"You brat, I told you to rest properly, but you wouldn’t listen and insisted on running out. Now look what happened; your barely recovered body has reverted to its old state again."
On the bed in the dilapidated room, Ling Chen lay with a helpless expression, listening to the old Taoist’s nagging beside him.
Previously, he had taken a fall and thought he was doomed, but when he woke up, he found himself back in the broken house. It was obvious that the old Taoist had saved him.
"Boy, stay here and recuperate obediently. Don’t worry about those troubles outside, do you hear me? With your current condition, even if you return, what can you do? You won’t be much help and will only end up hindering others."
Ling Chen replied with a bitter smile, "Elder, I stay here every day, but I really worry about my friends. Even if you don’t let me go back, at least allow me to contact them and know how they are doing."
"There’s no need for that," the old Taoist said indifferently, "Your friends are preparing to deal with the Netherworld Snake, and with their strength, it won’t be much of a problem. As for Ling Gengqiu... he’s with Du Yunzhi, and won’t be in any danger."
Upon hearing this, Ling Chen couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned. The old Taoist knew so much, even about Ling Gengqiu and Du Yunzhi. Suddenly, the old Taoist appeared even more profound and enigmatic in his heart.
"Um... Elder, may I be so bold as to ask a question?"
"Go ahead."
"How many years have you lived?" Ling Chen asked carefully. Regarding the old Taoist, he had heard from many people, including his grandfather and Su Lin, who had mentioned the old Taoist, though they weren’t sure if it was the same person. However, in his view, the old Taoist before him possessed great abilities, similar to Ling Gengqiu and the others.
Honestly, although he asked the question out loud, he didn’t hold much hope, considering it involved the other’s personal privacy and secrets, and the old Taoist might not answer.
As he pondered, the old Taoist calculated on his fingers, muttering to himself, "I can’t quite figure out how many years I’ve lived; it should be many years now. Alas! The mind weakens with age, and many things are not clearly remembered."
"Then you..." Ling Chen wanted to ask something else, but before he could finish, the old Taoist immediately interrupted him, continuing, "I know what you want to ask, and since you’re so curious, why not chat with you a bit."
After organizing his thoughts, the old Taoist said, "Actually, I was even more confused in the past than you are, because the technology at that time was not advanced. There were many unknown things that we couldn’t find answers to. Later, as technology slowly progressed, our understanding expanded from the local to the national level, and then to the entire world and universe. As knowledge broadened, I finally understood that this world is filled with countless mysteries, which even today’s scientific level has difficulty explaining."
After pausing, he continued, "Many years ago, there was a young man of about the same age you are now. One day, he ventured out alone and discovered a stone. It was an unusual stone, smooth on the surface, with a blood-red hue like a precious blood jade, emitting a faint glow. The young man thought he had found a treasure and was overjoyed, so he took the stone home. The next morning, he was shocked to find the stone had become dull. At that time, he didn’t think much of it, assuming the stone had turned into worthless rubble, so he discarded it. However, as years passed, he noticed the people around him aging, while he showed no signs of aging at all; moreover, his powers were extremely strong. People believed he was favored by heaven, and regarded him as a ’god’."
"In a blink of an eye, several decades had passed, yet he remained unchanged. After relentless exploration, he finally gained some understanding of his condition. All these changes might have a significant connection with that stone. By then, he was married with children, and among his descendants, some appeared similar to him. Gradually, their tribe developed rapidly, with thousands of people. Yet, hundreds of years later, he noticed a problem: upon awakening their bloodlines, although his descendants could prolong their lives for a few hundred years, once they hit a bottleneck, their bodies would mutate leading to death."
"He wished to solve this issue, but unfortunately, due to the low technological and medical levels at that time, he could do nothing. After living for so many years, he gradually lost interest in it all, and no longer wanted to play the ’god’ in people’s mouths. Hence, after much consideration, he chose to leave and wander the world alone. Later, as society slowly developed, he began to use modern technology to continue exploring the secrets of his existence."
"Did he discover anything?" Ling Chen, completely absorbed, couldn’t help but ask.
The old Taoist smiled and said, "He researched many documents, and one ancient book recorded an anomaly called ’Innate Flowing Fire.’ This phenomenon occurred decades before his birth. Due to the prevalent feudal superstitions at the time, people believed it was a sign of heaven’s wrath. Yet in fact, according to today’s scientific explanation, it was actually a meteor shower, with some meteors falling from outer space to Earth. Many meteors were destroyed upon entering the atmosphere, with only a few reaching the ground. The stone he picked up back then was actually a meteorite from beyond."
"Meteorite?"
Ling Chen was astonished. Though unfamiliar with meteorites, he knew a bit about them. Meteorites are objects from outer space that might carry bacteria and viruses. If the human body becomes infected with such a virus or bacteria, it could lead to bodily mutations. The young man mentioned by the old Taoist likely underwent bodily changes due to this reason.
So, all of this was due to that meteorite.
After being shocked for a moment, Ling Chen couldn’t help but ask, "Elder, how do you know about these secrets?" Logically, only the guardians would understand these secrets, but the old Taoist explained them as if he was quite familiar with this part of history.
"Me?" The old Taoist smiled with mystery, "If I told you that I had met him before, would you believe it?"
Ling Chen nodded; how could he not believe? The old Taoist spoke so clearly, so either he had personally experienced it, or someone had told him about it. If the old Taoist had indeed met that person, then it all made sense. But no... suddenly, he seemed to think of something and said, "Elder, I remember that person died a long time ago. When did you meet him?"
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