Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1472: Chapter 199: The Aura of the Underworld

The encounter with Fish Ball Qiang was a remarkable event for Da Zhe—initially, he never imagined that he would meet a human in the dimensional rift… Yes, just a human, not a Transcendent.

Fish Ball Qiang, for some reason, was extremely enthusiastic from the start—Da Zhe later understood why.

Fish Ball Qiang truly felt that he and Da Zhe were kindred spirits… After hearing about Fish Ball Qiang’s ordeal, he so easily believed that he was also thrown into the dimensional rift, and it all made sense.

Because something so bizarre really had happened to Fish Ball Qiang.

“Well… Senior, the head honcho—”

Though Da Zhe felt sympathy for Fish Ball Qiang’s predicament, he didn’t offer any comforting words—because to him, Fish Ball Qiang’s experience could actually be described as an adventure.

At least before being involved in the dimensional rift, Fish Ball Qiang was just a street vendor selling fish balls… Although now his appearance might not be too appealing, he could definitely chase down and beat up a Void Primordial Demon.

An ordinary person… How could they possibly do that?

“Brother, just call me Brother Qiang if you want to show respect!” Fish Ball Qiang chuckled at this moment, “Do you have anything you want to say or ask? You just arrived here, and everything is unfamiliar, you must be worried, right?”

Although he was already a Black soul envoy, and before becoming one had experienced ten years in prison, fundamentally Da Zhe also came from the streets… Once you get a taste of the street life, it stays with you.

“Brother Qiang.” Da Zhe thought that since he was idle, and also felt that Fish Ball Qiang’s experience was indeed interesting… and that the person was interesting too, it wouldn’t hurt to make an acquaintance, so he directly asked, “Brother Qiang, are you familiar with this place?”

“Quite so.” Fish Ball Qiang casually said, “At first I was completely dumbfounded, but later I was lucky enough to meet Master Musashi, who taught me a lot… So, you saw my heroic display just now, beating up the Void Primordial Demon, didn’t you? Oh… Here we call such monsters Void Primordial Demons, this thing is divided into several levels, like Ancestral Spirit, Asura, and the like.”

Da Zhe pretended to listen carefully… Fish Ball Qiang used the term “we” when speaking… and mentioned Master Musashi.

“Brother Qiang, who is this Master Musashi you mentioned?”

“He’s just Master Musashi.” Fish Ball Qiang shrugged, “I don’t know his full name, because he never tells me… Oh, and I have already apprenticed under Master Musashi, I’m now his registered disciple.”

“Is this Master Musashi very powerful?” Da Zhe thought deeply.

“Of course.” Fish Ball Qiang nodded forcefully, “It would probably scare you if I told you! Some time ago, I followed Master Musashi to attack heaven… Yes, the place where Jesus lives! Can’t imagine, can you? We really invaded Jesus’s home!”

“And then?”

Fish Ball Qiang cleared his throat, “What else could happen, it ended unresolved? Master Musashi’s side lost several people, and heaven suffered quite a bit of destruction as well… Anyway, it was like that, two gangs agreeing to a showdown, in the end, neither side benefiting and both suffering heavy losses. Brother, you’re the Double-Flower Red Stick from Fengmen’ao Erli Village, Xindongfeng, haven’t you seen enough of such things? Oh, by the way, brother, do you remember what the person who threw you in here looked like?”

——Why did I create this name randomly, it feels so embarrassing… And why do you remember so clearly…

However, the fact that Master Musashi behind Fish Ball Qiang and his organization directly engaged heaven in a showdown… Da Zhe didn’t know much about the Transcendents, only what Ms. Ren occasionally mentioned— but hearing about this from Fish Ball Qiang gave Da Zhe a new perspective on the Transcendents’ organization.

“Brother Qiang, do you have a way to find the person who threw me in here?” Da Zhe immediately asked curiously.

Fish Ball Qiang laughed heartily, “Brother, the place I’m staying at currently is just the entrance to the Transcendents’ realm. They need to pass through this gate to get to their dwellings here… Over time, I’ve seen quite a few from a distance. Describe them to me, maybe I’ve seen them? Although going back is impossible, at least knowing something would be good, right?”

