In the snow outside the cave entrance.
My whole body was stiff as I held the elderly Gou Dan, unable to speak for a long time.
Zhang Rong and the others were frightened too. They simply could not believe that this filthy, dying old man was the little boy who had asked us for food.
"How... how did this happen?"
"How did he end up like this?"
"Didn't he go down the mountain?"
It took Zhang Rong a long time to recover and sort out the time difference between the two spacetimes. Then he hurriedly lay down on the ground and asked the old man in my arms, "Gou Dan, what exactly happened to you? Didn't we tell you and your sister what to do back then? Didn't your sister take you down the mountain?"
I simply could not equate this old man with Gou Dan. He raised his hand slightly, took Zhang Rong's hand, and opened his mouth, making whimpering sounds like a mute learning to speak.
He seemed unable to speak. Every sound he made was extremely indistinct.
"His ability to speak... seems to have deteriorated."
Zhuge Ming frowned and sighed. "He can't speak..."
I gently nudged the old man in my arms twice and found that his body was limp. He gave no response at all.
"It looks like he's not going to make it..."
Zhang Rong's eyes reddened. He hurriedly turned to one of his senior fellow disciples and said, "Shi Xiu, take a look. What exactly is wrong with him?"
This senior fellow disciple named Shi Xiu knew a little medicine. Apparently, a few years ago, he had studied traditional Chinese medicine under Daoist Master Yuanxiu at Qingyun Temple for two years and learned some basic things.
He quickly reached out and placed his fingers