Chapter Ninety-Three: Li Fei

Yebai was successfully admitted to the Violet Star Academy. Three days after he returned, he left again, and no one knew where he had gone.

Li Fei had made it a habit to go running every morning. Today, as always, he was the first to open the door. He drew in a deep breath, and the fresh, faintly damp air of morning filled his lungs. The last traces of sleep were expelled with the stale breath he let out, and he stood on the steps before the residence, loosening his muscles.

Before long, a young woman passed by him. A schoolbag was slung over her back, her hair tied into a ponytail. She wore a yellow short-sleeved shirt, with a flower-patterned skirt of black and earthy yellow beneath it, and white athletic shoes as she walked toward the outer part of the central district.

"Muer?"

This was the second time Li Fei had seen that graceful figure. She looked like Muer, but Muer should have been in the outer city.

Li Fei made up his mind. Tonight, he would go check the place next door and see who it was. If it really was Muer, why had that brat Ye not told him? And since Ye Bai had already returned from his advancement exam, why had Li Fei not seen him either?

Li Fei ran a lap around the surrounding villa district. The air now carried the occasional scent of flowers and grass, unlike before the Dark Age, when people cared only about technological development and forgot environmental protection, leaving the air occasionally foul.

After a full circuit, Li Fei had just returned to the front of his home when he saw a figure he had not seen for several months.

"These next few days, if you have time, go to the Forge Hall and help your Uncle Li sell weapons."

The man seemed to have been waiting specifically at the gate for Li Fei to return. He did not ask how Li Fei had done on the advancement exam; with his status, it would not have been difficult to learn such things.

Li Fei could not read any joy, anger, sorrow, or delight on the man's face. It was as if whatever result he had achieved had nothing to do with him. Or perhaps the mask he wore so long outside had followed him home, so that he no longer showed his thoughts to anyone.

After speaking, the man walked into the Li residence, then seemed to remember something and paused. "These next few days, someone may come. Behave yourself then."

Li Fei lowered his head slightly toward the departing back and said, "Yes, Father."

Li Tao was his father's name. As long as he could remember, he had lived here and had never seen his mother. He had never asked about her either. From childhood, his father had arranged every stage of tasks he was supposed to complete.

At regular intervals, his father would come personally to check whether he had met the standard. Aside from that, he did not interfere in anything Li Fei did, and he never asked about Li Fei's grades at school or whether he had fought with others outside.

It was the old butler who told Li Fei his father's name. Aside from the fixed times when his father came to check whether he had completed his tasks, the old butler was the one who always stayed by his side. One could say the old butler had practically raised him.

Yet even the old butler rarely spoke of the father's past. Whenever he did, he would be evasive and hesitant, and before reaching the real point, he would already change the subject.

"Young master, breakfast is ready."

Suddenly, the old butler appeared behind Li Fei to remind him to eat. His back had grown more and more stooped, and his eyebrows and beard had turned white. As the years passed one by one, the old butler had finally become an old man. But the man who had gone in earlier still looked to be in his prime, as though time could leave no mark upon him.

Li Fei put his thoughts aside, turned, supported the old butler, and walked into the Li residence together.

Clink, clink, clatter.

The Weapon Street, Forge Hall, was as quiet as ever. Passersby cast their eyes over the weapons displayed in each shop.

The people who sold weapons here were unlike the shopkeepers on the commercial street outside, who would enthusiastically recommend their wares to everyone who passed. Here, they simply repeated the same actions each day: taking the weapons down from the racks, wiping them clean, and putting them back in place.

Li Fei stepped into a fairly large shop on Weapon Street. "Uncle Li, my father sent me to help you out and do odd jobs."

The middle-aged man, head lowered as he checked the ledger, had been quietly pleased that there were a few more customers this month and the income was a bit higher than last month. He was already calculating how, once the earnings increased a little more, he would buy this whole area outright.

"Heh heh." The middle-aged man was leaning over the counter with a lewd grin when a shadow suddenly blocked the view in front of him, and only then did he notice Li Fei's arrival.

"Oh! Oh? It's Fei'er! Your father already told me. Just receive customers at the counter. You're from a good school, after all, and have a systematic understanding of weapons, unlike Uncle Fan here, who only knows how to sweet-talk people. It would be a shame to bury such fine weapons in here."

The middle-aged man was named Li Hai. Like Li Fei's father, he had a mysterious background. He had suddenly appeared in Sunlit City and then lived there quietly for decades. Whenever Sunlit City faced trouble during that time, he always contributed money, and no one had ever seen him make a move. But compared with Li Tao, Li Hai was more approachable, more like an ordinary man, and he also had the petty nature of an ordinary man who liked to take advantage when he could.

Without leaving a trace, Li Hai placed the ledger he had been pressing under his hands into the box beneath the counter, then took out an oversized work uniform from inside and handed it to Li Fei.

"Here, use this for now. We don't have your size."

