The Eastern Continent Swordsman

84. An Invitation

That night, for the first time after all these years Shen Shen heard the word again in his ear. When Zhou Fu mentioned the word ‘Shufashen’, Shen Shen immediately covered his mouth with both hands as a sign that he was quite surprised by what Zhou Fu said.

“How, how did you find that term?” Shen Shen asked curiously.

“Jawab first my question, what do you know about Shufa...”.

Shen Shen immediately covered Zhou Fu with one hand. The girl turned to her right and left as if she could see if anyone else had heard their conversation.

“Ssst! Don't say the forbidden word on the Caihong mainland! It is a taboo and don't try to ask someone you don't know about it! Yes, although there are only quite a few people who consider it as a forbidden word, because not many know about it!”

“Don't babble much, you haven't even answered my question,” Zhou Fu squinted looking a little annoyed.

“Listen to me, I remember first finding the word in an ancient book in the library. The book had eroded with age, so there were some details of the information I didn't understand. When I asked my teacher the word, my teacher immediately grabbed the book with a face of wrath. At that time I was seven years old, I was dragged into a shower and my mouth washed many times for saying dirty words!”

“You mean…

“Stop, I'm not done yet! Even though I was very young back then, I had promised to keep a shred of my memory of Shufashen. In some pages that did not erode the age I had time to read if Shufashen is the rarest relic in the civilization of the history of the Eastern Continent. It is said that Shufashen can exist in several forms, have symbols, and not everyone understands the symbols in Shufashen. I'm not finished yet!” Shen Shen stuck his index finger into his own mouth to signal Zhou Fu to remain silent and listen.

“As a child who aspires to be a historian, I never want to believe that Shufashen is something that is despicable and dirty, as my teacher said. History is a legacy, whether it's good, whether it's bad, I think both are equally valuable. History is like a memory in the head, each of us has good memories and bad memories. In fact, human beings tend to be faster to be able to take lessons from anything bad,” Shen Shen gulped, he seemed to want to talk quite a lot in one go. Zhou Fu showed a patient expression to give Shen Shen the impression that he remained faithful to Shen Shen's rant.

“If Shufashen is considered a bad history, a despicable one, which they then try to obliterate the remains, they have all harmed history. I, who was seven years old at the time, had at least promised to restore history as it should be. History is a treasure for our children and grandchildren, the best treasure that must be inherited is honesty. Do you have the heart to pass on the treasures that have been manipulated to your grandchildren?” Shen Shen asked back.

“Now that's not the point, Miss Historian! I know you're excited about history, but that's not what I want right now. In short, what do you know about Shufashen?”

“Luzon Sea!”

“What did you say?” Zhou Fu asked back in shock.

“I told you, Luzon Sea! The only detail I remember from that ancient book is that there is a connection between the Luzon Sea and Shufashen. That's why I spent a lot of my time studying any book that contained information about the Luzon Sea. For I could find no more bright spots about Shufashen, so I learned about the Luzon Sea as the ancient books had mentioned it was related to Shufashen!”

“So, there's something about Shufashen inside the Sinking Civilization, so?” Zhou Fu began to recall the details of his memories as he entered the Luzon Sea.

“Yes. But we've been there, haven't we? And it looks like we didn't find anything about Shufashen, when it was actually my main goal to take you there!”

“Wait! You remember, there was something missing from the Luzon Sea, something that the Seven Troops of Bingdao had guarded. Do you think the missing thing is Shufashen?” Zhou Fu asked Shen Shen with an enthusiastic face, of course he remembered when he found the last scroll in the third Lotus Flower Pavilion.

“I thought about it, but seeing how difficult it was to come to the area, I thought the scroll thief must not be a random person! So, I guess…

“Wait, you said that Civilization Drowning in the Luzon Sea is most likely a civilization that was deliberately submerged, then Shufashen is a detail of information that wants to be removed from history. Are these two things not related to each other? Maybe we can head to Luzon sea again to get information, ah I mean, I can go there again for that!”

