Chapter 168 The Joke Went Too Far

  Because he was eager to treat Xiao Qi's injuries, Han Ming did not stay at Maren's place for long.

  Following the route map given by Maren, Han Ming hired a carriage and arrived at the outskirts of the imperial capital after a bumpy ride.

  "Excuse me, where are you going?" the carriage driver asked, turning around.

  "To Chai La De's castle," Han Ming replied.

  Upon hearing this, the carriage driver immediately pulled over to the side of the road.

  "What's wrong?" Han Ming asked, puzzled.

  The driver looked extremely terrified and pleaded with a sour face, "Sir, what are you doing there? I beg you, please get off. I dare not take you there. It's not far from here to the castle, and you can walk there quickly by yourself."

  "Why?" Han Ming asked, confused.

  But seeing the driver pleading with him and refusing to go any further, Han Ming didn't want to trouble him anymore. He jumped off the carriage holding Xiao Qi.

  Along the way, everyone Han Ming met was terrified when they heard him asking about Chai La De's castle and ran away as if fleeing for their lives.

  Han Ming helplessly took out a map and looked at the marked location. In front of him was a wilderness of barren mountains and ridges, with a terrain that was very difficult to recognize.

  With no other choice, he could only grope forward bit by bit until dusk approached, finally discovering the small castle at a corner at the foot of the mountain.

  The building was constructed entirely of huge stones, with a typical spire roof design and a strong magical atmosphere.

  In the spacious front yard, there were many small medicinal grass plots.

  As soon as Han Ming entered the front yard, he smelled a strong medicinal fragrance.

  Looking around, Han Ming found that there were no servants in this small castle.

  It seemed that the old guy named Chai La De lived alone.

  Han Ming passed through the front yard and pushed open the door of the castle.

  The simple wooden door creaked as Han Ming pushed it open.

  Inside the castle, an even stronger medicinal fragrance and a strange, slightly moldy smell wafted through the air.

  Han Ming walked around the castle and suddenly heard a strange laugh coming from a small room.

  He carried Xiao Qi and walked towards the small room. Through the brightness of the magic lamp coming from the room, he saw that the room was crowded with many oddly shaped utensils and rows of herb racks.

  In front of a long wooden table, an old man in a tattered magic robe was holding a crystal vial and laughing heartily, his voice sharp and piercing.

  "Excuse me..." Han Ming said softly, interrupting the old man's laughter.

  "Ah! You've come just in time!" the old man exclaimed upon seeing Han Ming, his eyes lighting up as he quickly walked towards him.

  "Come on, drink this!" the old man said, bringing the crystal vial to Han Ming's lips.

  Han Ming gently pushed away the crystal vial and said, "I'm here to..."

  "It doesn't matter what you're here for. Just drink it, quickly!" the old man insisted.

  Han Ming looked at the old man in confusion, who was staring at him expectantly.

  "What is this?" Han Ming hesitated. This old man was truly strange; he didn't even know who Han Ming was and immediately wanted him to drink something strange.

  Seeing Han Ming hesitate, the old man became displeased and grumbled, "A big man, acting so indecisive! You drink it when I tell you to!"

  Han Ming, needing a favor from this man, couldn't afford to refuse. Before coming here, Maren had repeatedly instructed him not to upset this old fellow, or things would get troublesome.

  With no other choice, Han Ming took the crystal vial, swirled it in front of his eyes, and saw that it contained half a bottle of dark green liquid.

  "Drink, drink..." the old man said expectantly.

  Han Ming gritted his teeth, tilted his head back, and poured the liquid into his mouth. He was afraid of what kind of terrifying substance this might be and didn't dare to actually drink it. He quickly pretended to cough, turned around, and secretly used his magic power to completely freeze the liquid, changing its shape as it slid into his stomach.

  The ice formed by his extremely powerful magic power showed no signs of melting; not even fire could melt it, so he didn't worry about his body temperature melting the liquid in his stomach.

