Chapter 66: The Eccentric Old Man

  "Oh, my dear little Ophelia, how is it that you have time to visit an old scoundrel like me today?" An elderly man with only two teeth left and a face full of wrinkles like orange peel smiled at Ophelia in front of him.

  After Ossilia changed her clothes, she naturally didn't immediately go to Xiao Yu's appointment, but quickly found this great magician she knew.

  In this small town, except for a handful of people, no one knows that this old man who looks like he's on his last legs is actually a 6th-tier great magician, and his name can cause a huge stir throughout the continent.

  "I've come looking for you, obviously there's something going on, otherwise why would I bother coming to find an old codger like you." Ophelia was still fuming and didn't mince her words.

  But the old man didn't mind Ophelia's rudeness at all, still smiling and saying: "My little Ophelia is angry, definitely someone has provoked you again. But I'm curious, who in this town dares to provoke my little Ophelia? Tell me, what do you need help with? I know that if it weren't for something important, you wouldn't come looking for me. Your current strength is already quite good, and the things that can stump you... hmm, should be relatively difficult things. It seems that this time, old man me will have to go through another ordeal."

  Ou Xi Lian pouted and said: "This time you don't need to do anything, I just came to ask you something."

  "Oh? So simple? You actually know to come ask old man questions, looks like my little Ophelia has grown up." The old man said with a smile, while gently sipping his red wine.

  Oscillia rolled her eyes and said, "Stop talking nonsense with me. You should take care of yourself and drink less wine. If you keep drinking like this, you'll be dead soon, and then who will I look for when I need something?"

  The old man chuckled and said, "It's still my little Ophelia who cares about me. However, I'm an old man with no other hobbies except for drinking. My remaining years are limited, so every sip counts. But you, my little Ophelia, I haven't seen any little Ophelias born to you yet. It's really not satisfying if you just leave like this. Have you found a good man recently? Get married and have a child soon, so I can see what kind of little rascal you've given birth to."

  "You old scoundrel, if you dare to say that again, believe it or not, I'll smash all the good wine you've stored up!" Ophelia heard the old man say this and immediately slapped the table, her face flushing bright red.

  "Hehe, you're shy now, it seems my little Ophelia has a crush on someone. If it were in the past, you wouldn't be shy at all. When are you going to bring him over for me to take a look? This old man will also help you screen him." The old man chuckled with great pleasure.

  "If you dare to spout nonsense again, I won't let you see a single drop of wine from now on. No more idle chatter with you, this time I came because there's something very important that I need your help with. Today, I got tricked and had a noose put around my neck, I want you to take a look and see if it can be removed." As she spoke, Ophelia lifted the scarf wrapped around her neck, indicating for the old man to take a look.

  The old man started out smiling, but when he saw the collar, his face immediately sank. The originally kind and gentle neighborly grandfather suddenly seemed to have turned into a demon king from hell. The powerful aura even made Ophelia's face change, and the hairs on her back stood up.

  "Who put this collar on you?" The old man finally calmed down and asked slowly after a long time.

  Seeing the old man's solemn expression, Ophelia suddenly had a bad feeling in her heart and asked tensely: "What's wrong? Can't you even remove this collar?"

  The old man did not respond to Ophelia's words, but shook his head helplessly and said, "How could this thing appear? This is a legendary thing."

  "What on earth is this thing?" Ophelia looked at the old man's appearance and her heart sank straight down.

  The old man shook his head and sighed, saying: "If it were any other magical restraint, I could help you undo it. Even if I couldn't undo it myself, I could find someone to help you undo it. But this collar... I'm afraid I'm powerless, and probably no one in the world can undo it."

  "What?" Osilia was shocked and said: "There is no one in this world who can solve it, what is this?"

  The old man looked at the collar on Ophelia's neck and said helplessly, "This kind of collar is called a slave circle. It was specially made by some evil magicians in ancient times to forcibly subdue powerful warriors. The biggest feature of this slave circle is its irreversibility. Perhaps the magician who created it didn't study it thoroughly enough, so he left behind this flaw. As long as this slave circle is worn and triggers a blood contract, even if the magician who created it were to come back to life, he would be unable to remove it."

