“Good evening! May I sit here?” Alex politely said, carefully observing the old man dressed in the plain linen robe.
The cost of the drinks he had definitely didn’t fit the simple attire and the fact that for some reason he was trying to hide his face behind the hood also clearly indicated that this was not how the man usually dressed. The amusing part was – he was either too drunk or had no clue on how properly to disguise himself, or both, but in any case – if anyone knew who he was they could easily recognize him.
After patiently waiting for half a minute, Alex sat across the old man as if he wasn’t there. The guy looked harmless and clearly ignored him, so it seemed fine. Of course, Alex noticed several surprised and even shocked glances from the people at other tables, but it only indicated that the guy was some kind of a local big-shot. If he was dangerous, someone would surely warn the helpless child, right?
They sat in silence for some time until one of the waitresses awkwardly cleaned up the table and brought Alex his dinner. It actually turned out to be a delicious meat stew and for the first time in months Alex could have a proper meal.
The next few days flew by quickly. During the day Alex wandered around, enjoying the sights and looking for an inspiration on how to practice during the next five years. During the nights he meditated in his room after having a tasty meal downstairs.
Actually the last part was what made him even consider staying in this place for a prolonged period – the food was the best he had in all his lives, or at least it felt so. Alex already guessed that the reason for that was the high ranked beast meat and the rare herbs cook added specially for him, probably because he stealthily left a gold coin in the kitchen every day.
In the evenings the inn was packed as always and the amount of customers only seemed to increase with the day of entrance exams approaching, but at the strange table at the window the old man still kept siting silently and drinking his alcohol in large amounts. Alex was the only one who had the nerve to sit at his table and the staff soon got used to his daring attitude.
Neither of them spoke to each other. Alex came, ate his meal and left, but the old man kept staring at the huge golden gate outside the window and silently drinking. Of course, Alex found it amusing how his weird companion could sit here all day and night without the need to relieve himself, but it might also be the case that he went only a few of times a day and while Alex was not present.
It was only on the last evening when Alex, after cleaning up a big bowl of stew, stood up and before leaving said, “Leave it be, old man. It’s not going to work.”
He had observed the guy enough to guess what he was planning, but even if it was not his business, for some reason Alex felt he had to warn his silent companion.
For the first time the old man took his eyes of the gate and looked at Alex with furrowed brows. To his surprise Alex realized that even though the old man kept drinking and the thick stench coming from him indicated it was a strong alcohol, his eyes seemed completely sober.
Alex knew few Qi techniques that could allow one to dispel toxins or digest food better, but the ability or a technique to completely ignore large amounts of alcohol was something new. Of course, he was only a bit curious and didn’t pry, but before he could leave, some kind of a weird suction force made him sit back in his seat.
The fact that the old man turned out to be an expert didn’t surprise Alex and he had judged correctly – the guy was harmless. It was an atypical combination though, but since he ‘made’ Alex stay, he apparently awaited some kind of explanation.
Therefore Alex just shrugged and said, “Despite your age, you are new with such things, aren’t you? Your intentions are too obvious and there are at least three people in this inn watching you at all times. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed. May I go now?”
The old man didn’t answer, but didn’t let his eyes off Alex either. Most people would’ve felt uncomfortable, but Alex only smiled in return and for the first time closely observed the face under the hood.
In his youth the old man probably was very handsome and the many scars showed the plethora of battles he went through. The stubble on his face indicated he had stopped shaving after he started drinking in this inn, but the long gray hair showed that he didn’t really care for his own appearance.
Judging from his posture, the old man was still in a great shape and from the Qi technique that he just used, Alex could tell the man was way stronger than he had been in his prime during the time in the Academy of saints as well as much stronger than the emperor Cirius. Alex quickly calculated that he could have achieved the same result, but that would’ve involved using mind techniques while the old man only used pure Qi.
Either the old man was attempting to intimidate or just acted on a pure reflex, Alex was not worried. There was not a drop of killing intent in the old man’s stare or his earlier actions.
“Don’t look at me like that!” Alex said while smiling from ear to ear, “I don’t have fetish for old, smelly guys – I like girls!”
“Hmph!” The old man harrumphed, “What a smelly kid like you would know?”
Even though he sounded annoyed, his voice was deep and pleasant.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“You’re the one who smells bad – sitting here all day and night, drinking. I, on the other hand, wash daily!” Alex laughed back and stood up, “Ok, old man! Good luck! I’m off to …”
“Sit down!” The old man commanded and for some reason Alex unwillingly complied.
He clearly felt it was not a mind technique, but even with all his experience he could not resist the old man’s order.
“Explain!” The old man gave another command.