  After doing all this, Han Ming slowly turned his head back.

  "How do you feel? Any effects?" the old man asked, his eyes sparkling.

  Han Ming pretended to smack his lips and said, "I don't feel anything special."

  Hiss...

  The old man sucked in a small breath of cold air, bowed his head, and muttered to himself, "It can't be, it shouldn't be! Why didn't it work? Could it be that my prescription was wrong?"

  Upon hearing this, Han Ming quickly asked, "Change into what?"

  The old man sized up Han Ming and said, "Wait a moment."

  After saying that, the old man ignored Han Ming and turned back to fiddle with things on the table.

  Han Ming didn't dare interrupt the old man and could only wander around aimlessly.

  He touched this and looked at that. The herb racks were filled with rows of strange items, some being herbs, others insects, and some he had never seen before.

  Han Ming reached out to touch a small ceramic vessel in front of him.

  "That's the saliva of a ghoul. If you don't want your hands to turn black forever, go ahead and touch it," the old man said suddenly.

  Han Ming was startled by the old man's sudden voice and quickly withdrew his hand.

  Looking at the old man, he hadn't even turned his body around.

  Han Ming shook his head and looked around again, but this time he didn't dare to touch anything lightly.

  Half a day passed, and it was completely dark, entering the deep of night, but the old man still showed no signs of stopping.

  Han Ming sat on a stool, bored. The days and nights of non-stop work had taken a toll on him. Normally, not sleeping wouldn't be a problem as he could meditate, but continuously treating Xiao Qi's injuries left him no time to meditate. Now he was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open.

  "I gave it to him, and it should keep him alive for a while. He won't die," the old man said, throwing a small crystal vial over his shoulder without looking back.

  Han Ming caught it with surprise and thanked him repeatedly. Opening the stopper of the crystal vial, a rich scent full of vitality hit him. Han Ming had a far superior perception of vitality than ordinary people and immediately knew that this potion would indeed be effective for Xiao Qi.

  After feeding Xiao Qi the potion and laying him gently on a bench, Han Ming guarded him for another half hour. Seeing Xiao Qi's breathing become more stable, with only occasional coughs, he finally relaxed.

  "I see you haven't slept in days; you must have been using healing magic on that little guy day and night. Go to sleep now. You need to be ready for more testing in the morning," the old man said.

  Han Ming nodded and slowly sat down beside Xiao Qi, leaning against the bench and falling asleep.

  He didn't know how long he had slept when the old man woke him up.

  The old man's eyes were filled with excitement.

  "Do you want to save that kid? No problem! Drink this, and stay with me for a while. As long as you satisfy me, I will save him," the old man said, handing over another small crystal vial.

  Han Ming gritted his teeth. Since he could use water magic, he wasn't afraid of any danger from the potion. He tilted his head back and drank it.

  As the potion slid down his throat, Han Ming used his magic power to freeze it again.

  "Damn it!"

  Han Ming secretly exclaimed in shock. How careless! Sleeping had made his mind a bit muddled, and he had actually frozen the potion in front of the old man. This was bad, really bad. The old fellow was a fourth-stage magic elder; he would definitely notice if Han Ming did such a thing without concealing it.

  Han Ming looked at the old man with uncertainty but saw him smiling and staring at him.

  "Good, good lad, bold!" the old man said.

  Han Ming was panicked, wondering if the old man was praising his courage for drinking the potion or mocking him for trying to deceive him.

  "Come on! Drink another one!" the old man said, handing over another small bottle.

  Han Ming steeled himself and drank it down, quickly pretending to cough and freezing the potion again.

  "Do you know what you just drank?" the old man asked, smiling.

  Han Ming shook his head, dumbfounded.

  The old man chuckled and said, "It's a potion I made using fiery grass and various other herbs. I thought I'd never have the chance to use it in my lifetime, but then I met you, a water-type magician, and your water magic is quite peculiar. You just... froze the potion, and it seems even fire can't melt it, right?"

