Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1497: Coffin Lid

I was lying in the yard sunbathing, playing idle games with the fox and the dog, when suddenly I heard the sound of brakes outside the yard gate. This noise startled me.

Yesterday, the young miss didn’t come over for lunch, and mealtime has already passed, so theoretically Lin Xue shouldn’t be here at this time: her biological clock is basically synchronized with mealtime here, without exception for years. But then, who could it be coming to my house? Sandora had deployed a wide-spread spiritual interference in this area, unless we invite them actively, no one would really notice there’s a house here, or even approach it. But the braking sound clearly came from the gate, indicating that a guest had arrived.

"Fox, tuck your tail in," I got up and casually grabbed the Fox Fairy Lord’s tail, which left my hand all oily. "Seriously, can’t you eat properly using your hands!? Washing your tail isn’t more troublesome than washing your hands, right?"

The Fox Fairy Lord rolled on the ground, with no intention of tucking her tail or ears. She sniffed the air lazily and gave me a look: "It’s fine. I smelled it; it’s someone familiar. Go open the door. Besides, using my tail is my specialty. I like it this way. If you have the guts, try biting me? But I bet you can’t out-bite me..."

I: "..." Who in their right mind would compete with a canid to see who can bite harder!

I headed to open the door with a head full of black lines, and it really was familiar faces outside: Ding Ling and Lin Feng were standing there. Ding Ling was holding the magical Chinese village dog named XO, while Lin Feng reached out as if he was going to look for the doorbell but smiled when he saw me opening the door instead, "Brother Chen, why doesn’t your doorbell work?"

"I took it apart a few days ago, installed a doorbell for who to use?" I rolled my eyes skyward. I didn’t expect it was these two visiting. Thinking about it, Ding Ling and Lin Feng are on the exemption list for spiritual interference, so it’s not surprising they found their way here. "This place doesn’t receive visitors for years, Father God occasionally drops by, and he just stands at the door yelling loudly."

The two were stunned by the grand name "Father God," their faces full of longing. Ding Ling subtly expressed a desire to see what the Divine Realm was like when time permits. I hesitated to remind them: actually, Shadow City in the Void is one of the Divine Realms...

I invited them in quickly. Lin Feng agreed while turning to press the car key nearby, and I heard the security alarm chirp twice. Ding Ling gave Lin Feng a strange look: "You’re locking the car here? You think someone would steal a car outside Heaven’s gate?"

I chuckled, pointing at my big house: "Heaven has security doors, how about that."

I welcomed them into the yard, and as I closed the gate, the Fox Fairy Lord moseyed over as well. This girl with a bunch of big tails had an incredible presence anywhere she went. Ding Ling and Lin Feng immediately and enthusiastically greeted the fox, with Lin Feng remarking, "Last time I saw her in the park, I could never have imagined she had a bunch of tails, how does she manage to disguise herself so well?"

Ding Ling went forward, wanting to touch the Fox Fairy Lord’s ears: "Fluffy... no matter how many times I see it, I feel so envious! These are real ears! You wouldn’t let me see your ears this morning, can I now?"

The Fox Fairy Lord effortlessly sidestepped Ding Ling’s grasp: "You can look but not touch, I am the Fox Fairy Lord, you need to remain respectful to me! Let the dog you’re holding talk to me!"

The little black dog XO quickly jumped down from Ding Ling’s arms and hung its head in front of the Fox Fairy Lord. She squatted on the ground, picked up XO’s paws, and spoke meaningfully, "We haven’t finished discussing matter from this morning. Next, I’ll talk to you about the professional ethics of canid animals and a few tips on self-cultivation. If you want to become an immortal like me, first you need to learn to control your animal instincts... now, let me hear you bark first."

XO pitifully raised its head to look at its owner, finding no help, it reluctantly barked.

