Chapter 33: Names and Curses

“Of course.” Wei Ning nodded, then took out a new magic artifact from her spatial bracelet and threw it into the air.

The magical artifact instantly transformed from the size of a miniature walnut into a new airship.

Smuggling gangs are really rich.

Yan Shi tried hard to control his hands and stop. He shouldn't try to rob the two of them just because he seemed to have mastered powerful water elemental energy.

They might get robbed instead.

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She followed Wei Ning and Liu Guang into the new airship.

This airship has a similar layout to the one that was destroyed in the fighting due to internal violence, only slightly smaller.

Wei Ning pointed to the room in roughly the same location.

Just before entering the room, Yan Shi suddenly turned back and said, "Commander Wei Ning, I need to confirm with you again. You don't want to fight with me or anyone else this time, do you?"

“No.” When Wei Ning ignored Yan Shi, Liu Guang replied from beside her, “You can either go in and think carefully about which contraband items you plan to bring out to trade with us, or you can stay quiet.”

Flames danced in her palms.

"I just wanted to confirm, since it's still quite a distance from here to Emerald City. I'm afraid that if I go back to bed to rest, I'll fall from mid-air again." Yan Shi imitated Liu Guang, and Shui Ling rolled in her palm.

Wei Ning felt a headache coming on when she saw Yan Shi gathering water spirits.

She wasn't known for her fighting skills; the most capable fighter in the Mithril Merchant Guild was Flowing Light. But that didn't mean she could ignore how easily someone else could instantly take control of her spirit.

It really hurts my self-esteem.

"Go inside. There's no one else here who can fight us except you." Wei Ning still didn't look up, but instead focused on her phone, seemingly exchanging messages with someone.

Her phone screen seemed to have a privacy screen protector, so Yanshi couldn't see the specific content.

She shrugged and went back to her room.

Sitting on the bed in the room, Yan Shi felt as if he had just woken up from a dream.

She repeatedly opened and closed her palms, and Shui Ling obediently circled her hands, shaping them into different forms in her palms.

She had a very unreal feeling.

The feeling was different from when I first became the bureau chief and learned that my name had become a spell that I could use at will.

Holding spiritual power is a real, tangible feeling, as if the power is in your palm.

It makes me feel very safe, especially in the Otherworld.

She poked the unresponsive Sun Crown on her wrist again, and the Sun Crown remained completely still, as if it were playing dead.

Well, there's still more than a day left on the weekend. Let her think about whether she should go to check out the Emerald City black market first or the Mithril Merchant Guild's stronghold in Emerald City after arriving there.

This time, the arrival at Emerald City was indeed uneventful.

As they landed, Liu Guang banged loudly on her door, "Yan Lan, we're here. Have you made up your mind?"

"So eager? I need to think about it some more." Yan Shi stretched and stepped out of the airship.

As she expected, the airship landed in a very large mansion.

It's probably the Mithril Merchant Guild's stronghold in Emerald City.

Meanwhile, the Mithril merchants who had quietly left after the airship explosion were also in this courtyard. Their goods were neatly arranged in a corner of the courtyard, and Wei Ning was checking the goods with a list.

Liu Guang followed behind her with a cold snort, "To be honest, this is the most turbulent transaction our merchant group has ever encountered, and also the one with the greatest losses. It feels like nothing good has happened since we met you."

“This isn’t my fault.” Yan Shi pointed to the spatial bracelet on his wrist. “I remember this batch of contraband was confiscated before you met me. You’re part of a smuggling ring, so it’s normal to face some risks.”

Wei Ning had already received the order and walked towards the courtyard gate with her brows furrowed.

"Huh?" Liu Guang quickly followed Wei Ning and waited at the courtyard gate.

A woman with slightly graying hair walked in, but looked extremely young. What was striking was her heterochromatic eye shape; one eye was gray, the other gold. The gray one was dull and lifeless, while the gold one seemed to shimmer with light.

Such beautiful eyes.

Yan Shi curiously peeked out: "Isn't Wei Ning the leader of your Mithril Merchant Guild? There can't be a behind-the-scenes investor above the leader, can there?"

Liu Guang ignored her and instead put away her arrogance, saying, "Aunt Guan."

"Wei Ning just messaged me saying that your trip to the Weir hub didn't go smoothly, so I came to check on you." The woman walked into the courtyard and saw Yan Shi peeking out from the side.

