Chapter 38 – Mysterious Old Man (1/2)
After they came to an agreement, they continued on their journey while riding the grey wolf. However, they didn’t get along so naturally with each other as they’d done in the past. If Yang Ye didn’t speak, then the woman would absolutely not speak before him, and Yang Ye was slightly helpless towards this.
Something worthy of mentioning was that Yang Ye’s cultivation had improved. He’d arrived at the eighth rank of the Mortal Realm from the seventh rank. As for the reason for his sudden improvement, according to Yang Ye’s guess, it was probably because of the effect of that Union Fruit. However, he wasn’t sure, and he wanted to ask the woman behind him about it, yet he was afraid it would cause the atmosphere between them to be embarra.s.sing. So, he could only bury this question in his heart.
The two of them traveled for over four hours, traversed a few small mountains, and arrived near a mountain. It was a ramrod straight mountain that stood before them, and it shot into the clouds. They were utterly unable to lay eyes upon its peak while they gazed up from the ground.
“There’s a house over there!” Suddenly, Yang Ye looked towards the foot of the mountain, and he pointed at a cottage in the distance while his voice carried pleasant surprise in it.
As she gazed at the cottage, the white clothed woman frowned. However, she didn’t stop Yang Ye from rus.h.i.+ng over there. Even though she felt that something was slightly off about it, they didn’t have any other way to leave this place now.
The two of them had just arrived at the cottage when they saw the cottage door open slowly, and then a hunched old man in a tattered black robe walked out from within.
The old man was very old, extremely old, and this was Yang Ye’s first impression upon laying eyes on the old man. The old man’s face was covered in wrinkles, and he only had a few strands of hair on his head, so it wasn’t going too far to call the old man bald. The old man supported himself with a walking stick and walked slowly as if a gust of wind could push him down.
A wisp of surprise flashed in the old man’s eyes upon laying eyes on Yang Ye and the white clothed woman, yet his gaze quickly recovered to normal, and then he supported himself with the walking stick as he walked slowly towards Yang Ye and the woman.
When he saw this, Yang Ye suppressed the shock in his heart and hurriedly got off the wolf to greet the old man. He bowed to the old man and said, “Senior, the two of us fell down Death Abyss, and we arrived here by chance. May I know who Senior is?”
Even though the old man before him seemed to be terrifyingly weak, Yang Ye had no choice but to be careful. Because this old man was actually staying beneath Death Abyss, so how could he be an ordinary person?
When he saw Yang Ye act so politely, the old man’s wrinkled face revealed a trace of a gentle smile. Suddenly, his eyes opened wide, and he seemed to have seen something unbelievable. He stared at Yang Ye for a short while before he withdrew his gaze and said, “It has already been many years since someone has come here! Since both of you were able to arrive here, then it can be considered to be fate. Wait a moment!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the old man supported himself with the walking stick and turned around before walking into the cottage.
As he gazed at the old man, Yang Ye turned around to look at the white clothed woman that had already arrive by his side, and he said, “Qings.h.i.+, are you able to see through his strength?”
After that had occurred, the woman was unable to endure Yang Ye’s repeated requests and told him her name.
Su Qings.h.i.+ glanced at Yang Ye. Obviously, she wasn’t used to Yang Ye addressing her in this way. However, she wasn’t opposed to it as well. She went silent for a short while before she shook her head and said, “I feel that he’s just like us, and his cultivation had been sealed. He’s an ordinary person. However, there also seems to be something off about him!”
Yang Ye was just about to say something when the old man walked out once more from within the cottage. However, at this moment, there were a black colored scroll and a pair of bracelets that flickered with a multicolored glow in his hand.
While Yang Ye was bewildered by this, the old man had already arrived before them, and he blew off the dust on the black scroll in his hand before pa.s.sing it to Yang Ye. He said, “After allowing dust to pile up on it for so long, it took me some time to find it. I noticed you train in the sword, and this ‘Sword Control Technique’ ought to be of use to you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he gazed at the white clothed woman by Yang Ye’s side and said, “Since you’re his Dao Companion, then it wouldn’t be good for me to allow you to return empty handed. I’ll give this pair of Illusory Crystal Bracelets to you!”
“I’m not his Dao Companion!” Su Qings.h.i.+’s brows raised. If this old man didn’t seem like he was halfway into the coffin, she would have probably made a move against him.
Yang Ye was afraid a conflict would arise between Su Qings.h.i.+ and the old man, so he hurriedly stood in front of the old man and bowed to the old man before he said, “Senior, there are no gains without pains. We’ve only just met for the first time, yet you’ve given us such presents. This….”
Yang Ye and Su Qings.h.i.+ both hadn’t accepted the presents because this old man before them was too strange, and he’d given them presents upon meeting them. So, how could Yang Ye dare to accept the presents?
The old man glanced at the angry Su Qings.h.i.+, and then he glanced at Yang Ye. After a short while, he said, “I was rash. However, I don’t have any ill intent. These two things are only growing mold in my possession, so it’s better to give it to the two of you.”
When he heard this, Yang Ye felt that it wasn’t good to refuse, so he received the scroll from the old man. He was just about to open it and have a look when the scroll instantly transformed into a wisp of green light that vanished in his hands. Suddenly, the scene before his eyes suddenly changed, and he’d arrived at a vast grey world.