The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#723 - Change of taste

"Did you know him before?" Xia Huai asked Lu Jing, "Who is he to you?"

"I don't know him." Lu Jing shook his head, "He has nothing to do with me, but he does have some connection with my master."

After a pause, he added, "In short, remember to give him all the food you have later."

"All of it? What about us?" Xia Huai asked.

"It's okay, we can just buy some more in the next town."

Xia Huai wanted to ask more, but at this moment, the old beggar opened his somewhat parched lips and said, "Water... water... I want water."

Xia Huai untied her water pouch and handed it over.

The old beggar didn't stand on ceremony, taking it and gulping it down, eventually drinking every last drop of water in the pouch.

Seeing this, Lu Jing tossed his own water pouch to Xia Huai, asking her to pass it to the old beggar.

The latter didn't say a word, picked it up and gulped it all down, then wiped his mouth and asked, "Do you have any food?"

Xia Huai remembered Lu Jing's instructions and took out all the food she had, including the portion Lu Jing had given her, and placed it all in front of the old beggar.

The old beggar didn't even say thank you, grabbing the food and devouring it voraciously.

He looked quite old and rather thin, with a sunken abdomen, but for some reason, he had an exceptionally good appetite.

The rations Xia Huai took out were enough for an adult to eat for more than ten days, but they were all consumed by the old beggar in one sitting.

"Since Mister Ji is literate, he must have come from a scholarly family. Why would he be in this dilapidated temple?" Xia Huai sheathed her sword and asked.

Hearing this, the old beggar surnamed Ji showed a confused expression on his face, "That's right, why am I here? Where is this place, and who am I..."

He lowered his head and thought for a while, but the more he thought, the more confused he became, and finally he let out a loud roar, clutching his head with both hands.

Xia Huai realized something at this moment and looked at Lu Jing.

Lu Jing nodded slightly.

Xia Huai comforted him, "Mister Ji, don't worry, you can think about it slowly in the future."

However, the old beggar surnamed Ji seemed to have not heard her. After a moment, he raised his head, but no longer paid attention to Xia Huai. Instead, he turned to face the direction where Lu Jing was.

"That kid over there, I'm still a little hungry. Do you have anything for me to eat?"

"Me?"

Lu Jing was a little surprised. He already knew what was going on with this dilapidated temple and the old beggar in it.

They were the [Gui Character Zero Zero One] that Kui had mentioned before. This strange object only appeared on stormy days, and its external manifestation was a mountain temple and an old beggar surnamed Ji in the temple.

As long as the person who entered the temple provided the old beggar with water and food, in return, he would give a martial arts manual.

According to the statistics of the Directorate of Celestials, usually, the more food and water given, the better the manual obtained.

Zhang Sanfeng's Wind and Cloud Transformation was obtained in this way.

This thing was more like a chance encounter than a strange object.

However, Lu Jing already had many powerful martial arts skills, so many that he couldn't even practice them all. He didn't have a strong need for martial arts manuals.

So, after figuring out what was going on here, he gave the opportunity to Xia Huai.

He even gave Xia Huai his own food and water to improve the quality of the manual.

He didn't expect the old beggar surnamed Ji to ask him for more.

Lu Jing was at a loss for a moment.

Although he didn't have a great desire for martial arts manuals, the opportunity was rare. Since he had encountered [Gui Character Zero Zero One] taking the initiative, he felt that it would be disrespectful not to take something.

But at this moment, his hands were indeed empty, and he had no food or water.

However, Lu Jing had a flash of inspiration and thought of something else.

So, he walked up to the blind old man surnamed Ji, extended a hand, and pressed it against the latter's back.

The old man surnamed Ji felt a tremor in his body, and then a warm current flowed from Lu Jing's palm into his meridians.

"This..." The confused look on the old beggar surnamed Ji's face intensified.

Then Lu Jing said, "You've eaten a lot of other things, why not change the taste and eat some inner strength."

"Inner strength... can also be eaten?" The old beggar surnamed Ji murmured.

"Why not? Inner strength is the most precious ingredient."

Perhaps it was because Lu Jing's serious voice had an effect, the old beggar surnamed Ji actually accepted this magical setting and nodded, "Then I want to have a good taste."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Jing felt a suction force suddenly coming from the other side of his palm, just like when he met the young man surnamed Ruan before.

His inner strength was no longer being sent by him into the old beggar surnamed Ji's body, but the latter was constantly sucking his inner strength out.

Lu Jing was not surprised but delighted, because it was less than an hour before his next inner strength refresh.

He originally planned to use Falling into the Mortal World to consume the remaining inner strength, but now that the old beggar was helping, he could save a dose of poison, and the originally wasted inner strength could be considered a waste utilization.

The old beggar surnamed Ji sucked faster and faster, and finally, in less than an incense stick of time, he sucked Lu Jing's inner strength clean.

This efficiency was much better than that Whale Absorption Technique.

After sucking, a rare look of satisfaction appeared on his face, and he praised, "Not bad, the taste of this inner strength is indeed better than cakes, even mutton can't compare... And the most important thing is that the amount is sufficient, and the portion is large."

"I haven't eaten so heartily in a long time, you kid is quite generous."

"It's just some inner strength, it's nothing to me." Lu Jing said, "Mister Ji, eat as much as you want."

Hearing this, the old beggar surnamed Ji really didn't stand on ceremony anymore, nodded, and said to the two of them, "I'm full now and plan to sleep for a while. You two can do as you please."

"Okay." Upon hearing this, Lu Jing pulled Xia Huai over, walked to the other side of the mountain temple and sat down, cultivating while waiting for the rain to stop.

And the old beggar surnamed Ji really did as he said, and fell asleep behind the mountain god statue again.