Chapter 0 - Prologue, Agreement with an Immortal

Prologue, Agreement with an Immortal

Thick gray clouds hung low.

Although the sky was still gloomy, but at least the rain was over.

Standing at the edge of the roof of a hospital, Xue Qilin looked up quietly.

The high-rise buildings surrounding the hospital looked like a picture frame propping the sky, and the changing clouds expressed the passage of time.

After standing there for god knows how long, the silence was broken by the sound of footsteps.

The person stopped next to Xue Qilin.

Xue Qilin looked sideways, where he saw a boy dressed in a Daoist robe.

The boy was shorter than Xue Qilin by two heads and had very long hair that nearly reached the floor.

He looked like he was only 11 or 12 years of age. It was difficult to tell his age from appearance alone. He had clearly the face of a child, yet his eyes were abnormally abstruse, resembling vast skies full of stars hiding in the sky. An astonishing spirit was faintly discernible in his eyes.

Xue Qilin knew of the boy’s capability better than anyone else.

In the eastern magic world, there were existences standing at the top who were otherworldly, who could overturn the rain and blot out the sky with the raise of their hand. People called them Immortals, and the boy named Qi Guiyuan was one such Immortal. He was a Martial Immortal, a person who practiced martial arts to the pinnacle and attained a great Dao.

It must be mentioned that Immortals were able to achieve their accomplishments after countless years of cultivation. In other words, the true age of the boy didn’t match his appearance.

Xue Qilin didn’t know how old Qi Guiyuan was, he only knew that the other party was someone who regained their youth.

“Is this really okay?” The tender voice of a child suddenly sounded.

Xue Qilin answered leisurely after a while: “It doesn’t matter. Anyway, I won’t be able to see her anymore, so what’s the point seeing her now? Just let her think that her uncle is dead.”

In fact, he wanted to see her – his niece, and even more so, wanted to hear her call him uncle again.

However, he didn’t deserve it.

If it weren’t for his negligence, she wouldn’t have made a mistake in the casting of a spell and sank into a coma. Worst of all, he couldn’t do anything about it.

If Xue Qilin hadn’t accidentally met Qi Guiyuan a year ago and gotten his help, his niece might still be in a coma.

“No regrets?”

“Hey-hey-hey, why do you ask that now?” Xue Qilin couldn’t help laughing: “My only regret is teaching her magic.”

“Really?”

There was silence again.

This time, Xue Qilin was the first to break it: “I’ll try my best to do what you asked of me.”

“Ahem, saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-floor pagoda. That said, people are selfish, and I am no exception, so don’t blame me.”

The circumstances of the his niece were very complicated. Even though he was an Immortal, it still took Qi Guiyuan a full year and an unimaginable price to wake her up.

As such, Xue Qilin didn’t think that the other party’s request was excessive.

He just wants me to no longer live my life for my own sake, not to forfeit it, so why not? Xue Qilin thought.

His niece’s life was more important than his freedom.

“I’m already 30 years old, and although it sounds a bit unpleasant, but apart from magic, I am a total failure. For you to think highly of me and entrust this matter to me is a kind of… trust.” After he said that, Xue Qilin shook his head self-deprecatingly before immediately going on to say in a dissatisfying tone: “That said, you’re really long-winded at times, old man.”

“He-he, it’s normal for an old person to speak more.”

“Who cares! Anyway, you said that the current head of your sect is your great-granddaughter?”

“Hmm? Young fellow, you wouldn’t have any crummy ideas, would you?”

“Younger generations will do all right on their own, so you needn’t concern yourself, right?”

“That’s true. My great-granddaughter has just turned 16.”

“16? How tall is she?” Xue Qilin asked with interest.

“Hmm… In your metric system, she should be around 1,65 meters tall.”

Xue Qilin’s bright eyes dimmed from the answer he got: “What? She’s too tall, not mini at all.”

“Mi, mini?”

“Exactly! Her age is still within the acceptable range, but she’s too tall.”

“How is she too tall? Isn’t her height just right?”

