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Prologue – An Immortal Oath

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Author: Azure Studio Original Source: iQing Word Count: 2422 characters
Translator: Nexus Flamehart English Source: Re:Library Word Count: 1413 words

The thick gray clouds hung low. The sky was still downcast, but at least the rain had stopped. Sue Kirin1 stood on the edge of the hospital roof, quietly looking up at the sky. The tall buildings surrounding the hospital looked like a frame holding up the sky. The constantly shifting clouds revealed the passage of time.

Unsure of how long Kirin had been standing there, a person’s footsteps broke the silence before stopping next to him. Sue Kirin looked aside and saw a small boy draped in Daoist robes had arrived next to him. This boy was two heads shorter than Sue Kirin but had long hair that almost touched the ground.

He was probably around eleven or twelve-years-old. If you had to judge based on his appearance, it would be difficult to figure out his actual age. —He had a childish face, and yet his eyes were abnormally deep, seeming to reflect thousands of stars within them. An astonishing spirit slept within his expression. Sue Kirin knew this boy’s capabilities better than anyone else.

Within the Eastern magic world, a certain group of people exists on the top of the food chain. Each of them wields extraordinary power and with a single movement of their hands, they can call the wind and summon storms. They were known as Immortals. The little boy, whose name was Qi Guiyuan2, was one such Immortal — an existence that honed their martial skill to the pinnacle of the power, a Martial Immortal.

Something that must be mentioned, is that to become an immortal, one must train for many years to achieve Immortality. In other words, the true age of this little boy was absolutely not matched by his appearance.
How old is Qi Guiyuan—Sue Kirin didn’t have a clue. All he knew was that Qi Guiyuan had recovered his youthful vigor.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” An immature child’s voice suddenly appeared.

After some time had passed Sue Kirin slowly responded: “It’s not that big a deal, in the future, I won’t be able to go see her anyway, what good would it be to see her face now? I’d rather let her think that her uncle is long dead.”

He actually wanted to see her—his niece, and even more so he wanted to hear her call him Uncle again, but he knew that he wasn’t qualified to do that.

If it hadn’t been for his negligence, she wouldn’t have fallen into a coma due to the aftereffects of failing to cast that spell. More importantly, at the time he didn’t have a clue how to save her. If Kirin hadn’t met Qi Guiyuan one year ago by chance, and gotten help from him, his lovely niece might still be in a coma.

“No regrets?”

“Yoyoyo, why would you ask even ask that now?” Sue Kirin laughed, “The only thing that I’m regretful for is teaching her how to use magic.”

“Oh really?” Once again a moment of silence came.

This time, Sue Kirin broke the silence, “What you requested of me, I’ll do my best.”

“En. Saving a life is better than setting up a seven-story pagoda, but humans are selfish—I am no exception, so don’t blame me for it. ”

The situation of his niece was very complicated, even an Immortal such as Qi Guiyuan had to spend a year coupled with spending an unbelievable price in order to wake her up.

Therefore, Sue Kirin didn’t think his demand was too excessive. It was just asking him to not live for himself, nor to risk his life, so, why not? That was what Sue Kirin had thought.

The life of his niece was much more important than his own freedom.

“I’m already thirty years old. To say it in another way, other than magic I’ve done nothing with my life. You leaving this matter to me is a kind of…… trust.”

After Sue Kirin finished his sentence, he shook his head in a self-deprecating fashion, and then in an unpleasant tone, he said: “Come on, old man, you can be really long-winded sometimes.”

“Hehe, It’s within the nature of the old to have much to say. ”

“WHO CARES! Anyway, you mentioned that the current head of your sect is your great-granddaughter?”

“En? Boy, you wouldn’t be planning something untoward would you?”

“Children can take care of themselves when they grow up, you don’t need to worry about it.”

“You’re right. Anyway, my granddaughter is now 16.”

“Sixteen? How tall is she?” Sue Kirin said, seemingly interested in the topic.

“En……In your words, around 1.65 meters (around 5”4’).”

“What—, she is too tall, not mini at all.”

“Mi、mini?” Qi Guiyuan almost choked on Sue Kirin’s words.

“No ⓢⓗⓘⓣ! I meant, her age is in the acceptable range, but she is just, too tall.”

“How is she tall? I thought she is of average height, is that wrong?” Sue Kirin gave him a face that meant “you don’t get it,” and said excitedly: “Of course it’s tall! 1.55 meters is the absolute limit!”

