"What about me?" Su Ming smiled faintly, and a faint, brilliant light shone in his eyes. When he spoke faintly, he took a step forward.
The monkey-faced old man's face turned incredibly pale. He instinctively moved back and nearly fell. He looked as if he had seen a ghost, but as a cultivator, he still had some self-control. When he moved back, he sucked in a deep breath and quickly forced out a smile. However, that smile looked even more unsightly than if he was crying.
"It's … It's nothing. I didn't know that senior had arrived. I was peddling those useless medicinal cores just now. Senior, please show mercy and don't punish me," the old man quickly said. He seemed to have calmed down at that moment, and there was a pleading tone in his words.
"Oh?" Su Ming stared at the old man before him, and the ghost of a smile appeared on his face. When he took another step forward, the old man's expression changed again, and he quickly took a few more steps back.
"Have you truly determined that I am your senior, or … do you … know me?!" As Su Ming spoke, the brilliant light in his eyes instantly erupted. When he took another step forward, the old man let out a shrill scream, but this time, he did not retreat. Instead, he knelt down in front of Su Ming.
"Senior, please forgive me. Senior, please spare my life. I did not know you before this, but just now … just now, I suddenly noticed that there was no shadow under your feet, and only then did I realize that you are a senior of the sect who has some achievements in practicing the Seven Lives Art," the old man said anxiously while trembling.
Su Ming frowned. He cast a scrutinizing glance at the old man before him. This person's appearance and his words of peddling medicinal cores caused Su Ming's memories to tumble about. He felt as if he had returned to Wind Stream Tribe and the old man named Bei Qiong he had met!
Besides his clothes, the old man was practically the same as the person before him. He had once sold some herbs to Su Ming and had even given him a broken storage bag.
When Su Ming first noticed this person, he was not too surprised. The old man before him was not the first familiar person he had met in this world that he found rather strange. It did not matter whether it was Tian Xie Zi, De Shun, who did not resemble him in appearance, or Lan Lan, all of them had given Su Ming a unique feeling.
That was why even though Su Ming saw the old man's appearance, not a single hint of change could be detected on his face. The waves in his heart did not stir up much either. He only placed it in his heart and slowly paid attention to it.
But … at the instant the old man saw Su Ming clearly … he had actually been unable to control his terror, and this immediately made Su Ming's interest grow stronger.
After all, at that moment, Su Ming did not look like himself, but Wang Tao. It would have been fine if the old man knew Wang Tao, but even if he knew Wang Tao before this, it would still be impossible for him to have such a shocked expression when he saw him.
Unless … this person had participated in Wang Tao's death, but eight years had passed since then. Even if he had truly participated in it, with the old man's level of cultivation, he would definitely not lose his composure and be so shocked by Su Ming that his face would turn pale.
There was another possibility, and it was also the possibility that Su Ming was the most interested in. That was … perhaps the old man truly knew him, and he was not Wang Tao, but Su Ming!
With this suspicion in mind, Su Ming took a few steps forward, and the mighty pressure that spread out from his body was only targeted at the old man. Under the pressure, he wanted to make the old man's mind crumble so that it would be easier for him to tell the truth.
But Su Ming did not expect that under his pressure, the old man would give such an explanation. It sounded logical, and even if Su Ming thought about it carefully, he found that it fitted the situation quite well.
That was why Su Ming frowned.
The old man knelt down with a thud. When he spoke, his voice was not soft. The scene had already attracted the attention of the Seven Moons Sect disciples in the distance. At that moment, there were quite a number of gazes looking over. In fact, some people were already rushing over.
This matter involved Su Ming's privacy, and he did not want to cause unnecessary trouble. Besides, he could not find any flaws in the old man's explanation either. Su Ming cast a scrutinizing glance at the old man. He saw terror on his face, and besides that, there were no other clues.
A barely noticeable glint shone in Su Ming's eyes as he said faintly, "You can leave now."
Sweat broke out on the old man's forehead. Before Su Ming spoke, he did not dare to get up. At that moment, when Su Ming spoke, the mighty pressure on his body immediately disappeared, and he quickly got up. A respectful expression appeared on his face, as if he had just survived a disaster. There was also a hint of regret on his face, as if he regretted coming to Su Ming to sell his medicinal cores.
His expression matched his previous words. Once he got up, the old man quickly wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply to Su Ming.
"Thank you, senior. Thank you, senior." As he spoke, he turned around and quickly walked into the distance.
Su Ming stared at the old man's back. A faint glint appeared in his eyes, and he suddenly said, "Bei Qiong."
The old man did not seem to have heard him. His footsteps did not change. When he was about to leave into the distance, Su Ming smiled faintly.
"I still have the storage bag from all those years ago. That storage bag once belonged to you. Even if thousands of years have passed, I still have a way to retrieve your presence from it. You … won't be able to leave."