  Han Ming was caught off guard by the old man's revelation and awkwardly laughed twice, "Oh, you're really joking."

  The old man stroked his beard and smiled satisfactorily, "The last bottle of potion is no ordinary thing. It's what I use to dissolve a thousand-year-old ice soul. No matter how powerful your water energy is, it will dissolve when it encounters my potion. I suppose the two potions you drank earlier have already started to dissolve."

  Upon hearing this, Han Ming stood up abruptly and asked nervously, "What exactly did you give me to drink?"

  The old man stroked his beard and smiled, "Guess whether I'm male or female?"

  "What!?" Han Ming was taken aback by the old man's question. Was this old fellow so used to testing potions on himself that he had gone mad? Male or female? What kind of question is that? It's obvious you're an old man.

  "To tell you the truth, I was once a beautiful and stunning woman. Later... sigh..." the old man said, sighing as he sat down.

  Han Ming found the old man's mad talk interesting and listened attentively.

  "A long time ago, I accidentally created a miraculous potion. At that time, all the servants in my castle were gone. Half of them died from testing the potion on themselves, and the other half fled out of fear. So I had no choice but to test it on myself. Guess what happened?" the old man's eyes sparkled as he observed the eager expression on Han Ming's face and continued with satisfaction, "I turned into a man!"

  "What!?" Han Ming was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped.

  First, no wonder everyone was terrified when they heard him asking about the old man's residence; this old fellow had been testing potions on others and had killed many.

  Second, he was originally a woman? And then turned into a man? This was too far-fetched.

  The old man chuckled and said, "I'm telling the truth. Alas... to turn back into a woman, I've been studying hard for decades without success. Because the potion that accidentally transformed me contained a very rare ingredient that is now impossible to find. To find a substitute for this herb, I've tried countless ingredients. Finally... guess what happened?"

  Han Ming shook his head helplessly. This old man really loved telling stories and even left cliffhangers, making people guess. It was obvious that he had been lonely for too long. Han Ming began to feel a bit sorry for the old man.

  The old man's eyes sparkled with excitement as he said joyfully, "Finally, I succeeded! A few days ago, I successfully turned a male deer into a female. Haha, this is truly heaven's help!"

  Upon hearing this, Han Ming's face turned pale. He had an ominous premonition and asked tremblingly, "Then... what happened next..."

  The old man laughed proudly, "Then you came, and I gave you that potion."

  "What!?" Han Ming was scared out of his wits.

  "I originally thought my potion had failed because you didn't change. I thought the potion could only work on non-human animals. Just now, I found out that you cunningly froze the potion, forcing me to concoct another bottle with the exact opposite effect last night. That's the second bottle you drank."

  "Ah! Changed! Changed! Haha, changed!" the old man pointed at Han Ming's face, clapping his hands happily.

  Han Ming's heart rate accelerated sharply, and he felt a bit short of breath. His vision went dark, and he lost consciousness.

  After an unknown amount of time, Han Ming slowly woke up.

  "Why does my head hurt so much?" Han Ming asked as he woke up, immediately realizing that his voice had become much sharper, distinctly feminine.

  "Here, a mirror. Go take a look for yourself," the old man said, chuckling.

  Han Ming swallowed nervously, his head buzzing. He felt an extremely bad premonition.

  Standing in front of the large floor mirror, Han Ming's head exploded. He felt like he could no longer think; his world was over.

  In the mirror was a fair-skinned woman with a soft and beautiful face. Especially the two large protrusions on her chest, which pushed her clothes high, her slender waist, snow-white and smooth legs, forming a devilish figure. Her long black hair hung down on her crystal-clear shoulders, looking particularly heroic.

  "Mother... this joke has gone too far..." Han Ming panicked and lifted his pants to look between his legs...

  "Damn old man!!! I'll fight you to the death!!!!!"