The Fox Fairy Lord nodded in satisfaction, "Hmm, that’s the animal instinct. See, I don’t bark because I haven’t done it in thousands of years and have forgotten how to speak from back then. That’s controlling one’s animal instinct. So if you want to cultivate and become an immortal, the first step is to live for thousands of years and forget how you normally bark... Once you have some initial success, I’ll take you as a disciple and teach you how to grow a second tail... Hey! Who’s grabbing my tail... Family Head, let go, let go of me! I am the Fox Fairy Lord, you can’t be so rude, I’m recruiting a disciple now!"

I dragged the fox by her tail, ignoring her grabbing and scratching all the way, finally tossed this one who’s been acting bored to the point of madness aside. When I came back, XO affectionately rubbed against me, clearly thankful I cleared away the terrifying preacher.

"Honestly, did she eat something wrong?" Ding Ling looked at the Fox Fairy Lord who’s chewing and tail-shaking not far away, with a mixed expression of laughter and tears, "When I was shopping with Lin Xue this morning, she was talking about life with XO for ages. My poor dog almost puked from it."

I let out a long sigh, "Don’t get me started. She watched Liao Zhai and Journey to the West recently, and feels like she wasted her fox life over the past thousands of years. Now she’s thinking about opening up a den and walking the youthful path again. Last night she excitedly came to me with Journey to the West wanting me to find her a Tang Seng, she wanted to cosplay Yumian Fox—where am I supposed to find her a Tang Seng! Shadow City did have a Master Xuanzang visiting, but he didn’t have a monkey with him!"

Ding Ling and Lin Feng looked at me stunned. After a while, they responded in unison, "You really have it rough..."

"Alright, I’ve gotten used to each of the lively ones at home," I said wearily, waving them into the house, "Lately the fox and the crow have been causing quite a stir. I really shouldn’t have let them watch too much TV and read too many novels."

Once inside, Lin Feng and Ding Ling learned what real hustle was: a bunch of Wild Dingdang and Little Little Crows were are scrambling over the chandelier, competing for the high ground. The one-meter diameter crystal chandelier swung precariously, making them uneasy; Medivh was crouching on the sofa learning singing from the TV, with lyrics full of varied ups and downs; Qianqian and Monina were playing poker sticker wars, already wrapped up like mummies; the remaining four of the Tiaozi Five were playing mahjong using Dragon Scale Mahjong extracted from Lin’s material, whose faces looked like they’re about to cry.

The liveliest was over by the stairs, where the little doll and the little Baobao were darting around, waving mini lightsabers, playing absolute samurai, battling fiercely. I know someone will say "Isn’t this a very innocent and childlike scene, we were so lively in childhood too," but normal people during their middle school phase usually use plastic for their super warrior sword;—

But these two naughty kids are using real lightsabers! Sparks fly when they hit the super alloy staircase railing, come on! Plus, they’re using real superpowers, when Baobao and the little doll fight, it’s spherical lightning flying everywhere, just short of releasing mini black holes in the living room: I’m deeply relieved I’ve replaced the building materials here with starship alloy and Star Gold Stone, and Bindisi has set Holy Protection on every piece of furniture, otherwise just the kids fighting would be enough to rebuild K City each week.

This is why after mealtime, I resemble a retired official, lying sluggishly in the yard sunbathing—it’s impossible to stay indoors comfortably. I can’t figure this situation out, why other families’ kids sleep soundly when they’re full, while my naughty kids jump and bounce with full bellies... Just talking about it, Little Baobao conjured an RPG!

"Holy—" Lin Feng and Ding Ling said in unison, then swished to hide behind me as Baobao’s RPG ignited and launched, exploding at the second-floor stairs with a boom. A pale golden Holy Light Barrier instantly enveloped the explosion cloud. It’s a protection divine technique that Bindisi set especially for the kids, but even with the Holy Light Barrier, the noise from the rocket-assisted grenade explosion wasn’t small; "boom," the entire living room went quiet, and then the little doll started waving a special mini lightsaber shouting: "You cheat! There’s no RPG in Star Wars!"

