Chapter 523: The Mysterious Stony Man
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"This problem is related to many principles. Firstly, do you understand Herb's Law?"
"No," Kirsten looked lost.
"Then let us begin with Herb's Law …" Ye Chong did not look impatient. He was a picture of patience and serenity.
For the past few days, Kristen became absolutely convinced of Ye Chong's abilities. She felt grateful for taking that bold step in asking this young man to be her teacher.
Kirsten had asked about everything she did not understand in the past few days. In fact, they were now still discussing only her first question. She did not imagine that there was no much knowledge involved in just a simple question.
It was on the fourth day that she finally figured out her first question. However, in these four days, Kirsten felt that she was getting more than she hoped for.
There was something she could not understand, however. How did her teacher come to be so knowledgeable at such a young age? Whenever they talked, she felt a deep respect for him. All this knowledge was so mysterious and interesting. It was a fully structured and developed field of knowledge, built upon layers and layers of understanding and discovery.
"Let's stop for today. We're going out to buy something," Ye Chong said plainly.
Kirsten looked up in surprise, "We're buying something?" In the past few days, his teacher had never left his house except to impart his knowledge to her. As long as she did not ask him questions, the man would stay inside his house with the door shut.
"I need samples of common raw materials. Please give me a list of them," Ye Chong said to Kirsten.
"What do you need them for?" Kirsten thought it was a very strange request. As a weaponsmith, she had to understand the properties of basic materials at the beginning of her career. In fact, while there were many materials that were suitable to make weapons, only a few of them were common.
If they wanted samples of all the materials, it would cost quite a sum, and she did not see how it was necessary.
"They're useful." Ye Chong's reply did not convince Kristen, but she also knew that if Ye Chong did not feel like explaining to her, no amount of asking was going to get her anywhere.
"Boy, I have to warn you, this is going to cost you at least a million ao. Think it through," Kristen advised despite herself.
"I see, that's not a problem."
…
After so many days of staying in her tiny house, eating simple rations, Kristen felt wonderful as they finally went outside.
"Say, boy, I didn't get your name yet," Kristen took a side glance at Ye Chong.
"Ye Chong," the man himself replied, his eyes looking straight ahead. It had been too long since he used his real name. All this while, he had been going under fake names. For some reason, Ye Chong felt bitter at the thought, but he quickly composed himself.
"Ye Chong? That's not a bad name," Kristen said, but still teased him a bit, "But it sounds too ordinary."
Ye Chong ignored her.
Kristen was like an eye magnet on the streets. Her clothes were revealing, and her body curved enticingly at the people around her. She carried herself with passion and allure; her red lips moved seductively.
She was tall, almost as all as Ye Chong.
Unlike Kristen, Ye Chong looked like an ordinary dude. He looked ordinary, wore simply, and perhaps only the sharpest eyes could see the confident ease and calmness in his eyes.
Many of the onlookers looked at her sympathetically, and this made Kristen even more pleased. She turned back at Ye Chong but found that he was not looking at her. This angered her.
"Boy, you have a woman?" Kristen suddenly thought of the question and asked him.
Ye Chong considered it for a moment before replying, "I guess so." An image of a woman in white training garb came to mind.
Kristen was instantly hooked on the topic. She continued with excitement, "Wow and wow, didn't think you have it in you. Your skinny ass got you a woman? But I gotta say, you're being too irresponsible, what do you mean by 'I guess so'? You either have one, or you don't, you don't 'guess' okay? What a loser, no wonder I don't fancy you."
Ye Chong darted a glance at Kristen, thinking about how she get along swimmingly with Shang.
Kristen glared at Ye Chong, her arms akimbo, "What're you staring at, am I wrong? I hate men who're careless like you!" Her furious expression made her look even more stunning. Some of the onlookers around them wished they could interfere and lend her a helping hand.
Ye Chong remained stony and expressionless, so Kristen lost interest in the subject. Suddenly, she thought of something else. She approached Ye Chong and whispered in his ear, "Honestly though, what's it like?" She asked and wiggled her eyebrows meaningfully.
"It was good," Ye Chong replied without thinking. The memories he had of "tasting" Rui Bing were carved deep into his mind.
"Hahahaha!" Kristen gave up her ladylike image and laughed loudly, doubling over with one hand on her stomach. She did not realize that Ye Chong was not talking about what she meant.
Ye Chong did not feel embarrassed. He only found it strange - was it really that funny? Why could he not appreciate the joke?
Ye Chong watched Kristen calmly, waiting for her to finish laughing.
Thus, a strange scene presented itself on the streets. A woman in revealing overalls was laughing beside herself, while a man stood in front her emotionlessly, watching her.
Everyone who walked pass them stared in bafflement.
Fortunately, no one interfered to "help" Kristen. Most of the people here knew her. She was beautiful, true, but she was also bad tempered and an odd character. Moreover, she was a Level 4 shooter. It would make anyone think twice before getting involved with the beautiful lady.
Kristen finally stopped laughing.
"Are you done laughing?" Ye Chong asked calmly, "If you're done, let's keep moving. If not, do continue."
Kristen was speechless at that.
...
Kristen trailed behind Ye Chong, confused by the man in front of her. Sometimes, he was so good tempered that all the teasing would simply roll off him, like he was made of stone. Other times, he felt so dangerous that even minor things could get him worked up.
