...
Shin and Leonard suddenly turned their heads toward the person who suddenly walked over to them and stood beside their table.
What they saw was an old man with a clean-looking beard and mustache. The wrinkles on his face would easily tell his age. But despite that being the case, this particular old man seemed to possess an overwhelming vigor. He would not lose to people who were at their prime age.
The old man also had a muscular body, which indicated that he was able to maintain such a good form despite his old age. Shin was even expecting that this old man was one of the old hermits spending their retirement in a peaceful corner of the country.
The two observe the old man for a couple of moments while the latter also did the same. The old man was holding an unlit cigar in his mouth while staring down at the pair of young men, smiling widely.
"Is the elder need something from us?" asked Shin in a respectful tone.
The old man smiled even wider when he saw that the two did not even flinch despite feeling his presence. They were completely unaffected by the pressure that he was emitting, which could easily make any other young men cower.
He observed the two for a couple more seconds before finally saying. "You two look new. Are you guests staying in our city?"
Shin and Leonard did not immediately respond as they found this old man weird. Silence lingered between them for a moment before Leonard was finally able to respond. "In a sense, that is right, Sir."
"But we are actually here to visit my homeland. I am here for my Rite of Returning," he added with a smile.
The old man gave Leonard an interested look before saying. "Oh! You are from here? From which family? I may look old, but I have a very good memory. I practically know everyone here in the city."
The old man might have said it in a casual manner, but Shin and Leonard could tell that the old man seemed to be trying to sound them out. He was most likely trying to see through their fa?ade and probing whether they were telling him the truth.
Shin smiled inwardly while Leonard took on the reign. "River Family of the Peace Bridge Bank."
The old man gave Leonard a deep look, focusing his gaze on the young man. After being silent for a moment, he then started laughing. "Oh! I see, the River Family. It has been a while since they left the city."
He then pulled out one of the chairs around the table and took a seat, continuing the chat. "How is the head of your family? It has been a while since I last saw that old fox Hena, is he doing well? Is the family able to take root at the Black Stone City?"
The old man asked questions in succession, not giving the pair the time to think properly. It was such a good strategy to pressure some amateurs or people with weaker willpower. Unfortunately, it was useless in front of these two little monsters.
Leonard answered the questions one after another in a very calm manner. "The Family Head is doing perfectly fine, sir. I don't know who is elder Hena that Sir is talking about. The old head has the name Domon River while the current head is his son, Daniel River."
"The family also takes root at the Longevity Fort City, which is located on the opposite end of the country, not in the Black Stone City."
"If there is a branch of our family living in that city, then I am afraid that is not in my knowledge, Sir. Maybe Sir has mistaken us for someone else."
This time, the old man could not help but pause a little. He must admit that he had underestimated these young men. He was indeed trying to probe these strangers, which was why he put them to the test.
But seeing that they were able to stay calm despite everything, he had to admit that he might have been mistaken this time. Especially when the stern-looking young man was able to answer everything perfectly and even point out the wrong information that he had purposely said.
As an old local living in the city, as well as one of the rare experts here, he was very aware of the strange things that were happening in the city.
These recent days, a couple of special agents were entering the city under their respective disguises. They seemed to be investigating something, particularly the case concerning the missing people.
Even though this was a city filled with people with superstitious beliefs and old culture, they would still not blindly believe in everything. They had police offers to maintain order and investigate every case properly even though they believe that it was caused by something superstitious.
Recently, the number of secret agents entering the city was rapidly increasing. Not only that, but students from prestigious schools seemed to have also joined the investigation, disturbing the peaceful lives of the local community.
This was the reason why the locals here were too unwelcoming when facing the foreigners of their city.
This old man was a retired officer and did not have to concern himself with such things. But as a local here, he could not just turn a blind eye when their city was suffering like this. Especially when there was a huge fight that occurred on the mountain range behind the city, which was being treated as a sacred place by the locals.
Seeing that Shin and Leonard were looking at him 'suspiciously', the old man smile at them to hide his awkwardness before fishing out an ID from his pocket and showing it to the two.
"I am a retired officer. I can't tell you the details, but the people here in the city are currently not welcoming any strangers," said the old man before adding. "I am sure that you can feel it as well, especially when our friend here is from one of the major families that used to be a part of our city."
The pair a quick glance at the ID of the old man and saw that his name was Lou Roger. From the picture that was attached to the ID, Shin and Leonard could tell that his old man used to be a competent officer in his younger years.
Cough!
The old man cleared his throat a little as he hid the ID before saying. "Most of the people here call me Old Man Roger. You can address me that way too if you want to."
Shin nodded his head before asking. "Is Elder Roger need something from us?"
Old Man Roger smiled bitterly as he could sense the cautiousness in Shin's tone. He could not blame the young man either since he was at fault for testing the two of them earlier.
He did not respond immediately and lit up his cigar to relieve the tension in the air a little before answering. "Actually, it is just a misunderstanding. You two are new faces here. And since I can feel that you seemed to have trained your bodies pretty well, I suspect that you are one of those foreigners that are disturbing the peace of our city."
Shin did not immediately ask another question even though he found that this was a good opportunity to gather more information. He stared at the old man for a couple of moments before finally asking. "I don't know how it concerns us, Elder. But I believe that Elder had already confirmed what he wants to confirm, right?"
This time, Old Man Roger could tell that Shin did not want to associate with him given the tone that the young man had. But that was understandable.
The old man smiled bitterly before saying. "How is this? As an apology, I will tour you in an interesting place. It is a famous place within the city and a lot of people will be gathering there, there is nothing for you to worry about."
Shin continued to look suspiciously at the old man. From the expression on his face, it seemed like he wanted to say – "Do you think we are an idiot? Following a stranger like that? It only makes you more suspicious." –
In the meantime, Leonard suddenly said. "If Sir is talking about the Brawls, then I am afraid that we can't accompany yours there. We still have to do our Rite of Returning."
"Based on our customs, it will bring us extreme bad luck if we immediately go gambling before performing our rites," he added.
Hearing that, the little suspicion that remained in the head of the old man immediately vanished.
If these two were undercover agents sent by some forces to investigate their city, then they would be welcoming such an opportunity with open arms. Being acquainted with someone like him, who was an old-timer in the city, would also be one of their goals. He was no different from a goldmine of information.
Seeing that these two would rather offend him than associate with him made the old man look at them in a new light.
Re-evaluating the two of them, Old Man Roger seemed to have come up with a decision and slightly changed the topic. "Say, are the two of you Martial Artists or something?"
The pair did not immediately reply after hearing that. They first stared at the old man with a blank expression before turning to each other. They could already tell what this old man was planning.
They looked so calm on the surface, which made the old man become more confident that they were not what he had thought they would be. But deep inside, the two were actually rejoicing that they found another piece that they could use for their operation.
Leonard stared at Shin with calm eyes, while also saying through his eyes that Shin could take the lead.
Shin did not respond and just turned to the old man.
...…
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