Fairy Eye

The old man's words were merely polite; he did not genuinely intend to invite Han Lin for a drink.

To everyone's surprise, Han Lin readily agreed: "Very well, since you've invited me, senior, then I will gladly accept!"

Upon hearing this, the old man thought to himself that Han Lin was too tactless. Seeing the child staring straight at him, he had no choice but to lead Han Lin forward.

A moment later, the three entered a restaurant called "Molinlou".

"Oh, sir, you're back! Would you like a few more drinks?" The old man seemed to be a regular customer, as a waiter greeted him as soon as he entered.

"Yes, bring me two jars of good wine, plus a few side dishes, in the usual spot." The old man nodded and turned to walk towards a corner.

Seeing this, Han Lin and Xiao Tong followed the old man over and sat down.

The old man sat down without saying a word, and Han Lin didn't speak either, making the atmosphere a bit awkward.

Until the waiter brought the food and wine.

The old man poured Han Lin a bowl and said, "Young friend, what happened earlier was my fault. I was short of money to give this precious disciple a gift for his apprenticeship, so I did something inappropriate. Please don't take it to heart."

"With your cultivation level, you shouldn't be short of a few spirit stones, right?" Han Lin raised his head and looked at the dirty old face opposite him through the dark curtain.

"You can see through my true cultivation level?" the old man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, but I have a feeling that your cultivation level is much higher than mine," Han Lin said ambiguously.

"Hehe, I see."

The old man relaxed. "My cultivation is indeed a little higher than yours, but it's not as powerful as you imagine. Besides, I love drinking, so I can't save any money! Right now, I'm penniless and don't even have money to give my disciple a gift for becoming his apprentice."

At this point, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Young friend, you're a talisman maker, you must be quite wealthy, right? How about lending me some?"

Han Lin: ? ? ?

Did you invite me here for drinks, or to borrow money?

He chuckled dryly and said, "Senior is joking. Although I can make some talismans, the success rate is pitifully low. Selling those few talismans wouldn't even cover my costs. Where would I find the spare money to lend to you, Senior?"

"Tch, if you don't want to lend it, then don't. Why say so much?" The old man curled his lip. "Come on, let's drink. I have things to do after we finish, so I won't keep you company any longer."

This clearly shows that they don't want to waste words with Han Lin and want to get rid of him as soon as possible.

Han Lin pretended not to hear and turned to the boy beside him: "Young man, you are young but you understand the great principles of dealing with people. You must have an extraordinary background, right?"

"Hey kid, why are you asking this?"

Before the child could speak, the disheveled old man became wary.

"Master, what are you doing? A gentleman is open and honest, what can't you say? To tell you the truth, I am actually from the Ye family of Qiushui City, but my family has fallen on hard times. By my grandfather's generation, it was just a single line of succession, and they were all mortals, with no chance of becoming immortals. Only I was the one whose spiritual root was awakened by you, Master, some time ago, and you took me in as your disciple."

The child seemed to possess an inherent sense of righteousness; his tone was firm and unwavering as he spoke, displaying an aura that commanded respect even at such a young age.

It gives the impression of being a sharp sword, upright and unyielding.

Upon hearing this, Han Lin couldn't help but feel a jolt of fear, thinking to himself, "This is troublesome; this guy really is my mission target!"

He had already become suspicious when he heard the words "Sword Tomb" in the square. But it was just suspicion, after all, the coincidence was too much.

Now, hearing Xiaotong's candid words, Han Lin was completely certain that this Xiaotong was the very person he had been tasked with at the Merit Hall.

— Ye Jianling.

This is also the main reason why he followed the slovenly old man, even though he knew the old man wasn't genuinely inviting him for a drink.

The purpose was to find out what this child was capable of.

Now that he had a definite answer, Han Lin felt troubled.

Given the old man's cultivation level and how much he values ​​Ye Jianling, he probably wouldn't allow Ye Jianling to be taken away under any circumstances.

But if we don't take it with us, the mission will fail!

Not only will you lose 2,000 contribution points for nothing, but you will also be left with the stigma of "ineffective action" in the Hall of Merit. In the future, when you want to take on missions, you can only pick up the ones that others have left behind.

"So you're from a prestigious family. No wonder you're so well-mannered, young man," Han Lin said admiringly, glancing at the disheveled old man.

The disheveled old man immediately bristled. "Boy, why are you looking at me like that? Are you implying that I have bad character and am dressed sloppily? Humph, you're no better yourself! Don't think I won't recognize you just because you're wearing a straw hat. If I remember correctly, we met once before."

"Hehe, you are indeed amazing, senior, to have recognized me."

Han Lin was slightly surprised to hear this, then said calmly, "However, you misunderstand, senior. I didn't mean to ridicule you."

"Aren't you short of money, senior? How about I give you an idea?"

"What idea?"

"I need some mid-level beast blood to make spirit talismans recently. Senior, why don't you hunt some for me? I'll buy them back at a high price."

"Mid-tier beast blood? Forget it, I don't have time for that. My mission here is complete, and I'll be heading back tomorrow."

The disheveled old man picked up the wine bowl, took a swig, frowned, and seemed quite dissatisfied with the wine in the bowl.

Leaving tomorrow?

Upon hearing this, Han Lin couldn't help but feel a little nervous, when suddenly a brilliant idea flashed into his mind.

"Are you leaving tomorrow, senior? You seem quite interested in wine. Just now in the market, I heard someone say that somewhere in Yandang Mountain, there's something called Monkey Wine. Don't you plan to go and take a look?"

"Monkey wine!"

The disheveled old man's voice suddenly rose, his eyes gleaming as he asked, "Who told you that?"

"Many people are saying it, but I don't like drinking, so I haven't inquired about it carefully," Han Lin said dismissively.

"Hey, are you stupid, kid? Monkey wine, that's..." the disheveled old man said, then suddenly stopped.

He chuckled and said, "Kid, this wine isn't very good. How about we go for a stroll in the square?"

Han Lin naturally had no objections. He pretended to hesitate for a moment, then nodded. Under the old man's impatient expression, he followed him out and returned to Qingyun Square.

The square was even more lively than before, with people coming and going. As Han Lin walked, he disappeared into the crowd.

He found a young man who sold him beast blood, handed him a spirit stone, muttered a few words under his breath, and then continued to follow the slovenly old man.

"Kid, where have you been? I haven't heard anyone mention monkey wine." The disheveled old man frowned and asked as Han Lin caught up.

"No? Maybe the storm has passed."

Han Lin disagreed.

But the disheveled old man looked anxious, weaving through the crowd, stopping every now and then to eavesdrop on people's conversations.

"Brother Zhang, have you heard? There's a place called Baiyunjian that's emitting a rich aroma of wine, and a large number of monkeys are gathering there. It's very likely that they've produced monkey wine!"

"I've heard about it, but those monkeys are incredibly powerful, there's even a monkey king at the late stage level, we lowly cultivators have no chance against them."

"Yeah yeah……"

Just as the disheveled old man was feeling extremely disappointed, a voice suddenly rang out from the crowd ahead, which cheered him up.