The female salesperson standing on the other side of the counter glanced at the uniform, which seemed large enough to swallow her whole, covered her mouth, and smiled. Then she turned back to watch the few figures passing outside the shop.

After Li Fei put on his specially made work uniform, he no longer had the imposing, powerful feel he had before. Instead, he looked a little adorable, almost like a giant panda.

He had been hunched here for an entire afternoon, and not a single person had come to sell weapons. Li Fei occasionally glanced at the female salesperson on the other side, but after looking for a long while, he could not make heads or tails of anything. He grew drowsy and simply leaned onto the counter. Yet the female salesperson remained lively and energetic the entire day, now and then looking outside or glancing at Li Fei. As for Li Hai, after Li Fei arrived, he disappeared without a trace. He had gone into the back, to the place where the weapons were stored, and had not come out again.

Ding, ding, ding.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the transparent glass in front of Li Fei.

"Take that one out and let me have a look."

The drowsy Li Fei immediately woke up. He followed the weapon the man pointed at and took it out.

"Here."

Only then did Li Fei see that the man before him wore an earthy-yellow Xuanwu mask. The upper half of his face was completely concealed beneath it, leaving only his mouth and chin visible. Yet his voice sounded somewhat weathered, as though he were a man with a story.

"Don't you want to introduce it to me?" the man asked as he took the weapon from Li Fei.

"Ah, right, let me introduce it." Only then did Li Fei remember that he was already the salesperson. Looking at the red, streamline-shaped weapon in the man's hand, he explained, "The Z-T2 fire-element pulse gun is suitable for use by anyone above the body-tempering level, though ideally not beyond the middle stage of foundation establishment. It is best used by someone who has awakened fire-element power. Each time the Z-T2 fire-element pulse gun is fired, it absorbs a small amount of elemental power from the body. Fire-element power can greatly enhance the weapon's might."

Li Fei rattled off the entire introduction to the Z-T2 fire-element pulse gun from the manual in one breath, then drew a long breath. But after he finished, he seemed to remember something else, glanced at the price tag of the Z-T2, and added, "This gun usually costs around two hundred alliance coins, but since esteemed customer, this is your first visit to our shop, it can be one hundred seventy alliance coins."

Li Fei had specifically raised the price of the Z-T2 fire-element pulse gun by fifty alliance coins, then lowered it by thirty for the masked man before him.

However, the female salesperson, who had been listening to Li Fei's polished pitch, immediately had her smiling face fall when she heard his little trick. In her heart she thought, So you really think this is a consumer good? Who comes here to buy weapons without first checking their various properties and prices?

Li Fei wore a slight smile. It was hard to tell whether this was a professional smile for customers or the smugness of someone who had gotten a small advantage.

The man clearly had not expected the price to be cut the moment he opened his mouth. He looked at Li Fei, then examined the Z-T2 fire-element pulse gun for a while longer, gave a low "hmm," and turned to leave the shop.

At that point, the female salesperson could no longer hold back and burst out laughing. "Who sells something like that? The customer hadn't even asked the price yet, and you announced it yourself first. And in a way that doesn't even allow haggling. Who would believe there isn't something fishy going on?"

"Uh..."

Li Fei was speechless. In the end, his little scheme had only backfired on himself.

Another hour or so passed, and night finally fell. Li Hai finally came out from the back and said, "That's it for today. Fei'er, go home early tonight."

Li Fei was still vexed over his own cleverness. After hastily tidying up, he left. Suddenly, he realized something: where had that masked man come from?

He had been facing the shop entrance the whole time. Even if he had been half asleep, he should at least have noticed someone entering. Yet he had not seen anyone come in. Unless the man had come out from behind him—the weapons storage room. But wasn't that only for Uncle Li?

The Li residence.

A masked man walked in without carrying any identification, and the estate's defense system did not even activate as he strode in so brazenly.

The security system had failed? Impossible. The defense system was integrated with Sunlit City's own security network. It could not fail unless someone had turned it off. And among everyone in the Li residence, the only one capable of disabling the defense system was the head of the household, Li Tao.

"You've cultivated a fine seedling."

The masked man tossed a yellow object that looked like a thermometer from his hand.

Li Tao caught it casually, glanced at the display, and only after confirming it three times did he say, "Then what do you think about that matter?"

The masked man curved his lips in a wicked smile. When Li Tao saw that smile, his heart trembled. Anyone who knew the masked man understood that whenever he smiled like this, someone was going to suffer.

"In a few days, I'm going back there. Let him come along as well. Consider it a test for him. If he passes, it won't be in vain that you've nurtured him all your life. If he fails, that would also be within reason. You can simply find another one later."

Li Tao took a yellow crystal from a box he had prepared in advance and placed it into the masked man's hand. "I know your way of doing things. Whether he passes or not, let him decide that for himself. I only hope that when his life is in danger, you can keep him alive. Whether he's maimed or crippled doesn't matter. As long as he lives."

The masked man did not take the yellow crystal Li Tao handed him. He turned and walked outside.

"I know my own limits."