“You… Are you some sort of pedophile?”

“I AM THE PEDOPHILE, better yet, it’s called lolicon alright! Lo! Li! Con!”

Qi Guiyuan helplessly shook his head. Then stared at Sue Kirin with a serious expression and asked, “You’re sure that you aren’t regretting this?”

“If I do regret it, what would you do?”

“En, I shall sue you in the court.”

Sue Kirin squatted down, said jokingly “Ah, but we only have an oral agreement…… If I deny it at the court, you have no proof of anything, therefore you can’t do anything about it.”

“Then, I will……” Qi Guiyuan said before he glanced at Sue Kirin’s crotch and clenched his fist so hard it made a cracking sound. Sue Kirin felt uncomfortable by his stares so he stood up, and pat Qi Guiyuan’s shoulder.

“Anyway, where is your granddaughter? Can you please tell me now?” As the price of saving his niece, Sue Kirin was given the order to protect Qi Guiyuan’s granddaughter for his entire lifetime. Qi Guiyuan even spent three months transferring half of his power to Kirin.

Even though Sue Kirin had tried to ask him for the details in the past, Qi Guiyuan usually answered his questions with clever evasion.

Qi Guiyuan’s granddaughter was named Qi Qiqi3, and was the head of a sect called Scorpio Temple—that was the only thing that Sue Kirin knew about her.

“Well, I suppose it’s time to tell you,” Qi Guiyuan said, his mouth curving into a smile.

“Hey, wait a sec!” Sue Kirin felt something not right, “Why do you have such an evil smile?”

Qi Guiyuan didn’t respond. He stared at Sue Kirin for a moment then said: “Have you ever heard of parallel worlds?”

“……”

A gust of cold wind rushed by, Kirin felt as if he heard a crow’s screech.

“Are you serious? You’re joking right?” Kirin could’ve sworn he was giving Guiyuan a look that practically screamed: “Are you a psychopath?”

“Do I look like I’m telling a joke?”

“……Can I regret now?”

He never expected it to be in another world!

“Nope.”

Car crash, plane crash, jumping off buildings, lightning strike, sucked in by the toilet or a computer…… as soon as Kirin thought of all the different ways to travel worlds in fiction novels, he began to shudder.

“May I ask, how do I get there…… em, to your world? Do you have like a fourth dimension pocket that contains space travel items?4” Sue Kirin asked meekly.

“Naturally I shall open a tunnel in space! However——”

“However what?”

“I’m not as powerful as I was before, and I don’t have a Legendary weapon with me, so, I fear that I might not be able to open a space tunnel on my own……”

“So…?”

“If I don’t have the power within myself, I shall borrow from outside forces.”

“What outside forces?”

Thunder Crackles.

There was no need for Qi Guiyuan’s answer, Sue Kirin had already guessed it. He stiffly looked back and noticed that somehow the sky had turned cloudy, surging, and full of lightning at the same time.

“Am I getting thunder—”

Before Sue Kirin could finish his sentence, Qi Guiyuan yelled.

“Incoming!”

Then—

Sue Kirin was surrounded by a strong floating feeling. Soon, the floating feeling was replaced by a strong centrifugal force. He was pushed down the building by Qi Guiyuan.

“QI GUIYUAN YOU OLD ⒷⒶⓈⓉⒶⓇⒹ!”

Sue Kirin screamed as he saw the lightning come to strike him.



 

Footnotes:

  1. Sue Kirin’s name in Chinese is 雪麒麟 (xuě qí lín). Xue is a Surname that means “snow” or “snowfall.” Qilin (or Kirin) is a mythical hooved chimerical creature known in Chinese and other East Asian cultures, said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler.
  2. Qi Guiyuan’s name in Chinese is 齐归元 (Qí Guī Yuán). Qi is a Surname that means “Neat” and “Even.” Gui is a verb meaning “to return” or “to give back to.” Yuan means “First” or “Origin.” It’s possible that the author gave this character his name due to his purpose in the story since he returns the protagonist to his world.
  3. Qi Qiqi’s name in Chinese is 齐绮琪(Qí Qǐ qí). She uses the same Qi in her Surname that her grandfather does meaning “Neat” and “Even.” The Second Qi in her name means “Beautiful”. The Final Qi in her name means “Fine Jade.”
  4. This is a reference to Doraemon
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