As soon as I put it on, I met a sickly man

The deep mountain path is flanked by towering ancient trees that block out the sun. Sunlight shines through the gaps between branches and leaves, casting mottled shadows on the ground.

The breeze blew, and the leaves rustled, making the silence around seem even more eerie.

Ding Chen and Xiaoxuan stood in front of the old man. They stared at him closely, trying to see something in his cloudy eyes.

The old man's eyes were as sharp as a hawk's, scanning them up and down as if he wanted to see through them.

His eyes were deep and unfathomable, as if containing endless secrets.

He said nothing, but just looked at them silently. This silent scrutiny cast a shadow over the hearts of Ding Chen and Xiaoxuan.

The air seemed to freeze, so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Ding Chen was already impatient, and being looked at like this by the old man made him even more irritated.

He took a step forward, his tone somewhat impatient, "Old man, what on earth do you know? We are in a hurry, just tell us what you have to say!"

The old man's gaze shifted from Ding Chen to Xiaoxuan. He didn't answer Ding Chen's question, but snorted coldly, slightly exerting force on his cane. "Young man, you are so impatient and don't know how to respect the elderly and love the young. You are so rude!"

Ding Chen was left speechless by the old man's words. He was about to retort when Xiaoxuan grabbed his arm.

Xiaoxuan shook her head at him, signaling him to calm down.

She turned her head and gave the old man a gentle smile, "Old man, my husband is a bit impatient, please don't take it to heart. We do have some important matters to attend to, if you know anything, please feel free to enlighten us." Her voice was soft, but it carried a reassuring power.

The old man looked at the young couple in front of him, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, he slowly stood up straight, and an inexplicable light flashed in his turbid eyes.

He said slowly, "Want to know?"

As soon as he finished speaking, his body paused slightly, turned around, turned his back to them, and slowly walked forward.

Seeing this, Xiaoxuan hurriedly bowed deeply to the old man, and said sincerely, "Old man, my husband was rude just now, I hope you can forgive me. We did encounter some difficulties on this trip. If you knew the inside story, I would like to exchange what I have learned for you." As she spoke, she carefully took out a slightly old medical book from her bosom. The corners of the pages were slightly yellowed, obviously it was something that was often read. "This is my experience in practicing medicine for many years. If you are interested, I am willing to offer it to you with both hands." She held the book,

Upon hearing this, the old man's originally serious expression suddenly relaxed. A gleam of brilliance flashed in his cloudy eyes, and then he threw his head back and laughed heartily. His laughter was hearty and a bit mocking, echoing in the quiet forest. "Hahahaha, I lack everything, but medical skills! You little girl, you are very interesting. What I want is not just a medical book of yours." His laughter stopped abruptly, and he turned around, his eyes falling on Xiaoxuan again. His tone was flat, as if the laughter just now was just an illusion, "I just wanted to see if you two are as upright as the rumors say."

Upon hearing this, Ding Chen froze in place, a look of astonishment on his face. He looked at Xiaoxuan, then at the old man, feeling a little confused. He had never expected that the old man just wanted to test them.

The old man ignored Ding Chen's reaction, walked straight to a huge ancient tree, and slowly sat down.

He looked at Ding Chen and Xiaoxuan, his tone low and slow, "What you want to know is about the manipulator behind the scenes, right?"

Upon hearing this, Ding Chen and Xiaoxuan immediately put away all their distracting thoughts. They looked at the old man intently, afraid of missing a single word.

They looked at each other, and then their hands unconsciously clasped together, tightly, as if passing strength to each other. The warm touch made each other's hearts more determined.

The old man looked at their clasped hands, a barely perceptible approval flashed in his cloudy eyes, and he nodded slightly, as if he was pleased with their deep affection.

Then, he slowly began to talk about the manipulator hidden in the shadows. His voice was deep and powerful, and every word was like hitting a drum, vibrating their eardrums. "That person..."

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and the leaves in the forest rustled. A black shadow rushed out from the woods like a ghost, holding a sharp blade with a cold glow in its hand, and rushed straight towards Ding Chen.

A cold light flashed, and the sharp blade, accompanied by a strong wind, went straight for Ding Chen's throat.

The black shadow suddenly jumped up like a long-dormant poisonous snake, and its attack was fierce and brutal without any warning.

Ding Chen only felt a flash before his eyes, and a cold murderous aura was already rushing towards him. He subconsciously dodged to the side and narrowly avoided the fatal blow.

The sharp blade brushed past the corner of his clothes, bringing up a gust of cold wind that made him break out in a cold sweat.

The black shadow missed the attack, and with a flip of his wrist, the sharp blade attacked again, with a grin of death on the blade, showing no mercy.

Ding Chen staggered and took several steps back, barely avoiding the black shadow's violent attack.

He had never seen such brutal moves before. Each move was aimed at the vital points, as if to kill him.

After several fights, Ding Chen was already a little embarrassed, with beads of sweat oozing from his forehead. He had to admit that the black shadow in front of him was no ordinary person and his strength was far above his.

"Be careful!" Xiaoxuan exclaimed, her voice full of worry. She stared at the battlefield intently, and the medical book in her hand had already been deformed by her. She wanted to rush forward to help Ding Chen immediately, but she knew that if she rushed forward rashly, she would only become a burden to him.

Ding Chen steadied himself and dared not be careless anymore.

His eyes flashed, and he stopped dodging passively. Instead, he began to use the surrounding environment to deal with the shadow.

Sometimes he dodged and hid behind a tree, sometimes he used rocks on the ground to avoid attacks. His body was as agile as a monkey, and he gradually began to fight with the black shadow.

Although the black shadow's attack was fierce, Ding Chen was like a slippery loach, always able to dodge it narrowly, making the black shadow's attacks frequently miss.

After several moves, Ding Chen finally found a flaw.

The shadow's attack slowed down slightly, leaving a gap.

A gleam of light flashed in Ding Chen's eyes, and he suddenly jumped up and swept across, hitting the black shadow in the chest. The black shadow groaned and flew backwards. The sharp blade in his hand also flew out, drawing a cold light in the air, and then nailed to a tree trunk not far away.

The black shadow fell to the ground in a mess, and a sharp pain in his chest made him groan.

Xiaoxuan covered her mouth in surprise when she saw this scene.

However, before Ding Chen and Xiaoxuan could relax their vigilance, a black shadow suddenly crawled up from the ground, took out a black ball from his arms, and threw it to the ground.

With a "bang", thick smoke spread out instantly, covering the sky and the sun, and instantly swallowed up the figure of the black shadow.

The smoke cleared and the dark shadow disappeared.

Ding Chen and Xiaoxuan looked around solemnly. They knew that this was not the end and they would have to face more unknown dangers.

"That man..." the old man suddenly spoke, his voice low and hoarse.