Could it be... this person is mute?

Zhu Yu and Lu Qing exchanged a glance, both having the same suspicion arise simultaneously in their minds.

The man made an incoherent sound from his throat, unable to free his hands, he could only look at Lu Qing and the others helplessly, almost on the verge of tears.

Such an expression on the face of a thin old man in his fifties with a grizzled beard was indeed strange, but considering that if he were mute, tying his hands now was tantamount to covering his mouth, he wouldn’t be able to "speak" even if he wanted to.

What to do now?

Zhu Yu looked at Lu Qing with a bit of a dilemma, and Lu Qing likewise frowned, seemingly also conflicted. He looked at the four people on his side and then at the particularly gaunt old man with a grizzled beard, seemingly considering trying to communicate.

"There are several of us, and you are just one person; you can’t fight us off." Lu Qing squatted down and warned the man, "We don’t mean to harm you; we just have a few things we want to ask you clearly."

"If you are willing to talk to us properly and don’t play tricks, I can help you untie your hands."

Hearing Lu Qing’s words, the man nodded hurriedly, as if afraid Lu Qing wasn’t assured, showing a pitiful expression on his face.

Lu Qing turned to look at Zhu Yu, who also nodded at him. Only then did he turn the man over, making him lie face down on the ground, and untied the cloth strip around his wrists.

At the very moment the cloth was loosened, the previously weak and pitiful old man suddenly acted with extraordinary agility, flipping over on the spot, reaching into his bosom, and flinging out something.

Lu Qing swiftly moved aside with agility, while a rune somehow had a piece of wood from a window in hand, fanning it like a big palm-leaf fan towards the grizzled old man.

The powder that was supposed to be scattered changed direction under the influence of the wind and was all sprinkled right on the face of the grizzled old man without waste.

"Ah—!" The man let out a shrill scream, covering his eyes with both hands, rolling on the ground in pain, mumbling, "My eyes! My eyes can’t open..."

"I knew you old thing would use a dirty trick!" the rune spat hatefully at the grizzled old man, "Even our Second Master predicted it! So we’ve been prepared and meant to let you suffer from your own doing!"

Zhu Yu laughed too, "Although I don’t know what you’ve used, this stuff sure is more effective than the Immortal Elixir and Holy Water of the Daluo Immortals!

Just a moment ago you couldn’t speak, you were mute, but now, though you can’t see, you can talk!"

The man shivered, not daring to rub his eyes, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing continually, "Heroes, I know I was wrong! Please give me water to wash my eyes! I’ll never dare again!

From now on, my life belongs to you, to kill or to flay, do as you please!"

"Since your life is ours to take, then why care about something as small as your eyes?" Lu Qing’s tone carried a hint of mockery, but it was devoid of warmth, making it hard to tell if he was cruel or just speaking casually, "I think there’s no need to waste water, feel what you did with your own weapons, it might not be a bad experience before you die."

"You won’t, you won’t, you won’t kill me!" The grizzled old man, tears streaming from the pepper wind, begged pitifully, "I just got knocked out as soon as I rushed out, if you guys wanted to kill me, you would have done it long ago!

I beg you guys, I meant no harm, just to save my life, please, be the bigger person, don’t let me suffer..."

Lu Qing stepped forth, hands on the grizzled old man’s shoulders, dislocating his arms.

The grizzled old man grunted, probably realizing his earlier actions, and felt he no longer had the right to make demands, so he whimpered without resisting. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Zhu Yu instructed the rune to use the remaining bit of water to rinse the grizzled old man’s eyes according to her previous method.

Of course, the soap bean step was omitted, but the ice pack was not used on the grizzled old man.

The rune still bore a grudge, as someone who always acted openly, he despised anyone using hidden weapons, especially such treacherous ones aimed at eyes.

So he intentionally wanted the grizzled old man to suffer the consequences, letting him "enjoy" a little.

After the grizzled old man’s eyes were washed with soap beans and rinsed with clear water, he seemed to feel much better, humming and expressing thanks, trying to open his eyes, only to find a window not far from him had been unboarded.

This frightened him, with his arms dislocated, he couldn’t maintain balance and struggled to stand, yet fear compelled him to scramble away from the window frantically, like a fish accidentally jumping ashore, flopping desperately towards a place away from the window.

Fearing he might hurt himself, Lu Qing signaled the rune to come forward.

The rune approached and lifted the grizzled old man from the ground with his belt, as if handling a bundle of straw.

As he was lifted, the grizzled old man continued to twist and wriggle, appearing even more like a fish.

The rune tossed him not too gently under the stairs, in the shadows, not wanting to throw him too hard and accidentally kill him off.

The area under the stairs was a blind spot, no matter which window you looked through, it seemed impossible to see clearly.

After being tossed there by the rune, the grizzled old man seemed to calm down a bit, ignoring the soreness at the shoulder and arm joints, he wriggled into the dark corner, leaned against the wooden wall, trembling.

This response was something Zhu Yu and Lu Qing hadn’t expected, the man seemed very afraid, far more so than they had thought.

"Rest assured, there’s no one around, nobody can see you." Zhu Yu tried to crouch down, speaking gently to him, "Or you could tell us whom you’re hiding from, and we can ensure the person you’re avoiding can’t approach or harm you, alright?"

The grizzled old man shook his head shiveringly, "I know someone wants to kill me, but I don’t know who will come... I beg you, let’s talk it over, heroes, please seal the window for me, I beg you... I beg you..."