Elf: I'm Just a Commentator

【Thank you, grandpa~】(っ?Ι`)っ

"My little rascal is always so mischievous. He likes to run off to play all the time. I was a little worried when I couldn't find him for a moment and was thinking of going out to look for him. I really appreciate it if you could bring him back."

Lin Xuan didn't say much about finding Pipi, just gave a brief account and then moved on.

Then Lin Xuan started talking about serious matters.

"My teacher asked me to come here to pick up something..."

"Oh, that one, it's here. I originally thought he would come by himself, but he called later and said he sent a student over."

The old man opened the drawer next to him, took out a wooden box, placed it on the table, and locked it.

"Don't underestimate this thing; it's not so easy to open without a key."

"What about the key?" Lin Xuan couldn't help but ask. After all, she couldn't just take a locked box back with her, could she?

"The key is with your teacher; you can just take it back with you."

新年 快乐

It will be 2023 in three hours! Happy New Year to everyone!

On such a joyous occasion, I'll be canceling a little bit. I hope you all won't mind.

Yes, definitely not.

See you next year, everyone!

§(*￣▽￣*)§

Chapter continues (Happy New Year! I'm back from the dead!)

Why is the key with the teacher?

Lin Xuan couldn't help but feel a little curious, because the box wasn't at Jinhui Dojo; her teacher had specifically instructed her to come and retrieve it. The box itself wasn't there, but the key was with her teacher, which seemed rather strange.

"Because this box and its contents originally belonged to your Jinhui Dojo, I'm just temporarily keeping them here."

The old man waved his hand casually, then spoke to Lin Xuan.

"It was originally part of Jinhui Taekwondo Academy?"

"Oh, right, to thank you for bringing my belt back for me, I'll give you a gift too!"

The old man seemed to remember something, walked to the side, and then began rummaging through boxes and cabinets, searching for something, though it was unclear what he was looking for.

Lin Xuan naturally stopped him immediately, since he hadn't saved Pipi for any reward.

"No need, bringing Pipi back was just something I did on the spur of the moment, there's no need for that."

"No, Pipi is my precious darling, and it's not even anything that valuable... Let me look again!"

The old man continued searching as he spoke. Seeing his persistence, Lin Xuan didn't stop him. After all, if the old man couldn't find it after searching for so long, it probably wasn't anything valuable, so it shouldn't be a problem for him to accept it.

"Phew~ Found it, it must have been left here by Pipi when he was playing with it."

The old man finally found what he wanted under a cabinet, then pulled it out and blew on it a few times before handing it to Lin Xuan to remove the dust.

Lin Xuan's lips twitched when she saw this. It seemed that it really wasn't anything valuable... Oh well, she wasn't here for that anyway.

Thinking this to himself, Lin Xuan poured himself another glass of water; he was indeed extremely thirsty.

Before Lin Xuan could think about it, the old man placed the stone-like object on the table in front of him.

“Pipi found this by accident when she went out to play. It looks like some kind of fossil, but I don’t know anything about these things and I don’t know what it is. If you’re interested, you can look it up yourself.”

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Lin Xuan almost coughed up the water she had just drunk.

Fossils? Pokémon fossils?

"Pokémon fossils?"

"Maybe so, but I don't know much about this. You can look it up yourself."

The old man said somewhat nonchalantly that Pipi had kept this thing there ever since he found it. Its main use was as a ball for him to play with. Other than that, this thing was quite sturdy and wouldn't break no matter how many times it was dropped.

In other words, Lin Xuan is not a professional in this field. Otherwise, if those researchers saw someone throwing what looked like a Pokémon fossil around like a ball, they would probably be so angry that they would spit out a mouthful of blood and perform a full-power "blood spitting" skill.

"This is too expensive. I can't accept it."

Lin Xuan decisively shook her head. If it were just an ordinary fossil, that would be fine, but if it were a Pokémon fossil, its value would be much higher. Especially if it were a living fossil…

Currently, the technology for fossil resurrection is not yet widely available, but as a senior researcher, Lin Xuan still knows some inside information and is already conducting research, even achieving considerable results.

However, the success rate seems worrying. Even if a large number of living and precious fossils are thrown in, it is not certain whether one can be revived. Therefore, it has not been announced. To improve the success rate, experiments need to continue, and living ancient fossils are naturally indispensable.

