Trafford's Trading Club

756: Chapter 169: The Mortal World 756: Chapter 169: The Mortal World He dipped his finger into the jar full of osmanthus honey, lightly hooked it out, and the lady with butterfly wings Luo Pianqian put the finger covered with golden-sweet liquid into her mouth, carefully sucking as she revealed a look of satisfaction.

She felt that the taste of this osmanthus honey was somewhat special, giving her a warm feeling.

This reminded her of the smiles of the old man and woman at the bun shop.

Perhaps this is what happiness tastes like?

Suddenly, she was reluctant to finish the jar of osmanthus honey all at once.

Mm mm, mm mm, mm mm.

Yet the little butterfly monster still tasted one finger after another, eventually chiding herself to try just one more.

Finally, by the eighth finger, she reluctantly sealed the jar, licking clean the remnants of sweetness on her fingers before exhaling a long breath of satisfaction.

Gathering her thoughts, Luo Pianqian then remembered Su Zijun—she recalled accompanying Sister Zijun here to repair the seal on the underground leyline, and after Sister Zijun fed her something, she seemed to drift off to sleep.

Luo Pianqian glanced back at the large cocoon she had just crawled out of, blinking.

She remembered creating a similar cocoon during her first transformation.

But according to her knowledge, she should only cocoon once in her life, shouldn’t she?

Not only that, but the demonic power inside her seemed to have increased tremendously.

Unable to fathom the changes within, the little butterfly monster immediately thought of Su Zijun and decided to return to her to inquire.

However, as she stood up, she realized her body was chilly, owing to being stark naked—this was not really an issue, considering demons naturally exist in harmony with their bodies.

Having merged into human society for some time, she had learned some of humanity’s customs, aware that appearing in front of others like this was inappropriate, especially if seen by the opposite gender.

Luo Pianqian instinctively recalled the scene from her first transformation when she broke through the newly formed cocoon and opened her eyes to see Boss Luo; her heart skipped a bit.

Oh dear!

I can’t just go out like this!

Luo Pianqian quickly covered her face, feeling somewhat flushed.

But this instinctive action caused her to drop the honey jar she held.

Alarmed, Luo Pianqian hastily reached out to catch it—thankfully, she did, despite being kneeling on the ground, her hips raised, in quite an indescribable posture!

At least she caught it the moment before it would have hit the ground!

Otherwise letting such happiness-filled osmanthus honey spill everywhere would be far too grievous!

In this case, Luo Pianqian felt, even her late mother wouldn’t forgive her. “Thank goodness, thank goodness!”

She finally sighed with relief, patting her chest lightly—though, she then noticed something was amiss!

She looked down at her body, blinked, and instinctively lifted her hands towards her chest.

A heavy sensation spread through her palms.

Luo Pianqian instinctively lifted several times, observing the water-like ripples across the chest. “Ah!!

How did this become so big?”

That made leaving this place even more difficult!

Luo Pianqian felt she was facing a huge problem, furrowing her brows.

Just then, the gift box originally containing the osmanthus honey scattered open, quietly dissolving into a light mist.

In the absence of wind, they slowly adhered to the little butterfly monster’s body, gradually forming into a pink dress.

The colorful ribbons once wrapping the box expanded, winding around Luo Pianqian’s waist, transforming into a belt to tighten the somewhat loose dress.

Luo Pianqian’s lips parted slightly; she hadn’t anticipated such a function from the box’s wrapping.

Lifting the dress, she spun lightly; the skirt spread like lotus leaves, revealing the snow-white legs. “Sister Zijun thought of everything!” Luo Pianqian joyfully laughed, realizing she could safely return to the hospital without worrying about humans seeing her body.

The way out of the cave, the little butterfly monster naturally remembered.

Emerging from the water, she saw the sky was dark, realizing it was now nighttime.

Eager to return to the hospital, she unfolded her butterfly wings.

A pair, two pairs… three pairs.

To Luo Pianqian’s astonishment, her butterfly wings had transformed completely, thin as a cicada’s wing, radiating a golden-silver glow, gently spreading open—merely by unfolding these three wings, her body uncontrollably soared upwards.

Such speed surpassed anything prior, ascending to an astonishing altitude within moments—above the clouds!

The temperature here was significantly colder than underground, and Luo Pianqian felt a chill; nevertheless, she stabilized on the clouds.