  "Even that magician can't unlock it? You mean, even the master of this circle can't unlock this collar and free this slave?" Ophelia's voice trembled slightly. If so, then wouldn't she be a slave to Xiao Yu for her entire life.

  The old man nodded helplessly and said, "My little Ophelia, if it were anything else, I could help you, but this is the one thing I cannot. Even if I helped you kill him, it would be no use, because now your blood contract with him has been sealed, and if he dies, you will die too."

  "What? Even if I killed him it wouldn't be enough? Then isn't my life over?" Ophelia heard this and immediately burst into tears.

  "Little Ophelia, don't worry for now, maybe there's another way. Tell me carefully, what exactly happened. Who put this slave collar on you?" The old man looked at Ophelia crying and was also visibly distressed, softly comforting her. At the same time, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and his originally dull eyes seemed to clear up instantly.

  Oscillia suddenly felt a sense of despair, and after a while, she slowly began to recount the events, telling the old man how she had slapped Xiao Yu, how Xiao Yu had caught her, and how Xiao Yu had put this ring on her.

  As for Xiao Yu teasing her and cutting her pants, she didn't mention it. After all, that was a very embarrassing thing. She only said that after the other party caught her, in order to punish her, they forcibly put this circle on her.

  "Is that so?" The old man listened and narrowed his small eyes again: "There are beastman guards, and elven archers guarding him. This person is quite interesting. Hmm, that legend... could it be true?"

  "What legend?" Osilia asked curiously. As an assassin, she loved to explore everywhere and find some ancient legends. When she was a child, it was this old man who told her so many legendary stories, so she worked hard to become an assassin and go on adventures everywhere.

  "Hmm, nothing much, just remembered something old. According to this saying, that little guy doesn't seem to be intentionally trying to enslave you for life, and he himself seems to have no idea what this circle is." The old man hastily changed the subject, as if the legend was a taboo topic.

  "What wasn't intentional, he must have done it on purpose. He even threatened me that if I didn't listen to him, he would use the needle in this ring to kill me." Osilia mentioned Xiao Yu and immediately became furious, gritting her teeth.

  The old man chuckled and said, "This slave collar is one of the most powerful magical restraint items from ancient times. If it were just used to threaten people by pricking them with a needle, that would be too superficial. Once the master and slave sign a blood contract, the slave cannot disobey the master in any way. With just a thought, the master can make the slave do anything, completely controlling their every move and word. Otherwise, it wouldn't have such a big reputation. It can be said that once you put on this slave collar, you're equivalent to becoming the other person's puppet, at their mercy. That kid actually said he would threaten you with being pricked to death by the needle, which is simply too childish. It shows he doesn't understand magical restraint items at all. The needles inside the collar are only used for taking blood to sign the blood contract. After signing the contract, the needles will automatically disappear and never appear again. Wearing this collar afterwards feels completely normal, as if it didn't exist."

  "What? There's no needle in here? And it can completely control all my words and actions, this...this is really too terrifying. That bastard, I want to kill him, even if it means we both perish together." Ophelia listened to the old man's story, her heart chilled to the bone.

  If Xiao Yu forces her to do something she doesn't want to, then wouldn't she be completely unable to resist, and in that case, she would really become a maid.

  The old man looked at Ophelia's excited appearance, patted her shoulder to comfort her, and then took a light sip of red wine. "Don't be so excited, my little Ophelia," he said. "Things may not be as bad as they seem. Come on, take me to see that interesting guy. I didn't think this old man would make it to this day."

  …………

  Thank you, Feng Ye, for your reward. I found that in the book review section, many people still think that this slap hurts men's dignity. Don't forget, it was Xiao Yu who started staring at him with a flirtatious gaze, and then got slapped. To put it another way, if your girlfriend is eating at a restaurant and a thug is staring at her chest, and your girlfriend slaps the thug in the face, does that mean the thug has to kill your girlfriend to be considered a hero in your eyes?