Dimensional Hotel
Chapter 337: Master Uncle Is a Strange Man

Chapter 337: Chapter 337: Master Uncle Is a Strange Man

Yu Sheng roughly recounted to Xuan Che the intelligence he had gathered from the Special Service Bureau, including how the cultists had unearthed a "Shadowless Skeleton" back in their hometown and the incident of a small boat disappearing while trying to transport Ankaela Crystal. He revealed this because he knew that Baili Qing would soon relay these matters to the major forces, and there was no need to keep such information confidential in front of a "young talent of Qianfeng Ling Mountain" like Xuan Che.

The expression on Xuan Che’s face visibly shifted from calm to serious, then from serious to solemn, until his eyebrows almost stood up.

"...Do you suspect that Feiyu-13b might also have been parasitized by the Dark Angel?!" Xuan Che asked, though he tried hard to control his breath and emotions, he still couldn’t hide the solemnity and tension in his tone.

"It’s just a possibility," Yu Sheng waved his hand. "After all, we don’t really understand what those Hidden Society cultists are using the ’Order Pillar’ for—the only cultist who could speak wasn’t in great physical condition and fainted halfway through talking. But considering that this ship doesn’t look cheap and it even has a chapel clearly meant for religious rituals, they certainly aren’t building it for play... even if it’s not aimed at the Dark Angel, it’s got to be for a task of similar magnitude."

"...A task of similar magnitude to the Dark Angel?" Xuan Che immediately showed an expression of having a toothache, "I just can’t imagine, can’t imagine it."

He then lowered his head in thought for a moment, and his expression subtly changed for some reason. Suddenly, he looked up and asked, "You also mentioned earlier that they lost a small boat?"

"Yes, while attempting to send out the Angel Catalyst from ’Mist City,’ it mysteriously sent a string of bizarre audio in advance as if possessed and then disappeared after a warp jump," Yu Sheng nodded. "Why, do you have any thoughts on this matter?"

Xuan Che hesitated for a moment and began, "Not that I have any thoughts, it just suddenly reminded me of another strange encounter that my Master Uncle shared with me from his travels in his early years..."

Upon hearing this opener, Yu Sheng instinctively widened his eyes, "What did your Master Uncle encounter back then?"

"Uh... ahem, Master Uncle is fond of traveling across the world, so he indeed encountered quite a number of strange and bizarre tales." Xuan Che coughed awkwardly twice, adjusted his sitting posture, and continued, "He said there was one time he was crossing the Star Han, and while traversing a ’Great Void’ with no celestial markers at all, the Immortal Boat suddenly malfunctioned. That Great Void spanned billions of light years without anything within it. Exhausting his cultivation, Master Uncle could only barely maintain the Spiritual Disc of the Immortal Boat from dispersing, sending out occasional cries for help, yet unable to move an inch, one could say the situation was perilous and desperate...

"But just when he was helpless, having already prepared to meet his end, a signal suddenly came from that empty void zone, responding to his cries for help.

"Then three days later, he saw the wreckage of a gigantic ship appear near the Immortal Boat..."

Yu Sheng, who was listening, suddenly paused in surprise, "Wreckage?"

"Yes, wreckage, it was unclear where it was constructed, only that it was extraordinarily massive, at least ten times larger than the Immortal Boat my Master Uncle was riding on—yet it was somehow torn into pieces, drifting in the void. And from within that wreckage, there kept coming responses to the distress signals.

"Master Uncle felt something was off, and didn’t dare rashly interact with that strange ’ship.’ So he barely managed to keep the Immortal Boat at a distance from the wreckage. After stalemating for a day, suddenly... he saw the wreckage restored in an instant, turning into a gray, misty large ship with its lights on, he could even see people walking and talking inside the portholes.

"Yet this apparently ’restored and intact’ large ship continuously emitted extremely deceitful and terrifying signals from the moment it appeared ’restored.’ Master Uncle said the Immortal Boat received countless cries for help from that ship, as well as people’s wails before death and the sounds of the ship being torn apart.

"Then in the next moment, that large ship turned back into a fragmented wreck, flying behind the Immortal Boat, continuously transmitting communications saying, ’Received your distress call, en route to provide assistance’...

Xuan Che stopped at this point, and Erin, sitting on the coffee table, was stunned for a moment before letting out a scream, "Oh my god! That’s scary—"

"I’ve read a horror story with a similar theme when I was a kid!" Hu Li also chimed in, "Eventually, everyone on that ship died."

"...It’s indeed terrifying, even my Master Uncle thought so," Xuan Che nodded. "That’s why he didn’t dare respond to any communication from that strange ship; yet, as the Immortal Boat was damaged, he couldn’t get away from that large ship which was always trying to ’provide rescue.’ They remained in a standoff for a good ten days, with the ship continually alternating between wreckage and being intact, until the last day, when the situation suddenly changed.

"That large ship suddenly stopped and then sent one last communication to my Master Uncle, saying just one sentence:

"’You must stop the Green Gold Stone from setting sail on Suomo-4 on June 12, 2044.’