Su Ming's words only reached the old man. At the instant the old man heard them, his footsteps became slightly disorderly. He might have recovered in an instant, but the old man's expression had already changed. He knew that at the instant his footsteps became disorderly, he had given himself away. Just as he was hesitating …
"I knew it, it's you!" Su Ming shouted.
With it, the old man was like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow. He instinctively moved, intending to flee, but Su Ming did not move. When he saw the old man fleeing, a hint of a cold sneer appeared at the corners of his lips.
With a smile on his face, Su Ming took a step forward, but at the instant he did so, several figures rushed over from the buildings in the distance before the old man. They could not fly in this place, which was why they could only walk quickly. The person in the lead was an old man in black robes, and behind him were eight cultivators.
"How dare you! Who dares to humiliate my disciple like this?!" As the old man in black laughed coldly, he swung his arm and charged towards Bei Qiong. Clearly, someone had told Bei Qiong about him kneeling down. When he closed in, Bei Qiong quickly cried out for help.
"Master, save me! Master, save me … This person … This villain wants to snatch my medicinal core!" When he said those words, the old man did not show much of an expression, but the people following behind him had slightly strange expressions on their faces.
Most of the people in the first layer of Seven Moons Sect knew Bei Qiong's character. If there was truly a villain, then Bei Qiong looked more like one.
"I'd like to see just which disciple is so bold as to commit murder in the sect. This is a violation of the sect rules, and he will be chased out of the sect!" As the old man spoke with a cold sneer on his lips, he walked out from the side of the bluestone path between the buildings in the sect and cast a glance at Su Ming.
When he did so, his expression suddenly changed drastically. He sucked in a sharp breath and staggered a few steps back. Even the people behind him were stunned. They did not know Su Ming. They were stunned because of the black-robed old man's change in expression and his instinctive actions.
The old man groaned in his heart. He had been walking quickly from the bluestone path between the buildings, which was why he had not seen Su Ming. He thought that it was some arrogant disciple who had gone to bully his disciple.
That was why his anger surged to the heavens, but at the instant he walked out and saw Su Ming, his heart let out a thump. The others might not know Su Ming, but there was no way he could forget him.
The old man was Wang Tao, the old man named Chen who had guided Su Ming in his cultivation when he Possessed him!
Ever since Su Ming stepped into the Inner Sect, the old man might have been slightly resentful during the initial few years, but he had always been anxious, afraid that Su Ming would come back and cause trouble for him. There might be a huge difference in their levels of cultivation, but Su Ming had become an Inner Sect disciple, and his status was different. He had plenty of ways to make things difficult for the old man …
Yet after a few years, when he saw that everything was fine, he gradually regained his awe-inspiring presence, especially now that eight years had passed. Due to Su Ming having forgotten about what had happened in the past, he had long since forgotten about it.
However, this matter was still a thorn in his heart, and it often made him anxious. It was especially so when he heard that Su Ming seemed to have become a disciple of a certain Sect Elder when he asked around, which made him even more apprehensive for a period of time.
Yet there was no news of him for eight years, and gradually, he buried the matter in his heart.
Yet when he saw Su Ming again, everything that had happened eight years ago instantly surfaced in his mind, causing his angry heart to instantly turn into nervousness. He might not be afraid of Su Ming's level of cultivation, but he was incredibly respectful towards the Sect Elder behind him. No matter how he tried to find out which Sect Elder it was, he was even more nervous.
Su Ming's gaze landed on Old Chen and he asked flatly, "Are you the one who wants to chase me out of the sect?"
Old Chen's expression changed, but before he could speak, a middle-aged man among the eight people beside him laughed coldly and pointed at Su Ming before he shouted, "Why aren't you kneeling down when you see Attendant Chen?
"Why aren't you kowtowing when you see Attendant Chen? Whose clan are you from? Call your attendant over. This matter must be dealt with, or else …" The burly man was clearly used to being arrogant, and his expression was ferocious. However, before he could even finish speaking, the old man surnamed Chen stepped forward and slapped him across the face, sending him flying more than thirty meters away.
"Damn it, how dare you! Do you think you have the right to speak?!" Old Chen immediately said in exasperation. Then, when he looked at Su Ming, he quickly forced a smile on his face, wrapped his fist in his palm, and bowed to him.
"I see, so it's brother Wang. Haha, it's been eight years since we last met, brother Wang, and you're even more elegant than before. Haha, I didn't recognize you at first, please don't mind me, brother Wang." As Old Chen spoke, he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed to Su Ming.
This action and words immediately caused the people in the area to be stunned, and they looked towards Su Ming. After all, Elder Chen was incredibly domineering in the Outer Sect, and it was especially so after Wang Tao was chosen to enter the Inner Sect in the past. Once the old man was promoted to a great attendant according to the sect rules, there were few in the Outer Sect who dared to provoke him.
Yet now … he seemed to be behaving in such a manner, and the disciples in the area could not help but start guessing Su Ming's identity.
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