You never knew what his next step would be. Kristen was confident of her looks, and knew that many were seduced by her beauty. However, this man here had always looked at her with such clear eyes. His expression was always so flat and calm, as though nothing in the world held his interest.
A man at his age should be passionate, ambitious and eager to please. However, this man did not look anything like that.
Kristen can call him "boy", tease him all she wanted, and he would never mind. She remembered clearly of a teacher she had once who always ordered her to be respectful at all times.
This was a strange man. Everything about him was a mystery to her. He was much more knowledgeable than his age suggested, and Kristen suspected that he was probably the most skilled weaponsmith in the world.
Currently, the man had made a very strange request. Such a skilled weaponsmith was willing to spend a million ao to buy all kinds of raw materials. Was he just bored out of his mind? He was also such a money-grubber, or at least as far as Kristen could see.
"We're here," Kristen pointed to a light green colored building, "It's the largest material store here. You can't get everything in the list, but you should be able to get most of them."
Ye Chong nodded, "Alright."
The shop was spacious inside. They sold all kinds of raw materials, and would even buy them from customers. Many shooters would sell their haul here in the shop.
"Welcome, Miss Kristen!" The storekeeper saw that it was Kristen, and came to greet her. Kristen was a famous local weaponsmith, and her weapons were popular around. She was an important customer of the store.
Kristen nodded in greeting to the storekeeper. Suddenly, she slapped her head lightly in annoyance and said to Ye Chong, "Ah, I forgot that this is Mr Mo's shop. We could've just visited him directly. Hehe, I think you must have left quite an impression in him last time."
The storekeeper was surprised. Kristen was a huge customer in the store, but he never knew that she knew the boss himself. Besides, from what she was saying, it seemed that this man beside her also knew Mr Mo. This made him wary.
"Oh, so it's Mr Mo's store," Ye Chong nodded in recognition. It was just a short peek, but Mr Mo had left a good impression in him.
Ye Chong studied the inside of the store. There were not many people around, but one of them got his attention.
It was a woman in thin, white clothing. She wore a strange hat that had a thin veil covering her face. What caught Ye Chong's attention was not her clothing, but her aura.
It reminded him of someone he had not spent only a brief time with - Huang Baiyi.
One was an old man, the other a young lady, but they shared a certain kind of aura.
The woman seemed to notice his gaze, and turned her head over slightly.
In the next instant, Ye Chong felt a kind of wave go through him. This felt very familiar! In his time with Huang Baiyi, the man had wanted to pass down his knowledge to Ye Chong. To do this, he had demonstrated many ways mental waves can be used. Huang Baiyi was surprised to find that Ye Chong, despite his lack of talent in becoming a mentalist, was very sensitive to mental waves.
It was later that he realized something - Ye Chong was not sensitive to mental waves in particular, but to every detail in his surroundings. This sensitivity he displayed was off the charts compared to normal people. It was what allowed him to notice even metal waves, something that normal people could not detect.
Ye Chong did not like the feeling - it was like he was being scrutinized without permission.
He twisted his upper body slightly to the left and right, and got free of the mental waves. He had achieved nothing through his meditation training, but it allowed him to be familiar with mentalist powers. Getting free of the mental waves was no challenge at all. A lot of things are like this - when you do not understand it, you may feel that it is full of mystery, but once you realize what it really is, you will find that it is really nothing special.
"Huh?" It was a faint gasp of surprise.
Ye Chong heard it, however. As suspected, it was her. Ye Chong's expression did not change, but he was now more vigilant.
"This is the list. We need 50 grams of each," Kristen and the storekeeper did not notice Ye Chong's interaction with the woman in the corner.
The storekeeper was disappointed when he heard they only wanted 50 grams, but when he saw the entire list, he was simply speechless.
After a long while, he managed to compose himself again. "Forgive me, Ms Kristen, but do you really want everything on this list?"
"Yes," Kristen replied after looking to Ye Chong and did not see him opposing.
The storekeeper handled the business professionally. He did not inquire further into their reasons for buying those materials, but instead said, "Of all the items in your list, our store can directly supply 3,112 of them. There are another 424 which we do not have in stock at the moment. If you're amenable to it, we can acquire the items from other stores for you, but it will take longer, about a week's time. Do you need these 424 items?"
Kristen looked at Ye Chong again, and saw him nod. She replied, "Yes, all of them."
The storekeeper saw both times when Kristen looked to Ye Chong, and felt even more cautious of them. Not only did this man knew his boss, even the wild and intractable Kristen was obeying him. Who was this man? He did not the answer to that question, but he did know that this was a man he could not afford to displease.
"Since there are many high value items in your list, the price is a bit high. The total is 1.7 million ao. As you are our honored customer, you will receive a discount of 20 percent as per our store's policy. The total after discount is 1.36 ao," the storekeeper explained to Kristen after checking his calculations.
Ye Chong paid straight away. The storekeeper was pleased with the huge transaction. He said, "Since there are many items in your list, we will package and label them in detail. Your items will be delivered to you this evening. The remaining 424 items will be delivered in a week's time."
Even Kristen was not unaffected by the huge 1.36 million ao trade they had just made. She cursed Ye Chong inwardly for being such so wasteful. However, when she looked at the man she called a money-grubber, his expression was simply serene, as though he felt nothing at all.
There was nothing left to do here, so Kristen and Ye Chong turned to leave.
"Please wait," a soft female voice spoke from behind them.
No one saw the cold gleam that flashed in Ye Chong's eyes right then.