Chapter 3: Strange World - Infinite Equipment System!

This wasn't the only strange thing.

After Su Tan calmed down, he noticed more and more issues.

First was the language! The language used in this village wasn't Chinese, nor was it English or Russian... It was a completely new language that Su Tan had never encountered before. Of course, there were plenty of languages on Earth, so that much was understandable. However, what puzzled him the most was that he could actually understand and speak it, as if he had known it since birth.

Strange! Why did he possess this linguistic ability?

"Could it be..." A terrifying thought surfaced in Su Tan's mind. "Do I have amnesia? Or rather... did I lose a chunk of memory that should be mine?"

During this time, the villagers hadn't harmed him. On the contrary, they took extra care of him due to his physical disability. Word had it that Su Tan had done a favor for the Chens' in the past, and the Chens' knew how to repay gratitude. Day after day, with unwavering dedication, they delivered meals to guarantee his basic living needs. All these signs suggested that Su Tan's blindness perhaps had nothing to do with the villagers.

Why was he here? And why did the villagers say he had been living here for a long time?

The only possibility was that he had lost his memory. He had lost all his memories from the night he went to sleep up until two days ago. If his guess was correct, then everything made sense. During the period of his amnesia, he had gone through various unforeseen events. He went blind, fell into poverty, and eventually drifted to this unknown village where he learned the language and lived in harmony with the locals.

However, this brought up a new question. If he had experienced various incidents during his amnesia, what were they? What exactly happened during that time? The confusions laid out before Su Tan were piling up.

If he wasn't blind, he could have sought out the truth himself. But now... he was powerless. While lying low all this time, Su Tan hadn't dared to ask about anything, not even questions like "Where is this?" or "Who are you?" If he was facing real thugs, the only way a blind man like him could survive was to not act rashly. However, after a series of observations, Su Tan felt that the villagers held no ill intent. It was finally time to consider asking about the doubts in his mind.

One day, while Old Chen was delivering his meal, Su Tan prepared to beat around the bush and ask about the situation.

"COUGH, COUGH... Come, eat!" the old village chief said, still as amiable and gentle as ever.

Su Tan paused. "Chief, is your health getting any better? You've been coughing for quite a while now. If it's really bad, you should go buy some medicine."

"It's nothing, just an old ailment that acts up every winter. But it's fine now. Winter has passed, and by mid-spring, the coughing should stop." The old chief waved his hand dismissively. "Eat up, eat up!"

Su Tan pondered for a moment and began to shovel the food into his mouth, somewhat absent-mindedly. The observant village chief noticed this.

"What's wrong? Is the food not to your liking?"

"No, that's not it. The food from your house is naturally excellent," Su Tan replied. "A blind man is already lucky enough to have a clean bite to eat. How could I dare to complain?"

"Sigh... Mmm." Hearing this, the village chief dragged out a slightly displeased note. "Do not belittle yourself. So what if you're blind? I've heard that there are plenty of capable blind people in this world!"

Knowing this was merely a consolation, Su Tan could only laugh at himself mockingly and continue eating.

"Don't you doubt it. I've heard there is a Blind Daoist in the Feiyue Empire whose cultivation reaches the heavens. He can ascend to the skies and delve into the earth, capable of absolutely anything. He rides a Flood Dragon as his mount and wields a giant gilded cauldron as his weapon, striking fear into the hearts of many experts. On the battlefield, even the Grand General of our Celestial Fragrance would have to give him a wide berth!" The old village chief's tone was sonorous and forceful.

Initially, when Su Tan heard the old chief speaking so earnestly, ready to cite classics and historical texts to comfort him, he was still thinking about how to explain that he wouldn't give up on himself. But as he listened, his expression changed! Feiyue Empire? Celestial Fragrance? Blind Daoist? Ascending to the skies and delving into the earth?

What on earth was all this nonsense? Did these things even exist on Earth? Up until now, Su Tan still believed that the place he was living in was just some unknown little village on Earth.

"Chief... I appreciate the comfort, and I know my own situation well. Although I'm blind, I've gradually come to terms with it. But you could at least make up a more realistic story to motivate me... This is... just too outrageous. Where on Earth would you find such things?" Su Tan smiled, letting out a helpless, bitter chuckle. He was not a three-year-old child; how could he believe that?

"Earth?" The old village chief looked at Su Tan in confusion. "Does our Celestial Fragrance Nation have such a place?"

Perhaps it did. The Celestial Fragrance Empire had a vast territory with abundant resources; who knew which village was named Earth?

