Chapter Fourteen: Huang Furen

  Three hours later, Jin and Lan's enthusiasm had greatly diminished, and they couldn't figure out the strange Eye of Heaven token no matter how hard they tried. Blue Heart Lin flipped through the copper box countless times, only to find a piece of paper with the words "Eye of Heaven Token" written on it, which at least gave them an idea of the token's name. The token was hidden so secretly that it must be very important, and it was left behind by Qing, so Blue Heart Lin decided to keep the Eye of Heaven token safe and sound until they could find an expert scholar to help decipher its meaning after they left.

  In the afternoon, Blue Sky set off to return home, but there were still many things that needed to be taken care of at the unit. At noon, Fourth Master brought a group of old brothers and came to invite Blue Sky's family and Jin Tianhang to eat. Blue Sky couldn't decline, so he followed Fourth Master to the village's wheat field, where the villagers had already set up a banquet. Due to Blue Sky's special status, all the men, women, young and old in the village came, enthusiastically swarming around Blue Sky and Chen Ya to greet them, surrounding them tightly. Jin Tianhang pulled Blue Xinlin out of the crowd with great difficulty and found a corner table to sit down at, watching the two elders busily with a smile. It wasn't until Fourth Master intervened that they were rescued. Under Fourth Master's arrangement, the villagers took their seats, and the banquet began.

  After three rounds of drinking, although it was the villagers' own brewed rice wine, Jin Tianxing still felt the effects of the alcohol, his head spinning slightly. Lan Xinlin's situation was similar, her cheeks flushed red like a ripe apple, looking adorable beyond words. The people at their table had mostly left to find others to drink with. Jin Tianxing turned his face to stare at Lan Xinlin, whose face transformed into Luo Yi for a moment before changing back into Qingqing. Jin Tianxing blinked, and the two beautiful faces merged into one, becoming Lan Xinlin once more. In a moment of madness, Jin Tianxing wrapped his arm around Lan Xinlin's slender waist, only to feel her body stiffen like wood. Lan Xinlin's face turned even redder, hesitating for two or three seconds before she leaned lightly against Jin Tianxing, her body gradually softening and warming up. The two didn't speak, simply leaning against each other in silence.

  The sky and Chen Ya were forced to drink a bellyful of rice wine, the two were miserable, the egg flower rice wine was good to drink, but the capacity of the belly was really limited. Seeing that there were still half of the villagers in line waiting to toast them, Chen Ya, a teacher, usually didn't have much socializing to do and had never seen such a scene before. Looking at the long queue of people, she felt dizzy and saw double vision. Following the crowd, Chen Ya saw Lan and Jin leaning against each other sweetly. Chen Ya, fueled by alcohol, thought viciously in her heart, "You two are being sweet over there while I'm being forced to drink here, you're taking advantage of me, just wait and see how I'll deal with you." Chen Ya pointed at the two and turned to the villagers saying, "Villagers, why are you only drinking with us and neglecting them?" The villagers turned around and saw that it was true, immediately a villager took a wine bowl and walked towards the two.

  Jin and Lan were not ordinary people, they quickly sensed that the situation was not right, the villagers were quietly surrounding them, the giant rice wine barrels in the villagers' arms made their stomachs ache. The two of them couldn't care about much, hand in hand breaking through the layers of encirclement and running towards the outside of the village. The two of them were agile, how could they be caught by the old, weak, women and children in the village? Seeing that the two had run out of the village, the villagers stomped their feet in frustration. Lan Tian pulled Chen Ya to also take advantage of the chaos to run away. But was held back by Fourth Master, "You two can't escape." The villagers came back to their senses, surrounding the two of them layer by layer, refusing to let up until they finished drinking the rice wine.

  Two people ran hand in hand to the small hill outside the village, until they couldn't run anymore and sat down in a clump of weeds. They looked at each other and smiled, their tightly held hands never letting go. Under the influence of alcohol, the two had an inexplicable urge, and a drunken flush rose to their faces. Jin Tianxing suppressed the turmoil inside him and turned his back, while Lan Xinlin sat down with her back against Jin Tianxing. Neither of them spoke, the gentle mountain breeze caressed their cheeks, and the air was filled with a faint grassy scent. At this moment, the two temporarily put down the burdens on their backs and felt an unprecedented sense of relaxation.

  Jin Tian Xing slowly closed his eyes, and the happy moments he spent with Luo Yi floated before his eyes. The corners of Jin Tian Xing's mouth curved up slightly, and a happy smile hung on his face. He even had an illusion that in the vast wilderness, Luo Yi was running in a white dress, her laughter piercing his ears like heavenly music. She called out his name as she ran, and he immediately chased after her, stretching out his hand to grab her just as she stopped in her tracks. Her body didn't move, but her head turned 180 degrees around, expressionless, with cold, emotionless eyes staring at him. A drop of fresh blood flowed down from the center of Luo Yi's forehead, and one eye slowly opened, staring at Jin Tian Xing. Luo Yi opened her mouth and said, "I... am... a... god... don't... look... for... me... again!" Her voice seemed to come from the depths of hell beneath the nine hells.

