The boy muttered to himself:
"'One who scents its aura.' Not a smell, but an aura."
All of a sudden, Ye Chen felt something watching him.
He sharply turned his head and looked around.
Yet aside from the towering mountain walls and the crouching green waves, Ye Chen found nothing else nearby worth noting.
Watching Ye Chen's reaction, Mu asked calmly:
"What is it? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
Ye Chen shook his head.
"No, it's nothing. I just suddenly felt like someone was spying on me. It was probably just my imagination."
Mu fell silent for a moment before replying softly:
"If there were enemies, I would notice them before you did. However, if you feel any discomfort afterward, you must tell me immediately. Do you understand?"
Ye Chen nodded.
"Cough!"
Mu was about to say something more when his brow suddenly tightened, and he began coughing.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Seeing the old man's coughing grow increasingly violent, his face quickly flushing red, the boy immediately stepped forward to support him and asked with concern:
"Grandpa Mu, what's wrong? Did you catch a chill last night?"
Mu waved a hand at Ye Chen and answered between coughs:
"No... just an old ailment. Cough. I only need something to drink. Cough, cough, cough."
As he spoke, Mu took a wooden box from his robes before Ye Chen's eyes.
It contained fragments of some cyan-blue plant. Mu then poured them into the iron pot over the campfire, steeping them into a thick cyan-blue tea that gave off a distinct, fresh fragrance.
Ye Chen helped Mu stir the tea evenly. Once the latter swallowed it, Mu's coughing gradually subsided, and his complexion began to improve again.
"Whew."
Once he had returned to normal, Mu let out a long breath, then thanked Ye