Chapter 1377 - Lucky Star
*Cough cough*
The doctor stood on the altar and coughed twice, signaling that everyone should quiet down.
The scoundrels all went silent as they turned to face the doctor’s horrific visage.
The doctor looked toward the fisherman and the machinist, “Are the two of you positive that no one managed to get past the skydome?”
The fisherman shrugged. “Nope, absolute nothing. My little guys have already run all over the entire Holy Tomb planet, and they have not found the shadow of a ghost anywhere.”
The crowd descended into a cacophony of chatter.
Since the skydome had remained intact, and no one had managed to sneak their way past it, just how exactly did this child that went by the name of Xia Fan get in here?
Some of the more superstitious scoundrels among them already began to drop down to their knees and pray, thanking the gods of the universe for bringing them an adorable child, so that they would at least have a bit of joy as they lived out their lives until the day they died under the dome.
The doctor was expressionless. Sweeping his gaze coldly around the room he said with knitted eyebrows, “No matter what, we’ve found this child, Xia Fan. So now, the question is whether he keep him, or whether we kill him. After all, kids are very troublesome.”
The moment the doctor said this, he was astonished to find the scoundrels all exploding into an uproar!
“You dare touch the child?!”
“Don’t think we won’t dare to kill you just because you’re the killer doctor!”
“I’ll have it out with you if you dare try and kill the child!”
“That’s right! He’s just a child! He has such a cute smile, how could you think about killing him?!”
“Doctor, do you have any compassion?!”
historical
What the heck!
The doctor’s face began to twitch. There were no good men under the dome, and the number of people that had died by the hands of each of these scoundrels was surely no less than his own, yet they were actually calling him heartless? It sounded as if they were all very compassionate people to begin with!
That was when someone exclaimed, “The blind man’s back!”
The scoundrels immediately made a path as a blind old man made his way out from deep in the tomb. None of them had any idea how long the blind old man had been alive, but the wrinkles on his face were as deep as the fissures one would see after an earthquake, and his hair had turned completely silver, fluttering gracefully behind him.
This blind man, who had an enormous hooked nose, came up beside the dancer couple, and reached a hand out to stroke Xia Fan’s face. He then looked up and said in his hoary old voice, “What a handsome child.”
Gurgle! Xia Fan giggled and the blind man laughed along with him. The doctor saw that the old man’s hunched back seemed to slowly straighten at Xia Fan’s laughter.
*Zing* He was obviously a doddering blind old man, yet now he was as vigorous as a teenager. He darted over to climb up the altar and squinted his already visionless eyes.
“It has been a hundred and twenty-three years that we’ve been trapped here on this Holy Tomb planet, a whole one hundred and twenty three years!” The blind man’s voice was loud and sonorous, “In the first few decades, I even dreamed that I would one day leave this accursed place.
“But now..” The blind man chuckled bitterly. “I do believe all of you feel the same way as I do. I’m afraid that there’s no way for us to leave here in our lifetimes. We’ll all end up dying here.
“And this child! This is heaven’s bestowal upon us! Let us have a bit of enjoyment for our days while we wait for each day to pass until our death.”
“Humans aren’t afraid of much, but we do fear hopelessness. So, this child is our hope!
“We’re already very old, but this child is still young!
“We should keep him, and earnestly teach him everything that we know, imparting to him what we’ve learned in our lives!
“One day, we’ll all die, but this child will leave, and in doing so, inherit our will!
“After we’re dead, on our death anniversary, wouldn’t it be nice to know that there’d be someone out there in the world who will remember us, light some joss sticks and pour out a glass of sake for us? Don’t any of you want that?”
“Hurrah!”
The old blind man’s words caused the atmosphere to erupt with excitement.
The days they spent waiting for their deaths trapped under this dome had indeed been difficult, and these scoundrels were all tormented over whether they wanted to kill themselves, so they could end up living a life that felt worse than death.
But now, a child had appeared!
With how adorable he was, and his cute smile, he was no different from a life-saving plant that had ignited a hope for these scoundrels to live on. How could they not feel grateful for that?
Thus, the scoundrels all agreed to keep the child and raise him properly, as well as impart all that they knew to him.
