86 The Truth 2 (2/2)
”Why are you asking so many questions? I won't harm you! Eat!” Fei Baiyun urged impatiently.
”Oh…” Garen picked the square paste up and put it straight into his mouth. He chewed a few times; it was sweet and sour, like eating a fruit roll-up. He swallowed it whole. Suddenly, from his mouth to his throat down till his stomach—any esophageal tract that the paste passed through—he experienced a cool refreshing feeling.
”Alright, rest well. Good luck in the finals tomorrow!” Fei Baiyun cleared his throat, patted Garen's shoulder and said as if nothing had happened. ”I'll be off. You take care and condition yourself.”
”Yes, master.” Garen nodded respectfully.
At this, Fei Baiyun gave a contented nod, put his hands behind his back and sauntered out of the room.
When he was a short distance away from the room, he slowly turned back to look at the closed room door.
”Bloodboil Pill… Such miracle drugs are better utilized on youths. Don't disappoint me, Garen.”
He turned around and slowly walked to the far end of the corridor, and soon disappeared around the corner. In that instant, even his silhouette seemed to have aged a lot.
At the other end of the corridor outside Garen's room, two other old men appeared. One had a full red beard, and the other had a pale and clean-shaven face, with skin covered in wrinkles and liver spots.
”I can't believe Fei Baiyun gave the Bloodboil Pill to that kid. That was his life's work: in order to collect all the herbs and ingredients, he almost lost his life several times. That is the White Cloud Gate miracle drug, able to cure internal injuries and prolong life, which he specifically intended for self-consumption in preparation for breaking through into the next stage. Now he's actually given it to this young fellow…” the red-bearded old man lamented as he recalled Fei Baiyun's silhouette walking away. He gently shook his head. ”Without the Bloodboil Pill, Old Fei won't live for long.”
”The accumulation of a lifetime of hard work, all wagered on one disciple. Old Fei is really…” the other old man didn't know how to continue.
”Life's like that. Everything is impermanent. Let's go. The matter regarding Eastern Saintcloth awaits, we have to sort it out soon. This kid doesn't let us have a moment of peace. He's getting into trouble wherever he goes!” the red-bearded old man sighed, and turned around to walk away.
The pale-faced old man took a look at Garen's room door, inexplicably let out a sigh, and turned to leave as well.
In the room, Garen was stunned to see the Attribute Skills Pane in the bottom of his vision undergo a slow but sure change.
Under the Skills column, for Secret Mammoth Technique, the word 'Achieved' after it gradually blurred, and slowly transformed into a new word: Explosive. But the wording was translucent, as if it hadn't fully crystallized.
”What's this?” Garen was shocked. He immediately thought of the thing that tasted like fruit roll-up that his master had given him. ”Could it be some kind of secret medicine? What kind of secret medicine has such a powerful effect?”
The word 'Explosive' after 'Secret Mammoth Technique' floated about and looked unstable, as if it wouldn't be completed anytime soon.
Garen didn't know what would happen. He planned to observe first. This change seemed to be incomplete; maybe it would fully stabilize later.
After going out for dinner and giving some instructions to a few disciples, he went straight back to his room. He waited until it was dark outside, changed, and asked an attendant for directions to leave the Celestial Circle Gate grounds.
He went around the perimeter of the grounds and walked to the edge of a deserted forest.
Garen finally saw a figure in black cloak standing under the shadow of the woods. He stood silently with his back to Garen.
”You passed me the note?” Confident about his true strength, Garen approached him and asked loudly.
Whoosh!
The figure dashed straight into the woods without replying.
”Don't think you can escape!” Garen scorned and trailed closely behind.
The bushes and tree leaves rustled as he ran across. They were sprinting one after the other in the dark forest, but Garen didn't manage to catch up with him.
Soon, both of them dashed out of the woods. They had reached the edge of the forest, and suddenly he saw a huge loess stone wall in front of him.
Four skulls were mysteriously engraved onto the stone wall, side by side. The sound of the wind whistling could faintly be heard coming from the black eye sockets and mouths. Each skull was ten odd meters tall; it was extremely spectacular.
A wooden suspension bridge linked the forest area to the open area below the stone wall.
The figure in black rushed onto the bridge without hesitating. Garen followed, and ran past the bridge quickly. An ominous cold current of air constantly poured out from the dark abyss below. The bridge swayed side to side as they ran past, and both stopped at the loess open area below the skull stone wall.
”Who are you?” Garen stared fixedly at the figure in black.
The figure in black slowly turned around, and revealed a handsome, apathetic face of a man. His skin was pale; there was almost no blush on his face. A few strands of long, black hair were vaguely exposed around the edges of his cloak.
”Garen Lombard, the disciple of that foolish brother of mine…”
”Who are you?!” Garen narrowed his eyes as a chill flashed across them. ”Do you know how Old Man Gregor died?”
”How he died?” The man calmly gazed at Garen. ”I killed him with my bare hands.”
”And so you shall go to hell!” Garen's eyes widened. A crater blasted open under his feet as he violently leaped towards the man. An explosive roar like a mammoth trumpet could vaguely be heard coming from behind him.