Above, a hanging crescent moon emitted radiant white light as she gazed into the starry sky amidst drifting clouds, resembling an isolated spirit of nature.

Why did she come into this tumultuous world?

However, unexpectedly, a massive shadow suddenly approached, accompanied by loud roaring, pulling the slightly distracted little butterfly monster back to her senses—the next moment revealed a marvel of the human world, an airplane!

The massive plane followed its designated flight path, seemingly unaware of this naive spirit occupying the night sky, continuing its merciless trajectory.

Luo Pianqian panicked, instantly forcing her body to dive as the plane swiftly passed overhead, its tremendous sound causing ear pain while the air currents blew her far away—yet she was still unfamiliar with her newly grown wings.

Face turning slightly pale with fright, Luo Pianqian thought the departed Grandpa tree monster was incredibly right; the human world indeed held many dangers.

She took a deep breath, clutching the honey jar, and broke through the clouds once more, descending upon the city below.

Re-entering the mortal world once again. … “Just now, was there a flash of light passing by?”

In the departing aircraft’s business class, a businessman-like figure questioned his companion.

The companion hadn’t seen anything; perhaps it was a trick of the eyes.

At this moment, the stewardess parted the curtain, entering business class, warmly greeting each passenger at their ear, “Hello sir, the cabin temperature is currently 23 degrees; our flight time will be two hours and thirty-five minutes…” “Water for me, please.”

In the business class’s last row by the window, Wang Yuechuan gazed at the shrinking city outside and, without turning, casually responded.

As the stewardess brought him the water, he raised his coat’s collar, wrapped himself tightly, bowed his head, and closed his eyes, with an uncertain future ahead. … …

The duration of this Christmas snowfall wasn’t long.

The falling snow quickly transformed into droplets throughout the city, vanishing soon after, leaving no trace, like a dream.

People would never forget how the south once had such a white silent night.

Before midnight, Lizi parted ways with Ren Ziling before the square, running ahead alone, turning at the road’s corner, waving her hand before disappearing behind the bend.

Ren Ziling watched Luo Qiu then, expressing that she always felt a pang of heartache whenever she saw Lizi disappear at the corner alone, as if this disappearance meant they would never meet again.

She said, Lizi was genuinely lonely, arriving alone in this city, without a single relative. “Perhaps she already has.” Luo Qiu said casually.

Whether it’s in his hand, or You Ye, or Ren Ziling’s necklace, embedded within them are actually tears.

Icy tears.

It’s not easy for the cold ice to cry; once they do, it signifies heartache.

Ren Ziling looked down and fiddled with the necklace around her neck.

She really liked the necklace, donning it immediately after Lizi gave it to her, “Mm.”

She smiled.

At this moment, it was just her, Luo Qiu, and You Ye.

Miss Ren took a deep breath, quietly pulled Luo Qiu to a corner, looked around mysteriously, then quickly slipped a hard card into Boss Luo’s hand before hurriedly turning to leave, saying she would go back alone and it didn’t matter if Luo Qiu didn’t come back tonight.

She moved so fast that Luo Qiu didn’t have a chance to speak.

Luo Qiu looked at the hard card in his hand, turned it over and saw the name of a hotel printed on it.

Moreover, it was one of the most expensive hotels in the city.

So this hard card was actually… a hotel room key card. “She really is generous.” Luo Qiu smiled slightly.

He could imagine Ren Ziling’s painful yet satisfying expression when paying for the room with his eyes closed. …

Of course, Luo Qiu didn’t really go to that hotel’s suite, but if he didn’t check in, he would have to listen to Ren Ziling’s nagging.

So he simply went through the check-in process, entered the room, and then returned directly to the club from the hotel suite.

He arrived alone in a room on the third basement floor of the club.

The third Gold and Silver Card obtained in the Yan Wuyue World was now floating in his palm.

Luo Qiu had already seen another form of the altar before—in the past, he had successfully embedded two Gold and Silver Cards in the second form of the hidden altar.

Without any hesitation, Luo Qiu let the Gold and Silver Card fly into a pillar extending from the altar.

The third Gold and Silver Card suddenly lit up before embedding itself into a groove on the pillar.

When he embedded the Gold and Silver Card for the first time, the second form of the altar projected a grayscale Earth in front of Luo Qiu.

Later, the former boss had Arex deliver the second Gold and Silver Card.

After embedding it, there was no new change, but it allowed Luo Qiu to skip an accumulation phase and open the Border Gate, elevating his abilities as club boss to an unbelievable level.