"What is this? It looks familiar, but I don't think I've seen it in your merchant group before."

Wei Ning replied, "The contraband we transported from the Free Alliance was seized by the Bureau of Alien Control at the Will Hub. This is Yan Lan; she took all the contraband from the Bureau of Alien Control. All the contraband is currently in her possession."

“Yanlan…the name sounds familiar.” Aunt Guan rubbed her chin a couple of times, then leaned closer to Yan Shi and stared intently at her features.

Could it be someone who saw her at the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs?

Yan Shi took two steps back, his heart tightening.

She tried hard to recall what she had seen. She hadn't traveled to the Otherworld many times since becoming the director, but she had met far too many people.

However, given Aunt Guan's unique eyes, she shouldn't be completely unaware of them if she had seen them before.

Liu Guang added, "This is the younger sister of the current Director of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs. Perhaps you have met the Director of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs before..."

"I remember now, no wonder she looked familiar." Aunt Guan clenched her fist and tapped her palm. "It's Lanlan. Why did you change your name to Yanlan?"

Yan Shi was stunned.

Who is this?

"Lanlan?" Wei Ning looked over in surprise. "Aunt Guan, this is..."

Yan Shi looked at Aunt Guan with a puzzled expression.

Aunt Guan first introduced her to Wei Ning, saying, "She is the granddaughter of an old friend of mine."

Aunt Guan's old friend? Wei Ning's eyes widened.

She knew nothing about Aunt Guan's past, only vaguely that she had once worked at the Destiny Platform, and that her gray hair was a backlash from a divination she had performed that was related to an unspeakable fate.

But she had almost never heard Aunt Guan talk about her old friend.

How did an old friend's granddaughter suddenly appear?

Aunt Guan then looked at Yan Shi, "It's been over ten years since I last saw you, Lanlan has grown so much. I'm your grandmother's friend, Guan Yunji, do you remember me?"

To be honest, Yan Shi's memories of living with his grandmother before the age of ten are very vague.

Her logical memories begin with the first day of the school she transferred to after being taken away by her mother.

She pretended to be trying hard to remember when she looked at Guan Yunji, then shook her head, "I don't think I remember very well."

“No wonder, it’s been so long, you were still so young then.” Guan Yunji sighed almost imperceptibly and changed the subject, “Lanlan, did you change your name yourself later? That doesn’t seem right.”

"It really is a fake name. You even lied to your sister's subordinates," Liu Guang shouted from the side.

"What sister?" Guan Yunji realized. "I seem to remember that Shan Fengyang only has one granddaughter."

Liu Guang: "Yanlan, no, it's Lanlan. She's the younger sister of the current director of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs."

"The head of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs has been out of the loop for a long time, hasn't he? Finally, a new one has arrived." Guan Yunji sighed, quickly pinching her fingers twice. "This is the sister you've adopted, so you're using the alias Yanlan?"

No, Liuguang and Weining will see the Director of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs eventually. If it were other things today, they could make up stories depending on the situation, but when it comes to their sister, they have to admit it.

"This is my older sister," Yan Shi said expressionlessly. It seemed that after a while, even calling herself "older sister" had become less embarrassing. "And my name is Yan Lan."

“Lanlan,” Guan Yunji’s expression turned serious, “Are you being hunted down? Otherwise, there’s no need for you to insist on using your fake name.”

"A name is the shortest curse. And the name given by your mother at birth stays with you for life and cannot be changed. It is the shortest blessing, and also the shortest curse."

Yan Shi remained silent for a moment and then said nothing more.

She was certain that Guan Yunji was indeed her grandmother's old friend, because no one had called her by the nickname Lanlan since she left her grandmother.

After transferring schools, she became quiet and reserved, and reduced her introductions to others.

Since her name became a curse, she discovered that, apart from those who introduced themselves to her, people who learned her name from the roll call or from others no longer remembered her real name.

I only vaguely knew that there was a classmate.

After her name became a curse, she inexplicably thought of the nickname that no one had ever called her again, and thus adopted the pseudonym Geng Yanlan.

Guan Yunji didn't dwell on the name any further. "So, why is Lanlan back with you now?" She silently pinched her hand behind her back a couple of times, then let it go weakly.

