Xyrin Empire Chapter 123

Chapter 123: Chapter 123: Who is Afraid of Who Most girls are scared of ghost stories, just as most girls love them. That sentence isn’t paradoxical, really. Lin Xue didn’t have much talent for storytelling, and from a literary standpoint, what she described to us was simply a flow of events without any rhetorical techniques, but her stories were valuable because they were true, making the tale about this desolate mansion on the island immediately fascinating. We didn’t doubt that Lin Xue made up a ghost story to scare us because she swore up and down that what she said was true — based on our understanding over time, at least in this case, her words were completely trustworthy, although the legend she heard from the elderly in her family that the old mansion on the island was completely demolished but reappeared the next day wasn’t necessarily credible. However, the mere existence of an abandoned mansion built by no one knows who on a deserted island covered in dense woods was already very intriguing, especially since Old Master Lin had strictly forbidden his descendants from visiting this little island — perhaps this prohibition worked very well for everyone in the Lin family, but as it looks now, for the mischievous Lin Xue, such a ban was as good as none — this made us even more fascinated by the mysterious old house. We were firmly prohibited from approaching within five meters of the ingredients in the kitchen to avoid accidentally getting food poisoning, so Lin Xue and I were kept away; even Sandora, whose cooking could barely keep a person from dying, was allowed to stay and help, which shows just how appalling Lin Xue’s and my cooking skills were… Little Baobao was also chased over with us, not because she intended to help cook, but because Qianqian was afraid she’d eat the coal… “Have you not returned to this island since you left as a child?” I turned to look at the lush trees behind us, curious why this troublemaker with an adventurous spirit had never come back to this island. Mentioning her childhood, Lin Xue seemed particularly fond of talking. She showed a nostalgic expression and slowly said, “Back then, Little Feng and I were just kids; although we were curious about this place, our family elders wouldn’t allow us to come here, and over time, our interest naturally waned. Then because of the superpower business, we joined the organization, dealing daily with all sorts of bizarre events, and I gradually forgot about this island. Today, I suddenly remembered this place… Speaking of, grandfather always worried that my brother and I would sneak over to this family forbade place because of curiosity; in childhood, he often sent people to secretly . I used to go to a primary school nearby, and because of this, we even transferred schools…” “No wonder you could sneak over here; you lived nearby as a child — then you didn’t grow up in China?” “Well, you could say I spent half my time in China, half abroad. Grandfather always wanted my brother and me to get the best education, so he kept moving us between those prestigious and historic noble schools around the world. Later, my dad said it’s not good for kids to be wandering away from home all the time, and grandfather thought it made a lot of sense, and then he brought us back to our home country. Although grandfather is known to others as a wise and learned man, once it involves Little Feng and me, he and dad are always ; thinking about it now, they were really helpless…” You didn’t think like that back then, did you? I thought to myself. Any child sent far from home by adults would harbor some resentment, only now as they grow up do they finally understand the painstaking efforts of their parents — Lin Xue was already doing well; many children probably would find it difficult to understand their parents’ painstaking efforts even when they grow up. “And you?” After sighing about her childhood, washed away by the passage of time, Lin Xue suddenly turned the topic to me, “What were you like as a child? A tragic and bumpy childhood of an Imperial Leader… That must be a super interesting story…” “More or less,” I pretended to put on a sad face, “I’m an orphan, I don’t even know what my parents looked like; it was my sister’s family who adopted me, but when I was very young, my foster parents also passed away, then my sister and I depended on each other, constantly worrying about making ends meet every day in that kind of childhood… Nothing good to talk about…” “Oh, I’m sorry, I…” Lin Xue immediately looked distraught, wishing she could slap herself. She already knew my background from previous investigations, so why did she carelessly ask this now? What should she do now? But when she nervously looked up intending to apologize to me, she saw a carefree, smiling face. I chuckled lightly, holding Little Baobao beside me to keep her from running off, and said, “Although life was tough when I was a child, I’m living quite happily now…” “Well, look at you, you jerk daring to play tricks on this young miss!” Lin Xue glared and then swung her fist towards my chin, “Turn into a shooting star in the sky!” Humph, as the Xyrin Emperor, after the numerous body enhancements by Sandora plus regular exercise, it wasn’t so easy for a little girl like you to hit me! After three seconds, I crashed to the ground… Wah, I was wrong, really wrong. Dodging in front of a prophet is like having Coke for brains. I hadn’t even moved yet and Lin Xue had already predicted where I would land… Tears streaming down my face, I lay on the ground looking up at the sky, feeling this deeply. Lin Xue walked over, glanced down at me, and then burst into laughter that shook the earth. Little Baobao, muttering in an incomprehensible language, ran over and squatted down next to me. Then, grabbing my already misaligned jaw, she gave a yank, and it snapped… I knew she meant to fix my jaw, but clearly, the little one had more strength than her appearance suggested, so my jaw misaligned even more… Little Baobao looked at my still distorted jaw, puzzled. Muttering again, she reached out her little hand… Because a certain unlucky man couldn’t chew with his dislocated jaw, the rare beach barbecue ended with him painfully sipping soup while everyone else joyously devoured meat. “I originally wanted Chen Jun to try my cooking,” Sandora said, looking upset and jealously watching Pandora curled up in my arms, telling me the story of “One Thousand and One Battles.” Qianqian looked at my noticeably swollen jaw with sympathy, then bent down to keep twisting Little Baobao’s cheek, punishing the little scamp who had given me several severe strikes. I could clearly feel the little warrior in my arms trying to hold back her laughter. What a rarity, Pandora finally had the upper hand in her ongoing battle with Little Baobao. “Alright, alright, Sandora already said it, this freakish recovery ability is over twenty times that of a normal person,” Lin Xue never missed an opportunity to attack me personally, “He’d probably be good to go and compete in a cussing match with Guo Degang soon enough. For now, let’s discuss tomorrow’s exploration plans.” “Ha, just thinking about going to such an interesting place for an adventure tomorrow fills me with anticipation!” Qianqian wasn’t scared at all, even though she had been nervously clinging to me while Lin Xue was telling the story of the haunted mansion, “Lin Xue, do you think there might be ghosts there?” “Aren’t you scared at all?” Lin Xue wasn’t the thick-skinned type like Qianqian. She was still a bit afraid of traditional supernatural elements like ghosts and spirits, even though she was the one who initiated this exploration, maintaining high alertness. Finally releasing the teary-eyed Little Baobao from her embrace, Qianqian stood up boldly and said, “What’s there to be scared of? If there really are ghosts, I’ll exorcise them myself in the name of justice!” True to her word, she had once trapped even Caesar in her time cage, rendering him immobile for a while. I couldn’t believe that Earth’s minor ghosts and ghouls could be stronger than Caesar… As for whether this world had ghosts—having encountered characters as legendary as the Divine Race, it would hardly be realistic if two or three ghosts didn’t show up! Having finally gained her freedom, Little Baobao slipped into Sandora’s arms, who immediately took over the unfinished job of Qianqian: a punishment filled with maternal love… It seemed the little one really didn’t understand what she did wrong. At this moment, aside from the schadenfreude-filled Lin Xue, no matter where you hid, you couldn’t escape this punishment… Amid our chuckling and Little Baobao’s confused cries of distress, Lin Xue could only helplessly hold her forehead and say, “Any ghost that encounters a superhuman group army like you guys really must have terrible luck…”