Chapters released every Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Saturday!
AUTHOR NOTE:
Artefact and Artifact is the same word, however Artefact is the British spelling and Artifact is the American spelling. Sorry for the confusion.

The Past And The Future
“Chen Yun, you are a disgrace to this whole family and its generations before! Therefore, as the head of this family, you are hereby expelled from the Chen Family and must live out the rest of your life without the name Chen!”

Chen Yun looked at the man in front of him, his big stature and menacing appearance might cause many to be in fright when they come in contact with this man.

However, this man isn’t a stranger towards Chen Yun. This man is his father, Chen Long.

Chen Long was the head of the infamous Chen Family of Beijing, they control most of China’s shipping industry, and has created countless individuals considered as the new head of their generation.

He had only one son and one daughter, his daughter was a child and therefore he had unrequited love for his daughter, despite his cold demeanour. However, Chen Yun his only son, the kid who will take over the throne after he is gone from this world; was a disgrace to his eyes.

Chen Yun didn’t have any good qualities, he couldn’t lead nor had the charisma to do so. He was a quiet child who was bullied constantly throughout his school years. By the age of seventeen, he still was someone that Chen Long considered to be weak and feeble.

However, his wife, Yang Su loved Chen Yun nonetheless, and although Chen Long hates his son, he must accept him as part of the family or else, the Su family will not partner with them.

One day, an incident occurred when the young miss of the Lin family was sexually harassed by someone.

This hooded person was identified to be 17 years of age, and had a cut across his neck.

Although the identity of the hooded person was not found, Chen Long had decided to plant all the evidence on his son ‘Chen Yun’ so that the next in line was someone worthier.

Chen Yun was his flesh and blood, but Chen Long did not care. He only wished for the Chen Family to rise up as the most powerful family in Beijing.

In the middle of the night, as an inspector, sent from the Lin family, came to check the Chen Family’s grounds to see if the perpetrator was here, Chen Long ordered someone to leave a scar on Chen Yun’s neck, whilst he was asleep.

The inspector was someone that the Lin family had asked to help, but little did they know that the inspector was someone the Chen Family had a good relationship with, and was ordered to plant everything on Chen Yun.

When Chen Yun woke up he was taken to a room with countless people from both the Chen and the Lin family, except for the daughters of each family. Chen Yun’s mother, father, the head of Lin family and his wife were present.

He knew he was set up the second he was told, before he could speak, his mother screamed.

“SHUT UP! I CARED AND LOVED YOU LIKE A SON YET YOU DO THIS? HOW DARE YOU!”

Chen Yun loved his mother, from childhood to now she has never hated him for anything and believed him for any wrong doing others did to him.

In the dark world he lived in, his mother was his light and hope.

Now that she has abandoned him, he had no one left. His heart shattered when he heard this, he was sentenced to banishment, as the Lin family had decided to then stop the charges.

He left the Chen Family in embarrassment, with no family and money in hand, he travelled to Shanghai.

He was left on the streets of Shanghai alone, sleeping in alleyways he had resigned to his fate. However, one fateful night occurred.

As Chen Yun was pickpocketing for money so that he could eat, he met a strange old man with a fedora.

His teeth, although a few lost was filled with shine as if the gods were shining upon it.

The old man stared at Chen Yun and laughed like a mad man for a while, and after a brief talk on who Chen Yun was and why he was there, the old man gave Chen Yun a ultimatum.

“Young man, you truly are a forsaken child! But I got a deal that perhaps you might want…”

“Come work for me! A contract between me and you for 10 years. After 10 years of service with all the money you earn from this you can start a proper life from then on. Agreed?”

The contract, and the bind between an old man and the former Chen heir was created. For the next 10 years, Chen Yun had taken the old mans last name, Sky, and became a man many feared across the underworld known as the ‘Lonely Swordsman’, a man who took no mission as  a group and killed countless with the blade he acquired from the old man years ago.

Sky Yun wakes up after the long dream, his flashbacks were a daily occurrence with most being bad and a few being good. This sort of life he had chose was something that perhaps both saved… and cursed his life.

He then got up from his bed and had a shower, he packed his bags and headed towards Shanghai’s University to check out the coffee shop for sale.

As soon as he arrived after leaving his bags at a hotel near the university, he was then approached by an elderly couple.

“Are you the young man that wishes to buy our shop?”

The old man asked, with a weak voice.

After years of experience in the field, he learnt to tell if someone is dying. The old man, although able to talk had only a few months to live and the wife beside who also seemed to have a few months to live.

“Yes, please tell me the price of this shop”

He went straight to the point; Sky Yun took out a notepad and pen whilst waiting for the offer.

“50,000 RMB, young man can you afford this price?”

“Yes, here is a cheque.”

The old man was at first shocked to see a man in his late twenties being able to afford such a pricey shop.

Without explaining, he then took out the cheque and the elderly couple took off.

All the furniture and other items within the shop before were taken out leaving an empty shop with nothing in it.

Sky Yun had hundreds of millions in his bank from countless missions. Some wish to spend it on luxury and others useful items, but Sky Yun did not spend much at all. His food and clothes were relatively cheap and his weapons were given to him by the old man.

With the amount of savings, he has acquired, he could buy a huge skyscraper, refurbish it and still have money left.

Sky Yun looked at the future coffee shop and remembered that this is his new life from now on. He removed the scarf he has never taken off when outside, and revealed a tattoo across his neck with a quote written on it, in a unique font.

‘Alone in the dark world’

Something he had made during his first mission, he felt he was alone in the dark world and perhaps he still is today.

Perhaps that could change one day.

Perhaps… One day