“The contraband smuggled out of the Free Alliance is all on Lanlan now, and we haven’t finalized the specific deal yet.” Wei Ning pointed to the spatial bracelet on her wrist. “Although we signed a law agreement before, considering that Lanlan is using a pseudonym, the law agreement is naturally invalid.”

“Your grandmother’s old friend is an investor in our merchant group. Are you really not going to consider selling all the contraband to us?” Liu Guang tried to persuade Yan Shi from the side. “The price our merchant group is offering is absolutely fair.”

Guan Yunji: "How did you sign that agreement?"

"Seven parts, three parts, she gets seven and we get three," Wei Ning said. "But we didn't get any advantage over Lanlan at all."

Guan Yunji nodded. "I believe the Mithril Merchant Guild is offering the best price among all smuggling groups for this batch of contraband. I understand if you have reservations about distributing contraband because your sister is the current director of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs. But please reconsider."

"She's already demolished the branch office of the Foreign Affairs Bureau, what else could she possibly have to worry about?" Liu Guang curled her lips.

Demolishing a branch office of the Management Bureau?

Guan Yunji decided not to comment further: "Why don't you stay at the Mithril Merchant Guild first, and then Wei Ning will talk to you again."

She seemed to be pondering something, and instead of catching up with Yan Shi any further, she went out of the courtyard again along the path she had come from.

Yan Shi really needs to consider this, as the vast majority of these contraband items are intended for use with Pokémon.

Given the current sensitive relationship between the spirits and their Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (BIS), if action is taken, and contraband harms the spirits while the BIS does nothing, things could get much worse, potentially even affecting the surface world.

When the impact extends to the world of fashion, she really has to work overtime.

If Sheng Chunqiu cannot be rescued because of this, then it will be double the overtime.

Help.

She should just supply a small amount of contraband to the Mithril Merchant Guild that won't affect the market; she does need this extra income.

It's truly heartbreaking to have nothing when you're the bureau chief.

Yan Shi then thought of Yu Junxun's obviously expensive Buddhist robes.

That wicked family.

"Okay." She nodded.

Anyway, today is Saturday, and Monday isn't until the day after tomorrow. She can stay at the Mithril Merchant Guild for a day or so and think things over.

Most importantly, she doesn't want to work overtime on weekends out of her own volition.

There was no overtime pay.

Yan Shi wondered if Gui Ge Mu and the others had arrived yet.

Given Guige Mu's level of concern for Sheng Chunqiu, if they had arrived by now, they would probably already be replenishing supplies and rushing to the Forest of Life.

Wait, Yan Shi suddenly realized something important: what about those two wood elves?

She didn't seem to have seen any wood elves on the airship that the Mithril Merchant Guild had previously boarded.

Without those two wood elves acting as mediators, how could Guigemu and the others have entered the Forest of Life?

Moreover, she remembered seeing Libertas on the airship before, but where are the Libertas now?

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Forget it, anyway, if we delay for another day, Sheng Chunqiu might not necessarily get into trouble.

Yan Shi touched his aching conscience and decided to check on his poor subordinate's progress next Monday.

She was an innocent passenger who had just stayed up all night, traveled a long distance, and then experienced a series of physically demanding activities such as an airship explosion and being forced to participate in a fight.

What I need most right now is to rest and get a good night's sleep.

Yan Shi walked towards the temporary guest room that Wei Ning had just arranged for her in the courtyard.

Yan Shi is also waiting for the manga update tomorrow night, Sunday.

She remembered seeing a post on the forum saying that there would be an extra chapter this weekend.

Hopefully, these two episodes will bring her enough faith, otherwise she really won't be able to use her spell.

Although she doesn't know why she suddenly has the ability to manipulate water elements in the air, and the degree of control she has over them is comparable to that of a Grand Magus, Yan Shi still misses her spells.

To be precise, it's her ability.

In the underworld, you can never have too many fighting-related abilities.

Moreover, the supermodel's ability to make her words law provides a sense of security.

Thinking about it this way, I really have to thank Kirina for drawing her into the manga.

I wonder how Kirina will add a "dark filter" to her in the next chapter of the manga.

Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 20:58:24 and 23:17:21 on June 12, 2024!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: QvQ 112 bottles; Lost Stone 49 bottles; Invincible Tyrannosaurus Warrior 10 bottles; Mezcal. 3 bottles; Bright Moon 1 bottle;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!