“You want to go there again? Wasn't the last time you were there pretty bad? You were even like a half-corpse man back then!” shen Shen's brows furrowed. According to Shen Shen, if Zhou Fu was still sane, Zhou Fu would no longer need to visit the place.

“At least now I have Haku. I can save a lot of energy if I have to go around looking for something in the ancient ruins,” Zhou Fu replied confidently, Zhou Fu deliberately did not tell Shen Shen if he could read Shufashen and also did not tell the girl if Haku had symbols on his feet that only Zhou Fu could read. This he did to avoid Shen Shen Shen's enthusiasm that might rise again, and make him want to travel again with Zhou Fu. After all, the safest place for Shen Shen was his own home.

“What do you mean, I can't possibly invite a noble girl to wander in the wild like that!”

“What do you mean? Can you travel alone? You are even illiterate until now, who will read you if at any time you find writing that you cannot read?” Shen Shen advanced his chin, as if challenging Zhou Fu's ability in that regard.

A second later Zhou Fu only realized his annoying weakness. He then snorted inwardly and confirmed what Shen Shen said. A person who is illiterate will definitely find many obstacles and obstacles if traveling alone.

“Sial! By the way, can I take a special class at the Nobles school to learn Read Write? Is anyone willing to accept a student of my age for a reading basics lesson?” Zhou Fu asked as he scratched his non-itchy cheek, a sense of annoyance surfaced in his head.

When Shen Shen was about to answer Zhou Fu's question, he fell silent for a moment as he saw Jing's bodyguards coming in shock from the opposite direction.

“Young Master... Young Master... Ah, here Master turns out!” The Jing Guards who came running, seemed to pause for a moment to catch their breath. It seemed like the man had been running around for quite some time before.

“Jing's bodyguard, why are you so excited?” Zhou Fu approached Jing's bodyguard who was indeed looking for him.

“Master, this is a deposit for Mr!” jing's bodyguard thrust a brown scroll at Zhou Fu, leaving Zhou Fu stunned for a moment after receiving it.

“Tipan? For me? From whom?”

“Isn't it an official roll from the Central Caihong Government?” Shen Shen asked Jing's bodyguard, as the scroll Zhou Fu received seemed to have indeed come from the central government.

“Yes, Miss Shen. A messenger came to the inn to leave this scroll to Young Master Zhou,” Guards Jing replied still breathlessly.

“Try me to see what it is,” Shen Shen reached out his hand, asking Zhou Fu to give the scroll to him.

“This,” Zhou Fu replied briefly while his mind wandered into various possibilities. Zhou Fu recalled what Yang Zi had said about the challenge arena at the Maundo gate. Is the letter related to that? He hesitated a little.

“Any, how do they know all your traces.” Shen Shen held his own chin, wondering how could his government know so much about Zhou Fu.

“Indeed, what is the content of the roll?” Zhou Fu asked curiously, along with that, Guards Jing resigned herself because she was worried that her existence was undesirable in the session. After Jing's bodyguard disappeared from sight, Shen Shen stared fixedly at Zhou Fu.

“You got an award invitation from the Caihong government! You were even promoted to an important position in the Caihong Military Center!” shen Shen replied in almost a bit of disbelief.

“What? Why can that be?”

“It is explained here that the Caihong Government appreciates the work of a young man named Zhou Fu who has confronted Shamo's troupe of warriors who want to smuggle toxic resources to Caihong. Then, you are also said to have been instrumental in saving the citizens on Yimin Island, eradicating some criminal groups near the port of Dengguang, and lastly, the government is very grateful that you killed Wei Sihao.” Shen Shen still looked quite astonished by the contents of the scroll.

“What if I refuse to attend?” Zhou Fu asked briefly.

“Unfortunately, even though this is an invitation for an award, anyone has no right not to come if they have been invited by the government. You don't want to come?” Shen Shen tilted his face, like peeking at Zhou Fu's worried face.

Zhou Fu himself suspected that the invitation was nothing but a trap. He smelled the air of decay behind the invitation of the award. Didn't what Patriarch Yuan Kai said now become very real? Patriarch Yuan Kai once said that the Caihong government would do everything possible to capture warriors who they thought were strong enough to be eliminated.