MMORPG: The Almighty Ring

"Hehe, you will know once we get there!" old man Hai said mysteriously. He did not tell Jing Fei where the destination was. He just kept moving forward with Jiang Fei in his arms!

After approximately half an hour, old man Hai finally stopped moving. He put Jiang Fei down.

As soon as old man Hai's hand left Jiang Fei's body, the numbing sensation immediately disappeared. Jiang Fei had recovered his ability to control his body!

"Where is this place?" asked Jiang Fei as he looked around at the surrounding environment.

This was a small mountain. Not far away, he could see a row of houses made of rocks. Piles of wood were next to the houses. As he followed old man Hai, Jiang Fei noticed that corns and grains were being hung to dry in front of these houses. There was even smoked meat and poultry like chickens and ducks. This was an ancient-looking mountainous village.

"This is the Hidden Dragon Village!" answered old man Hai as he continued walking towards a small house.

"Is there no one else here?" asked Jiang Fei. It was quickly getting late. On top of the time taken for them to travel here, it was already nine in the evening. As it was wintertime in the north, the sky had already grown very dark. If not for the bright moonlight, Jiang Fei would not have been able to see the surrounding scenery clearly.

Based on the time, everyone should be home by now. However, there was not a single light to be seen in the tens of houses in the Dragon Hiding Village.

"They're all asleep!" answered old man Hai as he pushed open the door to his own house and walked in.

"It is only nine, and everyone's sleeping?"

After all, Jiang Fei was used to living in the city. The city's lights were always on, and the place was always lit up like a Christmas tree. Nine in the evening was not even late enough for the nightlife to begin. Most students did not even sleep, period!

"Hehe, we are all used to such quiet living. There is no electricity, or any other form of entertainment here. Once the sky turns dark, everyone goes to bed!" explained old man Hai.

"Ah?"

Such a way of life was beyond him.

When they entered the room, old man Hai lit up an oil lamp. A small flame the size of a bean provided some illumination to the room. It was marginally better than the moonlight itself.

"That's it! It's pretty late! We shall sleep now and talk tomorrow!" said old man Hai. He climbed into his own brick bed and started sleeping.

"Hey…"

Jiang Fei looked at old man Hai helplessly. Clearly, he was not going to entertain Jiang Fei anymore.

Old man Hai was very confident that Jiang Fei would not be able to escape. Based on his speed, he would die of fatigue before making it out of the mountains!

"Sigh! Since I am here, I might as well be at peace."

Jiang Fei knew that there was no way he could escape. Naturally, he also laid on the brick bed and tried to sleep for a while.

That was when the cool seeped into his bones. The cold had not been as apparent when he was standing upright.

Although it was early into winter, the weather was already bone-chilling. The houses in the city had already started using heaters. However, old man Hai's house did even house a single fire. Forget about high-tech heaters!

In spite of his thick clothing, Jiang Fei still felt extremely cold.

"I'm f*cking frozen!"

After laying down for a while, Jiang Fei could not take it anymore. He stood up and started pacing around the room to get warm.

"Young fellow! What are you doing walking around and not sleeping?" asked old man Hai as he rolled his eyes and glanced at Jiang Fei.

"Sleep? It's so cold. How could I sleep? If I really did sleep, I would freeze to death!" complained Jiang Fei.

"Eh? Are you afraid of the cold?"

From old man Hai's tone, one could tell that he was very surprised.

"Nonsense. Who wouldn't be afraid of the cold?"

Jiang Fei rolled his eyes.

"Hadn't your master taught you the ability to withstand both hotness and coldness? How did he teach you the Steel Cloak ability in that case?" asked old man Hai oddly.

"Shit…"

Jiang Fei was speechless. How would he have known that the Steel Cloak's prerequisite was to withstand both hotness and coldness? In fact, he did not even know what the Steel Cloak ability was!

"Your master is indeed a mystery!"

Although Jiang Fei did not say anything, old man Hai had clearly made up a story in his own mind.

"I am just afraid of the cold. I will freeze to death if I sleep!"

Jiang Fei went all out. He did not believe that old man Hai would waste so much effort bringing him here -- only to have him freeze to death!

"Sigh! This is turning out to be a bigger hassle than I'd expect! Forget it. We will talk about this tomorrow!" said old man Hai as he flipped over.

Before Jiang Fei could see what he was doing, he grabbed on to his shoulder!

Thereafter, Jiang Fei felt a warm flow of energy from old man Hai's hand going into his own body. The chill he felt had instantly been wiped away. His body turned warm. Jiang Fei even felt like stripping off layers of his clothing!

"Alright, let's sleep!" said old man Hai as he laid down on his brick bed once again.

"Oh!"

Jiang Fei was rather exhausted as well. He too laid down on the brick bed and gradually went into a deep slumber.

Jiang Fei dared not login to the game on that day. The old man knew Han Tianyu. Han Tianyu should be able to locate him very soon. There was not a bit of electricity in this small town. He would never be able to explain his appearance in the game.

After being dragged by old man Hai all the way here, Jiang Fei was also rather exhausted. Very soon, he entered dreamland. This was the first Jiang Fei had ever slept normally since acquiring the mysterious ring. It was a complete, fulfilling sleep!

…

"Young fellow! Wake up!"

Jiang Fei was still enjoying his sleep when he was shaken awake. He opened his blurry eyes and looked outside the window. It was still pitch black outside.

"What are we doing up so early?"

Jiang Fei impatiently waved his hand. Clearly, he was unhappy with the fact that old man Hai had bothered his sleep.

"Rubbish! It is already five in the morning! How has your master been teaching you? Of course, you must wake up to train in the morning!"

Old man Hai gave Jiang Fei a single tug and sent him flying.

"F*ck me… Are we really supposed to wake up at five in the morning?"

Jiang Fei had once heard of such a lifestyle through rumors and whispers about the rumored martial arts world. He had thought that they were simply fairy tales. But Old Man Hai was actually showing every indication if it being actually true.