Chapter Ninety-Two: The Goat-Bearded Old Man

With a splash, Yang Ze’s body was hauled up from the water. A hook had caught him from behind, snagging his body and lifting him clear.

The moment he was dragged free, the crushing pressure around him eased dramatically, yet the brightness outside was so fierce that his eyes could not bear to open.

His eyelids clenched shut, his mind still hazy, Yang Ze only felt pain all over. Then something seized him hard from behind, flung his body through the air, and before he could react he had already been smashed to the ground.

Bang!

All Yang Ze felt was pain. Agony. He had already been badly wounded by the great battle, injured from head to toe, and after being thrown so violently, the torment struck him down at once and he lost consciousness.

The last thing he heard before blacking out was: “Hm? How did I reel in an ordinary little ghost?”

No one knew how long he remained unconscious. When Yang Ze finally gathered enough strength to open his eyes, a blinding radiance stabbed at him, forcing him to close them again at once.

“Not bad. You woke up quite quickly.”

With his eyes still shut, Yang Ze heard that voice again. It belonged to an old man, the same one he had heard after being dragged up.

He did not rush. Keeping his eyes closed, he said, “May I ask who senior is? I am deeply grateful for your life-saving grace.”

“Hahaha, you little fellow are quite polite. Very well. Since you can’t even open your eyes, that must be uncomfortable. I’ll help you.”

The speaker used some unknown means. Yang Ze only felt a hand press onto the top of his head, and then his eyes opened of their own accord. This time, the light from outside no longer felt harsh at all.

Once his eyes were open, Yang Ze saw surging river waters. It was indeed the Fishing River, and he was now on a fishing platform. Half-reclining, he turned his head and saw a white-robed old man with a goatee.

The goateed elder held a fishing rod in his hand, its hook dropped into the river. Yang Ze could see plainly that there was no bait on the hook at all.

At the sight of it, a strange feeling suddenly rose in Yang Ze’s heart. It had seemed as though this very thing had just fished him up.

Yet he still found it hard to believe. How could such a thing possibly have hauled him out? Had he really been caught like a fish by that goateed old man?

Looking again at the elder, Yang Ze could sense no fluctuation of blood and qi at all. Anyone who cultivated martial arts would have stronger blood and qi; even if hidden, that aura would still be different from an ordinary person’s.

But this old man gave him the exact impression of an ordinary mortal, with not the slightest trace of power. He had never even felt such a thing when he saw Elder Ma.

Despite that, Yang Ze still got to his feet and bowed respectfully to the goateed elder. “Many thanks for saving my life, senior. A drop of kindness should be repaid with a fountain. Since senior saved my life, this life now belongs to senior. If senior wishes me to climb knives or descend into fire, this junior will not refuse even death a hundred times.”

In his past life, he had browsed the internet as well; how could he not know that some true masters concealed themselves in the bustle of the world, posing as ordinary folk in order to temper their minds? The goateed old man before him was absolutely such a figure, and compared with Elder Ma, he was even more formidable. Having met such a senior, how could Yang Ze possibly miss the chance to cling to a great patron?

Right now, the best course was to quickly build some connection with this senior and see whether the other party might be willing to give him a hand.

Hearing Yang Ze rattle off all that, the goateed old man’s expression darkened somewhat. He snorted. “You little brat, stop putting on this empty display. What use would I have for your life? Your life is worth nothing to me.”

Yang Ze gave an awkward smile and straightened up. Just as he was about to speak again, he heard an unusual sound. Turning toward the Fishing River, he saw a huge black shadow appear in the water.

At the sight of that shadow, Yang Ze’s pupils contracted. He had only just cried out, “Senior—” when the shadow surged out of the river.

“The Redwater Black Python!” Yang Ze exclaimed.

It was precisely the Redwater Black Python that had fought fiercely against Elder Ma and Elder Wen earlier. It had actually come here.

“Heh heh, those two despicable humans relied on outside force to wound me. I need human flesh and blood to hasten the recovery of my injuries. I had already been tracking you all the way here, nearly catching up, and yet you actually fled so far. Let me see where you can run now!”

The Redwater Black Python stared at Yang Ze, its eyes full of greed. There was no helping it. It was no match for Elder Ma and the others. After being wounded, it could only devour human flesh and blood to recover quickly, and it did not dare leave the Fishing River easily. Just then it had discovered Yang Ze being swept away, so it fled the battlefield and gave chase.

It had pursued him all this way. Yet after so much effort, it now found that someone else was beside Yang Ze, and this made it feel a little better. Since it did not dare stray far from the Fishing River, human flesh and blood was not easy to obtain. It would do well to eat one more while it could.