  Ahhh…… Jintian Xing let out a series of mournful cries, Lan Xinlin turned around to see him with his eyes tightly closed and an extremely painful expression, his forehead covered in beads of sweat. "Jintian Xing, what's wrong?" Lan Xinlin shook Jintian Xing vigorously, "Wake up quickly, don't scare me."

  In the midst of Blue Heart Lin's calling, Jin Tian Xing woke up, "I'm fine, I just had a nightmare." Jin Tian Xing shook his head, trying to forget the terrifying appearance of Luo Yi's three eyes. People are really strange, the more they try to forget something, the clearer it becomes, and the more they want to remember something, the faster they tend to forget. The image of Luo Yi's three eyes was deeply etched in Jin Tian Xing's mind, occasionally floating before his eyes, unable to be shaken off.

  "What kind of nightmare can scare you like that." Lan Xinlin took out a tissue and gently wiped away the sweat beads on Jin Tianxing's forehead, her movements rarely gentle. Roy had done the same thing before.

  "It's nothing." Jin Tianxing took the handkerchief from Lan Xinlin and wiped away the sweat on his face. Lan Xinlin turned her back and stopped talking, wondering what was going through her mind. A gust of mountain wind blew over the grass, causing it to rustle like waves.

  Jin Tianxing stood up, stretched out his arms and let the mountain wind blow over his body, taking away all his worries. After the mountain wind passed, he saw someone not far away looking towards the village with a suspicious look. "There's something going on," Jin Tianxing said in a low voice to Lan Xinlin.

  Lan Xilin didn't pay attention, continuing to focus on her own thoughts. Since when did she start paying attention to Jin Tianhang's every move? When he was sad, she wasn't happy either. No man had ever given her the same feeling before. Jin Tianhang saw that Lan Xilin wasn't responding and nudged her with his foot, "Really, there's something going on, I saw a suspicious person, looks like a thief."

  As soon as she heard "thief", Lan Xinlin sprang up from the ground, "Where is he?"

  "Behind that tree." Jin Tianxing pointed to Lan Xinlin, a person was hiding behind the tree not far away, using binoculars to look into the village and occasionally stopping to write something on the notebook in his hand.

  "Let's take a look." Lan Xinyi led the way, and the two of them cautiously approached.

  Jin and Lan crept up behind the man, and only when they got close did they see clearly that the person hiding behind the tree was an old man, probably over fifty years old, with a head of white hair like a pile of weeds, mixed with twigs and leaves. He wore a light yellow short-sleeved shirt, which had become almost black with dirt, and on his feet were a pair of cloth shoes, one of which had a large hole, exposing his big toe. The old man was intently drawing something on a notebook, while the two people behind him were bewildered and didn't know what to do.

  Lan Xilin took a look and found that the old man was painting her family's old house. The painting was vivid and lifelike, especially the eyes on the corner tower, which seemed to be alive. She couldn't help but ask, "Why are you painting my family's old house?"

  The sudden voice startled the old man, who turned to run without looking back, but was caught by Lan Xinlin. The old man struggled a few times, realizing that he couldn't break free, and finally gave up his fearless resistance. He shouted, "I didn't do anything, I just painted a picture."

  Lan Xilin took the notebook from the old man's hand and flipped through it. Indeed, except for her family's old house, there was nothing else on the notebook. She questioned, "You didn't do anything, why did you run? Turn around."

  The old man slowly turned around, and the two of them looked him up and down. The old man's body was extremely frail, and a slight gust of wind could have blown him away. On his face hung an old-fashioned pair of glasses with thick lenses, one leg broken and wrapped in white adhesive tape. Lan and Jin looked at the old man and felt like they had seen him before somewhere. Blue Heart Lin relaxed her grip on her hand.

  The old man was also watching Jin and Bai, his gaze finally stopping on Jin Tianxing. Suddenly, the old man thought of something, his face revealing a fearful expression, he turned around and ran away, shouting wildly, "Impossible, impossible..."

  Qī Tiān Xíng suddenly remembered who the old man was. He was the one who blocked Jǐn Tiān Xíng and Luó Yī from boarding the ship at the dock, and it was from his mouth that Jǐn Tiān Xíng first heard the three words "Lǎo Yé Miào". Lán Xīn Lín also remembered that it was this old man who told her a few years ago that the plane crash of her sister's flight was not an accident. Compared to a few years ago, the old man had hardly changed at all.

  Jin Tian Xing slapped Lan Xin Lin on the back, "Quickly chase after him, this old man must know something." The two of them chased after him.

