Multiverse Farming System - Chapter 8 - What His Parents Left Behind

Lin Yong stared at the man again. He was sure they’d never met before. Heck, Lin Yong hadn’t even met anyone of mixed parentage his whole life, yet the man knew his name and the bar.

The man continued, “My name is Warren Zhang, and I have something for you. It’s from your parents.”

Something exploded in Lin Yong’s mind. He has my folks’ stuff? Could this mean they’re alive? And they sent this guy here to give me their stuff?

Lin Yong hadn’t heard names like Warren before, but he didn’t care. He stammered, “W-Where’re my folks? Why – why didn’t they come to me themselves? Why’d they sent you instead?”

Warren stared at Lin Yong. “Your parents have been missing for 15 years.”

Furious, Lin Yong snapped, “But you said they sent you!”

“I did not say that.” Warren was a little resigned. “Your parents didn’t send me. I found something that belonged to them, and I brought them here. To you.”

Lin Yong’s face fell. “Who are you?”

A smile cracked Warren’s lips. “Ol’ Warren, that’s who. Your grandfather hired me to find your folks.”

This is disappointing. Lin Yong thought he finally had news of his parents, yet it was nothing but a false alarm. He tried to compose himself, and he took a seat. “Get us a couple of Bloody Marys, Ya.”

Lin Yong looked at Warren. “So you’re saying you went into the ancient site my parents got into and found their… belongings?”

Warren shook his head. “I did not find their remains, if that’s what you’re trying to ask. But I did find a satchel. I’m sure it belonged to your parents.” Warren took out a satchel the size of two palms from his own bag.

Lin Yong took it from him. The letters LQ and YZ were embroidered in red, and a red heart sat in the center of the bag. They were the acronyms of Lin Yong’s folks’ names: Lin Qing, and Ying Zhao. The heart was their family’s signature emblem. This was his parents’ satchel.

He opened it up, but there wasn’t a lot of items inside. There was a packet of napkins and two other, more bizarre objects. One was a transparent cube with a drop of crimson liquid inside. It looked suspiciously like blood, and the liquid was slowly flowing around. There was an air of oddity surrounding the droplet.

The other item was something akin to a coin. A green bronze coin. The words ‘Spirit Whisperer’ was engraved on its front, while its back was a miniature depiction of nature’s marvels.

Warren piped up. “You can stop now. I’ve sought out a lot of people on my quest to crack the mystery of these items, but they came up with nothing. Doesn’t feel like anything from our world, that’s for sure.” He then told Lin Yong about the results of his investigation on the items in the satchel.

The cube was hard as diamond and impossible to open. That droplet inside could be blood, but there was no way it was human blood. It was passed through a molecular detector, and the blood showed a high level of activity. A level no human blood could possess.

And that coin could be an emblem, but its structure was too sophisticated for any machine to decipher. Warren continued, “Maybe your folks had these all along, or they probably found them in the site. Either way, these trinkets belonged to them, so I brought them to you. Your grandfather did spend millions for my services, after all.”

Lin Yong looked at Warren. “Are you sure you do not have any clues about my parents’ whereabouts?”

Warren shook his head. “Technically, I had a lead, but then your parents disappeared into thin air, or so I deduced. The trail went cold. It’s really a bizarre affair.”

Lin Yong nodded. “Thank you.”

“It’s my job.”

The booze was served. Lin Yong took a swig in silence, the burning sensation of Bloody Mary spreading across his chest.

He did resent his parents. Lin Yong’s folks were archeologists. He was only ten when they made up their minds to go on that trip to Africa. Lin Yong’s grandfather objected to it, or at least he didn’t want them to go together.

But they went against his wishes and departed for the site, and they never came back. They left Lin Yong and Lin Yongcheng behind. Lin Yong couldn’t believe it when news of his parents’ disappearance came back.

He would wait for them at Parasol Avenue’s entryway when he came back from school every day. For three months he waited. And then one day, it rained. Lin Yong was drenched and fell sick.

His grandfather gave him a call, and Lin Yong stopped waiting for his parents. Lin Yongcheng said, “Yong, I know they aren’t coming back, but you still have me. You can’t leave me behind too.” And the old man cried. He cried like a child who was going to be abandoned by his family.

Lin Yong cried too. Since that day onward, he swore never to mention his parents. Not after what they did. He wouldn’t even think about them.

Warren guzzled his Bloody Mary down. “Time to leave. Drinks on your tab?”

“Sure.” Lin Yong nodded.

Warren saddled his oversized bag and left the bar. Lin Yong finished his booze, cleared the table, and went upstairs. He opened up the satchel again and held the bizarre items in his hands.

And then everything turned freezing cold. Even the air itself seemed to come to a halt. There was something dark here. Lin Yong raised his head, but what he saw almost made him scream.

A creature stood before Lin Yong. It was humanoid, but that … thing was covered in blood, its limbs twisted in unnatural angles. It was a ghost, it would seem.

The ghost was staring at Lin Yong, dazed. It pointed at the emblem, gurgling, “Want that …”

Lin Yong steadied his palpitating heart. “You want this?”

“Want that…”

Lin Yong held up the emblem and walked ahead. The ghost quickly extended its mangled arm, touching the emblem. And then an expression of comfort filled its face. Touching the emblem seemed to bring it a soothing sensation.

And something else happened. A wave of mysterious energy flowed through Lin Yong’s body. It was numbing, like a minor current of electricity. Lin Yong wondered what it was.

He pulled his hand and the emblem back from the ghost. The ghost put on a look of displeasure. “Want that …” And it even pouted.

Must’ve been a gorgeous young lady in life. Wonder why she died. And this is one horrible death, too. Maybe she was tortured before she died.

Lin Yong was about to tuck the items into his storage space, but then a silhouette darted closer. It tried to take the cube away from Lin Yong, but he wouldn’t let it be taken away. This was the only thing his parents left for him.

He quickly tucked the items into his storage space, but when the silhouette took note of the cube’s disappearance, it clutched Lin Yong’s neck. “Tell me where that cube it. Hand it over, or I will kill you.”

The intruder’s grip was getting tighter with every passing moment. Lin Yong was starting to suffocate, gasping for air.