“Why is it impossible to go back?” Given the current setting, Da Zhe immediately showed an anxious expression.

“Because only Transcendents have the ability to open the passage back to the real world!” Fish Ball Qiang sighed at this moment, “You have no idea how many worlds this rift connects. So if it’s not the person who threw you in here, outsiders find it hard to know which world you’re originally from… I think, if we knew who exactly acted against you, maybe I’ve seen them, and then I could make some connections for you, you might be sent back.”

Da Zhe looked at Fish Ball Qiang in surprise, not expecting this odd fellow to be so righteous, and consequently developed a bit of likability towards him.

He thought for a moment and said, “Brother Qiang, since there is a way to go back, what about you?”

Fish Ball Qiang shook his head, “I’m not interested in going back for the time being… At the beginning, I did think about leaving this place, but then I thought, what for? Going back to continue being the head honcho of a snack street? Living a gloomy life without a girlfriend? Watching people throw wads of cash into nightclubs while I didn’t even have the qualifications to be noticed by a dancer? Brother Da Zhe, I’m already in my thirties and haven’t achieved anything… But now there’s this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, do you think I would be willing to give it up? I… don’t want to be a waste anymore!”

Fish Ball Qiang gazed silently into the depths of the Void… Da Zhe was very familiar with this expression.

Many, many years ago, he also experienced such confusion, having achieved nothing, without any skills, and living a life of hustling from a young age. He had several brothers, but most were of the same level, none despised the other, but none could help the other either. Poor brothers found joy in gathering around street stalls, grilling skewers, drinking beer, and having fun teasing the beer girl, and life went on day by day, seemingly to be the same for an entire lifetime, without dreams.

“Brother Qiang, life isn’t as bad as you imagine. At least you still have family,” Da Zhe said softly.

Fish Ball Qiang turned back and looked at Da Zhe with eyes that were particularly desolate and garbage-like, “I have no family. They’re all dead.”

This… Da Zhe suddenly didn’t know what to say.

“Why? Why are some people born with a gold key in their mouth while I’m just dirt poor? Why can some people win five million on a lottery ticket while I haven’t won five bucks on any? Why am I so handsome and yet losing hair at a young age, while you street rats have so much hair? Why?!”

Fish Ball Qiang suddenly became more excited as he spoke… maybe he had been accumulating too much negativity in this place?

Da Zhe instinctively swept his bangs aside, comforting him, “Brother Qiang, haven’t you learned all these skills here? You’ve already grown stronger.”

At this moment, Fish Ball Qiang looked up to the sky and roared, his expression filled with pride, “That’s right, I have become stronger! But not strong enough! I need to become even stronger! I want to be the most dazzling guy in the whole village… No, I want to be the most dazzling guy in the whole city! I want fish ball stalls to bloom all over the world with my name!”

— So, just how much do you like selling fish balls…

Da Zhe secretly shook his head but said respectfully, “Brother Qiang, you’ll definitely be fine… Haven’t you said you have a master named Master Musashi? And this master together with his companions are quite formidable, as they can even fight their way into heaven. So you will definitely succeed.”

“Of course.” Fish Ball Qiang said pompously, “Bro, you weren’t there to see it. I personally saw it… my master and his companions, in a big rumble, swept down a whole stretch of angels! Have you seen angels before? The kind with wings on their backs that can fly! I made sure to check below them, angels don’t have that thing!”

“… No.” Da Zhe shook his head, “Since that’s the case, would it be possible for Brother Qiang to introduce me to this Master Musashi? If possible, I really want to find the way back… Hmm, someone is waiting for me to return.”

Someone is waiting for me to return, seemed like a magic spell—Fish Ball Qiang suddenly silently looked at Da Zhe, then patted his shoulder, “You do make people envious. I once… Forget it, bro, come with me. I about need to go back… Come, ride my mount!”

