An old dog with wrinkled skin and no collar around its neck plodded slowly along Beta Town's Pedestrian Street.
Behind it followed an old wizard in a gray robe, leaning on a heavy wooden staff.
The old wizard's beard and hair were gray-white, yet he was tall and powerfully built. He walked with vigorous strides, and the long wooden staff in his hand struck the Bluestone Path with resounding thuds that made listeners' hearts tremble.
If Zheng Qing had been here, he would have recognized the old wizard at once—he was Old Man Vernal, the former school worker in charge of night patrol management at Linzhong Lake. And that old dog was naturally Lord May.
To the older shops along the Pedestrian Street, Old Man Vernal and Lord May were hardly unfamiliar faces. Though the old man spent most of his time on the campus of First University, he occasionally came to stroll around the street and buy a few things. Over time, they had become acquaintances.
"Uncle, you're here rather early today," Master Little Tang called cheerfully, poking his head out of the Shuang Tang Ji display window. "Would you like a serving of 'Dragon Knight vs. Lich King'? It's a new item for January and hasn't gone on sale yet... It took me two months to figure out how to use sesame candy sticks to make the dragon's body—white sesame for its belly scales, black sesame for its back scales. When they fight, scales go flying everywhere. The effect is excellent!"
Old Man Vernal stopped and looked past the round head outside the display window, shouting gruffly, "Old Tang? Old Tang! Your son is wasting your candy ingredients again!"
Master Little Tang's face went pale. His head slipped back inside with a whoosh, and he vanished behind the