The knocking sound constantly echoed. It had a steady rhythm that wasn’t too gentle nor too harsh. However, Lin Yuan’s heart was in disarray.
It wasn’t Auntie Zhang or Uncle Li that had lit up their house’s lights. At the same time, someone was knocking on his door.
Although Radiance Federation’s public security might be great and Lin Yuan had never heard of any cruel incidents, he still hid a razor-sharp knife—the one that he would use to cut off the Usnea vines—in his sleeve.
He also called out to Chimey softly and asked it to stand on his shoulder. He then walked toward the entrance and prepared to open the door.
Before opening the door, Lin Yuan said softly, “Chimey, when I open the door later, and if I step back, it doesn’t matter what is at the entrance. You just have to execute Turbulence and Sound Thrust at the door.”
Upon receiving Lin Yuan’s command, Chimey became vigilant. It looked as though it was preparing to activate the attack as soon as Lin Yuan moved.
There were cases of people knocking on Lin Yuan’s door in the night, but it was unknown why he felt particularly nervous on this night.
He finally learned about his parents’ identities, and Auntie Zhang’s house was lit up on the same day. All of these coincidences made Lin Yuan’s senses abnormally sensitive.
The knocking sound suddenly changed. Previously, it was a rhythmic sound that was neither gentle nor harsh. The knocking sound was slightly heavier now, and it stopped after two ‘knock, knock’.
Lin Yuan frowned as he noticed that there wasn’t just one person outside the door. There were at least two individuals.
After opening the door, Lin Yuan spotted a man and a woman standing around one meter away from the door.
The man looked like he was slightly over 30, while the woman looked a little younger.
The man noticed Lin Yuan’s tensed hand, which was gripping the hidden knife tightly in his sleeve.
The woman’s expression didn’t change, but the 30-year-old man chuckled and said, “Young man, don’t be nervous. I just want to ask about the name of your parents.”
The 30-year-old man asked again, “Are your mother and father Chu Yan and Lin Jian?”
Lin Yuan took a deep look at the man and the woman before nodding and replying, “Yes. May I ask what is the matter?”
When they heard his answer, Lin Yuan felt that the duo was looking at him differently. Their gaze became gentler and more amiable.
The silent woman handed a letter to Lin Yuan. “Your Auntie Zhang wrote this letter,” she said.
“Read the letter first. After you finish, there is something else for you,” she added.
Lin Yuan opened the letter, and two things fell out.
One of them was a piece of cloth.
Lin Yuan opened up the cloth and felt that it was rather dirty. It was stained with grayish-black dirt, and there were actually two red-colored and rather ugly smiley faces.
Lin Yuan didn’t know what to do with it, so he put it down and proceeded with reading the letter.
Soon, Lin Yuan’s eyes turned red, and a bean-sized tear dropped on the letter, mottling the ink on the paper.
One drop, two drops, three drops…
Lin Yuan could no longer see the letter’s content clearly.
After his parents’ death, Lin Yuan had never cried as he must stay strong to support the store and Chu Ci’s hope.
But now, thousands of emotions surged into his heart as the peaceful bliss of his childhood floated in front of his eyes.
The commandment that stated a man’s tears shouldn’t drop so easily had been broken.
Lin Yuan kept the letter and used his hands to wipe his eyes. Now that Lin Yuan was looking at that strange cloth, he felt that it was the warmest thing in this world.
During the alien beast wave, his young parents had been severely injured, and at the crucial moment, they had torn off a piece of cloth and drawn two smiley faces with their fresh blood before death.
It was unknown what the smiley faces signified. Nonetheless, Lin Yuan looked at the smiley faces and could imagine his parents’ faces, which would always be smiling no matter what.
The smiling faces might be expectations, concern, or an instinctive action that was carried out subconsciously.
Lin Yuan solemnly folded the cloth and put it close to him. He then said to the duo that had been waiting silently for him to read the letter, “Thank you.”
The man immediately got closer and patted Lin Yuan’s shoulder. “What is there to thank? A person of your age can just call me Uncle Dong. Later on, I will leave behind my contact information. If you have any issues, you just have to look for me.”
Uncle Dong was a chatterbox and pulled Lin Yuan closer before starting to inquire about his life.
In regards to this sudden concern, Lin Yuan rubbed the back of his head and felt a little exhausted when dealing with it.
All of a sudden, the woman coughed lightly, and Uncle Dong immediately stopped talking. He then turned around in embarrassment.
“Lin Yuan, this is a gift from your Uncle Li.”
Lin Yuan received the box and thanked her. The woman immediately shook her hand and said gently, “Just call me Auntie Su.”
Lin Yuan nodded and greeted her appropriately.
At that moment, Uncle Dong was so shocked that his jaws nearly dropped. “Old Su, I didn’t think that you were a person with feelings!” he exclaimed.
Before he could finish, he received a cold glare and didn’t dare to continue speaking.
When Auntie Su noticed that Lin Yuan was going to keep the box, she said, “Open the box now and take a look inside. I will tell you what it is. It is something very precious.”
Lin Yuan responded by opening the box and saw a sphere, which was the size of a big toe, embedded in the center of the box.
Lin Yuan picked up the sphere and took a closer look but wasn’t able to identify it. However, from its appearance, it looked like a dried-up plant’s seed.
“It was exchanged for the merits of your father, mother, Auntie Zhang, and Uncle Li. It is a Source Seed.”
Lin Yuan felt a lashing pain in his heart first before a trace of warmth replaced it. “Auntie Su, what is a Source Seed?” he asked.
Auntie Su didn’t explain immediately. Instead, she asked Lin Yuan, “Do you know how dimensional rifts are sealed?”
Lin Yuan shook his head.
“A dimensional rift may produce an alien beast wave, but it is also a treasure trove. This Source Seed was extracted from a Class 2 dimensional rift. The opening of a dimensional rift produces source-type items. If one extracts the Source Seed, the dimensional rift will lose its ability to produce source-type items and close. There are all sorts of source-type items, and the Source Seed in your hand is one of them.”
Lin Yuan observed the Source Seed but couldn’t find anything special. It looked just like a piece of hardened lump that was dark green in color.
“This Source Seed is very suitable for you. You cannot sense spirit qi and have weak spiritual energy, so you cannot form contracts with feys. This Source Seed only requires fresh blood to nurture it. In other words, it can form contracts with humans without the need for spirit qi and spiritual energy.”
Finally, Lin Yuan learned about the Source Seed’s function!