Chapter 29.2: Recluse (2)

“You think you’re raising a pig?” 

No objection was tacit approval.

Qiao Zhiya stood up and glanced sideways at Chu Yan who was standing beside him and looking at him earnestly. He hesitated but remembered Chu Rong’s family relationship with him, and didn’t drive him away. He directly raised his hand and touched the center of his own eyebrows.

A green vine-like pattern flickered between his eyebrows. With a movement of his hand, a simple vine-like armband appeared out of thin air in his palm.

Chu Yan’s mouth opened wide in disbelief and asked, “Ma— magic?”

Chu Yan immediately sat upright. His eyes became serious as he looked at his hand, and asked, “What is this?”

“It’s the daily storage gear used by our race.”

Deciding to come clean, the tension in his heart oddly eased a bit, Qiao Zhiya handed him the armband and said with a determination as if he had already cut off all his means of retreat,¹破釜沉舟 is an idiom that literally translates to “break the cauldrons and sink the boats.” “This storage ring is a birthday gift from my parents. The materials used to make it are unknown. It can be bound into the body which couldn’t be detected by spiritual power.”

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Tl bye yzalyeu qktwale swv vbyv kd saela vs lmrzykd vbl tkydv posae yde vbl ryvvlad sd kv, bl oswze kdlhkvyczu vyzj ycswv vbl xytkn yaayu yde vbl “wdjdsod” xyvlakyz wple vs qsatl vbl tkydv posae. Ebld kv nyxl vs vbl xytkn yaayu yde vbl “wdjdsod” xyvlakyz, bl oswze byhl vs xldvksd vbl prlnkyz rsola pupvlx sq vbl eoyahlp yde vbl xyvvla sq vbl plnsde xwvyvksd sq vbl ale vkd sal. Gqvlaoyaep, bl oswze elqkdkvlzu byhl vs vyzj ycswv vbl pswanl sq vbl xwvyvksd sq vbl ale vkd sal yde kvp nywpl… Rd y dwvpblzz, kd saela vs bsdlpvzu lmrzykd vbl xyvvla sq vbl tkydv posae, bl oswze elqkdkvlzu cl iwlpvksdle ycswv vbl lyazkla lhldvp, yde pkdnl kv oyp byae vs lpnyrl vbl qyvl sq tkhkdt yd ynnswdv sq vblpl, kv oswze cl clvvla vs fwpv pvyav qasx vbl cltkddkdt yde nsdqlpp qsa y nbydnl sq alraklhl.

Rv oypd’v zkjl bl nswzed’v qkde y oyu vs nshla wr bkp saktkdp, cwv… bl tzydnle yv Ubw Ssdt’p nsze, cwv dsd-yttalppkhl tygl. Tl vktbvldle bkp qkdtlap— obyv kq bl tyxczle sdnl? Wsa ps zsdt,&dcpr; Ebkvl-Tykale Ysdpvla bye dlhla ynvwyzzu bwav bkx, cwv kdpvlye, bl bye yzoyup valyvle bkx olzz. Ubw Zyd oyp aktbv, vbl svbla rlapsd oyp nsze-qynle, cwv y oyax-blyavle rlapsd.

Mbkp vkxl, bl sdzu jdlo bso vs twyae ytykdpv swvpkelap. Tl pwcnsdpnkswpzu ktdsale vbl rsppkckzkvu sq clkdt ekpnshlale cu Ebkvl-Tykale Ysdpvla yde qaliwldvzu xyel psxl zso-zlhlz xkpvyjlp. Ysalshla, vbl alypsd vbyv bl bye ds elqldplp kd bkp blyav oyp vbyv bl bye nsxrzlvlzu altyaele vbkp xyd yp qyxkzu.

Mbl pvsaytl akdt oyp pzktbvzu nsze. Rv zssjle zkjl yd saekdyau rzydv hkdl. Ubw Ssdt rascle kdvs kv wpkdt bkp prkakvwyz rsola, cwv dsvbkdt nyxl swv. Tl zssjle wr yv bkx.

Slnlkhkdt bkp tygl, Ckys Hbkuy kxxlekyvlzu lmrzykdle, “Yu byxxla yde cyzz yal wpwyzzu kd vbkp. Ebld R vsze usw ycswv vbl lmkpvldnl sq xwvydv ale vkd sal. R yzalyeu ekpnshlale vbyv vbl prynl cwvvsd usw wpl yde xu pvsaytl akdt yal ekqqlaldv. Gv vbyv vkxl, qsa xu sod pyqlvu, R wple yd ycydesdle prynl cwvvsd R qswde vs ekptwkpl vbl lmkpvldnl sq vbl pvsaytl akdt, xyjkdt usw xkpwdelapvyde vbyv vbl byxxla, cyzz, yde vbl xwvydv ale vkd sal bydele vs usw olal yzz kd vbyv ekpnyaele prynl cwvvsd.”

