"Insane, truly risking one's life for money."
"So many have already died, and yet they still insist on courting death?"
"Tsk tsk, since she wants to die so badly, let's all oblige her. Let's see how she perishes."
Seeing the old woman make straight for the lake, no one moved to stop her. Instead, cold and mocking voices echoed from every direction.
Those twisted faces and eager gazes were as if they were simply waiting for the old woman to fall into the lake and die within it.
The human heart could truly be terrifying.
However, the old woman did not step into the lake. Instead, she stopped at the water's edge, took out a handkerchief, and crouched down.
She had never intended to step into the water at all — it seemed she simply wanted to wash her face with the lake water.
Upon seeing this, Chu Feng immediately moved, appearing before the old woman in an instant. He seized her wrist, preventing her hand from descending into the water.
After all, that water was poison.
Whoosh—
Yet the moment Chu Feng grasped the old woman's wrist, he suddenly felt the space tremble.
Everything around him seemed to shift.
In that instant, Chu Feng felt as though he had been cast out of this place and plunged into a cavern of ice — bone-piercing cold, a dead end with no escape.
Before Chu Feng, nothing could be seen, yet he sensed two gazes hanging above his head.
Two gazes, like twin suns, high above, looking down upon everything.
But the light they emanated was not warmth — it was a frigid killing intent.
It was the old woman's gaze. She had looked at Chu Feng just once, and he had been struck by this illusion.
However, that illusion vanished in the blink of an eye.
Chu Feng could see that the old woman's gaze had changed. There was no killing intent, no anger, no wariness.
Instead, there was surprise — and a touch of warmth, even a flicker of heat, as though seeing Chu Feng brought her genuine delight.
But what had just happened?
That had been killing intent. Chu Feng was certain of it — it had absolutely been killing intent.
The instant Chu Feng had touched the old woman, she had unleashed her killing intent. Yet upon seeing Chu Feng, she not only retracted it, but her eyes even filled with joy.
What was going on?
Even Chu Feng found himself puzzled.
"Granny, were you trying to wash your face? The water here can't be used — it's poisoned."
"If you'd like to wash your face, please use this water instead."
As he spoke, Chu Feng produced a copper basin and filled it with clean water.
"Granny, please use this."
Chu Feng pushed the basin of clean water before the old woman.
The old woman glanced at Chu Feng, said nothing, and began washing her face with the water he had provided.
However, Chu Feng noticed that the next time her gaze fell upon him, it had shifted once more.
It was no longer as warm as before, nor was there any lingering heat.
It was as though she were looking at a stranger. She showed no gratitude whatsoever for the help Chu Feng had offered.
Of course, Chu Feng did not take any offense.
He had only intervened because he did not wish to see the old woman harmed.
He had the impression that her mind was perhaps not entirely sound.
What sane person would attempt to wash their face with poisoned water?
Yet as he interacted with her, a deep curiosity began to stir within Chu Feng regarding this old woman.
Her cultivation — Chu Feng could not discern what realm she had reached.