Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1033: Chapter 77: There Is No Path to Becoming Immortal in This World (39)

There’s probably nothing more blissful than waking up, stretching lazily, and feeling the soothing sensation throughout your body to start the day.

“Good morning, Miss Ying.”

After casually freshening up, Song Ying bit down on a hairband and tied her hair into a ponytail before stepping out of her room to greet the bodyguard outside.

“How did I get back last night?” Song Ying frowned and asked as she had been pondering this question ever since waking up.

She remembered being outside in the pavilion with Luo Qiu, enjoying the breeze, and then drank some of Luo Qiu’s odd, sticky liquid before falling asleep?

It seems she really drank too much… but upon waking, she didn’t have the usual tension in her head from drinking too excessively.

“Oh, it was Young Master Qiu who carried you back last night,” the bodyguard replied with a teasing smile, “Princess carry!”

Song Ying blinked, then retreated to her room and shut the door. She leaned against it, feeling dumbfounded.

“What’s going on…”

…

As it’s the first day of the New Year, traditional family customs dictate that the younger generations pay respects to the elders.

The Song Family adhered to this tradition, so early in the morning, several juniors approached Song Tianyou to perform what’s known as ‘paying respects.’

Everything was done according to customary practices.

Only after this did breakfast occur—followed by free activities.

Honestly, the first day of the New Year might just be the most boring if one doesn’t plan to go out; the only option is to stay home and engage in idle chatter.

“Do you feel uncomfortable when you wake up?”

Lost in thought, Song Ying suddenly heard Luo Qiu’s question behind her, making her a little panicky, “It’s, it’s fine!”

“That’s good.” Luo Qiu nodded.

Just then, the old door of the Song Family’s mansion was knocked upon, and after the bodyguard opened it, he saw village residents from Song Family Village coming to offer New Year’s greetings.

During the renovation of this old mansion, Song Tianyou employed several villagers, thus knowing quite a few of them.

The villagers knew Old Master Song was a generous and wealthy man, so naturally, many came by with enthusiasm, giving the place a bustling atmosphere.

“Hey! Last night did I…” Song Ying hesitated.

“Last night?”

“Like, did I…” Song Ying hesitated for a moment.

But just then, Old Master Song suddenly called Luo Qiu from afar, asking him to come over—so Luo Qiu dutifully complied.

Seeing this, Song Ying breathed a sigh of relief… She originally wanted to find out if she had said anything weird.

But the question was naturally unaskable—if she did, it’d be terribly embarrassing!

Nearby, Song Tianyou began introducing Luo Qiu’s background to the villagers—Luo Qiu was very polite as he greeted each one.

Song Ying watched this scene, somewhat bored—she wasn’t the type to be uncomfortable in social gatherings, or she wouldn’t manage working with various middle and upper management at the Group.

She simply didn’t enjoy these so-called gatherings of relatives and friends that lacked genuine feelings.

Suddenly.

“In this view, Luo Qiu seems quite handsome, doesn’t he?”

“Hmm, not bad.”

After replying, Song Ying paused and regretted her words.

Song Haoran appeared unnoticed behind her, sneakily peeking over her left shoulder before laughing mischievously.

“Song Haoran!!” Song Ying yelled fiercely.

“Happy New Year, happy growth, done and dusted~,” Song Haoran laughed heartily, dodging as he lightly tapped Song Ying’s forehead.

Song Ying felt something sticking to her forehead, blocking her vision, and all of a sudden, it slipped down; instinctively, she caught it.

It was a red envelope.

Every year it’s like this… always a surprise when this lands in her hands.

Song Ying rolled her eyes at Song Haoran, grumbling in dissatisfaction, “You treat me like a zombie!”

She remembered how Song Haoran enjoyed watching local zombie films, featuring a Daoist with a stern face who liked placing talismans on zombies’ foreheads.

Song Haoran frequently dragged her to watch these, leaving her scared to sleep at night—a childhood shadow vividly remembered.

Despite this, she carefully kept the red envelope, fearing it might crease… As a Princess of the Song Dynasty, her concern wasn’t about its value.

…

Song Haoran later joined the villagers’ festive visit, sparking another round of flattering exchanges.

Song Ying usually avoided such gatherings whenever possible. She planned to chat with Zhang Qingrui—after they unwittingly grew quite familiar.