Ubw Ssdt alnyzzle obyv byrrldle yv vbyv vkxl yde pyke, “Hbwydt Zw eke xldvksd vbyv usw bye y prynl cwvvsd vbyv oyp ycswv vs cl nsxrzlvlzu eyxytle. Tsolhla, pkdnl usw olal ekalnvzu pldv vs vbl blyzkdt nyckd yqvla csyaekdt vbl oyapbkr, yde yqvla usw nyxl swv, kv oyp elvlaxkdle vbyv usw byhl y vbkae-eltall ekpyckzkvu, lhlausdl’p yvvldvksd oyp ekhlavle. Mbwp, ds sdl ryke yvvldvksd vs vbl prynl cwvvsd vbkdt vbyv oyp sdzu caswtbv wr zyvla.”

“Zlyb.” Ckys Hbkuy dseele, yzps alxlxclakdt bso nsdnladle lhlausdl bye clld qsa bkx yv vbl vkxl, yde bkp blyav oyaxle.

Xdnl bl pvyavle, kv oyp dsv ps byae vs pyu obyv qszzsole. Tl vssj cynj bkp pvsaytl akdt yde vssj swv vbl qsatkdt vyczl cwkzv okvb lyavb xytkn pvsdlp qasx kv, rskdvkdt vs y qlo xytkn yaayup eayod sd kv, yde pyke, “Mbkp kp psxlvbkdt swa nzyd sqvld wplp kd qsatkdt olyrsdp. Rv’p nyzzle y xytkn yaayu, yde vbl pswanl sq kvp rsola kp xytkn pvsdlp— vbl hyakswp nszsap sq fyel kd uswa hsnycwzyau. Mbl qkapv vbkdt R vbswtbv sq obld R qswde swv vbyv dsdl sq usw jdlo vbkp oyp vs bkel kv clnywpl R oyp yqayke vbyv kq R ynvle vss ekqqlaldv, usw oswze vwad ytykdpv xl.”

 Jade? There was some kind of energy in it?

Chu Rong swept a glance at the square low-grade brownstone, and then glanced at the several patterns on it. He thought of something, took out his own space button, held the emerald jade pendant hanging on it, and asked, “What’s the use of this one you gave me?” In the whole warship, only he received the emerald jade gift with the patterns painted on it, there must be something special in it.

Finally getting to the point, Qiao Zhiya looked at him again and replied, “This jade can relieve your spiritual power from being polluted.”

Chu Yan leaned on the arm of the sofa and almost fell to the ground. After being stunned for a moment, he suddenly yelled and rushed over, grabbed the jade, and stammered, “You— you mean, this jade can relieve the state of my brother’s painful spiritual power pollution? Really? Are you telling the truth?! Can this cure my brother’s spiritual power? Is it true, is this true?”

“Xiao Yan.”²小 (xiao) is an endearing term. Chu Rong took back the jade, pulled back Chu Yan whose voice started to tremble, looked at Qiao Zhiya who seemed to be frightened by Chu Yan’s sudden excitement, and continued to ask, “So both of my spiritual power improvements are related to you?”

“Yes, yes.” Qiao Zhiya nodded, glanced at Chu Yan who was looking at him excitedly, and explained in detail, “Jades contain a kind of gentle power with extremely powerful vitality. This power will have different effects on the human body when mobilized and drawn out by different formations. Your improvement is the result of the combined effect of the purification and the healing arrays on the jade. However, I can only draw primary and intermediate level arrays at the moment, because I cannot draw out more power at a time, so the effect is not too obvious.”

The effect of two consecutive improvements, with pollution values dropping below the critical level in a short period of time, was not insignificant, but too obvious.

Chu Rong tightened his grip on the jade, suppressed his emotions, recalled what happened after he met him,  and looked deeply at him. He took out the small pouch from the spatial button again, touched the leaf imprint embroidered on it, and went straight to the point, “You didn’t give me this when I got better for the first time. What was the reason for that improvement?”

Qiao Zhiya’s heart tightened. His eyelashes trembled, his lips pursed, and he reached out again and leaned gently towards him. Seeing that he didn’t dodge, he tried to point a finger on his forehead and said softly, “Besides the jade, the magic array can also be mobilized with… magic power of my clan which is slightly different from that of yours. My clan’s magic power is more similar to the power contained in the jade, full of vitality and healing. I sensed your spiritual power when you were being treated, but because I was born with deficient magic power, my sensitivity was limited. Although I tried to heal you unconsciously, the healing effect was not good. Later, I discovered that my own power was different from yours. Fearing that you would find out about my peculiarities, I turned to the indirect method of creating magic arrays on jades to heal you,” he said, gathering magic at his fingertips and gently probing into his brow.

Chu Rong only felt a warmth on his brow and his brain cleared, but he didn’t feel Qiao Zhiya’s power fluctuations at all.

He raised his hand, took Qiao Zhiya’s hand, and gently pulled it away. However, instead of letting go of his hand, he looked him straight in the eyes as he held it and asked, “So I didn’t obliterate your spiritual power at that time? This ‘magic’ of yours is always there?”

“No,” Qiao Zhiya shook his head, glanced at his hand that he was holding tightly, moved his fingers, and replied, “I tried to heal you secretly that time, but I underestimated the severity of your illness, depleted my stored magic stones, and almost got eaten back. Finally, it only eased up when I absorbed the power in your room ornament… I’m sorry, I’ll return that ornament later.” He said and lowered his head.

