County Town Chapter 24 That Voice

  "I don't know if the Jade Emperor would think I'm handsome, but..." The old man chuckled and said: "Heaven didn't help me."

  "She was called Lin Yu Yin, a young lady from an official family. Her father was some kind of commissioner in the National Government, but later resigned and returned to his hometown. Who would have thought that their home would be swept away by a big flood in an instant? The little girl didn't know any relatives or friends, so she ended up selling grass at Wansong Garden. Luckily, she met me later..." The old man's face radiated a strange aura, looking incredibly proud.

  Yi Tianxing thought to himself: "That young lady was deceived by you, this little tea pot, and lost her body. This is what it means to escape the tiger's mouth only to enter the wolf's den."

  The old man naturally didn't know what he was thinking, and continued to reminisce: "...... We rented a house in the provincial city, hiding until the floodwaters receded, then used stolen money to start a small business. At that time, the devils hadn't arrived yet, and life was truly happy like honey." His voice suddenly sank, "But not long after, the people from Gaoyang County found us again in the provincial city. So we started running, and several times almost got caught. We knew that if we were caught, my fate would be okay, just death, but if Yu Yin was caught by those people..."

  "We fled and fled, our money was spent, the High Sun County's killers were chasing after us, my husband and I had no way out, so we decided to commit suicide." The old man spoke calmly, but Yi Tianxing heard from this simple sentence the desperation of the young couple who had escaped that year.

  "I and Yu Yin decided to commit suicide at the Gu Yuan Temple outside the provincial city, on the cliff. We decided to jump down and die cleanly in the air." The old man said word by word: "When we two jumped off the cliff hand in hand, we even had time to look into each other's eyes."

  Yitian Xing listened to the story until now, and finally felt a bit downhearted.

  "But it's strange, we didn't die." The old man chuckled and stroked his silver hair, "Someone must have saved us? When we woke up, we were lying in the dense forest behind the Temple of Return. We had jumped from a hundred feet high, but our bodies were unscathed. Yuyin and I would naturally feel strange, but also a thrill of surviving a disaster. At this moment, I heard a voice."

  Yitian Xing knew this was the crucial point.

  "That sound was very hollow, and I'm not sure if the word 'hollow' accurately describes it. In short, that sound was very loud, echoing through the valley, ringing clearly, just like the bell in a temple, refreshing and serene. But what's most strange is that although the sound was like a bell, yet it had a sharp edge to it, it could still make people feel so calm and peaceful, so when I first heard this sound, my whole body froze, as if I had heard the heavenly music of the Jade Emperor."

  Yi Tianxing asked anxiously: "What did that voice say?"

  The old man recalled: "It was a man. He said, 'If death could solve the problem, he would have died long ago.' At that time, I heard his voice was strange, so I knew this person was not ordinary. I wanted to ask him for help. As a result, he asked me if I still wanted to die? My companion and I had just come from the brink of life and death, and even with great courage, we didn't dare try again. The two of us were actually paralyzed by then, sitting weakly on the wet mud in the forest, shouting loudly towards the mountain valley: 'We don't want to die!'"

  "The valley behind the Huiyuan Temple was quiet and empty, and we couldn't tell where the sound came from or how far away that person was. Although we shouted loudly, our voices were still much weaker than his voice that seemed to come from everywhere in the sky. We didn't know if he could hear us either. The valley was silent again, and I exchanged a glance with Yu Yin, seeing reluctance and expectation in each other's eyes. After who knows how long, the sound finally echoed again."

  "But the man's words were strange, like a pitiful look, and to this day, I still don't understand what that sentence meant. He said..." Old Master furrowed his brow, seemingly still puzzled after many years.

  "Alas... secretly suffering and struggling for ten years, Vermilion Bird soars up to the sky in three days, suffocating..."

  ……………………………………

  Yi Tian's eyes lit up, and he leaned back in his rattan chair, slightly twisting his neck to get into a more comfortable position, quietly waiting for the next part... Unexpectedly, after who knows how long, the old master still had a furrowed brow, seemingly not intending to continue speaking.

  He couldn't help but ask, "What happened next?"

  "There is no afterwards." The old man came back to his senses.

  Yi Tian Xing hastily asked: "Then who taught you that mysterious ability of yours, the one where you can control objects and kill enemies from a distance?"

  The old man shook his head and said, "After hearing that voice, I had it, then I killed several of Gao Yang's henchmen who came to me, and started making a living in the Jianghu of the provincial city. Relying on this skill that came from nowhere, I have lived until now."

  Impossible!

  Yi Tianxing subconsciously shook his head, getting such an answer was of no help in clarifying the situation with his own body.

  The old man looked at him and slowly a loving expression appeared on his face, saying: "Don't worry, I've been searching for that sound for decades, you still have plenty of time."

  "It's indeed so." Yi Tianxing thought for a moment and also smiled, "You must be very curious about this matter? Ping Kong obtained an ability, but still doesn't know who granted it to you."

  "Not bad." The old man also smiled, "So I've been asking around about the Upper Three Days for four days, although I've never met anyone who has actually experienced it, but I believe it must be real. Because such an incredible phenomenon has indeed happened to me before."

  Yi Tian Xing bitterly smiled and said: "You at least still have a reason to look for the storyline, I'm pitiful."

  The old man said: "Don't worry. In these decades, I've also felt lonely and wanted to find someone of the same kind. Isn't it that I have found you now?"

  Yitian Xing smiled and shook his head.

  "Bullets can't even penetrate you, your skills are impressive, at least much better than mine." The old man said seriously: "Maybe one day the people from above will come to take you away. I came to find you today, first to take a good look at this indestructible high school student, and secondly, if one day you really meet the people from above, please help an old man with a favor."

  "This is basically a hopeless case, I don't have any expectations. But if there's anything you'd like to say, please go ahead." Yi Tianxing thought that this old man was unwilling to accept his declining years and still couldn't understand the secret, feeling somewhat resentful. However, he didn't expect the old man's next sentence to leave him stunned.

  "Please, young brother, you must take out these two sentences and ask people, then help me find that voice from back then, or ask another wise person to pass on the message." The old gentleman stared at him with extreme seriousness, "Help me kowtow to that voice and say that Gu Yong and his wife, He Yi, thank him for saving their lives."

  "A debt of gratitude that cannot be repaid for decades, and yet I don't even know who the benefactor is. Perhaps in a few more years I'll be dead, if I still can't say a word of thanks to that old man, I won't be able to hold my head up." The former Green Gang leader, now an elder who controls half of the province's underworld, said in a low voice.

  Yitian looked at him quietly and nodded slightly, with a sense of respect rising in his heart.