From the second Gold and Silver Card embedding, to the spiritual ascent during the Golden Week on that isolated island, Luo Qiu completed a transformation he couldn’t fully comprehend.

And now, when the third Gold and Silver Card was embedded, Luo Qiu felt completely different—the altar in front of him seemed to suddenly come alive.

His previous communication with the altar had always been a kind of mental dialogue, with the altar feeling lifeless and mechanical, as if it was predetermined.

Despite attempting to lighten the mood by imagining the altar’s voice, it was merely his imagination.

Even so, the altar remained emotionless, a mere object.

But at this moment… the sensation of the altar coming to life felt very strange to Luo Qiu.

He intended to discern it carefully, yet the feeling suddenly faded.

As if a person who had fallen asleep suddenly opened their eyes, but only slightly, before slipping back into a deep slumber… a deep, comatose slumber.

But… it was alive! “Is this just to confirm that the altar is alive this time…” Luo Qiu murmured to himself.

Although the discovery was significant, it clearly fell short of being surprising.

Luo Qiu shook his head, about to let the altar revert to its first form when a massive hourglass gradually appeared before him!

This hourglass, projected by the altar’s second form, appeared before the gray Earth, the two seemingly facing each other from a distance.

Luo Qiu furrowed his brow.

This newly projected hourglass was very similar to the one that calculated his life span when he first became the club boss—back then, the hourglass calculated that he only had thirty days left to live.

Now, the hourglass still existed, but it would take a very long time for a single grain of sand to fall from his life span hourglass, as if reluctant. “The appearance of an hourglass naturally signifies time calculation…” Luo Qiu pondered for a moment, muttering to himself, “If I continue collecting these Gold and Silver Cards, will there come a day when this hourglass begins to flow…”

And then, what would happen when the hourglass ran out of sand? “It’s time to take a look at the outside world…”

Luo Qiu murmured to himself, and the second form of the altar also began to gradually disappear. …

With the security door open, Subeditor Ren still looked defeated, but at this point, Luo Qiu wouldn’t be waiting for her in the living room.

Ren Ziling’s hands hung like a zombie’s, and she used one foot to close the door behind her, dragging her seemingly drained body back to her room.

Without even taking off her clothes, she flopped directly onto the bed.

But she felt as though something was pressing against her abdomen, something hard.

Ren Ziling frowned, unwillingly turned over, and reached into the blanket to pull out a rectangular box.

A note was pasted on it, saying: Merry Christmas.

This was Luo Qiu’s handwriting.

Ren Ziling paused, muttering, “Got you, you brat, not forgetting your old mom for some wife… wait, the shape of this box… it wouldn’t be something weird, would it?”

Ren Ziling shivered, hurriedly opening it roughly… unveiling a thick, long, round object—a thermos bottle for drinking water, which conveniently fit into the car’s storage compartment.

Ren Ziling looked at the thermos bottle, suddenly burst into laughter, and hugged what was clearly a cheap item, slowly falling asleep. … …

It seemed like those festive decorations in the club’s lobby were going to waste.

Counting the time, neither the boss nor the maid would be around for the night.

Luo Qiu ascended from the third basement level, and as he appeared at the lobby entrance, the maid sitting quietly on a chair opened her eyes and prepared to stand up.

But Luo Qiu gestured for You Ye to remain seated, waving his hand.

The maid wore a puzzled expression.

Luo Qiu said nothing but glanced around at the lobby decorations, saying, “It feels somewhat wasted.”

You Ye softly responded, “Considering the time zone, Christmas Eve hasn’t completely passed yet.” “True.” Luo Qiu smiled and suddenly snapped his fingers, triggering the phonograph in the corner of the lobby to automatically turn on.

A vinyl record flew into the phonograph, slowly rotating under the needle, like a black vortex.

Music began to play, as if coming from a time and space far away.

It was a piece from a fantasy film about a ring from many years ago: “May It Be.” —May the stars shine bright in the night sky —Endless starlight guiding your journey —May the curtain of darkness fall —Evil things kept away from your pure heart —… “Wasn’t it supposed to be ‘Amazing-Grace’?” You Ye blinked and curiously asked.

Luo Qiu walked towards her.

He reached You Ye and gently took her hand, “You are my grace.”

Luo Qiu lightly kissed the back of You Ye’s hand and then softly said, “May I?”

He invited her to dance.