57: Chapter 44, Xiu Xue Blade!

57: Chapter 44, Xiu Xue Blade!

Tang Fei and Little Fatty entered the house carrying four Pulse Guns.

Little Fatty, with a look of envy, said, “Bro, can I have one?”

Tang Fei looked at Little Fatty and replied, “What’s up?

You gonna use a Pulse Gun to shoot rocks?

Though it would indeed be faster…”

While talking, he handed a Pulse Gun to Little Fatty.

In his plan, he had already accounted for a gun for Little Fatty.

“Thanks, bro,” Little Fatty said gleefully, taking the gun and ready to pull the trigger.

Tang Fei got a huge scare and quickly grabbed Little Fatty’s arm, saying, “This thing is very lethal.

It doesn’t shoot ordinary bullets, but a clump of energy…

You saw it when I was testing the gun earlier, do not fire it inside the house.”

“I’ll go outside to test it then,” Little Fatty suggested.

“You can’t do it in the yard either,” Tang Fei protested.

“One shot and you’ll blow a huge hole in the yard wall, right?”

“How about at the door?” A child with a new toy wants to try it out immediately and show it off to his friends as soon as possible.

That’s what Little Fatty was thinking.

He wanted to take the Pulse Gun to show off to Monkey…

Tang Fei gave him a thump on the head, saying, “Are you that eager to waste bullets?

The Pulse Gun’s energy is limited, and once you use it up, there won’t be any energy blocks to replace it…

Such treasures should be reserved for when your life is in danger.”

“Oh.” Little Fatty nodded in agreement, his face full of disappointment.

Having a gun but not showing it off felt like walking in brocade by night, very distressing.

The old man reached out to touch it, but Tang Fei slapped his hand away.

“What’s the matter?

You want one too?”

“You brat, you think I covet such things?

I’ll have you know, I could have had as many of these as I wanted back in the day…” the old man retracted his hand and pointed at Tang Fei’s nose, cursing loudly.

“When was ‘back in the day’?

Last night in your dreams?”

“Humph, an ignorant puppy who doesn’t recognize Mount Tai,” the old man sneered continuously.

Yet he reached out again, speaking to Tang Fei with a fawning expression, “Could I borrow it for one night?

I want to see what stage of technology has been reached on New Star.

Just one night, and I’ll return the gun to you first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Just one night?”

“Just one night.”

“You’re not going to take it apart, are you?” Tang Fei asked worriedly.

After all, he had dismantled Phoenix’s escape pod to study the level of technological development on New Star, and he feared that the old man’s character was as questionable as his own…

“What would I dismantle it for?” the old man said with irritation, “Can you even dismantle it?

Without extremely precise instruments, it couldn’t be taken apart at all.

Look at this gun—where do you see a single screw?”

“All right then,” Tang Fei acquiesced, no longer being petty.

He handed a Pulse Gun to the old man and said, “I’m lending you one.

One night, okay, just one night.

I’ll come for it tomorrow morning.”

“Don’t worry, with that petty look of yours,” the old man snatched the gun and went back to his own room.

Little Fatty held the Pulse Gun, looking at Tang Fei as if he had more to say but stopped himself.

Tang Fei glanced at him and said, “You should go rest in your room too.”

“Sure thing, bro,” Little Fatty said happily.

He wanted to go study his new weapon too…

Little Fatty and the old man went to their rooms, leaving Tang Fei sitting alone in the living room chair.

He had obtained the Pulse Gun he had long dreamt of, but Tang Fei’s mood was not as joyful as he had envisioned.

Instead, he felt a hollow emptiness.

Before, it was Tang Fei, Little Fatty, and the old man, three people.

Now it’s still the three of them—there was no change, and they even gained four valuable Pulse Guns…

So, why the feeling of loss?

I picked up a beam of light and then returned it to the Sun.

In that process, was there truly nothing lost or regretted?

Tang Fei was lost in thought.

He could hunt, slaughter sheep, and even kill in anger, but he was not adept at handling these more subtle emotions.

The old man never taught him that either.

Phoenix said she had left Tang Fei a gift.

When Tang Fei asked where it was, she said, “You guess…”

Wasn’t this just like a plot from a martial arts novel borrowed from his teacher—where the protagonist’s father is killed, the protagonist runs to hold his dying father asking who did it, and as the father takes ages to explain his last wishes, he suddenly passes away?

Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey, speaking like that is too inauspicious.

You’ve held on this long, could you not hold on for one more second?

After all that rambling, could you not have revealed the critical information directly?

The person who killed me is…

your Grandpa?

Can’t the crucial name come without dumping all the other words?

Even final words come with filler?

Every time Tang Fei read such plots, he wanted to drag the writer out and give them a beating.

Idiot!

Tang Fei thought, luckily Phoenix wasn’t his girlfriend.

If she were, he would have to break up with her.

He felt she’d narrowly escaped a bullet.

But, this question truly stumped Tang Fei.