  Don't look at the old man's frailty, his running speed is not slow at all. He is very familiar with the terrain and has twice used the terrain to shake off the two pursuers who are closing in on him. Two young men in their twenties, strong and healthy, can't catch up with an old man with a head full of white hair. If this gets out, they'll be the laughing stock. Qi Tianhang gritted his teeth and shouted, "Old man, don't let me catch up to you, or you're done for!"

  At the critical moment, it was still up to Lan Xinlin. The old man's feet slipped and he almost fell, but Lan Xinlin darted out like a flash of lightning and grabbed his arm, preventing him from falling to the ground. Jin Tianying panted as he rushed over, "Old man, you can really run."

  Lan Xilin wiped away the sweat on her face, "You're the one who lacks exercise, and yet you have the nerve to say that about others."

  The old man was so tired that he panted heavily, supporting his chest. Jin Tian walked in front of the old man and said, "You said you ran away, we two are not bad people."

  The old man was extremely fearful of Jin Tianhang, and he subconsciously took two steps back as he approached, almost falling over. Jin Tianhang asked in confusion, "I'm not going to eat you, what are you afraid of?"

  The old man looked at Qi Tianhang carefully, and suddenly shouted loudly, "It's impossible! So many years, except for 'him', no one can survive from the waters of Lao Ye Temple. You must be in cahoots with 'him'! Is it 'him' who told you to come and kill me?" Jin and Lan were shocked, this old man really knew a lot of things.

  Jin Tian Xing asked back, "To kill you, there must be a reason, why would I want to kill you? Who is this 'he' you're talking about, I don't even know."

  The old man widened his eyes and asked, "Then why are you chasing me?"

  Jin Tianxing explained, "I don't know if you still remember, that day it was you who stopped me and my wife from boarding the cruise ship. The cruise ship indeed encountered an accident in the waters of Lao Ye Temple, and my wife along with all the tourists on board went missing together with the ship. I think you must know some clues to help me find my wife. That's all, I have nothing to do with the 'him' you mentioned."

  Lan Xinlin took out the old man's book and said, "You drew a picture of my family's ancestral house. I want to know why you drew it. We don't have any malicious intentions and won't harm you."

  The old man seemed not to have heard what Blue Heart Lin said, looking at Jin Tian Xing and asking, "You really aren't sent by 'him'?" Jin Tian Xing nodded firmly, the old man's eyes emitted a strange color, then asked "What did you see in the waters of Lao Ye Miao? Tell me what you saw in the waters of Lao Ye Miao. How did you run out from the waters of Lao Ye Miao?"

  "Jin Tianxings eyes rolled and he immediately came up with an idea, 'You have the information we want to know, and I have what you want to know. How about this? We make a trade, each getting what they need. What do you think?'"

  The old man looked at the two with suspicion, he wanted to know about Jin Tian Xing's experience, but at the same time he didn't trust them either. He only had to keep his life safe in order to continue investigating. Without hiding anything, he said, "I don't believe you, so I'm not going to tell you everything I know."

  The answer to the puzzle that has been troubling the two of them is right in front of them, and they are both somewhat excited. Jin Tianxing keeps explaining to the old man that we can be trusted, that we won't harm him, and so on. The old man still doesn't believe it, and Lan Xinlin asks, "Then tell us, what do you need for you to trust us?"

  The old man thought for a moment and said, "You need the test of time to prove that I can trust you. At that time, we can exchange."

  Jin Tian Xing attempted to explain further, but Lan Xin Lin stopped him. "Alright, we agree. After gaining your trust, how should we find you?"

  The old man looked at the two of them and said cautiously, "Leave your address and phone number with me. You don't have to look for me, I trust you both will come find me naturally."

  Lan Xinlin quickly wrote down the two people's names, addresses and contact numbers and handed them over to the old man. The old man looked at them and said, "Lan Xinlin and Jin Tianhang, I remember your names."

  "What should we call you then?" asked Lan Xilin.

  "Just call me Huang Frenzi then, that's what all the locals around here call me." The old man packed up his book and prepared to leave.

  Lan Xinlin blocked his way, "As a foundation of mutual trust, can you answer me one question?"

  "Huang Fēngzi hesitated for a moment before saying, 'Alright, you can ask me now. I'll tell you as long as I know the answer, but you can only ask one question. If you ask more than that, I won't respond.'"

  Lan Xilin and Jin Tianxing had many questions to ask, the two quarreled for a while, finally Lan Xilin asked, "Who is 'he' in your words? Why are you afraid of him?"

  "He's called Zong Kuo, the CEO of the Zong Tian Group." Huang Zhenzi stretched out a finger. "I've said it before, I'll only answer one question." After finishing speaking, he turned around and left, gradually disappearing from the two people's line of sight.