Translator: KuroNeko

Editor: Samskor

I’m sure everyone will enjoy the ending of this chapter. – Sam.

Chapter 10: Advent of the Blood Sun (2)

The blood sun and the blood rain lasted for a whole day before gradually disappearing, and everything returned to normal. However, Ah Dai seemed depressed  for the whole day and he did not even have the mood to practice his magic. For some unknown reason. His heart was always beating abnormally fast, as though something bad had happened. After the blood sun and blood rain and gone, did Owen finally awake from his cultivation. He had suppressed the evil energy for an entire day, thus he seemed extremely fatigued.

“Uncle, you have finished meditation?” Ah Dai asked, as he saw the pale-faced Owen walking out from the room.

Owen nodded, with a hint of fear in his voice, “Such a strong evil qi! It looks like, the legendary calamity is indeed arriving.”

Ah Dai obviously did not understand what Owen was saying, as he said, “Today, Uncle Schiel came over, I told him you were sick and resting. Uncle Schiel said that all of the fishermen did not go out to sea and fish, so he wanted to ask you if you know the reason why.”

“Okay, let’s go eat some food first. After eating, you can stay home and meditate. I will be going to your uncle Schiel’s house to pay a visit.”

The well-behaved Ah Dai nodded in acknowledgement, “ Okay, let’s eat.” The two of them ate some light foods, and Owen left the house while Ah Dai stayed at home by himself and started meditating.

The sudden change in the sky had left the ma.s.ses panicking., some were rejoicing, some were worrying, but no one could tell exactly what the blood sun was. The commotion lasted for a few months before people finally calmed down. The four countries of the continent continuously tried to pacify the people, but there was still no explanations about the strange phenomenon from the Holy Church. After some time, the dissatisfaction with the Holy Church slowly started to grow. Only after one year of turmoil, did the influence of the blood sun and blood rain totally disappear. However, a strange atmosphere appeared on the continent.

Year 990, the fifth month of Holy Calendar, Ah Dai had already been at Sweetrock Town for one year and two months.

“Big brother Ah Dai, you have grown so much from the time you came.”

The thirteen year old Ah Dai looked at the little girl Xi Fei, who was younger than him by two years, and laughed, “Really? Recently, I’ve been eating more, it seems like I have grown a bit.” At thirteen years old, Ah Dai was already 1.6 meters tall, among the children of his age, he was considered to be one of the taller ones. In the past one year, apart from letting Ah Dai cultivate the Boundless Life Art, Owen did not teach him any other martial arts. Therefore, Ah Dai was already able to understand the Suo language.  As the six great tribes of the commonwealth had different dialects, Owen only taught Ah Dai the dialect of Sipho Tribe. Ah Dai trained extremely hard, and through his unremitting efforts, he managed to circulate 27 cycles every night. He had cultivated the Boundless Life Art to the second stage. Once, Ah Dai had asked Owen when he could finally leave, but Owen did not have a direct answer, and simply told him that there was much more needed to be learned. Currently, Owen had started teaching Ah Dai the language of the Holy Church. After all, it was the main language that everyone spoke, it was crucial that Ah Dai learned it. Today, after the lesson ended, Ah Dai and Schiel’s three grandchildren were playing by the beach. After a year of cultivating the Boundless Life Art, Ah Dai was much stronger as compared to when he just left Ninuo City. Although he was not exactly handsome, his simple and honest behavior won the hearts of the townspeople.

[TN: difference between dialects & language -> it’s like china’s language is Chinese, but there are many different dialects of Chinese, eg. Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, etc]

“Big brother Ah Dai, let’s go swim in the sea, okay?” Schiel’s older grandson, the eight year old Xi Feng said. It was already the 5th month, and to the children living by the sea, it was suitable for them to swim. According to seniority, Ah Dai should have been their uncle, but due to the small age difference, they would always call him brother when there were no adults.

[TN: Owen & Schiel are “brothers, Ah Dai is Owen’s “nephew”, so technically he is 2nd generation, but Schiel’s grandchildren are 3rd generation, hence they need to call Ah Dai “uncle”]

Ah Dai was not very good at swimming, and could only swim a few rounds with Xi Fei’s father’s help. Thus, he hesitated before lowering his head and saying, “Y’all can go, I’m not good at swimming.”

The four year old Xi Lei chimed in, “I want to go too!”

“No, you are still too young. You should go home, swimming is for the big kids like us, not for you.” Xi Fei interrupted.