“Mount?” Da Zhe couldn’t help but be startled.

Fish Ball Qiang nodded and then took out a very unique flute—it looked somewhat like a clay flute but seemed to be made of bone.

Fish Ball Qiang started blowing into the strange flute directly—strangely enough, it seemed to make no sound whatsoever… just emitted a peculiar wave from its holes.

Not long after, a shadow appeared above the two of them. Da Zhe looked up, and was amazed to find a Void Primordial Demon akin to a giant ant—its neck and limbs were crudely fitted with reins and a saddle… its sharp mandibles were even fitted with a muzzle.

“It’s called Little Qiang,” Fish Ball Qiang said offhandedly, “Actually, I don’t know its name—it was a pair, but after I accidentally beat the female one to death, the male has been chasing me relentlessly. This flute is made from its wife’s bones, so no matter where I am, as soon as I blow it, it comes over, very convenient!”

“… It is quite convenient.” Da Zhe opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing, only following Fish Ball Qiang as they sat on the back of the strange Void Primordial Demon… Even though having killed many Void Primordial Demons in numbers nearing twenty thousand, encountering a pair was a first for him.

Perhaps as Fish Ball Qiang had said, indeed there existed the enmity of having killed a wife between him and Little Qiang… they had just barely sat on the saddle when this Void Primordial Demon began to struggle wildly.

Fish Ball Qiang simply tightened the reins and kept tapping the reins on Little Qiang’s neck…it wasn’t any beast-taming method, just plain violent control of this Void Primordial Demon going forward.

“Bro, if you get tired, just take a nap, we’ll arrive soon.” Fish Ball Qiang said politely at this time, “Today I’m the host, though this place is barren, can’t find anything good to eat, but when raiding heaven last time, I quietly sneaked some fruit wine back. I have been unwilling to drink it all along! This time it’s rare to meet a buddy, happy occasion, we’ll drink it properly later!”

Perhaps Fish Ball Qiang’s enthusiasm made Da Zhe feel somewhat uneasy… He was silent for a moment, then slowly said, “Brother Qiang, aren’t you afraid I’m unclear about my origin, might not be a good person?”

Fish Ball Qiang was momentarily stunned, then violently tapped Little Qiang beneath him, saying nonchalantly, “Whether you’re a good person or not, I naturally don’t know, but saying it, old brother I’m also not a good person. Besides, having lived here for a while and seen those guys, each fiercer than the last, there’s one guy who from a distance I can already smell a stench of nauseating blood, surely this guy hasn’t killed few. Also, the guy who brought me to this place, right in front of old brother me, swallowed up a whole street of people… I saw it with my own eyes. So you say you’re not a good person, old brother I ask you, how many people have you killed? Without eight hundred or a thousand, are you bold enough to claim to be evil?”

Da Zhe could only bitterly shake his head.

Fish Ball Qiang suddenly chuckled and said, “Bro, so you say you’re a Double-Flower Red Stick, old brother I believe, because I see in your eyes a certain taste of the world which cannot fool me. So, you say you’re not a good person, old brother I’m also indifferent… If you’re curious why, even I don’t know. I can only tell you, among those who mix on the path, without one or two tender parts in the heart? Human heart is made of flesh, made of those one or two tender parts; if those one or two pieces of flesh are lost, eyes can’t possibly be as clear as yours! Bro, no shame to tell you, though old brother I’ve lived muddled for thirty-some years, when seeing people I’ve never been mistaken, so I think you’re indeed a good person, then you certainly have good qualities, and that’s enough for old brother to open a bottle of wine for you… Just a pity no fish balls! Sigh, my skill of cooking fish balls is a true art!”

— So, just how much do you like cooking fish balls…

Somehow, the goodwill towards Fish Ball Qiang was incrementing bit by bit… Perhaps Fish Ball Qiang was right, the worldly taste in me has always been there.

There was also a worldly taste in Fish Ball Qiang.

So perhaps this counts as like-minded character… Da Zhe suddenly smiled, feeling that this work seemed to be not that boring anymore.