673: The Crow Immortal

The Crow Immortal

"I..."

Ming Yue wasn't sure how to respond before he chuckled. 

"Heh, come and sit by the fire, I'll brew you a nice cup of tea."

Before she realized it, there was a set of tea cups sitting between them. In this situation, she had no choice but to accept. 

"Thank you, senior."

She lowered her head, sitting adjacent to him by the fire. It was a quiet and warm flame, glowing embers that glowed ever so gently. 

As she sat down, the man grabbed the boiling pot of tea with his bare hands, pouring them both a cup. 

An earthy aroma with floral notes wafted up into the air. 

"This is... Chrysanthemum and Hawthorn?" she noticed. 

"Ah, you have a good sense of smell! I grew all of this myself! The chrysanthemum, hawthorn, and a smattering of others!" he remarked. 

Taking his cup, he swished the almost golden drink, smelling the aroma before taking a sip. Watching him do so, Ming Yue followed, taking the cup and bringing it up to her nose. With the smell much stronger now, she couldn't help but hesitate before drinking it.

Taking a small sip, she lowered the cup, staring at it for a moment. 

There was a blank look on her face before surprise settled in.

"My injuries, they're healing!"

Looking down at herself, she felt the tea absorb into her body, transforming into energy that mended her body. What would've taken several hours with the help of the Eternal Heart Ring was done in mere seconds. 

Her head snapped up as she looked at the smiling man. 

"This..."

Who could he be? To have something like this as tea?

"I'd rather not have my guest in a near-death state but let's get on to the main topic here. You've brought quite a troublesome person to my doorstep though shooing him away wasn't very difficult", he told her. 

"I... I am sorry, I did not expect this to happen."

She lowered her head once more, trying to be as respectful as she could. But inwardly, she was nothing short of surprised. 

"He pushed the Ascetic away just like that? A Heaven Realm expert possibly?" she pondered.

The man took another sip before continuing. 

"Although I don't normally interfere, sometimes these things must be done. However, nothing comes for free, I'd like for you to answer a favor of mine."

"A favor? What would you like me to do?" 

Ming Yue didn't know what to expect, what could someone as powerful as he want from her?

The man paused for a moment, putting the teacup down as he cleared his throat. 

"I'd like to have a conversation with you, entertain me for a bit. Living at the peak of a mountain with all these crows can get a bit dull."

The crows suddenly cawed angrily at the last few words, no doubt offended by this. 

"Ah, I just said a little dull. After all these years, you never thought that my company wasn't dull and boring?" he turned to them, talking with a bold tone. 

And in response, the crows were quiet, a clear answer to him. 

"Exactly."

There was a triumphant smile on his face before looking back at Ming Yue. The gaze of his pitch-black eyes seemed both piercing and lifeless to her but that contrasted his animated expressions. 

"Now then, a conversation or entertainment. Truthfully, I haven't been outside in a long time and so I'm not quite up to speed with the world. So, please tell me, has there been anything interesting as of late?" he asked. 

Ming Yue was quiet, she was at a loss for words to be exact. 

"I... well... I'm not sure where to start. There's quite a lot and well, I believe that I'm far too young to provide the entertainment you want", she answered. 

That much was true. After all, she hadn't ben alive for that long, at least, compared to him. 

"Hah, nonsense, someone like you is sure to have a few stories of their own. Rather, tell me about yourself instead. What experiences have you acquired? What adventures have you gone on? The tragedies and the triumphs, everything from the beginning of your life to now! Please tell me that!"

He was persistent and it didn't seem like he was going to let her off easily. But at least, this request was easier to fulfill. 

"I understand, then I will start from the beginning."

And so she began to talk, telling him of her childhood all the way to her current situation. It was a long story but the young cultivator told him all of it. The only times she stopped was to drink from her cup that he constantly refilled. 

The man was silent all throughout it, listening with a little smile. 

Ming Yue had long noticed his expression though, she wasn't sure what to make of it.

Was he truly interested or was there more to it?

The young woman didn't know, she just continued to tell her story. She didn't know how much time had passed, there was no way to tell, not even a day and night cycle. And once she was done, the man just looked at her thoughtfully. 

He narrowed his eyes and turned away. 

"Truly hearing such details from a person is much more satisfying than a crow", he said. 

The man looked at her, his smile turned to a solemn look as he sighed. 

"Do you know why this place is called the Peeking Crow's Inn? While those who enter are able to use it privately, this place is my domain. I will know what every one of my guests is doing. But I won't know who they are, the only way for me to find out is to listen to what my crows say. And unfortunately, I'm quite the curious person."

He walked alongside the wall where they were all perched, stroking some of their heads. 

"Now according to this one over here, you are one of our newest guests. And with your activity in the last few days, it's quite easy to tell that you're no simple individual. So I was surprised to find you coming to our doors in that state, even bringing along that troublesome intruder."

The man chuckled as he continued to pet them. 

"If I may ask, what happened to them?"

Ming Yue was curious, though she knew of the teleportation arrays features, she was curious as to what he meant by "shooing" the Ascetic away. 

"Oh... well... I sent him to another part of the world. It'd take quite some time for him to come back.", he answered. 

"I see... so you've always been aware of me then?"

"Yes, quite, the amount of energy that you exuded over the past several days is quite strong. Even among the other guests, you're one of the stronger ones. And considering your age, there's no doubt that you would overtake them in the future!"

"I see, I see."

Ming Yue thought back to his words, mulling over them before realizing something. 

"You... you already know everything, don't you? Even if you cannot leave, your crows... are they not able to leave as well? If this is your domain, why can you not leave?" she pointed out.

"Who are you?" she asked.  1

He suddenly stopped stroking his crows but promptly resumed. 

"Hah, what gave it away?" the man asked.

"The fact that you converse with your crows, you called it dull and boring yet you wanted to hear about my own life. But then the look on your face, you didn't seem surprised or anything of that nature. It was as if you were already expecting it but still enjoyed it", she promptly replied. 

Turning around, he sat back down, looking at her. 

"You're right, I suppose I should introduce myself. I go by many names but the one title that I claim for myself is the 'Crow Immortal'."

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