Chapter 494: From the Shadows

The Half-City branch and the Jiuhua City branch had already begun recruiting new shop assistants.

Because each of the two shops was already staffed by two seasoned veterans, the requirements for the new hires regarding familiarity with the games and daily store operations were naturally not as stringent as before. This matter, at least, was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

Rumble!

At some unknown moment, the sky over Jiuhua City had turned pitch black.

It was only nine o'clock in the morning, right in the heart of spring—a time when the weather should have been warming up—yet the temperature suddenly plummeted to a level lower than the bitterest winter. The thunderous roaring in the heavens felt as though the sky were unleashing its fury upon the earth. Within the wide channels of Jiuhua City’s inner canal, dark waves surged and churned, tossing the countless floating canopied boats and ships moored along the banks up and down. Faint shouts could be heard here and there, but they were swiftly swallowed by the howling wind.

The wind in the sky was fierce, but the wind upon the river was grimmer still, as the black waters grew increasingly deep and ominous. Cruel winds and treacherous waves whipped across the surface. A few burly boatmen, clearly possessing a decent foundation in martial arts, gripped the ropes on their vessels tightly, barely managing to keep from falling into the churning abyss beneath their hulls.

The freezing river water rushed and crested over the banks, plunging the entire Jiuhua City canal district into a scene of chaotic disarray. At the entrance of an unnoticed alleyway by the riverbank, a desolate, cold wind echoed through the passage. The formless gale and the raindrops falling from the sky seemed to coalesce right there, gathering into a phantom-like figure.

The freezing river water was like a pair of gentle lips, kissing its heels, while the howling, dismal wind resembled a fierce beast crouching at its side. Upon the ground, it left behind a succession of wet footprints; suddenly, black lotuses bloomed within them, growing fainter as the moisture gradually dissipated, until they finally vanished entirely.

Jiuhua City had always been prosperous, and ever since the cultivators of various major factions had flocked here from all over, it had become grander still. Cultivators, martial artists, and even ordinary mortals mingled together. Yet now, the weaving crowds of pedestrians on the streets were scattering due to the sudden shift in weather, either ducking under eaves to shelter from the rain or pulling their wide sleeves over their heads as they hurried home.

That ghostly figure stood like a detached bystander to the vast mortal world, gazing at the pedestrians in the curtain of rain, as if murmuring softly to itself, "The morning mushroom knows not the cycle of day and night; the summer cicada knows not the passing of spring and autumn. They are as lowly as ants, yet because of it, they have no need to worry about the future. How fortunate."

"Things have come to this; it is destiny." It seemed to blend into the crowd sheltering from the rain, becoming one with them, yet it also seemed to move toward a certain direction, vanishing from sight, its figure never to be seen again.

…

More and more players were entering the shop. Although there were still no available seats, many seemed to have found their own way to pass the time. Having watched episode after episode of Pokémon, Dong Qingli turned her head and gasped in surprise, "Why are there so many people?"

A certain dark shadow in the crowd subconsciously shifted slightly to the side. *Could it be… I’ve been discovered?* After all, having no station to play on, it had been standing in the back watching cartoons for quite a while.

Dong Qingli turned back around and continued watching the animation.

The people behind her followed suit. After watching a few episodes of Pokémon and a few more of Tom and Jerry, the two of them finally waited out a vacancy and went off to log into their stations.

Though they managed to get onto the computers, those who arrived later at this hour had no such luck and could only queue up honestly.

"Ah! There’s nothing left to watch! Nothing left to watch!"

"Disperse, disperse!"

Without Dong Qingli serving as the backbone showing the cartoons, the gathered crowd quickly began to scatter, including a certain dark shadow hidden among them, which was also preparing to leave.

Just then, a peculiar, savory, and sour aroma drifted through the crowd.

A youth clad in purple martial attire, holding a purple instant noodle bucket, walked toward the lounge area alongside several of his companions.

It was none other than Song Qingfeng and his group.

