Chapter 77: Probe 1
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Garen's heart skipped a beat. If his senior sister was only at the master level of Secret Martial Art, would it mean that he was comparable with his senior sister right now?
"However, why aren’t there any changes to my body after combining them? In any case, I spent two Attribute points! There should at least be ripples even if I threw it into the water..."
This was what he was most confused about.
At that moment, the girl sitting across him opened her eyes and slowly woke up. She sleepily looked toward the master and disciple sitting across her and friendlily smiled toward them.
Garen smiled back at her.
"Are you going to Hela City as well?" the girl whispered.
"That's right, are you heading there as well?" Garen replied.
"That's right, why are you going there?" The girl brushed away her hair that was covering the side of her face. "With your age, are you going there to enroll?"
"Uh." Garen did not know how to respond. Could he just tell her that he was going to participate in a martial arts exchange gathering? It was actually forbidden to divulge the martial arts exchange gathering to outsiders since it was confidential.
Seeing that he did not reply, the girl smiled and assumed that her guess was right. From the looks of it, she probably assumed that Garen was a new student being sent to school for enrollment by his father.
"What about you? Are you going to Hela for a vacation?" Garen asked as his gaze slightly sized up the girl.
With long silvery hair coming down from her shoulders, the girl wore a white lace dress and gave off the aura of a magnanimous and refined lady. Her skin was fair and tender like it was coated with a layer of white powder. It was fine and smooth to the point where there were almost no imperfections.
The girl was like a young lady who went for an outing and gave off a very cultured and pure feeling. Even though she was not very pretty, this sort of quiet and graceful aura was abnormally rare.
Garen was reminded of Felicity who had just left Huaishan a while ago. She was different from the girl in front of him. If you judged her from her appearance, you would think that she was a haughty, dazzling, and beautiful young lady.
However, he was slightly baffled by the fact that the girl in front of him had coarse hands, which was completely inconsistent with her aura and the way she dressed.
"We're not going for a vacation. We're also going to enroll at the school. However, we're going there earlier to learn more about the local culture," the silver-haired girl smiled as she replied Garen's question.
Garen nodded in acknowledgment.
"Where did you set off from?"
"We started from Xining. Before you got on the train, we've been riding for over a day and a night." The girl covered her mouth and lightly yawned. "Oh… I am so tired. Even though I've been sleeping for so long, I still feel very tired."
"If you've only been sitting like this, then it would definitely be tiring." When Garen saw her yawning, he felt a little sleepy as well.
As the two of them had no other common topics to talk about, Garen turned his face over to look at the scenery outside of the window. A yellow beetle car was driving alongside the train at the same pace. The driver of the car was a man wearing an army uniform with aviator goggles on. He was glancing toward the train from time to time.
"That's the navy uniform of the Confederation. From the badge on his chest, this man should be a lieutenant in the Navy."
"Navy of the Confederation?" It was the first time Garen saw a regular military personnel of the Confederation, and he could not help but glance a few more times.
The train gradually surpassed the soldier's car, and Garen was feeling slightly tired just from watching the scenery as well. He looked beside him at his master and discovered that Fei Baiyun was sleeping soundly with his head tilted to the side.
Garen drowsily dozed off and slowly woke up after an undetermined amount of time.
The sky outside of the window had already turned dark, and the interior of the train carriage was slightly noisy. In the middle of the aisle, an attendant was slowly passing by while pushing a food cart.
"It's time to eat!"
Within the train carriage, there was a sparse amount of passengers. Some of them were yawning, while some stood up to buy food, and there were others that took out their own food to eat. Garen even heard children's voice yelling in a dialect that he did not understand.
The silver-haired boy sitting across of him had already woken, but he was not as friendly as the girl. He only faintly glanced at Garen and his master and did not converse with them.
His master, Fei Baiyun, was taking out a small sack that contained some cakes, bread, and two bottles of tea.
"This is dinner. Take it yourself."
Garen speechlessly looked at the cakes and bread that was crumpled together and almost could not differentiate between the two. He was completely without any appetite as he looked at it.
"Master… There's no reason for this… It's not like we don't have money..."
"What do you know!" Fei Baiyun glared at him. "This is something that someone had kindly made for me! It's not about the money!" as he spoke, he seemed to remember something, and a slight redness faintly appeared on his face.
Garen had a slight urge to puke… Looking at an old man foolishly smiling while blushing was indeed a little disgusting.
However, he still took a lump of cake that looked like bread and a bottle of black tea and placed them on his lap.
"Master's second spring..." He already knew who made the food. It was obviously master's lover.
He lowered his head and looked at the thing in his hand. Garen was still hungry a while ago but no longer had any appetite.
The silver-haired siblings sitting across of them were currently eating exquisite-looking buttery apple cakes while drinking coffee from a porcelain cup. The redwood lunchbox contained all kinds of pastries that were neatly arranged. There were red cherries, baked banana chips, pink cream, light yellow sponge cake, and a few pieces of vegetables as decoration.
Just based on the appearance, it was far superior to the thing in his hand.
