The old lady was indeed very familiar with this place.
Not only did she take a nearly flawless route without waste, but even the room with the light on, heavily concealed, was hard for ordinary folks to notice.
In her nurous nocturnal wanderings, she must have seen this more than once and had a clear understanding.
As for the reason she took the initiative to light the lamp, it was quite simple—as they neared the destination, she clearly didn’t plan to accompany him further and offered him an illuminating tool before leaving.
Very considerate, but unfortunately, in doing so, it seems he startled her a bit.
"Are you injured?"
The old lady turned her head, constantly looking him up and down, and finally exclaid.
Oh?
Faced with the attention the old lady paid not to his face but to his multiple wounds, Fu Qian felt a touch of surprise.
"It’s nothing, just minor injuries."
He waved his hand, indicating it was nothing to worry about.
Given his surgical skills and healing ability, the wounds were barely visible by now, which was quite convincing.
"That’s good... here, take this."
After a mont’s hesitation, the kind-hearted old lady handed the lamp over, glancing at Fu Qian’s face a few more tis.
"Are you an outsider?"
The next mont, she seed to finally realize sothing and was suddenly startled.
...
Could she really not recognize him?
In fact, when the light ca on, Fu Qian worried that it would scare the old lady, not due to his injuries, but his face.
This was why he initially altered his voice slightly.
Appearing so mysteriously, there was no need to cause further psychological pressure by emphasizing his outsider identity.
However, the old lady’s initial reaction upon seeing him in the light made Fu Qian feel sothing was amiss—his disguise seed pointless, as she didn’t recognize him.
This wasn’t entirely impossible. For instance, in the healing Dream, she might have guided him as part of Dorian’s casual arrangent, which didn’t really occur.
Furthermore, Dorian might have motives for keeping it that way, given the Dream’s the—maximizing the lure to prevent him from straying into Darkness, remaining ensnared in Hilary’s embrace.
Such a setup would convince him thoroughly.
But—what if it wasn’t the case?
What if he truly arrived in Akons as an outsider, asked the old lady for directions, and then proceeded to the clinic for treatnt?
Her current lack of recognition might represent sothing deeply unsettling.
After all, it was like having a storyline handed to you by the storage.
"Why do you ask? Do outsiders often co to Akons?"
While thinking calmly, instead of rushing to confess, Fu Qian casually asked her this.
"Not often, I haven’t seen an outsider in a long ti."
The surprise on her face showed a hint of oddity, as if even the na Akons made her uncomfortable.
Yet she quickly regained her composure, slightly shaking her head as she looked at Fu Qian’s face.
"But clearly, your face is very unfamiliar."
...
Indeed, she didn’t recognize him.
Even the fact she hadn’t seen an outsider in a long ti largely ruled out the possibility of rely having his appearance altered previously.
The old lady’s answer made Fu Qian increasingly sense the peculiarity of this place.
"You’re right, I am an outsider. But from your earlier reactions, I probably shouldn’t use the na Akons?"
He then candidly confird his identity and expressed curiosity about the old lady’s reaction.
He thought a pilgrim who journeyed through the night might be more elated by the na.
"This place hasn’t been called that for a long ti, and I don’t like the Cold Mountain na either."
Yet her deanor suggested she wasn’t too shaken by the decline of the na Akons.
"In any case, you’d better not ntion it to others."
"Understood, thank you."
So after the collapse of belief, it was renad Cold Mountain, a na that rolls off the tongue quite nicely.
Despite the internal assessnt, Fu Qian didn’t press for more information and finally accepted the lamp following her advice.
"Outsiders usually don’t co here; you should look for Dorian."
It seed the old lady had a liking for polite folks, even after losing interest in conversation and planning to leave, she still gave this additional advice.
Clearly, she couldn’t understand why Fu Qian would co here.
"Alright, I’ll go in a mont."
With a smile, Fu Qian readily accepted her suggestion.
...
Ultimately, the old lady disappeared into the Darkness, shuffling away with so difficulty without choosing to head towards the town’s edge.
As Fu Qian watched her leave, he removed accumulated blood clumps from his shoulder and waist.
Considering her psychological endurance, he didn’t show this earlier, resulting in slight accumulation.
Thud, thud!
Having handled it simply, Fu Qian wasted no ti and headed straight for his target, reaching out to knock on the door.
Inside, without a doubt, was that dejected brother, even in a pose identical to the one in the chapel.
Knock, knock, knock!
There was no response, but Fu Qian was unsurprised and continued knocking.
In theory, the old lady’s suggestion wasn’t wrong.
Considering her unusual behavior, including not recognizing him, the best move now seed to be returning to Dorian’s place to verify so things.
Despite the unceasing intensity of sobbing echoing in his mind, its effect kept accumulating, with "Heart Strikes" becoming increasingly frequent.
In this scenario, whether to spend ti visiting the remaining locals theoretically rited consideration.
Nevertheless, Fu Qian didn’t hesitate, choosing to visit this unspeaking fellow.
Ultimately, it wasn’t about having much to say to him, but for another thing inside the house.
Even before the old lady lit the lamp, Fu Qian had sensed a special anomaly aside from the owner behind the curtains, a subtle indication.
Standing here now, that feeling grew even more distinct.
Located right beside the dejected brother, it seed to take on the shape of a sword, holy and cold, with a high Ranking.
Such a Holy Artifact obviously out of place with the "Cold Mountain" atmosphere posed a challenge to imagination.
Yet thus far, the party inside gave no sign of reacting to the knock, as if cutting himself off from the world.
"Open the door, outsider."
Despite this, Fu Qian didn’t mind and knocked again more persistently.
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