Little Baobao’s voice was even louder: "Guya!"

The little doll immediately put her hands on her hips: "You’re cheating! Taking advantage of the fact that others can’t understand what you’re saying!"

At this moment, Big Sister finally couldn’t take it anymore, and gave a clear cough at the bottom of the stairs. The two naughty kids heard the sound, immediately shrank their necks, and obediently slipped down, ready to be educated—this is the origin of the tale "Big Sister’s Warm Wine Cutting Two Naughty Kids."

"Brother Chen..." Lin Feng’s eyes were almost glazed. He looked at me blankly and said, "When I usually hear my sister talk about what’s happening here, I don’t quite believe it... But after not coming for a while, things have gotten this lively around here?"

Ding Ling had a strange expression, but she still tried to speak tactfully: "Kids from the Immortal Family... At least they are quite lively, right?"

"Want to take care of them for a couple of days?" I gave Ding Ling a side glance, "Or just pick anyone from here to take home and raise."

Even though she knew I was joking, Ding Ling still looked around the living room with great interest. Then she suddenly saw a few Little Crows lining up on the coffee table, clutching their eggshells, waiting for juice (Anwina was holding a large cup of freshly squeezed orange juice for these little ones). The dullard-like appearance of the figurined little girls lining up with their eggshells instantly filled Ding Ling with love: "How about you give me one of these?"

A figurined Crow God, holding half a ping pong ball fragment (I bet you remember, Little Crow once hatched split lifeforms from a ping pong ball too), immediately noticed someone pointing at her. She hopped over here twice, chirped, and then spat out a small Shadow Arrow—this was just a way to say hello, but that Shadow Arrow still exploded in the air into a nearly one-meter diameter Dark Magic Ball...

Ding Ling broke out in cold sweat at a visible rate: "Forget it, there isn’t a single safe one in your house..."

I shooed the figurined Crow God and Wild Dingdang to the side, inviting Lin Feng and Ding Ling to sit down, "Alright, let’s talk business. From the look in your eyes earlier, I could tell you didn’t just come here for a visit today. Encountered some trouble? More Imperial nonflammable garbage?"

"Uh..." Lin Feng immediately looked a bit embarrassed, because he indeed only comes here when he encounters "trouble." Although he doesn’t visit often due to being very busy, it’s still a bit embarrassing to bring it up. However, Ding Ling, worthy of being the fantastic girl who could always play with Lin Xue since childhood, showed no sign of embarrassment on her face: "We actually did run into a bit of trouble. I figured you folks might know something, which is why I wanted to consult Lin Xue, but it seems she took off somewhere this afternoon without notice."

"Let’s hear it," I said casually. At this time, Anwina brought over the freshly brewed tea and snacks. I casually handed them to the two guests, "Try Anwina’s craftsmanship. The tea leaves are tender buds plucked from the World Tree and mixed with Divine Herbs from in front of the Avalon Great Temple. The snacks are a craft from the Otherworld, and even the ingredients were sent by the Void Consortium."

"I really must visit the Otherworld if I get the chance. With you as a big backer, not taking advantage isn’t quite my style," Ding Ling carefully maintained her distance from Anwina while speaking. "So, let’s get to the point—we recently dug up something from somewhere that might be related to you folks, and it activated on the spot... That’s not important, what’s important is that your sister appeared in something like a projection, wearing your Empire’s military uniform, with an aura and expression almost unlike any Chen Qian I know... and now I’m quite confused."

"Pfft—" I sprayed a mouthful of tea, "What did you say?"

"Your sister showed up," Ding Ling calmly watched as my sprayed tea formed a rainbow in the air, seemingly having expected my reaction. "Wasn’t your sister only later connected with the Empire? How come we found her in the imperial relics..."

