"My son... Inosuke! He's already gone over there. The Young Master should still be safe for now..."
"Shinobi, please go protect the Young Master too!"
Caught in an illusion, the old woman trembled, yet never forgot the Young Master's safety, struggling to suppress the terror in her heart.
"Son? Inosuke? Young Master??"
Zhong Yi suddenly found the old woman's voice rather familiar.
"Wait... are you the granny who gave me the wind chime!?"
Zhong Yi slapped his forehead, suddenly remembering his brief encounter with the old woman.
Though, chronologically speaking, that encounter had taken place three years later.
Back then, when he spotted her atop a dilapidated house, she had mistaken him for "Inosuke," then handed him that wind chime and asked him to pray for the Young Master.
Now it all fit!
"Granny, you helped me, and your son helped me too... so leave this to me. Don't worry!"
Zhong Yi nodded solemnly.
The livestream chat immediately burst into laughter.
[There he goes, trying to sound cool again!]
[Talk the coolest, take the hardest beating.]
[Not long from now, Granny: I must've been blind to ask you to save the Young Master.]
[Funny you should say that. She really does go blind later...]
"Pah! Talking behind my back again? Let me tell you all, I might struggle a little on my own, but as long as I team up with Inosuke, no matter who we run into, we can... huh?"
Zhong Yi stalled again halfway through his declaration.
Not far away, Inosuke's familiar figure lay slumped in front of a doorway, his fate unknown.
"Holy shit!! Brother Inosuke!! Who did this!?"
Zhong Yi hurried over and held a finger beneath Inosuke's nose. Fortunately, a faint breath still stirred.
"You're... the Young Master's..."
Inosuke struggled to open one eye