Yu Sheng stared with wide eyes, "...And then?"

"Then the large ship suddenly disappeared as if it had entered a warp state, but no temporal or spatial disturbance typical of a warp occurred, it was as if it directly ’fell’ into an invisible ’hole’ suddenly appearing in the universe, never to be heard from again—after escaping, Master Uncle even conducted a specific search all around but never found the whereabouts of that ship."

Listening to this bizarre "space adventure story," Yu Sheng couldn’t help but ask, "Then how did your Master Uncle escape?"

"He told me he suddenly had an epiphany, then entered an immortal technique trance, with the great wisdom of the Dao, he shattered the void, delivering the Immortal Boat out of the Great Void—but later, when Master Uncle at the Divine Weapon Peak examined the Immortal Boat logs, they said that when the large ship left, the Immortal Boat inexplicably self-repaired and advised my Master Uncle to pay respects to the Artifact Spirit... oh, in Boundary Land parlance, it’s called the ’Mechanical Soul’."

Yu Sheng: "..."

He blinked, deciding to first ignore the somewhat delicate part at the end of the story: "About the Green Gold Stone’s departure..."

"There is no large spaceship called ’Green Gold Stone’ in the world, at least not among the legally registered ships. Either the name matches but the ship type doesn’t, or the ship type matches but the name is wrong," Xuan Che shook his head, "No one knows where that ship came from."

Yu Sheng frowned slightly and, after a moment of thought, looked up: "You mean, you think the ’strange ship’ your Master Uncle encountered has similarities with that hidden society’s small boat that was transporting Ankaela Crystals and met with a bizarre accident?"

"Both sent out a monitoring signal of all crew perished under seemingly completely normal circumstances, and both seemed to vanish completely from the world after a single jump. The only difference is that the ship my Master Uncle encountered confronted him for over a dozen days, so he witnessed many strange transformations of that strange ship, whereas the hidden society’s small boat disappeared in just three minutes after showing signs of mutation, before it could exhibit various anomalies."

Xuan Che explained it clearly, then suddenly changed the subject: "Speaking of Master Uncle, there’s a chance he might return to Qianfeng Ling Mountain soon."

That "Master Uncle," always wandering outside and going through countless bizarre stories, is coming back to Qianfeng Ling Mountain soon?

Yu Sheng’s heart couldn’t help but be moved: "Is he coming back? Wasn’t it said that he couldn’t be reached while wandering outside?"

"Oh, my master told me yesterday that they got in touch," Xuan Che nodded promptly, "It turns out that twelve years ago, when he went down the mountain to a nightclub, he was caught by an old young love and was taken away to conclude a romantic entanglement. Fortunately, with the help of the Immortal Alliance Reform Working Group, he was rescued and will return to the sect in a couple of days..."

Speaking of this, he paused and showed a deeply moved expression: "My master was quite relieved when he talked about this, saying that these years he has always misunderstood Master Uncle, thinking he left the sect affairs behind without saying a word to throw himself into danger, but it turned out to be just a lifestyle problem that led to being taken, letting the fairy vent a little, at least spared him some merits."

Yu Sheng: "...?"

Erin & Hu Li & Luna: "..."

It was pin-drop silent in the living room.

"Ah, why is everyone silent?" Xuan Che looked around somewhat confused.

Yu Sheng then snapped back, staring at the handsome man in front of him as if he had seen a ghost, still unable to believe what absurdity the other had just said with such calmness. He sized up Xuan Che several times before hesitantly speaking: "I... you... what did you say earlier, your Master Uncle went down the mountain..."

"To a nightclub."

"And then encountered..."

"An old young love," Xuan Che nodded calmly, "was taken away to conclude a romantic entanglement—ironically smoothing a psychological barrier in his path."

"This can be said so calmly..." cold sweat ran down Yu Sheng’s forehead, feeling a whole stomach full of comments stuck right at the bottom of his tonsils, and his thoughts jumbled up, "Hey, no, your Master Uncle... that Strange Man, wanders the world, right, seeking Secret Realms, right, all sorts of legendary experiences, right—"

At this, he couldn’t continue because he didn’t know whether to first critique going to a nightclub, or critique getting entangled in a romantic union, or critique the later appearance of the Immortal Alliance Reform Working Group—as for Xuan Che’s master’s subtle attitude towards this event, he didn’t even have the extra mind to consider it.

Meanwhile, Xuan Che remained as calm as ever, though his tone carried a bit of sentiment: "Ah, my Master Uncle certainly... is good in every way, it’s just that he’s fated with emotional debts, since setting foot on the path of cultivating immortality, hasn’t encountered tribulations but instead all turned into emotional trials..."

Yu Sheng: "..."

A moment later, Yu Sheng looked woodenly at Erin who was daydreaming on the coffee table, then at the nearby fox who was turning to look at him with clear eyes, and at Luna across who seemed to be rebooting.

"I think there’s a bit of a cultural difference involved here."

He said with a serious look.

Erin and Hu Li wholeheartedly agreed.

Luna nodded as well: "Mm, right."