Yet, upon reaching Zhang Qingrui’s room, she was informed Zhang Qingrui left at dawn, picked up hastily by someone from the Zhang Family.

Song Ying thought about calling to check, but then she considered how every big family has urgent matters, so she let it go.

Feeling a bit bored, she wandered around the courtyard, noticing two bodyguards gazing at the sky, curious about what they were observing, so she approached.

“What are you looking at?”

“Miss Ying!” The bodyguards startled, then quickly explained, “We just saw online that there was a strange light in the sky near this area last night. Many people took videos and posted them, so we were curious.”

“A strange light?” Song Ying was taken aback, dismissing the idea, “Probably more fake news about UFOs or alien spacecraft?”

“Could be.” The bodyguards didn’t seem to care, “Later, local news said it was due to a malfunction during an optical experiment.”

Abroad, there are often many reports about UFO sightings every month, and they have long become accustomed to it… If Earth were really this dangerous, it would have been blown up long ago. How could it still exist now?

Song Ying shook her head, feeling a bit bored, so she lowered her head and returned to her room—using satellite communication to conduct a few routine video conferences.

It was mainly about the development situation of the oil fields and gold mines discovered by the Song Family not long ago… The department heads’ reports didn’t differ much from Song Ying’s preliminary estimates.

Even though she was listening coldly to these project managers’ reports, Miss Song Ying was already lost in thought.

She didn’t know if it was due to an optical illusion, but the laptop screen suddenly flashed with some images as if it were being interfered with by some strange signal.

The bizarre images and the video conference images were switching back and forth rapidly at this moment.

A bleak sky, dilapidated buildings, cracked roads, withered trees, litter strewn all over, paper scraps swirling in the wind, eerily silent… It seemed like something was wandering.

Suddenly, a rotten hand climbed onto the screen, followed by a gray, decayed, horrifying human face with eyeballs already fallen off, revealing teeth.

A roar…

Feeling her heart pounding crazily at this moment, a suffocating feeling made Song Ying’s mind go blank, and she instinctively clutched her collar, taking deep breaths… Only the buzzing sound could be heard.

It felt like her eardrums were being bombarded by a grenade explosion at close range… She suddenly held her forehead, her whole body turning cold, her mind feeling like it was about to explode.

Despair instantly enveloped her mind.

“Miss Ying! Miss Ying! Miss Ying!”

Gradually, the sound of reality returned… The voice of the project manager reporting the work progress in the video conference started to overpower the buzzing, becoming clear.

On the laptop screen before her, the multiple split screens of the participants were still there… At this moment, they were looking on with concern.

Did it… return to normal?

Song Ying gradually felt her breathing become smooth, and the headache gradually subsided… She stared at the laptop screen for a while, then shook her head and said, “I had a bit to drink last night, and my head hurts a little. Let’s end today’s meeting here. You can send the report to my email later.”

She very swiftly closed the video conference afterward and began to check her laptop—but there were no signs of a virus. As for this laptop, it’s a highly secure business model, and with the Song Dynasty’s capabilities, getting a few top hackers for security management is a piece of cake…

“Could it be that the aftereffects of the alcohol haven’t completely worn off yet?”

Song Ying rubbed her temples, closed the laptop casually, and walked to the window, gazing outside as a form of relaxation… Though this place was somewhat backward and living was inconvenient, the atmosphere of pure nature was quite rich.

She gradually let go of those bizarre images, immersing herself in the scenery of the mountain streams.

“Have the kitchen make some tomato juice for me.”

Feeling suddenly a bit hungry, Song Ying instructed the bodyguard outside the door: “And add a little salt.”

“Yes, Miss!”

…

…

When getting off the car, Zhang Qingrui gently rubbed her fingers.

She had always grown up in the south, so she was not accustomed to the severe cold of the north. Even with a thick down jacket on, the wind on her face still hurt faintly.

In front of her was a somewhat shabby-looking hotel facade, which was also the best three-star hotel available locally.

Mr. Aqi had been waiting at the hotel lobby entrance early. Seeing Zhang Qingrui arrive, he hurriedly approached, “Miss, you’ve had a hard time.”

Zhang Qingrui smiled faintly and said, “Uncle Qi, you’ve been running back and forth these past two days; you can’t even eat a proper meal, you are the one working hard.”

A hint of a smile appeared on Mr. Aqi’s somewhat gloomy face, “I’ve traveled all over, even chewed on leather shoes during hard times, it’s nothing now.”