Upon thinking about how they would be dead in the future, and that there would be someone who would still be thinking about him, these scoundrels could not help but feel uncontrollably excited.
Everyone discussed this enthusiastically. There were a total of seventy-nine scoundrels here in the ancient tomb, and each and every one of them fought to get time with Xia Fan. Given how there was only so much time each day, they nearly ended up fighting for real over it.
Suddenly, just as these scoundrels were getting all excited, thinking that their lives were filled with hope once more, the dancer couple said something that was no different from pouring a bucket of ice water over them, dampening all their spirits.
“This child.. he doesn’t seem to have a seventh brain region.”
*Buzz*
These scoundrels felt as if their brains were about to explode!
No seventh brain region? Did that not mean he was ability-less?!
Everyone had a seventh brain region, and it was just their individual abilities and the width of their seventh brain region that differed!
Only about one in a hundred million humans would be without a seventh brain region, not being gifted with any abilities, and would be considered a born cripple. Such situations were extremely rare!
Without a seventh brain region, there would not be any way for them to have special abilities, and how could Xia Fan be expected to carry their will if he did not have any special abilities?
These scoundrels all dashed over, using all sorts of methods to examine Xia Fan.
Xia Fan did not know the concept of fear, and no matter how these scoundrels pinched his neck or used energy to inspect his body, all Xia Fan would respond with was his giggle.
Reality was cruel, and just as the atmosphere had been uncharacteristically lively before, it was now quiet. Everyone was like a deflated football, their heads drooping. There were even some who hid in dark corners, hiding their faces and crying.
Grief was greater than death, and these scoundrels felt despair once again. Having lived a life suppressing this emotion for over a hundred years, it was enough to force a good person into bad, and a bad person into a lunatic.
It was not easy for them to gain some hope, and so quickly have this hope turned into dust.
That was when Xia Fan’s laughter rang through the room crisp like a silver bell.
He was still very small, and was being cradled in the arms of the female dancer. He had no idea why the scoundrels were all being so depressed, and all he thought was how interesting everything was. Everyone was quiet and stony-faced; it was just too fun!
That bright laughter pierced the hearts of everyone, and they could not resist looking at Xia Fan’s little face again. It was such a cute little face, like a fresh red apple..
The machinist was squatting down on the ground, his hands hugging his head, absolutely in tears.
*Boom*
Suddenly, he raised his mechanical arm and slammed it forcefully on the ground! This blow broke the floorboards, and the whole altar shook from the force!
“ARGH!” the machinist yelled, “I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!”
Like he had gone mad, the machinist dashed toward the deeper parts of the tomb. He proceeded to bring out a crate which was filled with energy crystals inside, transparent like pretty crystal ores, field with the purest natural energy.
Each and everyone of them were as high as Grade 9 energy crystals, able to easily buy a powerful battleship from any part of the universe. This crate full of Grade 9 energy crystals was enough to buy a Class-A planet!
*Thud*
The mechanists threw the crate of crystals down on the ground carelessly. He reached out to Xia Fan and declared loudly, “If none of you want to take care of him, I will!”
“So what if he doesn’t have a seventh brain region, I can just feed him with energy crystals!
“Back then, we joined up to assault this Holy Tomb, all for the sake of getting our hands on this loot, only to be trapped in here!
“So what if I ended up acquiring these precious energy crystals? I gave up my life in exchange for them!
“No more. I don’t want them all! No amount of energy crystals out there could exchange for the life I lost!”
The dancer couple hugged Xia Fan and retreated back. The machinist reached out, yelling as if he had gone crazy, “Give Xia Fan to me, GIVE HIM TO ME! I’ll give the portion of my energy crystal all to him! We’ll use the pure energy of nature to improve his physique!”
With a smack, the male dancer pushed the machinist’s hand away and laughed bitterly, “We have quite a sizable portion of those crystals when we divided up the spoils. Since you’re willing to do so, why don’t the three of us pool our crystals and nourish him with them!”
