1701 The Old Man
The old man grumbled a bit. "How do you know who I am? Not many should recognize me in my current state," he said.
"Your current state?" Alex asked. "Then… is the hair, beard, and mustache on purpose?"
"Kind of," the man said. "I was also too lazy to take care of it all. Now tell me how you recognized me."
"So you are Zhou Linfan," Alex said and noticed the man's lack of patience. "I've heard about you," he quickly added.
"What have you heard about me?" the man asked.
"First, you're a Level 10 cook," Alex said, lifting the bowl in his hands to see that it had been a hint. "One couldn't make something as good as this without being at your level. And I would know as I have tasted some of the finest dishes while I stayed in the Dragon Palace."
The old man gave a slightly angry look at the name.
"And?" he asked. "That is not all, is it?"
"No," Alex said. "There is also the fact you were very strong, which I learned a long time ago."
"That's not enough—"
"And you fought against the Dragon Emperor," Alex continued. "Someone like you wouldn't have had to stay here was it not for the fact that you would be instantly sought out and killed if you went to the continent and lived there."
The old man slowly nodded. "I guess one could make a guess based on all of that," he said.
Alex remained quiet for a moment before speaking, "18 years ago, you stopped my ship to search for something. What were you searching for?" he asked.
"That is none of your concern," the old man said. "Do you want more?"
Alex nodded and put out the bowl. He watched the pure elixir of flavor pour down the downright horrible-looking pot into his bowl that was made by an amateur.
Neither the pot nor the bowl should have ever had the luxury to handle such divine juice. This sort of stuff should have been made in the finest of pots, served in gold.
Alex drank the juice again and felt the same joy as the first time he tried it. It was incredible.
"You saved the Second Prince half a century ago," Alex continued. The old man looked at him with narrowed eyes. "When you saved him, you saved a girl that was with him too."
"I thought the emperor had banned this information," the old man said. "How did you find out?"
"The girl you saved was my cousin I had been looking for the past dozens of years," Alex said. "Thank you for saving her life."
"Your… cousin?" the old man asked.
Alex nodded. "The emperor hasn't made the information public. I barely only found out because I met him and my cousin in the Eastern Continent. They told me everything."
"What?" the old man's eyes widened in shock and horror. "They were caught already? How did they get caught? I have searched every single ship that has passed through here."
Alex gave a satisfied smile. "So I was right," he said. "You were searching those ships to look for whether they had captured the prince and my cousin, weren't you?"
The old man grumbled. "How did they get captured?" he asked.
"They didn't," Alex said. "They returned through the… the Voidgate, which I'm now remembering that it was you who told them where it was."
The old man nodded.
"How did you know it existed?" Alex asked. "Honestly, it is quite hard to find if you're not searching for it."
"None of your business," the old man said.
Alex felt a short burst of laughter incoming at how quickly the man had forgotten all honorifics to use in his presence.
"Why were those idiots back there?" he asked. "They should have known better than to keep out."
"The 2nd prince felt that he had to come back," he said. "He saw no benefit in staying in the Southern Continent."
Alex explained in small detail why the second prince had returned and how everything had come to be in the end.
"The Emperor attacked you?" the man asked.
Alex nodded. "The fact that I'm even alive right now is a miracle given what I've been through," he said. He felt a pang of sadness and regret fill him when he remembered that Yao Ning had not been so lucky.
She had died protecting him, and all he got to show for it in the end was his crippled body.
Was he crippled in every way? He wasn't sure. He had no Qi, that was sure, but there should have been other things he could do, right?
"Can crippled people use Dao?" Alex asked the old man, wondering if he knew the answer.
"They can, from what I know," the man said. "But I suggest you don't try it. You are weak, your spirit is weak. The Intent you would require to use your Dao as you had before could kill you as you are right now."
"Do you mean the wounded me or the crippled me?" Alex asked.
"The wounded you," the man said. "You are still hurt and were only crippled a few days ago. Your spirit should be incredibly weak. You should let your body rest for some time before you dare try to do anything like that."
Alex took in the information and nodded. The man was right.
He looked down at his stomach and only now noticed a small leather wrapping around him. "Can you tell me what my wounds look like? I'm afraid I cannot use my spiritual sense."
"The wound is closing, but it's still there," the man said. "Agitate it too much and it will open. I've put some medicinal paste, so hopefully, it will get better."
"What about pills?" Alex asked the man. "Do you have some healing pills?"
"I haven't carried weak healing pills for generations now," the old man said. "I can't help you."
"Weak? What about Saint healing pills? Those can't be weak, right?" he asked.
"Saint pills?" the man almost looked stunned to hear Alex say those words. "Are you mad? Do you want me to feed Saint Pill to a non-cultivator? Someone that is still wounded from Crippling?"
"Ah!" Alex understood the man's hesitation. "I'll be fine. I have a Saint Soul realm body cultivation. My body can handle those pills. If you could give me one, I would be happy."
The man looked at Alex with another stunned face. "A… Saint Soul physical body?" he asked. "How did you…"
"That's not important," Alex said. "The pill?"
He put out his hand. The man sighed in the end and shook his head. "I don't have any pills," he said. "All I had, I've used up long since, and I don't exactly have a way to restock on them."
Alex sighed. He took off his ring and presented it to the man. "Can you see what is inside?" he asked in a hopeful tone.
The man was surprised to see the storage ring for a second and quickly complied. However, after a minute of trying, he couldn't see anything inside. He would have to refine the ring altogether to see what was inside.
Alex stared feeling dejected. Was there really no way for him to get a healing pill?
