Chapter 79: Small Gift

Yue Muzhou had met more people in the county office these past few days than in the previous

Naturally, he had no way of knowing their appearances, but the blind also have their own ways of perception; different people could still leave different impressions in his mind.

Of course, he belonged to the most thorough type among the blind, as he had completely lost both eyes.

In his daily life, he had a small method for sensing light and darkness: when the sun was at its most intense, he would cover his left eye with his left hand and his right eye with his right hand, and after holding it for a while, he would suddenly remove them, allowing him to vaguely feel a bit of difference.

But most of the time, he was still submerged in a deep, profound blackness.

In this kind of darkness, the primary means of perception was hearing—in reality, his hearing was not very good either, but it was enough to get by.

And only when vision was completely unavailable and all his focus was placed on hearing would he discover that sound actually contained extremely rich information.

Besides the main vocal sounds, there were footsteps, the rustle of clothing, breathing, and even the sounds of fingers clicking, legs shaking, swallowing saliva, hiccups, farts, and so on; and this was just the sound emitted by one person quietly alone.

When more than two people gathered in the same space, the sound information produced began to multiply continuously.

—Fingernails tapping lightly on wood meant these people beside him made him feel very relaxed; the frequency of heel-tapping increased, meaning this person was currently a bit anxious; although the face was still smiling and chatting, the sound of constantly shifting standing postures coming from the soles of the feet meant this person was becoming impatient with the conversation partner...

And besides hearing, there was smell, touch, and even intuition.

When these perceptions were synthesized, every person had a unique shadow in his heart.

The little boy he depended on for survival was upright and light, with a very clean scent, but not the kind of a thin scholar; he was very strong, his body heat was abundant, and every time he approached, it was like a little sun.

The sound emitted by the woman named Xing Zhi always had a distinct sense of phrasing; her footsteps were half a beat faster than others, and her voice was crisp, fast, but clear.

She was very sharp and wise, able to place her own and others' positions very correctly, like a refreshing, decisive, and orderly wind; she was the kind of person he very much liked to deal with.

Ming Qitian was very strong.

Every sound she emitted was peaceful and stable, perfectly integrated with her entire temperament; if an enemy wanted to find any flaw in her from her sounds, it was absolutely impossible.

If one set aside this most obvious feeling and only spoke of the impression of "the person," she was very quiet and very clear. She was not short, her figure was well-proportioned, and if she were also very beautiful and liked to wear light-colored robes, then her entire temperament would be somewhat like... Ying Suyu.

But Ying Suyu was a bit clumsier and did not have this kind of peaceful firmness from the heart, and her emotions were more prone to fluctuation; in short, she could not compare to this woman... in the martial path.

Chang Zhiyuan was an old man with loose footsteps; he should not be short, and his body was sturdy, not hunched. As an ordinary person without cultivation, his small movements were very few. He spoke gently and powerfully, sometimes seriously and sternly; he was a rare person whose inside and outside were the same.

And at this moment, these loose footsteps approached him, a "clatter" sound signaled something being put down, and then, following the sound of fabric rubbing, a relaxed groan and sigh was emitted.

The source of this sigh was from high to low—oh, what he had just put down was a stool or something similar, and he had now sat on it.

"Is it going to rain?" he asked the other person hoarsely.

"Yes, it got dark very suddenly." A gentle, aged voice came from his left ear, "Brother Yue, I haven't had a chance to chat, may I ask, are you Little Pei's..."

"Not 'Brother,' actually I am much younger than you. Little Ye and I have no family ties; we just live together."

There was a silence beside him; Yue Muzhou guessed he must be looking at his own hideous and ugly appearance in surprise—withered palms, withered thin arms, looking old to the extreme in every way.

But in fact, this appearance did not represent old age, but the exhaustion of life; it was just that old age was the reason for the exhaustion of life for most ordinary people.

"I am sixty-two this year, may I ask, little brother, you..."

"I am this year..." Yue Muzhou was dazed for a moment; this was a question he hadn't answered in a long time, "I should be fifty."

"..." The person beside him breathed heavily and fell silent again.

He was thinking of a new topic.

Actually, there was nothing, Yue Muzhou thought, he could continue to talk.

"I just heard that they seem to have started fighting over there, but now there is no movement." The voice became a bit worried, "I don't know if Fenghuai can hold on this time."

"It's difficult," Yue Muzhou said.

"Sigh..." The old man gave a long sigh, "It's too sudden, and the escalation of the situation is too violent. A few days ago, we thought one Eighth Life cultivator would be enough to solve everything; later, Commandant Jing came, and there were also masters from the Divine Capital, which should have been foolproof, but in the end, they all suddenly got trapped."

"From this point on, the level of the incident underwent an unexpected leap, and the entire Bowang Prefecture did not have enough strength. Inspector Xu brought people over and also sent a request for reinforcements to the Divine Capital."

"However, the letter was sent late yesterday, and before noon today, the other side had already arrived." The old man sighed again, "Even if it were one day late... or even half a day?"

The pear tree rustled, the wind grew stronger, and a thin, light thing fell onto his hand. Yue Muzhou raised his trembling hand to pinch it, and upon feeling it, it was a long, peach-shaped leaf.

"Or, fifteen days late would also be fine..." he muttered.

But at this moment, the rustling sound suddenly changed, and a sharp friction sound seemed to be mixed into it.

Yue Muzhou tilted his head slightly to listen carefully; he had indeed not heard wrong. Amidst the wind and the shaking trees, there was a trace of friction sound. This sound had a long-lost familiarity, like ironware and—

The sound suddenly took a sharp turn; this sound was very loud and very obvious. The sound of a stool being kicked rang out beside him; Chang Zhiyuan must have stood up abruptly.

—It was the friction between ironware and bone.

This sound came from under the pear tree.

Yue Muzhou knew that there was a monster nailed there; now, had that sword been pulled out?

Wasn't there someone watching it?

Sure enough, chaotic sounds soon rang out over there; a fight was happening, and then very quickly, the sound of whistling wind and a body crashing into the room came—one side had been thrown out.

He felt the old man beside him grab his arm, intending to drag him away.

He, of course, could not be dragged, and it was too late.

Heavy footsteps sounded in front of him; this monster was very tall, its breathing was long, and it carried a chill on its body.

That chill grew closer and closer, almost touching his skin; Yue Muzhou felt his entire body almost soaked through by this chill.

That breath had already blown onto his face, also cold and chilly, and then his abdomen felt a slight prick; something was pressing against it.

As if responding to this touch, something stirred in his abdomen, and Yue Muzhou suddenly felt a kind of... urge to devour.