Volume Two, Travels in the State of Qi Chapter Ninety, The Mad Old Man

Watching the people around him leave one by one, Zhang could only let out a helpless sigh. Such was life: forever circling through sorrow and joy, parting and reunion. There was no need to take it too much to heart.

Zhang Heng had to hurry on as well. Though he had no idea which direction he ought to take, one thing was certain: he absolutely could not remain here any longer.

This was Sandring Ridge, after all. If that blasted system decided to act up again and forbid him from using spiritual power while traveling here, would that not be a terrible loss?

Before long, Zhang Heng arrived at another city. He did not even notice its name; somehow, for no reason at all, he had simply wandered here.

Where should he go next?

Hey, Big Brother System, do you have any arrangements?

Beep. None.

That perfunctory, huh? Forget it. I’ll just find a place myself.

The Supreme Thigh-Hugging System.

At once, Zhang Heng thought of where he ought to go. Was this damned system not always telling him to go cling to a powerful patron? Then he would do exactly that and find himself a thigh worth hugging.

And if he was going to seek a patron, he needed to head for a great city. The imperial capital of the State of Qi was as good a place as any.

Just as Zhang Heng was letting his thoughts run wild, a crazed old man came hurtling toward him from the street opposite.

Behind him, several burly men with fierce expressions were in hot pursuit.

The old man ran to Zhang Heng’s side, panting so hard from exhaustion that he could move no farther, and could only hide behind him.

At that moment, the few strong men caught up as well.

“You old bastard! Drinking without paying spirit stones? Just wait till we catch you. We’ll teach you a proper lesson.”

“Run, then! Keep running! Can’t run anymore, can you?” They too were gasping for breath.

From their hoarse, nearly hysterical voices, one could plainly feel the fury they bore toward the old man.

“My young friends, was it not only a few mouthfuls of wine? Why be so stingy? You chased this old man through several streets just for that,” the elder retorted with perfect righteousness.

“You old thing, no spirit stones means no wine, and you still think you’re in the right? Brothers, get him!”

After catching their breath a little, the men rolled up their sleeves and prepared to charge forward.

The old man had no choice but to use Zhang Heng as a shield.

“So, brat, you’re trying to play the hero?” the men said provocatively as they glared at Zhang Heng.

“N-no, don’t misunderstand. I’m just passing through,” Zhang Heng said, waving his hand. Then he sidestepped to one side.

But the old man clung to him like a burr. No matter how Zhang Heng tried to shake him off, it was useless. Wherever Zhang Heng moved, the old man remained directly behind him.

“Kid, move aside now, or we’ll beat you too!”

The men were only ordinary mortals, so naturally they could see nothing unusual.

Zhang Heng spread his hands helplessly, indicating that he too was a victim.

But the burly men had no patience for such distinctions. After chasing this old fellow for so long, they had been bottling up a great deal of anger, and now all they wanted was someone to beat senseless and vent it on.

Seeing that Zhang Heng refused to get out of the way, they decided they might as well beat him together with the old man.

After several failed attempts to shake the elder off, Zhang Heng finally gave in.

“How many spirit stones does he owe you? I’ll pay for him.” Flicking his long robe, Zhang Heng spoke with lofty boldness.

The instant those words were spoken, the men stopped at once. The leader asked suspiciously, “You’re sure?”

Zhang Heng nodded. He still had quite a few spirit stones on him, and paying for some wine ought not to be a problem.

The burly man held out one finger and said haughtily, “The wine he drank is worth one low-grade spirit stone. Kid, can you even afford that?”

Zhang Heng wanted to laugh, but forcibly held it back.

True enough, one low-grade spirit stone meant nothing to him. But to these ordinary men, it was no small sum of wealth.

Zhang Heng slipped a hand into his robe, then took out a rather ugly-looking spirit stone and handed it to them.

In truth, he had taken it from his spatial ring. But in order not to frighten the men before him, it was better to keep a low profile.

The men took the spirit stone and turned it over repeatedly in their hands. After confirming it was genuine, they were overjoyed. They had thought all along that this debt would never be recovered. Now that they had actually gotten the spirit stone, they were naturally delighted.