"In short, this is a very complicated issue," I quickly interrupted Ding Ling, "It’s time-consuming to explain, so long story short, my sister was the Imperial Emperor in her past life and I was asleep in the Void. Then something happened to the Empire, my sister came to my cradle and called me out to save the world. Being young and naïve, I happily agreed, so I went to the front of the Abyssal Shock Wave to open big, but my level was too low, and I only had white gear without skills, so with an ’Ah,’ I died. Then my sister, Qianqian, Lin Xue, and I drifted through the Void to Earth. We recuperated on this planet for over seventy thousand years, possibly watching human evolution daydreamingly. It’s only recently we regained our strength and were reborn as humans, and we’ve long forgotten past events. My sister isn’t interested in her past Emperor days, but it sure seems you found something we brought to Earth back then—phew, good thing I don’t need to breathe or else I’d be dead. Not dizzy yet?"

Ding Ling steadily stared at my eyes, "Can you say that again?"

Me: "My sister was the Imperial Emperor in her past life and I..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Ding Ling quickly interrupted. "Okay, okay, I believe you. What you said is all true... The amount of information here, Little Xue never mentioned this to me! Are you serious? Little Xue had such a dramatic past life?"

I looked at Ding Ling in amazement, "Did you understand me even though I talked so fast?"

"Nonsense, we were specially trained. Even if you were to speak Greek at ten times speed, I could transcribe it backward," Ding Ling waved her hand. "Right, hurry up and take away your nonflammable garbage. That thing was discovered by my team, and I’ve already responsibly managed the news, but leaving it with us for just a day makes me uneasy. The things you all create are crazily dangerous! I’m afraid it’ll explode and blast my division to Mars."

My smile immediately turned awkward: it seems the Imperial relics didn’t leave a good impression. Of course, it’s understandable, due to "historical leftover issues," there are indeed quite a few Imperial relics on Earth. For organizations dealing with strange happenings like the Superpower Organization, imperial relics are among the most dangerous and tough to handle ones. Before the New Empire emerged, earthly organizations coexisted with these dangerous relics for a long time. Recorded data sometimes traces back hundreds of years, where pictures on fragmented parchment scrolls and rock engravings depict Church Knights or Demon Hunters battling rampaging robots: these might be slightly skewed and "embellished," but the true scenario might just be some unlucky religious group accidentally stumbling into an imperial relic and getting instantly wiped. Nonetheless, these stories confirm the fact that nonflammable Imperial garbage has been troubling Earth for many years...

To be precise, they’ve been messing with this planet since the time of Atlantis 700,000 years ago.

People of the past didn’t know what these relics were; hundreds to thousands of years ago they were seen as Angelic Tombs or Shura Halls. A century or two ago, people thought they were Scientific Monster labs. Twenty or so years ago, the Dark World began suggesting theories of "alien visits to Earth" and "previous seasons of human civilization" (fortunately, this one’s somewhat more accurate). But it’s only in these two years that a few in the human Superpower Organization have come to understand that these things are, in fact, the nonflammable garbage casually tossed by some formerly eco-indifferent folks...

The New Empire also has dedicated agencies for dealing with these relics, and every world with them (if it has Imperial relics) has special aftermath departments. Typically, local Reviewers handle these departments, and on Earth, this department is handled by Boundless Love (the only directly managed aftermath department by the Royal Family). Considering the tremendous number of relics on Earth and the disastrous chaos caused by Visca in the past, some relics got fragmented through the mantle to the crust, while others fell into human hands. Removing these relics without impacting human life is a tough task. Thus, besides recovering potentially dangerous already discovered relics, we leave the rest to Boundless Love and the Superpower Team to handle over time: all undiscovered relics are safe as previously determined—they underwent an energy level scan of the entire Earth, and all high-energy storages have been cleared; what hasn’t been found are safe items with intact preservation systems.

Now, it seems that the Superpower Team accidentally stumbled upon the most special type, one we’ve never located before:

Relics we brought while drifting to Earth seventy thousand years ago after my Tower Overdive failed... um, coffin plates.

Why does this feel so awkward? (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)