Xi Lei’s eyes instantly became red, and he stretched out his hand, holding on to his sister’s sleeve while crying, “Sister, sister, bring me along. Xi Lei will be very obedient.”

Ah Dai crouched on the ground, hugging Xi Lei, “Xi Lei, be a good boy, the sea is too dangerous. You are still too young and cannot swim, I also cannot swim, let’s stay behind and play with sand, okay?”

Looking at Ah Dai, Xi Lei agreed, “Okay, but big brother Ah Dai, you must build a huge sandcastle for me.”

Ah Dai nodded, and told Xi Fei, “Little sister Fei Er, you can go with Little Feng, I will stay here and accompany Lei Lei. However, do not swim too far out, the sea is dangerous.”

[TN: Fei Er, Little Feng, Lei Lei are like terms of endearment..?]

Xi Fei and her brother Xi Feng took off their coats, shouted in acknowledgement and dashed straight towards the sea. Since young, they had learnt how to swim under their father’s guidance, and the normal calm seas posed no problem for them. In just a short while, they had already disappeared into the waters. Meanwhile, Ah Dai and Xi Lei started playing with the sand, Ah Dai was very patient, playing happily with Xi Lei, who was only four years old.

Suddenly, a patch of dark clouds floated over the original clear skies. The winds started getting stronger, there were ripples over the calm sea surface as waves started forming.

Ah Dai stood up, staring into the distance but not catching any sign of the pair of siblings. He muttered, “Why are they not back yet, the waves are so big, it is very dangerous.”

Xi Lei shook Ah Dai’s arms and said, “Big brother Ah Dai, sister and brother will be fine.”

The rain was pouring down, as gusts of cold air floated by the beach. Ah Dai worriedly walked closer to the sh.o.r.e, looking towards the distance, but he still could not find any trace of Xi Fei and Xi Feng. He turned around and shouted, “Lei Lei, it’s raining, you go home first and tell your grandfather that sister Fei Er and Little Feng haven’t come back, I’ll wait for them here. Ask them to hurry over.”

Xi Lei nodded and turned around, running towards the town. The winds became stronger, the waves became taller, but Xi Fei and Xi Feng were still nowhere to be found. The two of them were Ah Dai’s good friends, and in Ah Dai’s heart, they were already family to him. He walked towards the sea worriedly, letting the seawater splash against his pants.

No, I can’t wait here any longer. What if Xi Fei and Xi Feng are in danger, how can I face Uncle Schiel later! Thinking of this, Ah Dai immediately took off his clothes and jumped into the sea. He was not very good at swimming, but the Boundless Life Art caused his physique to become robust. He adjusted his breathing and struggled against the waves. In just a short while, he was washed to the deep parts of the sea by the waves, the sh.o.r.e was just a thin blurry line to him. While he swam, he continuously yelled out Xi Fei’s and Xi Feng’s names. However, his voice was totally covered by the raging waves, how could he find anyone in the endless sea. Until now, he did not realize that he himself was in danger.

As there were huge waves in the sea, Schiel’s three sons had long anch.o.r.ed their boats and returned home. Just as they stepped into their house, they met Xi Lei who had went home to report. After hearing Xi Lei’s words, they could not be bothered to rest, and immediately rushed to the beach.

Xi Lei shouted, “Father, look, isn’t that brother and sister?” Indeed, Xi Fei and Xi Feng had just walked up to sh.o.r.e.

Xi Fei saw them and excitedly ran over, “Father, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, why have you come?”

Xi Fei’s father, Xi Zhong, said with a deep voice, “You are too daring, how can you swim in such big waves? What if you get swept away by the sea?”

Sticking out her tongue, and pulling her father’s hand, Xi Fei said softly, “Father, don’t worry, me and brother Feng are good at swimming, how could anything happen to us? It’s so fun playing in the waves! Just that it took us some time to return.” Turning around to her little brother, she asked, “Lei Lei, where is big brother Ah Dai? Aren’t you with him?”

Xi Lei was shocked and looked as his father, Xi Bai, asking, “Isn’t big brother Ah Dai waiting for you at the sh.o.r.e? Where is he?”

Xi Zhong looked at his two brothers, saying, “Everyone quickly look for Ah Dai, he surely would not have left Fei Er and Feng Er and went home by himself. He should be nearby.” Although that was what he had said, there was still an uneasy feeling in his heart. The beach was flat and there was nowhere to hide, if Ah Dai was nearby, they should have seen him long ago.

Suddenly, Xi Feng exclaimed, “Father, Uncles, look, isn’t that Ah Dai’s clothes?”