“Who would’ve thought you were such a plain and unpretentious rich man, kid? Brothers, let’s go.”

With that, the leader took the others and departed.

When Zhang Heng turned around, he suddenly discovered that the old man behind him had already vanished without a trace.

Trying to run? Not a chance.

Though Zhang Heng did not know where the old man had gone, the Supreme Thigh-Hugging System certainly did.

Following the system’s directions, Zhang Heng sprinted swiftly in one direction.

Sure enough, at a tavern on a street corner, he found the old man again. The fellow truly never learned his lesson; he had come to drink on credit once more.

Zhang Heng casually sat down across from him.

The old man, however, remained brazenly shameless. “Brat, stop following me. This old man has no spirit stones to repay you.” With that, he picked up the wine on the table and drained it in a single gulp.

Zhang Heng ignored him. Instead, he took out a small bottle of spiritual elixir from his spatial ring, poured some into a cup, lifted it to his nose, and pretended to inhale its fragrance, his face full of exquisite enjoyment.

At the sight of what Zhang Heng had produced, the old man twitched his nose and sniffed. Once he was certain of what it was, he immediately grew excited and said in a coaxing, ingratiating tone, “Little friend, that is a fine thing indeed. How about letting this old man have a taste?”

Zhang Heng took the old man’s wine cup, then stingily poured a single drop of spiritual elixir into it.

Then he said grandly, “To meet is fate. I’ll treat you to a little.”

The old man instantly snatched the cup away and licked at it with rapturous delight. When he was done, he made a miserable face and said, “Little brother, you still have so much left. How about a bit more?”

Zhang Heng paid him no heed. Instead, he drank all the spiritual elixir in his own hand in one go, as casually as though he were drinking plain water.

“Hey! Are you mad, little fellow? That spiritual elixir contains immensely powerful spiritual force. With that tiny body of yours, how could you drink so much all at once?” the old man cried out in agitation.

He sprang to his feet, intending to examine Zhang Heng’s body. But the moment he stood, he froze.

For he discovered that after drinking so much spiritual elixir, Zhang Heng showed absolutely no reaction at all.

At this sight, the old man said angrily, “What a waste! Even if you can drink that much at once, you still mustn’t squander it like this!”

“Ah, this old man is being driven to death with anger.”

After that, the old man no longer had any mood left for wine and began thinking of sneaking out again.

Zhang Heng said nothing. He simply took another bottle of spiritual elixir from his spatial ring.

“Hey, old fellow, look what this is,” Zhang Heng said at last.

In this little city, where the streets were full of Body Tempering and Clear Spirit cultivators, there was actually a freak of the Heavenly Origin Realm?

Zhang Heng had been preparing to go in search of a patron, yet one had delivered himself to his very door. In his current circumstances, a Heavenly Origin Realm expert was already a very sturdy thigh indeed.

The old man came back and sat down across from Zhang Heng once more. “Speak, little fellow. What is it you want?” The old fox was no fool; he naturally understood the purpose behind Zhang Heng’s actions.

“Old sir, I still have quite a lot of this liquid on me. But sadly, I have no strength. Traveling the world, I’m easily bullied. One day, perhaps, this sort of treasure may be stolen by others.”

“And so? What exactly do you want?” The old man had no desire to listen to Zhang Heng putting on a pitiful act.

“Old sir, stay by my side and protect me, and every three days I’ll give you one bottle of spiritual elixir like this. What do you think?” Zhang Heng raised the little bottle in his hand and spoke plainly.

Since the old man was a straightforward sort, there was no point in beating around the bush.

“Kid, it’s a deal.” A satisfied smile appeared on the old man’s face.

How could there be such a foolish rich boy in all the world?

This precious spiritual elixir was the kind of thing one encountered only by luck, never by seeking. Such a large bottle—forget three days, he would do it even for thirty.

What he did not know was that what Zhang Heng lacked least was precisely this kind of spiritual elixir.

Inside Zhang Heng’s spatial ring, there were still dozens of vats of it.