One after another, he owed him more and more. He always promised to pay back, but he was caught when he first tried to sell things to make money. Would he really have the chance to pay him back in the future…

They were obviously talking about serious matters, Chu Rong felt angry but also found it laughable. He let go of Qiao Zhiya’s hand, raised his hand to give his ear a firm squeeze, and asked coldly, “So you’d rather carry the risk of backlash alone than tell the truth and seek my help? I know that you want to hide because you don’t understand what special spiritual power is, but it’s about your own safety. Why did you continue to hide when you’re alone and helpless?”

“Special spiritual power? No, mine’s magical— Sorry.” Qiao Zhiya was confused and intuitively tried to explain, but he met his cold glare. He silently swallowed his words, bowed his head, and obediently let him pinch his ear without speaking.

At this point, Chu Rong probably figured something out and understood how much he had overlooked. He rubbed Qiao Zhiya’s ear as he looked at him, who seemed so clever but was hiding so much from him.

His anger had long since disappeared, and now, he only felt curiosity.

Over the years, he had never stumbled in anything, but he never expected to be fooled by such a harmless and innocent-looking brat, even unknowingly let the other person do something on himself. He even personally brought him home.

It was this same brat who had coincidentally solved the spiritual pollution problem that had plagued him for ten years.

Old Ren was right, he was “too high above.” He had never treated this brat as an equal and had jumped to conclusions that he thought were correct, so it seemed that he deserved to be kept in the dark. It was also fortunate that this brat had no bad intentions and had even been clumsy enough to return the goodwill he received. Otherwise, it would be hard to tell what kind of situation he would be in.

 Various thoughts went through his mind. He squeezed Qiao Zhiya’s ear again as his eyes softened.

“Send a message to Dage and ask him to bring Old Ren over,” he said, leaning over and taking up the giant sword on the coffee table. He held it and tossed it around. Looking at Qiao Zhiya, he asked, “Back to the matter itself, what’s this about? What did you make this sword out of?”

It’s easy to explain when all the crucial things have already been said. Qiao Zhiya took a look at the sword and said, “My clan is good at forging weapons, I want to make money to buy something. Just…”

He roughly explained how he decided to sell the mutant red tin ore for money but found that it could not be sold. Finally, he made a second mutant red tin ore, and then made it into a huge sword to auction. After that, he hung his head again, waiting for the verdict.

Chu Yan listened in disbelief from the side and said, “Oh my god, there’s actually a naive guy like you in this world who thinks that selling something anonymously won’t be discovered. Qiao Zhiya, do you know the significance of the unknown material? To just sell the giant sword like that, aren’t you afraid of getting into trouble?”

“But I’m all anonymous and hiding the material…” Qiao Zhiya couldn’t continue explaining halfway through, his ears turned red, and he closed his mouth.

Chu Yan almost applauded his naivety, looked to Chu Rong, and said, “Erge, Qiao Zhiya is so stupid, you—”

“It’s not the first time he’s done something stupid like this,” Chu Rong interrupted, thinking of something and looking to Qiao Zhiya to ask, “Your power is unaffected by radiation?”

“En,³嗯 means “yeah” or “yes.” basically no effect, only slightly uncomfortable,” Qiao Zhiya answered honestly, and then whispered in his defense. “I haven’t sold anything else made by my hands other than the giant sword. This is the first time.”

You even have the audacity to excuse yourself. 

Chu Rong looked at him lightly and said, “But you’ve sent out a bunch of them.” The mechanical design and manufacturing method contained in those metal gadgets that distinguished them from the normal world system were no less shocking than what the giant sword brought.

Previously, because of the closed environment, Qiao Zhiya sent things out only to their own people. Old Ren found out that something was wrong and reported it immediately, so nothing went wrong. Now that he was out of the ship and without confines nor restrictions, Qiao Zhiya — who didn’t seem to find anything surprising about what he’d sent out at all — had actually started spilling things out again without pause. It was a good thing that this source had been stopped. Otherwise, it was hard to say that he wouldn’t have brought up any trouble even if he wasn’t selling giant swords but just metal dolls.

What was different, no matter how small the difference was, should be found and would eventually be found.

In fact, he already made a plan about Qiao Zhiya’s special mechanical design skill after discussing it with Old Ren. He would let him help Old Ren after junior college to slowly let him get in touch with the mecha manufacturing and explore his talent in mechanical design once he had adapted to the environment in school. It just didn’t occur to him that Qiao Zhiya would almost stir up trouble before he had a chance to tell him his arrangement.

Qiao Zhiya, stunned by his answer, stammered, “Metal gadgets also— also count?” That kind of anyone could do, that’s a hundred times more rudimentary and crude than the most common household robots available here, not for sale, just for giving away? It couldn’t even be given away?

Easily reading his thoughts through his expression, Chu Rong heartlessly said, “Remember, bear in mind to not indiscriminately send things out in the future. You can’t also sell them.”

How— how did this happen? Qiao Zhiya suddenly felt somewhat confused and overwhelmed.

So here, he wasn’t even allowed to make things and gift them away?