He didn’t even know what gift Phoenix had left, so where should he start looking?

Tang Fei had no experience with romance or receiving gifts from girls…

Do you have any?

Oh, forget it, forget it, let’s not ask…

The first place Tang Fei could think of was Phoenix’s room—which used to be his own room.

Before Phoenix arrived, he and the old man and Little Fatty each had their own rooms.

After she came, since he couldn’t sleep with Phoenix, he had to bunk with Little Fatty…

The old man had invited him before, but Tang Fei had refused.

He couldn’t stand the fishy smell that lingered on the old man.

When Tang Fei pushed open the door to his room, something miraculous happened.

Back when he had lived in this room, there was always an inexplicable greasiness in the air, making it seem even murkier, as if it had been contaminated by something.

After Phoenix had stayed there for a while, nothing about the furniture arrangement or the bedding had changed, but the greasy smell was gone, replaced by a refreshing, sweet lemon scent.

Tang Fei was familiar with this fragrance; it was Phoenix’s body scent.

He had smelled it up close when they were in the cave.

The bedding was folded neatly, stacked like tofu blocks.

This sight struck Tang Fei as rather unique; he had never imagined that the limp pile of cotton could ever look so firm.

What puzzled him was why Phoenix would fold the bedding like this when getting up in the morning?

Wouldn’t it just have to be unfolded again when going to bed at night?

What a waste of time!

Inside the cupboard, lay the space travel suit that Phoenix had taken off.

Tang Fei picked it up and sniffed it, the familiar scent filling his nose…

Slap!

Tang Fei slapped himself in the face.

“Tang Fei, how could you do such a thing?

You stinking hooligan, despicable, shameless, and filthy…”

He had slapped himself, scolded himself, and had taken the punishment he deserved.

So, Tang Fei took another big whiff of the suit.

“Ah, truly aromatic!” He felt at peace.

It was nowhere to be found on the bed, nor in the cupboard.

“What exactly is the gift?”

“Where could it be hidden?”

Tang Fei thought to himself, Phoenix probably hadn’t expected him to leave so suddenly, not even having time to change her clothes.

Thus, the gift she mentioned must have been prepared in advance.

Tang Fei, holding the travel suit, lay down on the bed, in the spot where Phoenix had slept before.

Hmm, something hard was under his head.

He immediately got up and searched in the pillow.

He found a knife.

Yes, a quaint little knife.

Not a high-tech product from New Star, but something that seemed to be from before the great catastrophe.

Tang Fei toyed with the knife and noticed two characters engraved on its leather-wrapped handle in the style of ancient bonescript.

After careful scrutiny, Tang Fei realized the characters read: Xiu Xue.

“Xiu Xue,” Tang Fei murmured the name softly.

Then he looked around guiltily, as if calling out Phoenix by her name and fearing that someone would hear.

Tang Fei drew the blade and sliced it against the headboard, and a piece of wood fell to the ground with a thud.

Carving wood as if it were mud!

“From today on, you shall be called the Xiu Xue Blade,” Tang Fei declared.

He didn’t care what it was called before; after all, he was the one who had given it this name.

Tang Fei continued to search under the pillow and then he found a map.

He stared at the map for a while, and his eyes lit up.

——-

“What?

Tomb raiding?” Little Fatty’s eyes bulged as he looked at Tang Fei.

“Keep it down,” Tang Fei covered Little Fatty’s mouth, whispering, “Don’t let the old man hear.”

“What if he hears?”

“If he hears, we won’t be able to go,” Tang Fei said.

“Do you forget he forbids us from leaving the Henshan Gathering Area…

When have we ever traveled far from home since we were kids?”

Little Fatty nodded and asked, “Could it be dangerous?”

“What’s there to fear?

With my skills, your brute strength, and the Pulse Gun…

anyone who messes with us two is asking for trouble.”

Little Fatty’s blood boiled at the mention of the Pulse Gun; he hadn’t yet had the chance to unleash its true power.

He wanted to test fire it, but his big brother said he was wasting energy.

He wanted to take it hunting, but his big brother said he would blow the game to bits.

Now he had the chance to use the Pulse Gun, and what was a little challenge worth?

“Let’s do as big brother says.

If big brother says we go, we go,” Little Fatty readily agreed, asking, “When do we leave?”

He wanted to grab the Pulse Gun and fire a shot right now…

What man doesn’t like playing with guns?

“Let me get ready, make some preparations, and then we’ll set off,” Tang Fei replied.

“Remember, we can’t let the old man find out.”

“Don’t worry, big brother, I won’t tell,” Little Fatty said, assuringly.

“I’m not afraid you’ll tell,” Tang Fei said.

“I’m afraid you can’t keep it from showing on your face.”

Little Fatty, frightened, quickly covered his own face.

“See what I mean…” Tang Fei was simply too exasperated to continue.

(ps: Phoenix gave Tang Fei the Xiu Xue Blade, can’t you guys give your votes to Lao Liu?)