abnabooks Chapter 149 - 149 73 The Old Young Man_1
Chapter 149 - 149 73 The Old Young Man_1
149: Chapter 73: The Old Young Man_1 149: Chapter 73: The Old Young Man_1 Based on Jiang Yu’s previous introduction, Zheng Qing thought he would meet a young wizard.
But reality took him by surprise.
The man before him, not even forty, had gray hair, a sallow and haggard face, and two big bags under his eyes, looking like a man of seventy or eighty.
Zheng Qing remembered very well that Doctor Du Zemu became a registered wizard when he was less than twenty.
Now, only twenty brief years have passed.
Twenty years, to a grand wizard, could be as short as a nap.
Even for registered wizards, it doesn’t count as a long time.
Registered wizards could vary a hundred years in lifespan depending on their promotion time, but the vast majority live for over three hundred years.
Fo a registered witch, forty years old is somewhere between a human’s adolescence and young adulthood.
It should be an age in the prime of life.
Yet it resembles the twilight years.
This left Zheng Qing speechless.
So much so that when the host grabbed his arm and gave it a shake, Zheng Qing didn’t react at all.
However, Dr.
Du Zemu was not an old-fashioned noble obsessed with protocol.
He didn’t take offense at Zheng Qing’s minimize impoliteness.
He was more interested in the young witch in a red robe standing before him.
“So, the rumors are true.
You really are studying at Jiuyou Academy?” Dr.
Du Zemu’s tone was full of regret.
“For a family like yours that have been Alpha People for generations, it must have been a difficult choice… your elders must be terribly upset about your choice.”
“They did not have to choose.” Jiang Yu smiled slightly.
While the two exchanged civilities, Zheng Qing finally collected himself and began to seriously examine the legendary genius before him.
Although the doctor’s face was lined with many wrinkles, he was neatly groomed, with almost no trace of a beard around his mouth.
His waxen skin tightly clung to his cheekbones, giving him a gaunt appearance.
Unlike some old-fashioned re
The most striking feature in the whole room was a hanging banner, displayed on the wall next to the desk, featuring a white background with splashed ink, elegantly framed.
It contrasted sharply with the other décor in the room.
The banner featured the words ‘Different fireworks, same brilliance’.
It bore no signature or seal, seeming to be the work of an anonymous individual.
But this didn’t mean the writing was not good.
On the contrary, Zheng Qing thought it was wonderfully done.
Zheng Qing had a deep foundation in calligraphy, and he could accurately judge that this writing was from the hands of a master.
This delighted him a bit, and he couldn’t help but stroll under the banner.
After examining it for a while, his attention was diverted midway, drawn to a glass fish tank in the corner of the room.
Perhaps Doctor Du Zemu finally realized that the atmosphere in the room was somewhat off.
He turned his head toward his old servant, “Constantin, we have guests, make some coffee.”
“But sir, we haven’t made coffee in a long time,” the old servant hesitated, looking at his master.
“Tea will do!” the doctor raised his voice and emphasized.
The servant blinked, submissively nodding his head, and walked out the door.
His actions further added to the awkwardness in the room.
“What is this?” The timing of Zheng Qing’s question perfectly dissolved the tension in the doctor’s expression.
He pointed to a bundle of small white bugs huddled together in the fish tank, and asked curiously.
The rectangular fish tank was about human height, and judging from Zheng Qing’s light tap, the glass of the fish tank was very thick.
But in this sturdy tank, there were no delicate, beautiful fish kept.
The tank was empty, with a thin layer of fine black stones at the bottom.
A group of grayish-white bugs formed a sphere, like a volleyball, rolling on the bottom of the tank.
These bugs were motionless, as if petrified.
This made Zheng Qing very curious.
“What is this?” he looked up at the owner of the room, “It looks like a group of small bugs.”
“They are bugs…These are burying beetles.” Doctor Du Zemu quickly came over to explain, “They’re used in alchemy…
If you want a clean surface of a bone for an experiment, this is an ideal tool.
Most corpse-dissolving powders are too corrosive and damage the bone structure…
These little bugs survive on corpses, be it of wizards or animals.”
As he spoke, he made a fist and hit the tank’s heavy glass wall.
A few burying beetles leisurely crawled away, revealing a little white skull they had been covering.
It looked like a baby’s.
Zheng Qing felt a sense of creeping horror.