Chapter 1620
One Leg
It was not that Yu Xuening looked down at the place, but she just could not fathom why someone would want to reside in such a primitive and messy place.
Moreover, the beautiful sceneries that the island boasted no longer looked as attractive. Because of the global drop in temperature, the rainforest was in danger.
Although the temperature was much higher compared to other places, it was only temporary. In just a few more months, the trees would wilt.
Yang Yuansu nodded affirmatively and continued to lead the way.
On the center of the island, near the northern side was a highland three hundred feet above sea level. An inconspicuous wooden hut was built on it, and leading up to it was a winding road. One side of the hut faced a cliff while the other three sides were the forest.
If one did not pay attention, one would not realize there were habitants.
At that moment, a woman dressed in gray rags with her hair tied with a wooden hairpin was laying out dried herbs.
She seemed to be in her thirties or forties and had a great figure and appearance. However, her old outfit concealed her beauty, making her seem shabby.
When Yang Yuansu appeared with Yu Xuening outside the hut, the woman put down the bamboo basket and rubbed her hands on her dress before turning to face Yu Xuening respectfully.
Though she did not smile, she behaved with etiquette behavior, bowing as she greeted, “Greetings, ma’am.”
Afterward, she returned to laying the herbs on the rack to dry.
Yu Xuening watched her figure intriguingly and asked Yang Yuansu while smiling, “Is she your senior disciple?”
......
He let out a bitter laugh. It was as though he did not know how to deal with his senior disciple either. “Yes. Her name is Li Xuemei, one of the ancestors of the Li clan in China. She’s a reticent person, but she respects you. Please don’t mind her discourtesy.”
Yu Xuening giggled. “She’s acting like I stole her man. If I’m offended, she wouldn’t still be alive now. Even your mentor might not be able to protect the person I intend to kill.”
Despite the beaming smile on her face and her teasing tone, her gaze could not help but wander to the door.
The overwhelming emotions in her heart were visible in her eyes.
Right at that moment, a middle-aged man walked out of the hut.
He seemed very normal, around forty to fifty years old. His hair was short with white sideburns. A faint smile was plastered to his handsome features, while his eyes were warm.
His ensemble was so ordinary and even shabby that beggars would not be interested in him. It consisted of a white s.h.i.+rt, black pants, black socks, and old brown leather slippers. The st.i.tches on his shoes had loosened.
However, if an expert were here, they would realize that every part of him was odd because he was too ordinary-looking.
It was as though the image he displayed to the others was the tip of an iceberg. His actual self was buried underneath the ocean, unfathomable.
The man was like a pa.s.serby on the street, while the woman looked like a G.o.ddess from the heavens.
Despite that, they were emitting a blinding light in Yang Yuansu’s eyes.
“Xue, how are you?”
The two of them stared at each other for a long time until the man broke the silence with a greeting.
His voice resembled that of an old man, a huge contrast to his appearance.
It was a simple greeting, but it caused her to tremble, and her eyes to redden.
All of a sudden, a terrifying surge of True Yuan was released from her.
It felt like hundreds of nuclear sh.e.l.ls were going to explode in the area, which caused Yang Yuansu and Li Xuemei, who was occupied dealing with the herbs, to widen their eyes in surprise.
Yu Xuening’s power was not something they could withstand. The duo was struggling to breathe from the oppression and could not move.
It was an oppression of a law they could never have imagined, a.n.a.logous to a matchstick pus.h.i.+ng on the entire world.
If she did not retract it, dozens of countries in Latin America would be razed to the ground.
Right at that moment, the man smiled ruefully. It was unknown how he moved, but he appeared before her in a second. Then, he stretched out an arm to put on her shoulder.
At that instant, the terrifying power that threatened to ruin the world was gripped by an invisible, gigantic hand.
It all happened so suddenly that Yang Yuansu and Li Xuemei could not react.
However, they had broken into a cold sweat.
Their faces turned as pale as a sheet. They finally experienced the level the man and Yu Xuening were at. It was downright scary!
“Xue, why are you doing this? If you want to see me, you shouldn’t act like this,” the man said while smiling.
Yu Xuening snorted and swatted his hand away.
“Why can’t I act like this? Xiaoyao… You forsook me 50,000 years ago and chose your duty. That’s fine. But you lied to me about your name and background too! So why can’t I do this? Are you going to tell me that it’s all part of your plan? Or that I saw those things by coincidence… Oh no, I should call you Meng Xiaoyao. You’re the Meng clan’s ancestor, the jerk who should’ve died ages ago!” Her eyes were red as spat those words through gritted teeth. She no longer had the usual smile on her face.
Meng Xiaoyao was not angry. “I can feel it,” she says, still smiling softly. “You pa.s.sed the threshold on one leg. You should have seen the texts I left on the Sky Tower’s roof. Overall, you should understand my goal. Do you really want to be haunted by that experience right now?”
“That’s right. I’ve crossed the door with one leg, but don’t forget about my other leg.” Yu Xuening sneered.
Meng Xiaoyao frowned slightly but soon relaxed. “I thought you would change after 50,000 years, but you’re still the same… If I’m not mistaken, you could long cross the door directly, but you refuse to do it.”
“Even if I want to cross it, I won’t choose the same method as you.” She took a deep breath to calm herself down. Then, a bright smile blossomed on her face. “All right. I don’t want to talk about things that’ll upset me. It’s not worth it for an old man like you.”
He seemed to have antic.i.p.ated that reaction, pointing at her and smiling. “You…”
“What? Do you think that I’m weird? Should I keep crying and yelling and then fight with you? I don’t want to kill both your disciples. I’m good at keeping myself happy… Otherwise, I couldn’t have stayed at the boring Ten Thousand Demon Realm for 50,000 years.”
Yu Xuening gave him the side-eye proudly and waltzed into his hut.
The whole place smelled like herbs with simple furnis.h.i.+ng. While the walls were adorned with many totems from the local tribes, the shelves were stacked with jars of herbs.
Meng Xiaoyao went in and left his two disciples outside.
Seeing that she was checking out the place with much interest, he said, “I came here around 20 years ago. I was merely walking around because I was bored and b.u.mped into a child who was bitten by a venomous snake. Coincidentally, the mother was seeking help. Well, since I was bored, I saved the child with some herbs. Afterward, the American Indians here gave me a lot of food and handcrafts to thank me. The atmosphere here is harmonious, and the scenery is great. I was thinking of staying somewhere else, so I built this hut and became a doctor here, using herbs to treat the locals. It’s been over a dozen years since then. It may seem short to people like us, but it’s a long time for the islanders.”
Yu Xuening turned around and smiled while saying, “No wonder I couldn’t find you after searching around the world several times. Since your realm is a little higher than mine, it makes sense that I can’t locate you if you intend to hide. However, based on my understanding of you, I went to all the places you could’ve been but still found no one. So it’s because you had a change of taste and came here to be a doctor.”