in Venice!
It was actually following them!
