Chapter 808 - 243: [Old Wang Next Door]
Chapter 243 [The Mysterious Neighbor]
That night, Chen Yan once again took out the fruit seed that had already been cut open and sliced off a fingernail-sized piece to eat.
This time, his Sea of Consciousness expanded as if a storm had been set off inside.
As the surging pure primordial power nourished Chen Yan’s spiritual consciousness, his Primordial Spirit kept expanding.
It wasn’t until the latter half of the night that this rapid expansion gradually slowed down.
Chen Yan’s clothes were soaked with sweat, and the feeling of his Sea of Consciousness being constantly torn apart by the expansion, then rapidly mending under the pure primordial power, was both painful and soothing... how to put it...
It’s like having two people standing next to you.
One is Ma Dongxi, swinging a spiked club and pounding you fiercely. The other is the Immortal Sister, gently brewing tea for you by hand.
You just want to say...
·
After Chen Yan’s breathing gradually calmed, the sticky feeling on his body made him very uncomfortable.
Unable to resist, he got up. Although he tried using a cleansing spell, he still felt unwell—perhaps it was psychological.
Chen Yan simply got up, pushed the door open, and walked out.
At night, this small courtyard was extraordinarily quiet. Standing at the gate, overlooking, he could see the tall buildings and halls of the Outer Sect, with scattered lights flickering in between.
Looking up, the Immortal Mountain of the Inner Sect appeared only palm-sized in mid-air, with layers of misty rain falling down.
Chen Yan thought for a moment and simply walked to the eastern corner of the courtyard.
There was a well here, which Chen Yan had checked when he moved in today; it wasn’t abandoned, and the water inside looked clear.
He took a bucket out from his Storage Jade Pendant, fetched water, and then, under the night sky in the courtyard, took off his outer clothes, bare-chested, and washed himself off.
Finally, after drying himself and standing in the night breeze for a while, he felt that sticky feeling finally disappear.
At this moment, Chen Yan suddenly had a strange feeling, as if he sensed something and abruptly turned his head to look in a certain direction towards the courtyard wall.
But after looking for a while, and finding nothing, he slowly withdrew his gaze and spiritual consciousness.
Always feeling... as if someone had been secretly watching him just now?
Chen Yan even went over, jumped up the courtyard wall to have a closer look around, but still found nothing.
Could it be just his imagination?
He glanced back at the west wing; the house inside was pitch black, with its door tightly closed.
The tomb guardian neighbor hadn’t returned yet, but the steward of the Artifact Hall said during the day that this guardian often wasn’t around most of the time.
However, being a senior Outer Disciple in such a neglected corner, the sect couldn’t care less.
Chen Yan returned to his own room and lay down on his bed.
Perhaps due to the heavy supplement from the fruit seed, his newly augmented spiritual consciousness was too vast, and the recent control over it exhausted quite a bit of his energy.
Not long after, he actually fell asleep.
·
When Chen Yan woke up, the first thing he smelled was a rich aroma.
It was the kind of fragrance that comes when fatty meat is cooked and heated, mixed with the scent of grains.
Then, in his ears, he heard the sound of movement outside in the courtyard.
Chen Yan suddenly sat up, frowning and focusing.
How could he sleep so deeply?
Not noticing any of the commotion outside?!
He quickly threw on his Outer Disciple robe and, lighting a fire, pushed open the door.
·
In the courtyard, on the open-air stove against the left wall, a fire was already burning.
An enormous pot simmered on top, visibly steaming.
The bubbling sound subconsciously made Chen Yan raise his eyebrows.
And the aroma he detected naturally came from there.
No one was in the courtyard, but the door of the west wing was open.
Just as Chen Yan squinted and observed, a figure walked out from the west wing door.
Wearing a dirty, presumably long unwashed apricot yellow Outer Disciple robe—though the yellow had gradually turned black by now.
A medium-build, withered old man, Old Deng, slowly emerged from the door.
His sparse hair was simply tied up in a bun, secured with a stick.
On his feet were filthy straw shoes, covered in black-green grass juice and stains.
When he stepped out, he held a large bowl with a wooden spoon inside.
Looking up at Chen Yan, the old man nodded at him, his cloudy gaze appeared very calm as he slowly walked over.
With one hand, he made a salute, his leisurely tone paired with a raspy voice: "Junior Brother, you must be the newly assigned resident here?"
"... Nice to meet Senior Brother," Chen Yan smiled and returned the salute with both hands: "I am Zhao Shanhe, a roaming disciple of the Artifact Refining Hall."
"Hmm... Artifact Refining Hall, huh." The old man thought for a moment: "I used to know a friend in the Artifact Refining Hall, called He..."
He seemed to chuckle to himself and shook his head: "Never mind, let’s not talk about it... I’m too old and muddled, he’s been dead three or four years."
"May I ask how to address you, Senior Brother?" Chen Yan politely inquired.
"Just call me... Old Wang."
Alright, Old Wang Ba.
Chen Yan couldn’t help but tug at the corner of his mouth: "Senior Brother, say Wang but don’t say Ba."
The old man then seriously looked at Chen Yan, a hint of smile in his eyes: "Junior Brother, you’re a clever one. Interesting."
After a pause, he laughed: "I only got back before dawn, brought some game, and cooked a pot of porridge. Since Junior Brother just got up, you probably haven’t eaten yet. Want to join me for a bowl?"