Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1437: Chapter 164: Sorrows Fade from My Brow, But Linger in My Heart

He never really thought he would end up in such a miserable state… Ever since he was inexplicably drawn into this sub-world, life has always been so unsatisfactory — although in his past world, he had long departed from being a mere human.

But once again feeling the hardships of being human, 24 realized a popular saying in this world: “Mental explosion.”

All his powers hadn’t really left him… It was just that he couldn’t use them, feeling like a wealthy man stranded on a completely deserted island.

Fortunately, as an immortal soul, after a long time of attempts, he finally managed to project just a trace… but it’s merely a trace, the utmost limit.

Trapped in this place where one cannot see the light of day, this trace of soul power could only affect the rats and insects moving underground — obviously, rats and insects were of no help to him in his current state.

Out of self-respect, 24 wouldn’t choose to eat these creatures until he was truly in despair — but he really felt he could no longer hold on.

He eventually controlled a rat to approach him, and just as 24 was about to swallow it to regain some strength, someone arrived at this place.

Truly… heaven never bars one’s way.

Soon after, from somewhere in this Superpower Research Institute hidden in the building’s basement, the sound of pounding on the ground kept echoing — showing the contractor and his workers, like puppets, frantically smashing the floor…

…

In the dead of night, a huge yet extraordinarily thin figure slowly crawled out from the hole dug by the excavator. He had typical Western male features and was bald… The moment 24 saw daylight again, he even felt like shedding tears of joy.

He breathed in the fresh air from outside indulgently — even though he had escaped, all his immortal prowess was still in a sealed state, and the only trace of soul power he could use had been exhausted after controlling a few workers… The only thing to be thankful for was that his current body seemed to have far superior potential than others, but now he was already starving.

However, because the work was rushed overnight, food was not scarce here — items the workers had prepared for a night snack naturally all ended up in the stomach of 24, who had a new body now.

After quickly replenishing some energy, 24 put on clothes stripped from one of the workers and, under the cover of darkness, planned to head back to his cursed house… With all his abilities completely sealed, he felt utterly unsafe.

While being an Immortal would mean encountering various strange things or dangers in the long run across time and space, such an awful situation was indeed a first.

As for his previous cooperation with Zhong Luochen… 24 had never placed this fragile partnership in his heart — now, any ordinary person could harm him. The last of his soul power had been used to escape, and recovery seemed distant and uncertain.

“Stop, don’t move!”

Just as 24 was making efforts to determine the direction of his cursed house (this area was heavily damaged due to the earthquake), a stern voice suddenly came from behind him.

24 frowned; as an Immortal, he was never afraid of such warnings… Instinctively, 24 turned his body and found that the ones speaking to him were two patrol officers.

Normally, he wouldn’t even bother to regard such trivial patrol officers, but now…

“Foreigner? Name! Where do you live? What are you doing here? Why are you dressed like this… Show your identification, please!”

How could he produce any identification… He didn’t even know this body’s original name! Faced with the questions from the patrol officers, 24 could only remain silent, pondering how he might escape.

He wasn’t ignorant of the social norms of this sub-world — precisely because he understood much, he found after thinking for a moment that he had no good way to avoid this!

“Speak!”

“No… I don’t have any.”

“Don’t move!”

The patrol officers at this point took out their batons, slowly approaching 24 — they saw this foreigner acting suspiciously at night, and most importantly, he had noticeable bloodstains on his body… dressed in clothes that didn’t fit at all.

Even this foreigner seemed particularly tall yet unusually gaunt and frightening.

24 knew that if he got entangled, he would be in huge trouble. So the moment the two patrol officers approached, 24 quickly reacted — though only regaining a little strength, he could only resist with his hands, but at least his battle instinct remained!

Surprise attack — with a sudden ambush, 24 fiercely knocked one officer to the ground.

The other officer, witnessing this, was shocked and could only react defensively… They quickly engaged in a scuffle, and after spending quite some time, the weak and breathless 24 managed to bring down the other officer.

24 clumsily climbed up from the ground… He shook his head, mocking his weakness, and then fled, following his path — but at this moment, something flew straight at him!

24 felt a tremendous force hit him directly… He staggered to the ground, and then a large, heavy mass pressed hard on top of him.

What followed was a pair of thick legs, like scissors, that immediately clamped around his neck and locked his arms — even this simple grapple technique managed to subdue 24.

“Damn it! How dare you openly attack the police! Do you think Officer Ma is dead? Do you not know this city is under my jurisdiction?”

Officer Ma… Officer Ma?

Who was Officer Ma… At this point, 24 had no time to think about that, he only felt a breathless sensation with his neck squeezed by this fat middle-aged man’s legs!

Now, the two patrol officers, after their brief dizziness, also regained consciousness. They hurriedly ran over, and upon seeing the suspicious-looking foreigner subdued, they were all startled. However, when they recognized who had subdued the foreigner, they relaxed.

“Officer Ma! Good evening! What brings you here?”

“Forget your greetings! Get this guy cuffed already, don’t you think my deadly scissor legs are tiring?!”

“Sorry, sorry!”

The two patrol officers quickly took out handcuffs and handcuffed 24 behind his back, pressing his shoulders so he couldn’t struggle anymore.

…

“That’s pretty much the situation, Officer Ma.”

After carefully listening to the explanation from the two patrol officers, Officer Ma didn’t even think before he said, “Doesn’t matter if this guy is a foreigner, attacking a cop is a crime, take him back and lock him up, then slowly figure out his background!”

“Got it, I already called for a vehicle.” The patrol officer nodded hastily and added, “Officer Ma, why are you here so late?”

“Who’s coming here! I’m heading home after work, passing by here!”

