The Pass

Hearing the old man's words, Yi Yun was slightly taken aback. Although he had been tense just moments ago, his panic would not have shown on the outside. He had not expected the old man to guess that he had encountered an enemy and come to hide in the teahouse. That was probably why the old man had not greeted him at first.

Yi Yun did not answer. Instead, he said, "Old sir, I am indeed thirsty. Bring me some tea and food, whatever you have."

"It's only coarse tea and plain fare. I hope it won't offend you, honored guest."

Although he said this, the old man still went to prepare a pot of tea and some dried fruit.

The tea was only ordinary spirit tea, but brewed by the old man, it carried a unique, delicate fragrance. Yi Yun used the lid of the bowl to stir the tea leaves, took a sip, and nodded. "Good tea."

The old man shook his head. "You jest, honored guest. With your status, how could you appreciate such coarse tea?"

Yi Yun set down his bowl and looked at the old man. Although the man was advanced in age, the Life Fire within him had not yet reached the stage of a candle flickering in the wind. He should still have several hundred years of life left...

Yi Yun said, "Drinking tea is about one's state of mind. Compared with that, the tea leaves themselves are sometimes not so important. Take you, old sir. In this city of Wu, where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold, you set up a teahouse like this, yet the tea and food you sell here are priced at only a few pieces of shattered jade. The income from such a business