As Garen looked at the lump in his hand once more, his appetite dwindled even more.
Fei Baiyun, the owner of a gigantic dojo that earned tens of millions per year, was currently eating such a wretched meal on the train.
Garen could not help but disdainfully look toward his master sitting beside him. He was stunned when he realized that his master had already finished the thing in his hands within a few bites and seemed to be choking as he guzzled the bottle of black tea.
As Garen looked at the soft and mud-like thing in his hand once more, he firmly decided not to eat it. He lifted up the bottle of black tea and drank a mouthful. Fortunately, the black tea was sweet since sugar was added and his hunger was satiated after drinking it. The only problem was that he had no idea how long that would last.
The sibling sitting across of them saw the scene and could not help but smile. Even the silver-haired boy was unable to continue pretending to be cold.
"If you don't mind, there's still some pastries in my lunchbox. Please try some," the silver-haired girl softly said to Garen.
"How could I do that.' Garen was originally planning to sneak out and buy food with his own money, but he was immediately tempted when the girl pushed the lunchbox over and smelled the rich buttery aroma drifting out.
They only ate half of the contents of the lunchbox, while the other half of the exquisite pastries were left untouched. The exterior of the pastries was attentively wrapped with a layer of plastic paper, so he could directly pick them up with his hands and eat. It looked clean and hygienic.
"It's okay, as long as you don't mind. I can tell that you forgot to prepare your own food," the girl gently smiled and said.
Garen sneaked a glance at his master.
"Since it's the kind intention of others, just eat it!" Fei Baiyun speechlessly slapped Garen on the head. When he looked at the exquisite pastries within the lunchbox and compared it with what he ate just now, he was feeling slightly imbalance in his mind.
"Thank you so much."
Garen gave a hollow laugh and received the lunchbox. He lightly lifted up an almond cake and took a bite. It tasted very aromatic and had a very fluffy texture. There was also a trace of almond flavor mixed inside.
The pastries within the lunchbox that were as big as his fist were eaten by Garen within a few bites and were quickly finished. He was originally prepared to hand one over to his master, but Fei Baiyun was obviously embarrassed about eating something from a younger generation and benefited Garen.
He managed to finish all of the pastries in the lunchbox within ten minutes. The siblings sitting across him were dumbfounded as they watched him.
"It's much more delicious than what they sell on the train. Thank you very much." Garen placed the lunchbox on the small rectangular table between the seats and gently pushed it back. "Sorry, I couldn't stop after I started eating..."
He was already very hungry, and the pastries inside the lunchbox were indeed very delicious. It was the first time Garen had tasted pastries that were this delicious, and they were much better than the ones sold outside.
"Is it really that delicious?" A smile appeared on the girl's face.
"They're very delicious." Garen nodded. "They're so much better than the ones being sold outside. Could you tell me where you got them? I'll definitely patronize the store next time!"
"It's good that you like it..." The girl was obviously very happy as she lowered her head in embarrassment and said, "I didn't buy them. I made them myself..."
The silver-haired boy sitting next to her was pouting as he muttered, "What's so delicious about it, is there a need to exaggerate so much? Really... "
"You actually made them yourself?" Garen was slightly surprised. "How remarkable. With this kind of skill, you can open your own store."
"You're kidding!" The girl was slightly embarrassed after being praised.
The boy sitting next to her immediately rolled his eyes. "You think that it's delicious when it's only at this level? What a country bumpkin..." He was in a bad mood as he looked at the muscular and tall young man sitting across of him. Even though there was not much of a difference in their age, there was a sharp contrast when they sat together as the other party was at least twice as muscular as him. Also, the moment he got on the train, he was looking around like he had never been on a train before. When he was eating just now, he was eating so fast that it seemed like he had never eaten anything for over ten years.
On the other hand, Garen and the girl were vigorously chatting. The two of them had already changed topics from pastry tips to the books they liked and their topics were endless. Next to them, Fei Baiyun and the silver-haired boy were bored and began to doze off once more.
With nothing to do on the train, they could only take a nap.
**************
Two days later.
Hela City Train Station
As a screeching whistle rang out, the mahogany train gradually came to a stop.
With a loud bang, a conductor vigorously pulled open the door of the train carriage. "Passengers bound for Hela City, it's time to get off!"
Within the train carriage.
"It's time to get off." Fei Baiyun patted Garen on the arm and was the first to stand.
Garen quickly pulled out a red leather suitcase from underneath their seats and stood up.
"We're finally here. Are you getting off as well?" he asked the silver-haired girl. The both of them had become quite familiar after chatting a few days.
The sibling sitting across them had brought out a small, black leather suitcase as well.
"That's right. Actually, we went to Xining for a vacation, and we're going back home now." The silver-haired girl embarrassedly smiled.
"I already knew it." Garen laughed and said, "While we were chatting the past two days, you were obviously more familiar with Hela and knew little about Xining. Alright, let's get off."
"Alright."
The four of them left their seats and followed the sparse stream of passengers toward the exit.