The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix’s Novels Also Desires Happiness - Chapter 198
123. The Old Man
“This is…”
With Anna’s footsteps, Mu En walked through the narrow, dim alley until they finally arrived at the small shop before them.
It was a very small and old shop, located at the end of an equally old street, with a tree so large that one person could hardly wrap their arms around it standing in front of the entrance. The leaves were yellow and falling softly.
The shop had no name and no customers; in fact, it was so remote that it was hard to imagine any passerby, let alone the existence of a shop here.
“It’s quite remote, so…”
Anna brushed her hair away from her forehead, gazing at the old, yellowed sign, and softly said:
“I suppose this is the only place I can come back to for now.”
“Come back…”
Mu En mulled over this word.
Anna stepped into the shop, her gaze sweeping casually until it landed on the old man behind the counter, who seemed to have been sleeping there, never having moved.
The old man was very old, his wrinkled skin covered in age spots. He had his eyes closed, seemingly napping, and didn’t notice when someone entered the shop.
“I’m back,” Anna said softly.
Dingling.
Mu En accidentally brushed against the wind chime overhead; he smiled apologetically and quickly stifled the untimely noise.
The shop fell silent, and after a long while, the old man emitted a sound from his nostrils, “Mm.”
“Is my room still there?” Anna continued to ask.
After a long pause, another soft “Mm” followed.
“That’s good.”
Anna turned back, smiling at Mu En.
“Junior, wait here for me, I’ll go change clothes.”
“Um… okay.”
Mu En originally intended to respond with a casual “um,” but felt something was off, so he quickly changed his reply.
“Feel free to look around.”
Anna skillfully navigated around the piled-up clutter behind the shop, then stepped onto the creaky stairs, disappearing from Mu En’s line of sight.
Mu En stretched his neck, following Anna’s figure until it vanished, letting out a helpless sigh.
Changing clothes is fine, but does a gentleman also need to be wary?
What about trust between people?
However, once the senior disappeared, Mu En suddenly sensed that the atmosphere in the shop… had become stagnant.
“Why does it feel… so awkward?”
Mu En lowered his head, cautiously glancing at the old man.
The old man seemed completely unconcerned about this stranger, still dozing off, his eyelids not even twitching.
Though he had many questions in his heart, in this situation, Mu En didn’t want to disturb him, so he had to shift his attention and pretended to admire the goods in the shop.
It seemed to be a general store.
In the not-so-large shop, the items were abundant, but they looked rather strange and chaotic. Many were tools or instruments that Mu En had never seen before, and there were even doll-like figures resembling beautiful girls.
Mu En could sense a faint magical aura from them.
“Are these all magical tools?”
Mu En was somewhat surprised; these magical tools looked very peculiar, completely unlike the standard products on the market.
In other words… did this old man make all of these?
Mu En cautiously glanced at the old man again; to create so many magical tools, the old man must be quite extraordinary.
However, given Mu En’s status, he didn’t lack for magical tools and quickly lost interest, his gaze gradually shifting elsewhere.
“Eh?”
At that moment, Mu En discovered something, his eyes lighting up.
He took a book from a prominent spot on the high shelf.
Though it was called a book, it resembled more of a photo album, and on its cover was an extremely striking beautiful girl.
The girl had her hands clasped tightly, her face pure and holy, seemingly in prayer, yet she was wearing extremely revealing attire, which resembled a modified nun’s outfit.
“Holy crap…”
Mu En glanced at the text beside the cover, his hand nearly trembling, almost dropping the book.
“Saint… Saintess photo album, is it that stimulating?”
As the son of the Duke of Campbell, the original owner had seen a few portraits of saintesses, so he could vaguely tell that the beautiful girl on the cover indeed bore a striking resemblance to a certain saintess of the Church of Life.
Although he knew it couldn’t possibly be the real person, the sense of forbiddenness brought on by the resemblance was enough to stimulate his nerves.
So Mu En swallowed hard, instinctively wanting to turn the page…
“While waiting for your girlfriend to change clothes, you sneak a peek at a little yellow book. If she temporarily leaves you in the future, will you end up straddling multiple boats?”
Mu En’s hand froze mid-turning. He slowly turned his head and found that the old man had opened his murky eyes at some point and was silently watching him.
For some reason, even though he didn’t know this old man, Mu En felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, as if he were a little cat caught in the act of sneaking around.
“N-no, I’m not looking at a little yellow book. I’m just curious about the appearances of the saintesses throughout history.”
Mu En forced a smile, quietly putting the saintess photo book back.
“And besides, my relationship with the senior is not like that yet. You’re overthinking it.”
“Is that so? She has never brought a man back before,” the old man said expressionlessly.
“Before? Back?”
Mu En seized on these two keywords, and the conjecture in his mind became increasingly real. His heart raced, and he nervously swallowed again, looking at the old man and asking:
“Could it be that you are the senior’s…”
“I am just a lonely old man.”
The old man waved Mu En over. “Come here.”
Thinking of the old man’s possible identity, Mu En felt no urge to resist and obediently walked over.
“Extend your hand.”
“Oh, okay.”
Mu En extended his hand, allowing the old man’s dry, branch-like palm to rest on his wrist.
In that moment of contact, Mu En felt a strong sense of being scrutinized, as if everything about him was laid bare before the old man’s eyes.
This made Mu En’s heart skip a beat, for he realized that the old man might be a powerful figure beyond his imagination. If he continued to pry like this, if it were like with Teacher Meila…
Fortunately, the old man didn’t seem to probe too deeply, or rather, Teacher Meila’s behavior was abnormal; he didn’t discover Mu En’s unusualness.
“To think you’re only at the late stage of the second rank, and your magical prowess is pitifully low. Although your foundation is decent, it seems you’re not a match for that girl yet.”
The old man released his hand, his gaze sweeping over Mu En’s face, and he said in a daze:
“You are quite handsome. Are you that girl’s kept boy?”
“Absolutely not!”
Mu En was furious at the remark.
As the son of a duke, he had always been the one to keep others; how could he possibly be kept by someone else!
Though being kept by the senior sounded quite appealing…
Cough, cough, no, he had to pull himself together. He was determined to be the man on top; how could he fall so easily!
“Old man, what exactly do you want to do?” Mu En forced a smile and asked.
“It’s nothing.”
The old man lifted his eyelids and took a deep look at Mu En,
“I just wanted to see what the pretty boy that girl is keeping looks like.”
“I’ve already said, I’m not a pretty boy…”
“But being here shows commendable courage.” The old man suddenly said, “It doesn’t tarnish Campbell’s reputation.”
“Eh?”
Mu En was taken aback.
Does he know my identity?
And what he means by that is…
But before he could voice his confusion, he noticed the old man had closed his eyes again, appearing to ignore everyone.
“Since that’s the case, then try to struggle a bit…”
Only the old man’s voice, as fleeting as the wind, echoed faintly in Mu En’s ears.
“I will buy you time, before the final moment arrives.”