Zhang Qingrui had heard many of Mr. Aqi’s stories as a child. She nodded and softly said, “Are all the people here?”

Mr. Aqi whispered, “The Suzuki-kai people arrived last midnight. Originally, we agreed to meet tomorrow, but for some reason, they suddenly requested last night that they must meet today, or else they would terminate the cooperation. The old lady had several calls with them last midnight, but she couldn’t persuade them. So early this morning, we sent someone to pick you up.”

“The general situation, Grandma already told me on the phone this morning.” Zhang Qingrui nodded, “Let’s go, meet the father and son from Suzuki-kai, and see what kind of powerful figure they’ve become.”

…

‘Haruxin Suzuki’ was sitting on the sofa, looking at the information on his laptop.

As for ‘Suzuki Yuuichi’, he was sitting quietly with his eyes closed… Suddenly, ‘Suzuki Yuuichi’ opened his eyes, “It seems our partners have arrived.”

‘Haruxin Suzuki’ didn’t seem to mind much, “Just consumables for the front line, deal with them casually later… Why can’t I find it.”

‘Suzuki Yuuichi’ frowned, “Are you still looking for clues about last night’s anomaly?”

‘Haruxin Suzuki’ nodded, “Yes, this incident has a significant impact, many people saw it, and there are quite a few video materials online. But now, it’s hard to find much… Hopefully, what’s causing this anomaly isn’t what we’re looking for.”

“Hmm, the location where the bizarre light pillar appeared is very close to the location shown on the ancient map…” ‘Suzuki Yuuichi’ looked slightly solemn, “If such a significant anomaly occurs, it suggests a high possibility of a treasure emerging… However, have you considered that now Mount Tai is gathering Divine Land’s Daoist Fiend, and it might be their doing?”

‘Haruxin Suzuki’ said, “Elder Brother Lian Zhen, didn’t you say that the two realms in China signed an agreement with the country’s founding saints seventy years ago and have it still?”

“That’s correct.” ‘Suzuki Yuuichi’ said, “This agreement indeed exists, and it holds tremendous binding power. Violating it brings dire consequences to both the demons and the Taoism-cultivated field. The original agreement document has always been kept by humans…”

‘Haruxin Suzuki’ chuckled, “Do you think, bound by such an agreement, the Divine Land’s Daoist Fiends would still dare to create such a huge scene? The source of this light pillar is mysterious and unpredictable, and no one knows where it truly originates from. What if a treasure appears, and it’s the Suihou Pearl… Elder Brother Lian Zhen, now it’s the ten-year Penglai Conference; if it draws the attention of the Dao and Demon Realms, it’ll be hard for us to snatch from the tiger’s mouth. Therefore, we must act swiftly and conduct the development of this Imperial Tomb as soon as possible, lest nighttime brings more dreams!”

‘Suzuki Yuuichi’, however, sneered, “Since you know it’s snatching from the tiger’s mouth, why are you still using these humans? When facing the Transcendent, no matter how many ordinary people there are, they’re just fodder!”

‘Haruxin Suzuki’ said lazily, “Of course, I don’t expect these grave robbers to be of much use or surprise. What I need is merely their presence. So many ‘foods,’ in case something happens in the tomb, I can easily devour them to restore my strength and use my powers! Besides, the more mortals there are, the easier it is to mask our existence, right? Once I obtain the Suihou Pearl and unlock Xiang Liu’s family supreme bloodline, restoring the Nine-Headed Form, dominating the world will be just around the corner!”

“Dominate the world?” ‘Suzuki Yuuichi’ sneered, “Did you forget that China still has a true dragon?”

‘Haruxin Suzuki’ laughed loudly, “Elder Brother Lian Zhen, you don’t get it, do you? The true dragon is powerful, and I have no intention of confronting it. But can the true dragon leave China? As long as it’s outside of China, where in the world isn’t the world!”

“What do you mean?”

“For example, this insular country.” ‘Haruxin Suzuki’ squinted his eyes and said, “And for example, across the ocean, aren’t there many other countries?”

As long as it’s not within China… Yamata no Orochi’s words made Yin Greedy Wolf Lianzhen’s pupils constrict suddenly.

The sound of knocking on the door.

“Elder Mr. Suzuki, Young Master Suzuki, the Zhang Family’s people have arrived, and they’re outside the door.”