“Here… heading home?”

Officer Ma glared at the two — he couldn’t possibly say that once the connect-around blocks nearby were closed off, other routes were congested beyond words, so he just slightly “misused” his authority to sneak home through this restricted area, right?

“Why so much pointless talk! Hurry up and take this guy back!” Officer Ma grumbled and laughed as he scolded, “You all look strong and healthy, yet you can’t even handle a lightweight like this, embarrassing!”

They wouldn’t dare to argue, only nodding obediently—and after Officer Ma finished scolding them, the police car arrived, and everyone worked together to put 24 into the vehicle, presumably heading to the detention center next.

After sending off these patrol officers, Officer Ma’s previously upright posture suddenly bent over—his deadly scissor kick was, besides his unusually precise shooting skills, his special move, having taken down countless criminals, but tonight… he strained his back.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch…”

He held his waist as he slowly walked home.

…

…

In the deep of night, in various corners of the city, countless things unknown to you and me would always happen—for instance, ordinary people couldn’t see the living beings soaring through the night sky, aside from aircraft as tools… suburbs.

Air currents automatically broke around the true dragon’s presence, its power even absorbing the immense noise of breaking through the air, causing no disturbance.

The frail Golden Dragon was tied up with a rope and dangled far behind, naturally not enjoying the privilege of protection by the true dragon’s power during this journey.

Long Xiruo said the Golden Dragon had thick skin and flesh, unaffected by the cold… that’s how she explained to the lady with butterfly wings, but she never mentioned how much dragon blood Fafnir had been extracted.

Always feeling that the trembling, sniffling Mr. Fafnir trailing behind seemed to be on the brink of losing his remaining half-life, the little butterfly monster slightly relaxed upon seeing the destination approaching.

“Finally arrived.” Long Xiruo sighed at this moment, slowly reducing speed, “When we get home, first, don’t worry about anything, let’s have a good wash…”

The true dragon of the Divine Land suddenly stopped talking, blinking her eyes, she felt something seemed wrong with the height… her body seemed to be falling, falling, “???”

Blinked.

“Pianqian, are we falling down?”

The little butterfly monster blinked, then looked down at her feet, and up at the sky, “Seems like it?”

Exchanged glances, blinked… blinked, exchanged glances.

“Damn!!”

Finally—just as they were about to have an intimate encounter with the ground, the true dragon of the Divine Land squeezed out a thread of true dragon power, barely easing the massive impact from a high-altitude descent, but still couldn’t resolve the imminent collision with the ground.

In the fleeting moment before hitting the ground, Long Xiruo directly tossed the Golden Dragon’s body underground, simultaneously embracing Luo Pianqian.

Bang—!

Successfully landed safely on the Golden Dragon’s belly.

“That was close…”

The true dragon of the Divine Land discreetly wiped cold sweat at this point, falling from such height, though her body could fully withstand it, it would be too embarrassing… meanwhile, the lady with butterfly wings might not withstand it, breaking a few bones was inevitable, but at least for now, it was alright.

As for Fafnir… looking at a big hole formed where he landed, the foam-spewing Fafnir, the true dragon of the Divine Land lamented, “Fafnir, I’ll never forget you this lifetime… next life, reincarnate as a pretty girl. Hmm… may heaven have no prejudice.”

“Old hag… you… you won’t… have a good end…”

“Oh, so you’re not dead, what a pity.”

“Sister Long, Mr. Fafnir fainted!”

Naturally from anger… Long Xiruo didn’t care about that now, she only frowned, observing the surroundings with curiosity.

The reason for her falling wasn’t because the true dragon’s power disappeared, but it seemed to be confined within her body and couldn’t exert influence outside.

But she keenly sensed this confinement had a limit—powers exceeding this limit should still exert effects, though diminished… and the degree of diminution also depended on how much it could exceed this limit.

“Sister Long, it seems I can’t muster any strength.” Luo Pianqian suddenly said, “My wings won’t open either!”

She looked back to see the little butterfly monster at this moment clenching her fists, exerting all her strength, puffing her cheeks… even making her face flushed.

“Stop trying.” The true dragon of the Divine Land shook her head at this moment, “You can’t break through that merchant’s limitation.”

The little butterfly monster deflated like a balloon, then said dumbfounded, “Sister Long, you said this was done by the boss?”

The true dragon of the Divine Land sneered lightly, “The entire city is under this sort of restriction, even mine… even I’m slightly affected! And given the situation, it’s not a one-day problem, besides that merchant, who else could achieve such a feat? Besides this merchant, across the entire Divine Land, if you can name even half as capable, I’ll admit defeat!”

“Seems so.” Luo Pianqian nodded, then suddenly said, “Huh, but why would the boss seal off this place?”

“Who knows what that guy thinks.”

The true dragon of the Divine Land murmured with complex emotions— as the true dragon, her connection with the Divine Land wasn’t severed by this confinement, so she almost immediately realized the restriction was limited to this city’s range.

And knowing that as soon as the city limits were left behind, all transcendent powers would function as usual, she didn’t feel excessively urgent.

Besides, subconsciously, she even had the thought… if this city were to be cut off from transcendent powers, perhaps it would be a good thing.

At least, under this restrictive state, all evil spirits and monsters, ghosts and demons, couldn’t harm the entire city… and with this thought emerging, something suddenly flashed in the true dragon’s mind.

It’s the connection between the ground and her.

A small, growing seedling—under the moonlight, its leaves supported glittering dewdrops.

“It’s that child…”

“Sister Long, why are you crying?”

Tears slipped down the true dragon’s cheek… she suddenly understood his real intention for sealing this city.