Fossils are divided into two types: those that are still alive and those that have completely lost their life force.

The former has the potential to be resurrected, retaining some ancient genes, while the latter is simply a collectible; the value of the two is incomparable.

"It's okay. Don't think I don't know anything just because I live in the mountains. This thing might be worth some money, but it's useless to me. Only Pipi uses it as a ball to play with. I don't need it either, so I'm giving it to you."

The old man seemed very carefree. Anyway, he wasn't short of money, otherwise he would have sold the thing long ago. He lived in the mountains not because he was poor, but simply because he liked peace and quiet.

"This……"

"Take it."

Lin Xuan wasn't a pretentious person. Since the other party clearly didn't care about the value of the fossil, he didn't need to think about it any further and simply accepted it.

"Thank you very much."

"I should be thanking you. My little Pi is much more important than any fossil."

At the old man's warm invitation, Lin Xuan stayed in the small house for a while longer and took a look at the fossils.

Lin Xuan himself didn't know much about fossils, but... he had a phone! Couldn't he just take a picture and search for some information?

Each fossil will naturally look completely different from the one in the game, but fossils of the same species will have some similarities, and you can still distinguish them if you look closely.

"This looks like... a skull fossil or a shield fossil?"

After a quick search, Lin Xuan concluded that the colors and shapes were similar, but he couldn't see anything more. He wasn't an expert in the field, but Jinhui City seemed to have a relevant agency, so he could just send it there for testing.

"may be."

The old man seemed unconcerned, and even picked up his teacup to take a sip of hot tea, as if it were more important than the fossil in front of him.

Lin Xuan knew that the old man really didn't care about the fossil. He guessed that even if it were a real living fossil, he would probably react the same way. So he put the fossil away and turned to look at the box.

Do you know what's inside this?

Lin Xuan noticed a detail: although the old man didn't care about the fossil at all, and even treated it like a toy, he had found it under the cabinet before.

But before this, the box had been carefully kept in a drawer. The old man's attitude towards the two was completely different, which made Lin Xuan curious about what was inside.

"Want to know?"

The old man sipped his tea while opening one eye to look at Lin Xuan.

"Yes!" Lin Xuan nodded decisively, but the old man's next words left Lin Xuan speechless.

"Go back and ask your teacher. If he's willing to tell you, you'll naturally find out."

"..."

"Since your teacher allowed you to pick this up, it means they trust you a lot. They'll probably tell you if you ask. But I still want to keep it a secret, so I won't say anything."

Lin Xuan felt that the old man probably didn't know his situation. After all, although he was a disciple of Jinhui Martial Arts Academy, he could only be considered half a disciple. If the information inside was really confidential, Luo Guan might not have told him.

As for the issue of trust... Luo Guan certainly trusts himself, but probably not in the way the old man thinks, but rather from his other identities.

Of course, if Lin Xuan is willing to become a formal disciple of Jinhui Dojo, then everything will be different, since he would be the next dojo master of Jinhui Dojo!

After sitting for a while longer, Lin Xuan felt that it was about time, so she bid farewell to the old man.

"I need to go back to the dojo to give the things to my teacher, so I'll be leaving now."

After greeting the old man, Lin Xuan prepared to leave, and the old man did not stop her, but simply waved his hand, since it was indeed getting dark.

Those who live here know their own situation. Once night falls, there are no buses running at all, making it quite troublesome to leave.

After leaving the cabin, Lin Xuan returned the way she came and called her teacher, Luo Guan.

"Hello, teacher, I've received the box you requested," Lin Xuan said directly after the call connected.

"Are we only arriving now?" After saying this, Luo Guan's voice paused for a few seconds, seemingly checking the time, before turning to Lin Xuan and saying:

"Come back quickly, it's getting late."

"Mainly, something happened on my way here..." Lin Xuan didn't keep Luo Guan in suspense and directly told him about what had just happened and the pit below.

"Is there a pit at the bottom of Qingming Mountain?"

Contrary to Lin Xuan's expectations, Luo Guan did not show the surprise one might expect. Instead, he appeared quite calm, as if lost in some kind of memory.

"teacher?"

Hearing no response from Luo Guan's side for a long time, Lin Xuan couldn't help but call out to remind him.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just remembered something. You don't need to worry too much about the situation there. My teacher took me there once. I almost forgot there was such a place if you hadn't mentioned it."