“From the look of you, you’ve swallowed at least several hundred humans, if not a thousand. You wretch, and you still dare appear before me? Today I shall take you in, so you may no longer harm the world,” said the goateed old man calmly.

What Yang Ze saw next was an unforgettable scene. The elder’s right hand lightly grasped, and the Redwater Black Python seemed instantly pinned in place, unable to move.

The goateed old man gently clenched his hand. The python’s eyes bulged, foam spilled from its mouth, and after twitching slightly, its body went limp. When the elder released his hand, it crashed onto the river’s surface.

Yang Ze’s mouth fell slightly open. “Dead... the Redwater Black Python is dead.”

His mind roiled in shock. A beast that even two fourth-rank martial experts together could not kill had been slain merely by a single movement of the old man’s right hand. Such strength was beyond astounding.

At once, Yang Ze felt the urge to take the elder as his master, but before he could say anything, the goateed old man’s fishing rod suddenly flicked. The hook landed directly on the corpse of the Redwater Black Python.

With that utterly plain-looking hook, a faint glow rose from the python’s body. That light pierced through the corpse and settled into the goateed old man’s hand, where it became a round object.

“A peak fourth-rank ferocious beast has already formed an inner core. Its quality is merely average, but since fate has brought us together, I’ll give it to you. You have not yet transformed true qi into true essence; with this inner core, you can save yourself quite a bit of time.”

The goateed old man casually tossed it over. Yang Ze hurriedly reached out to catch it. The fourth-rank inner core landed in his hand, still warm to the touch.

“Senior, this... how could I possibly accept such a thing?”

Yang Ze was now overflowing with questions. Instead of wanting to take the man as his master, he had begun to feel a trace of fear. Why was this old man being so good to him? There is no such thing as a free meal in this world. This old man must have some ulterior motive.

“What, you’re nervous now? Don’t you know why I’m being so good to you?” The goateed old man pulled the fishing rod free from the Redwater Black Python’s corpse, and in his hand appeared a pure yellow pouch.

The pouch was about the size of two palms. The goateed old man held it out and inhaled toward the corpse of the Redwater Black Python. A burst of silver light flashed, and the corpse vanished without a trace.

“This thing is called a storage pouch. It is a necessary item for martial practitioners—oh, I mean for those of you who are ranked martial experts, not the ordinary sort of martial fighters in the mortal world.

A thousand years ago, a meteorite from beyond the heavens fell upon the Nine Provinces, bringing us a revival of spiritual energy, a wholly new path of martial cultivation, and certain other unusual things as well. This storage pouch is one of them. It contains an internal space for storing objects.”

The goateed old man put away the storage pouch and casually explained it to Yang Ze.

Yang Ze nodded blankly. If the old man meant to harm him, there would be no need for such needless effort. The difference in their strength was simply too vast.

“Don’t be nervous. Sit down. I’ll explain whatever you want to know.”

Yang Ze sat down at once. In any case, he was so weak before this old man that there was no point in opposing him.

“This fishing rod is bound by fate, so do not think it is an ordinary rod. It is a treasure of exceptionally high grade. It was it that told me there is a karmic bond between us, which is why I rescued you. Whether you believe it or not is up to you.”

“I believe you,” Yang Ze said with a nod.

“That’s good. I also know why you ended up here. You had originally passed the examination for Wuyang Martial Academy and were on your way there, but along the road you were ambushed by the Redwater Black Python and the disciples of the God-Slaying Cult. After that, something happened and you were sent crashing into the river, which is why you drifted here. Is that not so?”

Yang Ze’s expression changed abruptly.

Had this old man been following him the whole time? Otherwise, how could he know so clearly?

As if seeing through Yang Ze’s thoughts, the goateed old man continued, “I did not follow you. All of this was told to me by the fishing rod. I told you, it is a treasure bound by fate. It will tell me everything that has happened to you.”

“This treasure is actually so miraculous?” Yang Ze’s gaze fell upon the fishing rod. No matter how he looked at it, he could not discern anything mysterious about it.

“No need to look. With your ability, you cannot see what makes this fishing rod different. I tell you these things only so that you understand I bear you no malice. At this point, can you believe me?”

Yang Ze still did not understand why the goateed old man was circling around like this, but he nevertheless nodded. “If senior wanted to kill this junior, it would be as easy as turning a hand. This junior’s life was saved by senior as well, so I naturally believe senior.”

Although his experience from his previous life told him not to trust others carelessly, at this moment he found himself believing the goateed old man without question, believing that the elder truly meant him no harm.