Chapter 134: Still Just a Mortal

Judging from her Divine Sense, it should be a mortal, an old woman with graying hair, so thin she was nothing but skin and bones.

Could she have been here for a long time...? But there is no food here; how did she survive? After Ruan Xing confirmed the other party posed no threat, she pushed the door open and walked in. The old woman seemed startled by the sound, looking over with cloudy eyes, trembling.

"Hello, can you still communicate?"

The old woman did not speak, but instead crawled over slowly. Ruan Xing did not dodge. The old woman's nostrils flared as she sniffed Ruan Xing for a moment, then opened her mouth, which had few teeth left, and bit down on the shinbone Ruan Xing had just broken.

Although the wounds on the surface of the skin had already healed after Ruan Xing performed a simple healing technique, the old woman's teeth, which lacked any offensive power, could not harm the skin of a Golden Core Stage Cultivator; she didn't even feel any pain.

The old woman began to suck at the nearly dried bloodstains on Ruan Xing's trousers.

She did not look insane, just delirious from having been hungry for a long time. If she could be given something to eat, there might still be a possibility of communication.

It was just that she could not open her Storage Bag right now, otherwise she could have given her some food.

Ruan Xing frowned in thought, then used her Sword to cut a wound on her own shin. "Drink."

Warm blood flowed out. A glimmer of light appeared in the old woman's eyes. She impatiently licked the wound with her tongue, craving to drink more of the thing that could alleviate her thirst and hunger.

That shallow wound quickly healed over again, and the old woman seemed to regain some of her sanity.

Ruan Xing then asked, "Can you understand human speech?"

She gave a faint, barely perceptible nod.

"How did you get to this place? How long have you been here? And how did you survive?" Ruan Xing asked softly.

The old woman spoke, her voice extremely hoarse. "Nine days... nine days... no one... save me... I came to deliver food... no one..."

What she said was jumbled and very difficult to understand. Ruan Xing listened patiently for a long time before she finally understood.

This old woman had been delivering food to her husband who was working in the fields, but somehow got lost and ended up in this place. At first, she searched for several days, but there was not a single person here. Gradually, she fell into despair and hid in this house, waiting for death.

As for what she had been eating... Ruan Xing looked at the small skeleton that had just been pressed beneath the old woman, and she understood.

Although Ruan Xing had let her drink her blood, the old woman could not escape the fate of starving to death. She was already at such an advanced age, yet she still had to suffer at the end; it would be better to help her find release, so she would not have to endure the agony of hunger.

A trace of pity appeared in her eyes. She drew her Short Sword and asked one last question casually, "The skeleton behind you, who was it to you?"

"It is... my, son..."

What? Ruan Xing widened her eyes. She had intended to kill her after asking the last question, but she had not expected to receive such an answer.

This old woman's hair and beard were all white, her skin was loose and layered in folds, and she had few teeth left; she looked to be at least eighty years old. How could she have given birth to a four or five-year-old son?

She hurriedly pressed, "How old are you this year?"

"Thirty..."

The old woman seemed to have fallen back into a state of chaos, lowering her head to try and bite Ruan Xing's leg.

Seeing there was nothing left to ask, Ruan Xing sighed and ended the old woman's life with a single strike of her Sword.

Her mood was somewhat heavy; there was yet another strange thing about this place.

If it were a matter of different time flow, the woman could not have just aged; she likely would have starved to death on the first day.

But her physical sensation and hunger were still normal; it was just that the person was aging at an accelerated rate. Moreover, her son must have been alive for the first three or four days. According to the woman's rate of aging, three or four days would certainly have been enough for a child to grow into an adult, yet his skeleton was only that tiny little heap.

She did not know if this strangeness had any effect on Golden Core Cultivators. If it did, a Golden Core Cultivator's five-hundred-year lifespan might only last a few months here.

Elder Wen already had few years of life left; it was quite possible he would die within a day or two of entering.

Then she would not need to repay that favor.

Ruan Xing shook her head, walked out the door, and continued to move in one direction.

It was just... she still did not understand what kind of danger existed here that could cause Qingping Xianzi and her husband to be severely injured.

As far as she could see, it was just the lack of Spirit Qi, no food, the inability to use Magic Art, and accelerated aging—that was all.

A full four hours passed. Ruan Xing measured the size of this area with her feet. Although she did not walk fast, with the help of her Divine Sense, she had basically cleared a radius of ten miles, and there was almost certainly no other living person.

What Ruan Xing did not understand was that even though the sky was a gray haze where one could not see the light of the sun or moon at all, the day was still slowly darkening.

It was already so unscientific, yet it was still following the cycle of day and night.

Although Golden Core Cultivators had basic night vision, Ruan Xing had been walking for a whole day, and the broken bones in her body had not fully healed, so she decided to find a place to rest for the night and perform her cultivation to heal herself.

The surroundings were mostly ruins; the fragments of collapsed houses left nowhere to stand. She finally found a house with half a roof beam and went in to take a look.

It seemed to be a residential courtyard. The main hall on the side had completely collapsed; this should have been a slightly lower side room that had escaped half the disaster, still having a few tiles left to cover the head. Inside, there was a high-legged bed and a large chest beside it.

She went over, intending to open the chest to see what was inside, but with a light grab, a corner of the chest came off in her hand, and it crumbled with a light pinch.

It was truly more brittle than a crispy snack.

Ruan Xing could not help but complain in her heart. She estimated that the bed would also collapse the moment she sat on it. Ruan Xing held no hope for it; she used her Sword to rake it a few times, sweeping the broken debris to one side to clear a small patch of ground. She took off her outer robe to cover herself and prepared to sleep against the wall.

The sky had turned completely black.

She did not know how much time had passed when Ruan Xing heard a rustling sound enter her ears. She opened her eyes instantly and gripped her Short Sword.

"What is that sound?" Ruan Xing muttered to herself. Could it be the other Cultivators who entered the space rift together? Ruan Xing intended to check with her Divine Sense first.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she used her Divine Sense, the rustling sound seemed to have found something good; not only did the frequency increase, but the sound also grew louder, as if it were moving toward Ruan Xing.

But her Divine Sense saw nothing at all.

Could it be a hallucination?

Was there something deceiving her ears?

Suddenly, a light breeze arrived, and Ruan Xing hurriedly jumped backward to dodge.

Only after dodging did she feel a slight stinging pain on her cheek.

Good heavens, if she hadn't dodged quickly, half her head would likely have been gone just now.

It seemed the sound she heard was not a hallucination; it was just that the unknown, dangerous enemy had special means to block her Divine Sense.

Thanks to _Panda-kun_ for the tip~ Thanks to Xiwang Liulang for the monthly ticket~(End of chapter)