Alex stared back at him speechlessly and only after a minute said with a sigh while shaking his head, “You have lived your life for naught if you can’t understand this much. And the people who are watching you are now listening to our conversation – do you think it’s so hard to read lips?”
The old man furrowed his brows again and Alex could swear he felt how the guy forced himself to not look around.
After a moment of inner struggle, he stood up and said, “Fine! Let’s go and …”
But the moment he stood up, the innkeeper was already at their table.
“Sir, if you’re leaving, it would be the right time to pay for the drinks you had.”
The moment innkeeper said those words, the whole inn turned dead silent. One could feel the atmosphere become heavy even though the innkeeper kept a polite smile on his face and without looking around Alex felt several strong presences standing up.
Of course, if Alex could feel them, the old man could as well, but seeing the old man struggling trying to think of a peaceful way out, Alex said, “The elder here is a guest of my Ma family! It’s my treat!”
Then he threw several large, shiny gemstones on the table, turned to the elder and said, “Shall we?”
And then under the surprised eyes of the onlookers proceeded to the door.
The innkeeper awkwardly coughed wanting to object, but Alex turned back and said, “Don’t you dare to jack up the price again! Even though this is the territory of the Immortal Gate sect, my Ma family still has enough support here! Let’s go, elder!”
This time the old man was the one who instinctively complied and the strange duo left the inn, leaving tens of stupefied pairs of eyes behind them. Alex guessed correctly that many of the disciples were there only waiting for a grand fight.
The moment they stepped out the inn, the old man grabbed Alex by collar and vanished.
Alex hadn’t felt like this in many lives. The last time was when the pope of the Holy empire brought him to his quarters in the coliseum during the midsummer event and now, even though it was dark outside, the feeling of world spinning around made him nostalgic. But he was not worried one bit – from the first time he sat at the table in the inn, there was no malice from the elder who was currently bringing him to who knows where.
A minute or a two later they stopped in a secluded grove. Alex didn’t recognize the place, but it was obvious they were somewhere further in the outskirts.
After regaining his freedom, Alex checked on his own condition, stretched a bit and said, “Damn! I’d say ‘you’re really fast’, but you probably know that, right?”
Seeing the old man didn’t intend to answer, Alex sat down and closed his eyes as if intending to meditate ignoring everything around him and then his kidnapper finally reacted.
“Explain!” The old man repeated his earlier question.
“The quickness of your mind is really inversely proportional to the quickness of your body.” Alex said with a sigh, “No wonder you couldn’t figure out how to attack.”
Seeing the old man furrowing his brows in displeasure, Alex rushed to explain, “Your intentions were too obvious! I have no clue if you finally found out that there is no such thing like the immortality or have a grudge with the sect master or one of the elders, but it was obvious you were sitting there at the window and planning a public execution or a suicide attack – if the target was the sect master.”
Seeing the expression on the old man’s face turning increasingly grim, Alex continued, “In any case, an expert like you can’t be a random nobody so you immediately attracted attention. With your abilities you could’ve easily sneaked into the sect and tried to assassinate your enemy, but instead you chose a public spot where thousands of people would be watching from the plaza. That also points at the fact that you were ready to die in the process and that tells me that the most likely target was the sect master. Of course, he also knew of your intentions that is why there were so many people watching you. Actually, my guess is he intended to publicly humiliate you by letting you drink all you could, but not being able to pay in the end ...”
The old man stared at Alex for a few moments and then sighed, and sat down next to him.
“The one who wants to humiliate me is Tang Hai.” He explained, “The sect master wouldn’t stoop to that level.”
“Okay.” Alex nodded, “Who’s Tang Hai?”
The old man looked back at Alex in surprise.
“Do you even know anything about the Immortal Gate sect?” He asked.
“Well … I know there is no such thing as immortality.” Alex laughed back.
Even though the souls were immortal, at least according to his understanding, a body that has been born had to die sooner or later. Of course, such statement might have offended most of the people in the current world, but he always could play ‘I’m just a child’ card.
But the elder was not offended one bit, even sounded more intrigued.
“Who the hell are you?” He asked.
“I’m Alex, nice to meet you!” Alex said and then trying to imitate the old man’s tone asked, “And who the hell are you?”
“Sigh … funny guy …” Old man said and took off his hood, “I’m Lou Chen.”
Seeing Alex only nonchalantly nodding, he furrowed his brows in displeasure again.
Alex noticed that and burst into laughter, “Hahaha! Did you really think that hood of yours hid anything? If I knew who Lou Chen is and how he looked like, I would’ve recognized you on the first evening. Just relax, won’t you? It’s a beautiful night – enjoy the stars!”