Xue Qilin plastered a “you don’t understand” expression on his face and spoke excitedly: “Of course she’s too tall! 1,55 is the limit.”

“You… I don’t know what to say. Can’t you change your lolicon [1] ways?”

“What can you do if I don’t? Besides, someone with an onee-san [2] complex like you has no right to criticize me!”

“What’s wrong with onee-sans? They like to drink, have a nice body, and are young, I hadn’t heard of such women before!”

“Tsk, what’s so good about those tomboys?”

“Boy, you don’t understand. The most fascinating thing about onee-sans is the occasional tenderness and consideration. It is this contrast… that makes them so irresistible.” Qi Guiyuan blushed. Seeing him like this, Xue Qilin was hit with regret. How did his light novels and manga have such an impact, changing a perfectly normal person into an otaku.

“Yes, yes, yes, onee-sans are good.” To each his own. Xue Qilin disdained such debates, so he just went along with it.

Qi Guiyuan shook his head helplessly when he saw the disapproval on Xue Qilin’s face. Then, with a serious look on his face, he stared at Xue Qilin and asked: “Do you really have no regrets?”

“If I back out now, what can you do?”

“Well, I’ll take you to court.”

Xue Qilin crouched and spoke jokingly: “Oh, but there’s only a verbal agreement between us… If I deny it, then it’s your word against mine, it will never hold in court.”

“Then I…” Qi Guiyuan took a glance at Xue Qilin’s crotch and clenched his fist tightly, issuing cracking sounds.

Feeling uneasy at being stared by the other party, Xue Qilin stood up and patted Qi Guiyuan on the shoulder: “That said, where is your great-granddaughter? Can you tell me now?”

As payment for waking his niece out of the coma, Xue Qilin agreed to protect Qi Guiyuan’s great-granddaughter throughout his life. For this purpose, Qi Guiyuan spent three months to pass half of his cultivation base to him.

Although Xue Qilin had asked for details before, but Qi Guiyuan had always deflected.

Qi Guiyuan’s great-granddaughter, Qi Qiqi, was the head of a sect called the Merak Palace. This was the only thing Xue Qilin knew.

“Indeed, it’s time to tell you.” The corners of Qi Guiyuan’s mouth rose slightly.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Xue Qilin had a bad premonition, “What’s with the evil smile?”

Qi Guiyuan didn’t answer. After staring at Xue Qilin for a long time, he asked: “Have you heard of parallel worlds?”

“…”

A cold wind blew past, and Xue Qilin could hear faint cries of crows.

“Are you serious? You aren’t kidding?” Xue Qilin felt like the look in his eyes conveyed that he was looking at a mental case.

“You think that I’m kidding?”

“… Can I back out?” He never thought that it would be in a different world.

“No.”

Car crash, jumping from a building, struck by lightning, sucked in by a toilet, sucked in by a computer, plane crash… He shivered at the thought of the various transmigration tropes in novels.

“How do I get too… well, to your world? Is your bag a 4D Pocket [3] that contains a prop that will allow me to cross space?” Xue Qilin asked weakly.

“I’ll open a spatial channel for you, of course! But -“

“But what?”

“I’m not as strong as I used to be, and I have no divine armament. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to open the spatial channel…”

“Then…?”

“Since I’m not strong enough on my own, then I’ll have to draw support from external forces.”

“What external forces?”

Rumble.

Xue Qilin had guessed it without getting an answer from Qi Guiyuan.

He looked up mechanically and saw that the sky had become overcome with dense black clouds at some point, with lightning flickering about: “You don’t mean lightning…”

Before Xue Qilin could finish his sentence, Qi Guiyuan released a violent scream: “Incoming!”

Then…

Xue Qilin was enveloped by a strong sense of weightlessness.

But soon, the sense of weightlessness gave way to a strong centrifugal force.

Qi Guiyuan had pushed him over the edge of the building.

“Qi Guiyuan, you old fart!” Xue Qilin roared as he watched lightning strike at him.

[1] – Loli, a Japanese term for little girls

[2] – Ane, a Japanese term for sexy, mature women

[3] – 4D Pocket, a Doraemon reference