Old Man in the Ring

2024-07-31

The next day.

The gloomy weather from last night had turned into a steady drizzle by morning.

In the room, Song Changming wore a rain cape. His father's familiar coughing sounded in his ears, while his mother brewed medicine in the woodshed. The bitter scent filled the air, as it always did.

Whenever the weather turned cold, his aged father's minor ailments never ceased.

"Father, Mother, I'm off."

Once he was properly dressed, Song Changming called out and headed out the door.

Rain pattered against his rain cape with a steady splash.

His long boots were soon soaked through with muddy water, but Song Changming paid it no mind. He only quickened his pace toward the Patrol Guard Headquarters to report for duty, unwilling to miss the hour.

Compared with the desolation of night, the streets were full of pedestrians during the day despite the rain. Some, like Song Changming, wore thick rain capes and conical hats, while others held oil-paper umbrellas, all hurrying along.

Most were out early to make a living; few had come simply to enjoy themselves.

Song Changming walked swiftly without pausing, taking the shortest route to begin work at the Patrol Guard Headquarters on Houli Street.

Within the Patrol Guard Headquarters, armored patrol guards came and went throughout the day in no small numbers.

Song Changming lowered his gaze and bowed his head slightly, heading straight to the Night Watchmen's post in a corner to sign in.

"Changming, hurry up. The order's already come down—we're going to the east side of the city to haul corpses." Before long, Li Fu'an entered and spoke the moment he saw Song Changming.

"Alright." Song Changming was not surprised.

The gangs had clashed in the streets last night. Naturally, quite a few people must have died.

One could hardly expect those gang members to finish killing one another, then peacefully and methodically dispose of the bodies and wash the streets clean for them.

The cleanup work naturally fell to Night Watchmen like them.

As for why they had waited until this morning to send them out to carry the bodies beyond the city for disposal, that involved an unwritten rule.

Gang corpses usually had some money or other relatively valuable belongings left on them.

Naturally, that grease was not for Night Watchmen like them to skim. During the night, it usually went to the patrol guards on duty.

Only after those guards had searched the bodies and taken their cut would the Night Watchmen be sent to work.

Everyone understood this without saying it aloud. There was nothing to discuss.

Before long, the two headed through the rain toward the eastern city gate, where the corpses had been temporarily placed.

When they arrived, they saw bodies piled up like a small mountain. Song Changming roughly estimated there were at least forty or fifty.

Had he only just arrived in this world, seeing so many dead bodies at once would likely have made him deeply uncomfortable.

But now, having already integrated into this world and due to the nature of his post, he could face these corpses with complete calm, his heart still as water.

At that moment, a group of Night Watchmen were already bent over searching the bodies, their movements practiced.

"Damn it, these bastards move fast!" Li Fu'an could not help clicking his tongue at the sight.

Though the patrol guards had already gone over the corpses once, leaving little of value for them.

Still, if luck was good, they could sometimes pick up scraps. To them, even finding a copper coin or two was worthwhile.

Especially on a rainy night like this, the patrol guards did not have much patience for searching corpses in the rain, making it more likely for them to find something overlooked.

Li Fu'an muttered under his breath, but his hands were not slow. He quickly joined the search.

Song Changming did not stand apart either. His movements were even a little faster than Li Fu'an's.

But searching corpses was purely a matter of luck, and these were already secondhand bodies. There was truly little of value left.

He searched several corpses in a row and found nothing. Li Fu'an, however, quietly pocketed something, which Song Changming happened to glimpse.

Everyone understood without speaking. In this line of work, it all came down to sharp eyes and quick hands—whoever found it owned it.

"Hmm?!"

Song Changming's attention suddenly fell on the inside of a corpse's trouser leg before him. As his hand brushed over it, he felt an unusual thickness.

Without the slightest hesitation, he exerted force and tore open that side of the black trouser leg.

Inside, sewn into the trouser leg, was a strange palm-sized patch of cloth.

A hidden inner pocket?

For something to be hidden so carefully, there had to be a catch!

Song Changming immediately tore open the fitted cloth patch and took out the objects concealed inside.

Two folded sheets of parchment, densely covered in writing.

There was also a slim black ring.

He did not know what metal it had been forged from, but it gleamed with a dark luster and seemed rather unusual.

Song Changming did not inspect it closely. The parchment in particular bore much writing, and to keep the rain from blurring it, he hurriedly put everything away.

A short while later, after the search was over, Song Changming and Li Fu'an loaded the corpses one by one onto a wooden cart.

The two worked together to drag it out of the city, while the other Night Watchmen did the same.

No one discussed what they had found on the bodies.

Several li outside Donglai Commandery City lay a vast river known as the Luolong River.

The simplest and most convenient way to dispose of bodies carried out from the city was usually to throw them into the river.

As for contaminating the water source, such a concern had never existed since ancient times.

The river teemed with vicious fish. Once these scraps of flesh and blood sank into the water, not even dregs would remain within a day.