Xi Zhong, Xi Fa, Xi Bai, ran closer to take a look. Indeed, it was Ah Dai’s clothes that were lying on the beach, soaked from the rain. The three men looked at one another, and Xi Zhong said worriedly, “Not good, Ah Dai must have gone into the sea to search for them. This is bad, he is not very good at swimming, he might not be able to swim  back. Number Three, quickly go and inform Uncle Owen. Number Two, let’s go into the sea and search for him.”

[TN: Xi Zhong is eldest, Xi Fa 2nd oldest, Xi Bai youngest of Schiel’s 3 sons (2nd generation); Xi Fei is Xi Zhong’s daughter, Xi Feng is Xi Fa’s son, Xi Lei is Xi Bai’s son (3rd generation) but tbh their names won’t be so important in later chapters xD]

At this moment, Ah Dai was unable to see the sh.o.r.e anymore. Under the dark clouds, the waves constantly bashed against his body. He swiped away the seawater on his face, anxiously look around, “Fei Er, Little Feng, where are you?!” In his mind, he was only thinking about Xi Fei and Xi Feng’s safety. A giant wave went by, causing  Ah Dai to instantly drink mouthfuls of seawater, the bitter and salty taste left him extremely uncomfortable. As his strength slowly drained away, danger was fast approaching Ah Dai.

Ah Dai who was floating on the surface of the sea, suddenly felt immense pain coming from his feet, it seemed as though something had p.r.i.c.ked his legs. Letting out a cry of pain, Ah Dai bent over, trying to feel his legs. He felt a slippery body, and there seemed to be a sharp spike on it, which was now deeply embedded into his leg. Fresh blood flowed from his body, surrounding him. Ah Dai used both hands to grab at that slippery body, and pulled it out from his leg with all his might. His whole right leg was numb, with blood continuously flowing out. Inhaling deeply, Ah Dai used the true qi in his body to seal his blood vessels, stopping the bleeding. The seawater relentlessly agitated the wound, causing Ah Dai to almost faint from the pain.

The slippery body in his hands suddenly started to violently wriggle, as though it wanted to escape. Ah Dai brought it closer to his face, and it actually turned out to be a two-feet long strange golden fish. Its whole body was radiating golden light, and it was different from the other fishes that Ah Dai had seen. It also had a s.h.i.+ny golden sharp mouth, the thing that had pierced Ah Dai’s leg.

One hand grabbing at the strange fish’s mouth and the other grabbing its tail, Ah Dai floated on the sea surface. Due to the blood loss, waves of dizziness struck him, along with countless waves battering against his body. The strange fish continued struggling, but was unable to escape from Ah Dai’s hands.

Ah Dai stared blankly at the strange fish, “You, why did you p.r.i.c.k me? It was very painful!” The strange fish wriggled a few times, and the seawater on its body dripped on his eyelids, making it seem as though it was crying. Its two strange eyes that were s.h.i.+ning with gold light looked sadly at Ah Dai, as if it was pleading to be spared.

The soft-hearted Ah Dai looked at it, and finally said, “I’ll let you go, but you better not p.r.i.c.k me again, and you cannot randomly p.r.i.c.k other people next time.” As he spoke, he let go of his hands, gently throwing the strange fish into the sea. The golden light flashed under the seawater, before disappearing.

Ah Dai carefully touched the wound on his leg, and continued shouting, “Fei Er, Little Feng, where are you? This is Ah Dai!” Only after shouting for a few times, his throat had become sore. Under the constant pounding from the waves, Ah Dai was slowly losing consciousness. Just as he was about to faint, a golden light flashed, the strange golden fish had returned. It used its mouth to nudge Ah Dai’s body, there seemed to be something dangling on its mouth.

Ah Dai wiped away the seawater on his face, panting as he asked, “Is it for me?”

The strange fish seemed to have understood Ah Dai’s words as it nodded. Ah Dai took the thing from its mouth, it was actually a white jade ring. From the surface, it seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. Ah Dai blinked a few times, barely managing to put the ring on his index finger, before finally pa.s.sing out.

At the sh.o.r.e, under Xi Bai’s lead, Owen anxiously reached the beach. The fierce waves constantly rushed up the sh.o.r.e, where Xi Fei, Xi Feng and Xi Lei stood nearby. Xi Fei and Xi Feng knew that they were in trouble, and lowered their heads, not making a sound. Worriedly, Owen asked, “Fei Er, have your father and your second uncle found Ah Dai?”