Song Qingfeng was likewise twirling a new model of communication jade in his hand, listening to the buzzing chatter of the surrounding crowd. These few individuals could be considered veteran players of "My Space." They had already cleared quite a few new plots of farmland in their spaces, and they clearly possessed a fair amount of spare wealth.

"Young Master Song, why does it seem… like they are also discussing some kind of 'anime'?" Lin Shao asked, puzzled.

"Aren’t we the only ones watching this?" Xu Luo spoke up.

"Say no more, this young master downloaded several more episodes of something called 'Detective Conan' today!"

"How is it? Is it good?"

"Come, look, look!"

They sat down on the sofa and began to watch.

*Eh…? They’re watching this here too?!*

*There are more cartoons to watch?*

As Lin Shao was watching the screen, he suddenly scratched his head and looked back. "Young Master Song, why do I feel a sudden chill?" He inexplicably felt as though something were staring right at them.

He looked up only to see a bucket of instant noodles hovering right above his head. A pair of black gloves held the noodle bucket, which then silently and instantly retracted into the background.

Song Qingfeng muttered in confusion, "It seems to feel a bit better now."

…

The weather by the shores of the Heavenly Abyss Ocean seemed to have been persistently gloomy of late.

The sentry at the coastal outpost dozed off slightly, and before anyone realized it, a pattering drizzle began to fall from the sky once more.

Aside from the sound of the rain, the entire world was cloaked in a profound silence, as if even the heavens and the earth themselves had fallen asleep. At this very moment, no one in this small town remained awake.

The eyelids of the few sentries felt as heavy as lead, and they soon drifted into a deep slumber.

The howling wind whipped up flying stones from the cliffside, revealing a tall figure completely concealed within a pitch-black cloak. It appeared silently, as if emerging from this dark night, yet also seeming as though it wished to dissolve right back into it.

Thick clouds churned in the heavens, and a black wind swirled, kicking up ribbons of rain.

"Only after rushing to the Morning Star Sea Realm did I finally wait out a spot, after queuing for over eight hours. How did things go on your end?"

"I traveled ten thousand miles from Yuanyang City to the Desolate Sea Realm, and I finally managed to secure an opportunity to test the waters," a cold, eerie voice spoke from the sky.

"What do you think…?"

The cold voice spoke again, "We need to alter our strategy… You must know that within the Heavenly Abyss Ocean…"

His voice seemed to carry a faint hint of dread toward the deepest depths of that great ocean.

The voices grew lower and lower, until finally, one could only vaguely catch words like going to the shop to play games and cartoons.

"For us to temporarily alter our plans to go to that shop and play something called the 'Legend of Sword and Fairy,' is it not somewhat improper? Furthermore…" the tall, cloaked figure said, "ordering the likes of us to visit that mortal shop every day—if no one finds out, it is fine, but if word gets out…"

"Would it not be a laughingstock?"

The heavenly winds roared and the rain poured like a deluge. The cold, ethereal voice in the sky spoke with absolute certainty, "Rest assured. As long as you do not speak of it and I do not speak of it, who could possibly know we have been to that shop? Even if I were to sit in that shop and watch Tom and Jerry or Detective Conan for hours, no one would ever know."

Its voice was filled with supreme confidence.

After a period of time, even these voices fell silent, as though both figures had departed entirely.

…

Everything, it seemed, had quieted down completely.

Be it the Heavenly Abyss Ocean, or the several shops.

It was nearly midnight. At this hour, the lights inside the store were still bright.

A good number of cultivators and martial artists were still gathered in the lounge area watching animations, holding milk tea in their hands or eating instant noodles, enveloped in a blanket of serenity and peace.

It even gave one the illusion that at this moment, the entire world was just like this—peaceful and harmonious.

Thus, no one knew that at the boundary between the Desolate Sea Realm and Lingzhou, right in the center of that mysterious and legend-shrouded Heavenly Abyss Ocean, earth-shattering upheavals were currently taking place.

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Lately, these transitional chapters have been rather difficult to write, and due to various reasons, I couldn't manage any extra updates, but I should be able to start adding extra chapters tomorrow.