"Let's hurry. I heard banditry outside the city has been severe lately. We shouldn't stay long." Upon reaching the riverbank, Li Fu'an wiped the rain from his face and spoke.

Song Changming had heard of it as well and did not wish to linger either.

The two strained to grab the corpses and throw them into the river. Soaked by rainwater, the bodies were much heavier than usual.

Li Fu'an was older, after all. By the time they had finally finished moving them, he was so exhausted he could barely straighten his back.

"Chang... Changming, how about we sit for a while? Let me catch my breath," Li Fu'an panted.

"Alright. Rest, Brother Li. I'll take a look around." Song Changming nodded and looked about.

If bandits truly appeared, he would definitely grab Li Fu'an and run back at once.

Yet Song Changming had only walked a few steps away when he suddenly stopped, faintly hearing something.

"Changming, what is it?" Li Fu'an sat on a large stone by the river and could not help asking when he noticed.

"Nothing. Maybe I drank too much rainwater. Brother Li, I'm going to relieve myself." Song Changming turned back with a half-joking remark.

"What are you talking about? Go on, then." Li Fu'an laughed as well and looked away.

Song Changming walked a little farther. After confirming Li Fu'an could no longer see him, he wore a strange expression as he reached into his clothes and took out the black ring he had found on the corpse.

"Were you the one making that sound just now?"

The ring shone darkly, as if streams of light constantly flowed across its surface, making it seem mysterious, even eerie.

"Heh heh heh, that was indeed this old man, boy. Quick reaction." The ring spoke again, confirming that Song Changming had not imagined it.

"..."

Song Changming fell silent for a moment.

"Boy, don't just stand there without speaking. Meeting this old man today is a tremendous blessing and an opportunity found once in a thousand years."

"An opportunity?"

"As long as you do as I say, gold and silver, wealth and treasures, power and status, divine arts and secret manuals—even immortality—this old man can help you obtain them all!"

The voice from the ring sounded like that of a highly esteemed elder, old and authoritative in tone, commanding trust.

Its words were full of temptation as well. An ordinary person, or one weak of will, might truly have immediately treated the ring as a divine object, worshiped the elder within as an immortal, and bowed their head in reverence.

But Song Changming was not so rash. He continued asking, "So what exactly are you? A person? Or a ring?"

"Boy, if you learn this old man's identity, it will bring upon you a calamity in which ten deaths offer no life. Are you sure you wish to know?"

"No, thank you." Song Changming immediately lost interest, whether the ring spoke truth or not.

The ring gave a light snort before continuing.

"The two sheets of parchment you found contain the Soul Severing Saber and the Great Strength Bull Demon Art, which this old man had someone copy down before. Though this art cannot be called particularly profound or extraordinary, it suits someone like you, who has yet to begin Practicing Martial Arts.

"If that boy had not met with misfortune and died before even beginning to train, such a fateful chance would never have fallen to you."

Song Changming understood. It seemed this Old Man in the Ring had previously been picked up by a gang member. Now that man had died, it had fallen into Song Changming's hands.

"There are no free lunches in this world. What do you need me to do for you?" Song Changming glanced back in Li Fu'an's direction. Only after confirming that the man was not coming over did he continue asking.

"Hide my existence and find what I need. Before that, I require you to drip your blood onto the ring. From then on, our fates will be bound as one. I will also help you rapidly increase your strength and obtain everything you desire!"

Perhaps realizing that this boy was not so easily fooled, the voice within the ring became noticeably more serious.

"Well?"

Song Changming stared at the ring, but no sign of temptation appeared on his face. The consciousness within the ring could not quite grasp what the boy was thinking.

"If you do not believe me, you may first return and practice the martial arts copied on that parchment. Why would I need to deceive you?"

Heh heh heh. With matters brought to this point, what ordinary person would still refuse?

After all, if it was real, it meant inexhaustible glory and wealth, along with the ultimate temptation of immortality!

"Changming, should we head back?" Li Fu'an's voice drifted over from afar, mixed with the sound of rain.

"Coming." Song Changming gave the ring in his hand one final look. Then, as if casually tossing away a stone, he threw the ring—and its boundless temptation—into the great river before turning away.

Immortality?

For others, or indeed any other living creature in the world, perhaps it was an irresistible temptation.

But to Song Changming, it was something he already possessed. Why should he covet it further?

As for glory, wealth, divine arts, and secret manuals, with his long Lifespan, he had all the time in the world to seek them slowly and accumulate them bit by bit. He would obtain it all eventually, so why rely on some other mysterious and unfathomable external force, needlessly increasing the risk?

Besides, the Old Man in the Ring's laugh was unpleasant. He did not like it.

Just then, a fish swam by in the river. Seeing the object radiating dark light, it swallowed it in one bite.

With a flick of its tail, ripples spread across the water, and that unknown yet tempting opportunity vanished without a trace.