Lu Mingfei, become the King of Elden!

Chapter 68 Answer me!
Lu Mingfei froze, his blood seemed to rush to his head, then quickly receded, leaving a blank.

He never expected that the old man would so easily and accurately expose the purpose he had been trying so hard to hide.

The old man really understood his young apprentice. He could tell whether something was dry or runny just by looking at it, and he could at least tell whether it was a gas or a solid.

The old knight knew Lu Mingfei's limitations perfectly well. He'd only managed to reach his current level through sheer willpower, squeezed out by Lu Mingfei's near-cruel methods in that dilapidated church, relying solely on the Dragon's Blessing and the restless dragon blood within him. He could handle ordinary elites, but against those worthy of the title "hero," escaping was a miracle. A demigod?

That would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, or a moth flying into a flame. It would be like cutting melons and vegetables, but the one who would be chopped up would be Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He subconsciously avoided the old knight's gaze, which seemed to pierce through his soul.

He didn't want to lie. Yes, Lu Mingfei was thick-skinned, full of tricks, and his bottom line was so low that digging ten meters down from the ground would be an overestimation of him. But facing this old man... this man who taught him to wield his sword at the border, who taught him how to struggle and survive in this crazy world, this man who woke him up with the harshest words when he was confused and timid countless times... he couldn't do it.

Deceiving his own master? He was unwilling, and even more afraid.

Because the old man was the best person in the world to him, without exception.

Those irresponsible parents abandoned him like a burden on his uncle and aunt's family. For so many years, he experienced the bitterness of living under someone else's roof. Family ties were just a cold and distant concept to him. From childhood to adulthood, he was always the one who was ignored and ridiculed, and he had no real friends.

Only this irritable, mean-spirited old man who would kick him in the butt at the drop of a hat truly valued his life and treated him as a human being. This heavy bond, devoid of any blood relation yet more real than blood ties, was the only warm thing he could grasp in this frigid borderland and the equally frigid original world.

Silence spread through the church.

All sounds seemed to be isolated by the oppressive atmosphere, becoming distant. Only the old knight's heavy breathing could be clearly heard, like a wild beast that had been thoroughly enraged but was forcibly suppressing its rage.

"say!"

The old knight suddenly let out a low roar, the sound like a thunderclap that exploded in Lu Mingfei's ears, making his eardrums buzz.

"Mute?!"

The old knight's voice trembled slightly:

"With your pathetic skills? With that little bit of dragon blood burning your mind?! Who do you think you are? The reincarnation of Stormwing?! No matter how useless Grek is, he still has golden blood! He's a demigod! The blood of Grevley and Marika flows in his veins! What are you going to use to fight him?! Your pathetic will to survive, the one I beat you into?!"

"Answer me!" the old knight practically roared, spitting all over Lu Mingfei's face. "Are you going to your death?!"

Lu Mingfei was completely overwhelmed by the barrage of criticism. The naked fear and anger in the old knight's eyes made him feel uncomfortable. It was a kind of panic that feared for his life, making it hard for him to breathe.

He kept his head down, his teeth biting deep into his lower lip. After a long while, under the old knight's gaze that seemed to want to devour him whole, he suddenly raised his head, with a hint of recklessness in his expression:
"I...I won't die."

"What...what the hell?"

The old knight's angry expression froze instantly. His mouth was slightly open as he stared blankly at Lu Mingfei, thinking he had gone mad.

“I…can’t die in this godforsaken place. Even if my head is ripped off, smashed into mincemeat, or burned to ashes…it doesn’t matter. As long as there’s a blessing point nearby, I can…come back to life. Over and over again.”

He paused:

“I… have died many times. In Stoneville, in those dark caves… under Greg’s broken axe…”

Deadly quiet.

"...Can't die?" The old knight's voice rang out, tinged with a dreamlike daze. "...Again and again?" "Old man..."

Lu Mingfei's voice sounded a little flustered.

“So that’s how it is…” he murmured. “No wonder… no wonder you always smelled so strange… no wonder you, with your mediocre skills, managed to get onto this island and… stay alive and kicking all this time…”

His cloudy eyes slowly moved, and his gaze refocused on Lu Mingfei. His eyes were as deep as a dry well, churning with things that Lu Mingfei could not understand at all.

"Is it Marika..." he seemed to be asking Lu Mingfei, or perhaps talking to himself, "...or did two fingers...do this to you?"

Before Lu Mingfei could answer, his nose twitched very slightly again, his brows furrowed tightly, and the wrinkles on his deeply lined face deepened.

"wrong……"

He shook his head, his eyes sharpening slightly.
"...There's another smell...very faint...but it can't fool me...the smell of a deity, older than the ancient dragons...mixed with your strange blood..."

The old knight fell silent.

He stopped looking at Lu Mingfei, lowered his gaze, and stared at his old cloth shoes covered in dust, as if there was some earth-shattering secret on the surface of the shoes.

Lu Mingfei stood rooted to the spot, not daring to breathe.

He could feel the old man's rage, which had been so intense it seemed to want to devour him alive, deflate completely like a punctured balloon.

The old knight stood there, hunched over, like a weathered stone statue. His thin lips were tightly pursed, and the lines at the corners of his mouth drooped downwards, revealing an indescribable weariness and worry.

Lu Mingfei felt a chill run down his spine. He would rather the old man jump up and kick him a few more times, and curse him out, than be like this.

He could tell that the old man wasn't figuring out how to deal with him, but rather he was worried about him. He was worried about the messy "smells" on him, worried about his "immortality" secret, and worried that he was going to stir up a hornet's nest for Greke.

This discovery brought a lump to Lu Mingfei's throat. From childhood to adulthood, besides this grumpy old man, who else had ever worried about him? His uncles and aunts? Forget it. Friends? None before, and now… Emiya, Kaneki, and Subaru could be considered half, but they themselves were caught in a cycle of life and death.

After what felt like an eternity, the old knight finally exhaled a very slow, long breath.

“Kid…” he began, “you’re carrying… way too much stuff on your back…”

He paused, seemingly considering his words, or perhaps simply feeling utterly exhausted.

“Too much…” he repeated.

The old man's withered hand unconsciously clenched the empty cloth robe at his waist—where his sword should have been hanging. He grasped at nothing, as if burned, and then slumped away.

He is old.

In the end, he said nothing more. No questions, no warnings, no encouragement. He just looked at Lu Mingfei deeply, deeply, a look that contained so much: worry, helplessness, a barely perceptible pity, and... a sense of resignation.

"Now go learn sword and shield."

The old man carefully considered his words and slowly said:
"Too slow. You need to learn more. Since you can't die, that makes things easier."

(End of this chapter)