"It's true, don't you doubt it. It's said that the Blind Daoist even attended the last Ten Nations Dao Discussion Assembly. Despite being blind, his strength is incredibly formidable. At the assembly, he single-handedly swept through the participants from our Celestial Fragrance... oh no... including all the other nations. Some outright stated that he is highly likely to become the Feiyue Empire's second King's Dao expert!" Old Chen declared with absolute certainty.

"Sigh... However, Feiyue has never seen eye to eye with Celestial Fragrance. Them gaining another King's Dao expert is not a good thing for us. Moreover, I recently heard that the frictions along the border between Celestial Fragrance and Feiyue are escalating... If it develops into a national war... then that Blind Daoist won't be an inspirational story, but a cruel killing machine..." The chief's tone grew increasingly anxious. He had gone from comforting Su Tan to worrying about the nation and its people.

"But there's nothing to fear. He's just a King's Dao expert, and it's not like our Celestial Fragrance doesn't have them. No matter how powerful that Blind Daoist is, he hasn't reached the King's Dao yet. Besides, matters like a national war have little to do with the old, weak, sick, and disabled like us," Old Chen muttered to himself with a free and easy smile.

On Su Tan's end... he was stunned. His expression constantly shifted... from skepticism and disbelief... to confusion... back to skepticism... and back to confusion... endlessly cycling.

"You're saying... our country is called Celestial Fragrance, and the largest empire is Feiyue?" Su Tan asked.

He had truly never heard of these two nations. He had at least a passing knowledge of the over two hundred countries and regions on Earth, but where were Celestial Fragrance and Feiyue?

"Chief, you must be joking, right? We're from Celestial Fragrance? Not from China, America, Japan, and the like? And... what is this King's Dao expert you mentioned? Nowadays, aren't wars fought with firearms, airplanes, artillery, tanks, and aircraft carriers?"

Was there something wrong with the chief's head, or was there something wrong with his? Su Tan was dumbfounded!

The village chief was also bewildered... He looked at Su Tan in astonishment, then reached out with a caring gesture and pressed a hand against Su Tan's forehead. "You're not sick, so why are you spouting nonsense?"

"The strongest deterrent of a nation is, naturally, its King's Dao experts. Whoever has more King's Dao experts is the strongest. No matter how powerful a weapon is, it is ultimately wielded by humans," the chief explained.

Su Tan and the village chief were completely on different wavelengths. It was as if one was talking about the breeding and rearing of sows, while the other was debating whether money or love was more important—two completely unrelated subjects.

"You probably don't know the terror of a King's Dao expert..." Old Chen paused. Su Tan felt that he was likely thinking of how to explain it to him. A moment later, he said, "How about this? Hold out your hand."

Su Tan didn't understand, but he obediently held out his hand anyway. Then, he felt the village chief reach out and place his hand over his. Just as Su Tan was feeling puzzled, the village chief softly shouted, "Ice, come!"

Ice, come? What in the world?

Su Tan was still baffled, but what happened next made him feel as if he had seen a ghost. The village chief's hand was extraordinarily cold—no... It wasn't just cold. He felt frost forming all over the chief's hand. The frost thickened, quickly covering the chief's hand and enveloping Su Tan's hand as well...

"What the hell is this?" Su Tan jumped in fright. He felt his arm instantly encased in a large block of ice. And to his astonishment, the ice... felt as if it was extending directly from the palm of the village chief's hand.

What... what... what?? How could a human hand generate ice? What was going on? What exactly was going on?

Seeing Su Tan's terrified expression, the village chief was very satisfied. He withdrew the ice and said calmly, "How about it? Pretty amazing, right? But my cultivation is far from perfect. If a King's Dao expert used this Ice Skill, they could instantly freeze everything within a hundred miles! Now you understand the importance of King's Dao experts to a nation, right?"

Su Tan's heart pounded wildly. Right now, he had zero interest in King's Dao experts. Instead, he had developed an intense interest in the village chief before him and this world... More accurately, his entire worldview had just been shattered!

"This ice... it was released from your hand?"

"Of course it was!" the village chief replied.

"Without relying on any tools?"

"Why would I need tools? Cultivation is all you need!"

"Cul... tivation..."

"That's right. As long as you cultivate properly, let alone ice, you can release fire, water, and even heavenly lightning," the village chief said.

Just as Su Tan was about to ask further, an anomaly suddenly occurred... in his mind.

"DING! Spiritual Qi injected. Infinite Equipment System successfully activated~"

What... what was this now?