The arm belonged to a frail boy with a sallow face, who was staring at Li Chen in frightened bewilderment.
Seeing that Li Chen seemed distracted, he hastily gave a hard tug, broke free, and took to his heels.
As his shock subsided, Li Chen recalled the details and could not help laughing.
The boy merely looked like Old You...
If Old You were twenty-odd years younger, back at that boy's age, there might have been some resemblance.
But Old You has been dead for years...
Somewhat puzzled, Li Chen pondered this. Before long, he began to feel that he might simply be overthinking things, to the point of nearly hallucinating.
This was hardly strange, for he had studied Luo Changshan's research and understood the basic principles governing the brain body.
The brain was inherently prone to deceiving people. All perception arose from signals sensed by external organs, which naturally included erroneous signals.
Cultivators who understood these principles could cast exceedingly sophisticated illusions that fooled every sense.
Only those who had cultivated a Dharma Eye and possessed keen perception, or who had nurtured their minds and temperaments and developed powerful divine sense, would not be easily deceived.
Perhaps it's merely a resemblance. In the vast sea of people, there are always a few who look alike. My mind has been wandering today, so it's hardly surprising that I should imagine things.
Yet as an expert in Painted Skin, Li Chen was especially sensitive to physical appearances. Comparing the boy's face with You An's again, he still felt that coincidence could hardly explain it.
Could he be related to Old You by blood?
Li Chen wrestled with the thought for a while, but ultimately followed him out of curiosity.
Although the boy had fled, his aura lingered. At such close range,