There were two lines of crystal clear liquid streaking down the stern expression on the male dancer’s face. He hugged his wife along with Xia Fan and said, “You’re right!. No amount of energy crystals is enough to trade for what we’ve lost. From now on, this is the chance we’ve been given!”
The words between the machinists and the couple motivated everyone, and they ran toward their own rooms like crazy.
Several minutes later, there were crates filled with precious grade 9 crystals heaped around the altar. The astronomical wealth on display here was gathered like common vegetables, strewn around carelessly.
“Aren’t they just energy crystals? I don’t want them either.”
“If I give you all these crystals, would I be able to hug the child? Trust me, I’ll be very careful!”
These scoundrels were all speaking up. After having been trapped for a hundred and twenty-three years, they were even willing to give up these priceless energy crystals, all for the opportunity to hug the child in their arms. It could be seen just how lonely these people had been all these years.
“Hahahaha..!” The blind old man suddenly burst into laughter.
“Sure enough, time changes everything. Can all of you remember how much blood we spilled for those energy crystals all those years back? There were plenty of people all over the universe that had rushed over, all in the hopes of getting their share of the treasures in this Holy Tomb. In the end, only the seventy-nine of us remained.
“But look at us now. Those were precious crystals that we risked our lives for, but we no longer want any of them. I dare bet that no one out there in the universe knows the meaning of life better than we do right now!
“This child right here is our lucky star!
“There will come a day when we’re all dead, but Xia Fan will be alive here in the universe in our place, and the life that he led will be even more exciting than any one of ours!”
..
Ever since that day, Xia Fan led a life that no ordinary folk could even imagine, becoming the shared son of the seventy-nine scoundrels.
Other children would eat rice growing up, but what Xia Fan ate was Grade 9 energy crystals!
Each crystal was enough to exchange for a powerful battleship, but Xia Fan would practically be eating one every day.
His starting point in life was not merely high, it was impossibly high!
Even unparalleled figures in the universe would not have such qualifications to feed their own child in such a way.
Along with this high starting point of his, Xia Fan also grew up quickly. Though he was an ability-less individual that did not have a seventh brain region, he nevertheless managed to build up a strong and sturdy body by force through those super energy crystals!
Xia Fan did not know sickness as a child, and never understood the concept of fear, either!
....
Under the skydome, there was no lack of peculiar individuals: a doctor who was not a doctor, but a killer; a fisherman that did not fish, but was skilled in controlling beasts; a chef who made terrible-tasting food, but was an expert in concocting poisons, or a dancer couple who were as elegant as nobles, when they were actually notorious thieves..
In any case, no one under the dome had a name, and they called each other by their nicknames. On top of that, every single one of them were masters in an assortment of strange skills.
Yet these were the people that Xia Fan grew up with, so of course he learned a myriad of strange abilities from them all.
There was only one exception to that, and it was the blind old man.
The blind old man was very respected by everyone, and they were all very afraid of him. Everybody obeyed him, almost as if he was the most impressive one out of the seventy-nine scoundrels that were trapped under the dome.
But he was also just a blind old man, and he had not once taught any skill to Xia Fan as the latter grew up.
While this blind old man had lost his sight, he was still observing from the sidelines whenever someone was teaching Xia Fan, leaving without saying a word once the lesson ended.
Xia Fan had a feeling that this skinny old man seemed to be waiting for something.
He once asked the dancer couple inquisitively why his blind grandpa never once taught him anything, despite being so impressive.
It had to be stated that Xia Fan would be surrounded by a whole group of people from the moment he woke up, as these scoundrels all clamored to teach Xia Fan what they knew.
The chef said that as long as Xia Fan learned the art of poison from him, he would give him a delicious fruit cake.
The machinist said that if Xia Fan were to learn bomb-making from him, he would make for him a very fun robot.
It was only the blind old man who never said a word. Though his eyes no longer worked, he nevertheless kept observing him.
The dancing couple only smiled in response, “You will have to grow up as soon as possible. It isn’t that your blind grandpa doesn’t wish to teach you, but that he’s waiting until you’re older to do so.”
Xia Fan was ignorant, so he nodded with uncertainty.
This was the kind of life he led, and in the blink of an eye, fourteen years had passed.