Fortuneteller Baba's Invitation

In the days after the pottery shards were stored in the tool shed, the training rhythm at Kame House remained undisturbed. Morning runs, swimming, the Gravity Room, carrying stones—these activities unfolded one after another at fixed times each day like the tide. Lin Chen felt his physical condition steadily improving. His breathing was deeper and more stable than when he had first arrived, and each day, after finishing his final set and standing in the yard to regulate his breathing, he could feel his body recovering from exertion faster than before.

That afternoon, he had just stepped out of the Gravity Room and was standing in the yard loosening his shoulders when he heard the roar of an engine from behind the house. The sound drew closer, lingered in the air above Kame House for a moment, then gradually faded, as if it had already landed. He rounded the corner and saw a small aircraft parked in the clearing behind the house. It was not Bulma's. Its body was older, with several patches on the outer shell, and most of the paint on its tail fin had peeled away, revealing the metal beneath.

The cabin door opened, and a small man in a tall hat jumped down. His eyes beneath the brim swiftly swept over the surroundings. He was slight and nimble, dressed in a dusty gray short jacket with bulging pockets whose contents were impossible to make out. He walked up to Lin Chen, pulled a folded sheet of paper from his inner pocket, and skipped any needless pleasantries. "Baba asked me to deliver this."

Lin Chen took the paper and unfolded it for a glance. A single line was written on it in crooked, thick strokes, the ink slightly bled as if it had been written with overly concentrated ink: "Come to the Dueling Arena. There's something I want to show you." The signature was a symbol that looked like a simple pattern made of a few lines.

Krillin happened to emerge from the tool shed. He saw the message, then glanced at the messenger. "An invitation from the Dueling Arena?"

The messenger nodded. "Baba said you'd come." He said nothing more, turned and returned to the aircraft. The engine started again, and once the craft lifted off, it flew eastward, soon vanishing near the horizon. After it disappeared, the yard returned to silence, leaving only a faint lingering echo of the wind stirred up by the engine as it passed over the roof.

Lin Chen folded the letter and slipped it into his pocket. Master Roshi came over from beneath the porch and said, "Fortuneteller Baba doesn't often seek people out on her own. Since she went out of her way to write a letter, she must really have something to discuss. It's fine for you two to go."

Krillin said, "Let's go tomorrow. We'll head out after our morning run. It won't interfere with training."

The next morning, after completing their daily training, Lin Chen and Krillin walked east along the coastline for about an hour. After passing through a stretch of low bushes, they saw a building ahead, constructed on a gentle slope. Its blue-gray brick walls were more than half covered in vines. An old wooden sign hung above the entrance, its carved lettering weathered and blurred by wind and rain, though still recognizable.

The two entered. The interior was more spacious than it appeared from outside. At the end of the corridor, the space opened out to either side, forming a semicircular hall. Fortuneteller Baba sat in the center on a broad old wooden chair, wearing a dark purple robe and holding a hooked cane. She raised the cane and pointed it at Lin Chen. "You've come." Her voice carried a smile, but her eyes did not.

Lin Chen stopped before her. Fortuneteller Baba leaned back in her chair. "I had that kid deliver the letter because you've been looking for things lately—maps, pottery shards, whatever lies beneath that old outpost. I have something acquired from the desert direction. It may be from the same period as the fragments you dug up."

She turned sideways, picked up a flat wooden case from beside her chair, and placed it on her lap. Opening the clasp, she revealed a broken pottery shard inside. It was darker than the ones excavated from the outpost, and a clear scratch marked its edge, as though it had been carved by a hard object. Lin Chen saw that the curve of the scratch resembled the markings on the stone slab in the tool shed.

"Take it back and compare it. See if it matches." Fortuneteller Baba handed him the wooden case.

Lin Chen accepted the case, confirming the shard's position and color before closing the lid. At the same moment he took it, a brief warmth passed through his fingertips, identical to the sensation he had felt when picking up the earlier fragments, but more fleeting, as though it had cut off the instant contact was made.

[Ding! Pottery shard information recorded. Current Ancient Cultural Knowledge: 4%.]

"No need to thank me." Fortuneteller Baba waved a hand. "Just bring me something next time you come. I know you've been training lately, so strength isn't what you lack."

Lin Chen put away the wooden case. "Thank you, Baba."

When he turned and walked out of the hall, Krillin was already waiting outside. Their shadows merged beneath the afternoon sun, forming a broad, short double silhouette. The wooden case in his hand gave off a soft dark gleam in the sunlight, its grain appearing deeper under the light, its surface faintly reflective.

On the way back, wind blew in from the sea, stirring a few dead leaves as they neared the coastline. Lin Chen walked in front, feeling the wooden case gently sway in his backpack with every step. Far out on the water, a fishing boat was passing by, the flag atop its mast unfurling in the wind. The salty scent in the air was slightly stronger than before, and in the distance, the coastline slowly stretched out beneath the afternoon sun like an endless edge.

After returning to Kame House, Lin Chen placed the wooden case on a shelf in the tool shed beside the earlier pottery shards. Standing before the shelf, he casually adjusted the gap between the case and the shards while putting them away, arranging everything more neatly. Sunlight slanted in through the high window and fell across the surface of the shards. Under the light, the scratch looked deeper than before.