Chapter 2446

"Ah... I..."

Suddenly questioned by Ye Chen, the old man became noticeably nervous for a moment.

He stammered, not knowing what to do or what to say, and could only instinctively look up at the delicate-looking young lady beside him.

Seeing this, the young lady quickly said: "Grandfather... we've come to this point now, just tell this gentleman the truth!"

"I..." The old man hadn't expected the young lady to say such a thing, and for a moment he was even more at a loss.

After all, he was merely a servant beside the Young Lady; the Young Lady calling him grandfather in public was understandable to him, and he could discern from her words that she wanted him to pretend to be her grandfather.

But now the Young Lady suddenly wanted him to tell the truth, which left him utterly bewildered.

Because he himself didn't know where to begin, how exactly should he speak the truth?

Seeing the old man still hadn't shown weakness, the young lady hastily stepped forward and said to Ye Chen: "This gentleman, my grandfather is still somewhat undecided; perhaps I should explain it to you instead."

Ye Chen didn't notice anything strange between the young lady and the old man; seeing the young lady willing to explain the reason, he nodded and said: "Little miss, please go on."

The young lady couldn't help but purse her lips into a smile, then spoke: "Actually, the reason these people want to capture me and my grandfather is because the person behind them wants a treasure left by my father."

"A treasure?" Ye Chen frowned upon hearing this, somewhat surprised and asked: "What treasure is worth their lord going to such great lengths to obtain?"

Although Ye Chen didn't know the surname or given name of that lord, nor how strong he truly was, based on his current limited understanding of this organization, he could still get a glimpse of the whole picture.

In his view, the comprehensive strength of this mysterious organization absolutely surpassed his own, and even the An family would be toyed with by them in the palm of their hand.

Therefore, Ye Chen speculated that the strength of this mysterious organization would not be inferior to the currently world-ranked-first Rothschild family.

It might even be far stronger than the Rothschild family.

Precisely because he knew the opposing side's strength was extremely strong, Ye Chen couldn't understand how such a lofty figure would quarrel over trinkets with an old man and a young grandchild.

Seeing Ye Chen somewhat doubtful, the young lady hesitated for a moment, then took out a palm-sized sachet from her close-fitting clothing.

Afterwards, she used her slender, fair, and tender little hand to take out from the sachet an unimpressive ancient copper-colored ring.

And the moment that ring was taken out from the sachet, Ye Chen felt a very rare yet very familiar sensation.

This made him immediately realize that this small ring, like his own Startling Thunder Command and Piercing Soul Blade, was also a magical artifact!

This was also the first time Ye Chen had seen a true magical artifact in someone else's hand!

He even thought this young lady also possessed spiritual energy like himself, so he instinctively divided a portion of his spiritual energy to secretly probe her.

But after probing, he found no trace of spiritual energy related to her on this young lady's body.

In other words, this young lady absolutely had no spiritual energy, and could not be a fellow cultivator with Ye Chen.

Thus, Ye Chen couldn't help but ask her: "Little miss, where exactly did this ring come from?"

The young lady said softly: "This ring was left to me by my father."

Ye Chen asked again: "Did your father tell you what special qualities this ring has?"

"No." The young lady said seriously: "My father only said this ring is not ordinary, and told me to keep it properly, never letting it fall into the hands of villains."

Having said that, she lowered her head in thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up at Ye Chen and said firmly: "Sir, if today you can spare me and my grandfather a way to live, I am willing to give you this ring; anyway, this thing is useless in my hands and always brings disaster. After giving it to you, my grandfather and I will find a safe place to live in seclusion, and we won't have to endure such disturbances anymore."

The old man beside her was so startled he couldn't speak, he stared wide-eyed at the young lady, using his gaze to tell her she must absolutely not act so impulsively.

But the young lady at this moment gave a bitter smile and said to him: "Grandfather, this thing, we lack the ability to protect it; keeping it won't protect it but may instead lead to it being seized by bad people."

Saying this, she firmly said: "Rather than that, it's better to give it to this gentleman! I see this gentleman has a kind appearance, he will certainly not let it go astray, and moreover, this gentleman possesses great supernatural powers, and will surely be able to protect this ring completely!"

Ye Chen curiously asked her: "Little miss, since your father told you not to let it fall into the hands of villains, aren't you afraid I might be a villain?"

"No." The young lady shook her head, saying seriously: "I believe you definitely didn't come for this ring, and your appearance at this critical moment, though I dare not say you are entirely here to save me and my grandfather, I believe this reason at least accounts for part of it, so I can be certain you are absolutely not a bad person."

Ye Chen gave a noncommittal slight smile, then turned his gaze to the ring in her hand.

Speaking honestly, Ye Chen indeed felt a certain longing for this ring.

After all, this was the first time he had seen a magical artifact in someone else's hand, so he very much wanted to know what special effects this magical artifact had.

Thus, he said to the young lady: "Good! I promise you!"

Saying this, he shifted his tone and added: "However, before I promise you, I still have one matter to clarify with you."

The young lady hurriedly said: "Sir, please speak!"

Ye Chen said lightly: "That is, after tonight, you might forget everything that just happened; if at that time you discover the ring your father left you and told you to keep properly is lost, perhaps you will spend your future life in guilt and self-blame—do you think you're okay with that?"

The young lady was slightly startled, then immediately nodded and said: "I have no problem! If this ring remains on my person, then my grandfather and I might not have such good luck next time."

"Good." Ye Chen seeing her agree, also readily said: "Then we have it settled."

The young lady nodded, then flicked her jade hand, and the ring spun through the air, drawing a beautiful arc before landing before Ye Chen's eyes.

Ye Chen reached out and grasped the ring in his palm, then gently poured a thread of spiritual energy into it, wanting to see what mysteries the ring actually concealed.

But once the spiritual energy entered the ring's interior, it vanished like a stone sinking into the sea, disappearing instantly.

Ye Chen's brows involuntarily furrowed, and he secretly wondered: "What formation is inside? Why does the spiritual energy enter, yet the ring shows no response at all?"

Thinking this, Ye Chen without showing any change in expression, poured in a bit more spiritual energy than before.

And this time, the small ring suddenly emitted a clear, pleasant, lingering hum like a sword's cry.

However, apart from this humming sound, the ring itself showed no change.

Ye Chen furrowed his brows, feeling this thing definitely concealed some mystery, only he currently might not have time to study it slowly, so he put the ring into his pocket.

And the young lady, at the moment she heard that humming sound, her eyes, which had originally been somewhat sorrowful, were instantly replaced by an irrepressible excitement...