"Drip, drip."
Rain struck the straw hat, seeping through its holes and running down the old man's weathered face as he raised his eyes. It slid over his rain cape and dripped into his tattered, toe-exposing shoes.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
The old man said nothing.
Yet with every step leaving a footprint behind, without the slightest pause, he continued forward as though he feared death not at all.
Yu Lingdi furrowed his brow, racking his brains.
This man was clearly not from Holy Spirit Hall.
Yet Yu Lingdi's rain had fallen from White Cavern until now, and he seemed never to have seen anyone like this among the Saint Slaves.
"Wait!"
Suddenly, Yu Lingdi's pupils contracted. He remembered.
That Little Stone Tan Ji, who had only just torn through the air out of Sword-Severing Prairie back then, seemed to have worn this very face! "Who are you?"
Carrying the person on his shoulder, Yu Lingdi took a step back, an ominous suspicion already rising in his heart.
But...
How could that be possible?
How could that fellow be here? Shouldn't he have been severely injured and forced into retreat after the battle at Azure Dragon Commandery, currently unable to fight?
The old man in the straw hat strolled over unhurriedly. Suddenly, he lifted his hat and smiled.
That smile was like a vicious ghost baring its fangs, terrifying beyond measure.
"You don't recognize this old man?"
Still more than a dozen steps away from Yu Lingdi, the old man stopped. His eyes abruptly widened round, and with his head tilted to one side, he pinched the straw hat and mocked, "If you don't recognize this old man, then what are you doing here?"
"Skimming off the top, fishing in muddy waters?"
"Or perhaps..."
The old man drew out the final