The most shameless alchemist in history

"No, Du Lei, I'll go try. My family just roasted some sweet potatoes today. I'll steal a couple and bring them to you later," Black Wind quickly changed his mind.

"That's more like it. I'll head back now. Remember to come find me later," Little Dure nodded and said.

He quickly walked towards his home, and many people greeted him along the way.

Du Lei recognized all these people. Seeing those familiar faces, some of whom he would never see again, filled him with emotion.

Before long, they arrived at Durei's house, which was actually just an abandoned warehouse.

Because the place was full of miscellaneous items and had been neglected for a long time, Dure decided to live there.

"I'm freezing! I'm having such bad luck today. You can leave him there while I start a fire. Oh, and there's some frostbite medicine in that box over there..." Little Dure skillfully started a fire and directed the uninvited guest he had brought home to get some frostbite medicine.

But before he could finish speaking, he discovered that the other person had already opened the cabinet and taken out the frostbite medicine.

"Huh? How did you know I put the frostbite medicine there?" Little Dure looked at the guy in surprise and asked suspiciously.

“This…” Du Lei hesitated for a moment. He had lived here for so many years, he must know where his own things were!

However, he knew that Dure Jr. would not believe him if he said that, because he didn't know Dure Jr. well enough.

"I saw a cabinet over here, so I was looking to see if there was any medicine I could use, and I didn't expect to find it here," he quickly corrected himself.

"I'm telling you, you're always ransacking other people's houses like a bandit. Let's apply the medicine first." Little Du Lei glared at Du Lei and said with some dissatisfaction, but while giving instructions, he quickly lit the stove.

As the stove was lit, the once cold room suddenly became warm, and the firelight reflected on their faces, making them glow red.

Little Du Lei skillfully set up the iron pot to boil water. Although he was still young, his movements were practiced and he did it with ease, without any awkwardness.

The reason for this is that he has been used to living alone since he was a child. He has no one else to rely on and has to rely on himself for everything.

If he doesn't do this kind of thing himself, then who will do it for him?

"Alright, the hot water is ready. Let's feed him this and see if we can save him." Little Dure quickly brought over a bowl of hot water.

Although he verbally expressed great disdain for the person he dug out of the snow, he was quite ruthless when it came to actually handling him.

Dure nodded, helped the frozen man up, and fed him hot water.

For Dure, this man was a very special person.

If it weren't for him, he might have stayed in that small place, Hot Spring Village, for the rest of his life, or maybe he would occasionally wander around Snow Eagle Town.

But it definitely won't go too far.

It was because of that man's appearance that he realized how vast the world is.

Of course, before leaving, the man repeatedly warned him not to leave the hot spring village, and even left a curse on him.

He only learned about the curse when he was in Winter City.

He had so many questions he wanted to ask the man, but he couldn't find him again after the man left.

But I never expected that we would meet again in this way!

"Cough cough cough... It's hot, it's burning me! Couldn't you use a little warmer water?" The other person reacted quickly after Du Lei poured the water down his throat.

He coughed twice and quickly waved his hand.

"Oh, so you're not dead. I thought you were. I mean, someone who almost didn't survive in the snow, what right do you have to complain about this and that? You're just gloating because you didn't freeze to death." Little Dure leaned closer after hearing him speak and said irritably.

"In the snow...where am I?" The man looked around in confusion.

"This is my home. I dug you out of here. No need to thank me. Anyway, a poor wretch like you wouldn't have any money to thank me." Little Dure had already rummaged through his purse and found it empty, which greatly disappointed him.

"You rescued me? You, and you, all of you..." The man looked at Dure, then at the little boy, his expression strange.

"By the way, I don't know this guy. I met him on the snowy mountain. Oh, right, what's his name again?" Little Dure pointed at Dure to emphasize this point, and then he scratched his head to think.

“Reidu,” Du Lei said, revealing his pseudonym.

“Oh, right, his name is Redu. Anyway, it’s not a very impressive or catchy name. I didn’t even remember it. By the way, what’s your name?” the little boy asked the man he had dug out of the snow.

"Xia Yi, my name is Xia Yi," the man said, revealing his name.

"Xia Yi? I say your names are all so strange, this is too ordinary! I think you should change your name to something like Great Universe or Great World. How about that? That sounds much more impressive and grand," the little boy said casually.

"And what's your name? Tell me so I can hear it and see if it's catchy enough," the man who called himself Xia Yi asked with a smile.

"My name? Well, you'd better listen carefully. My name is the most resounding and majestic one in the world, Du Lei! How about that? Were you startled?" the little boy said proudly. Seeing his appearance, Du Lei subconsciously raised his hand to cover his face.

This shameless attitude is exactly the same as my own back then.

"Oh, so it's Brother Du Lei. That's quite an impressive name. And you two, one named Du Lei and the other Lei Du, you sound like brothers, and you even look quite alike," Xia Yi said with a smile.

"Huh? Brother? Do I have a brother that big? And is he even a tenth as handsome as me? If I grow up to look like him, wouldn't I be so ashamed that I'd jump into the river?" the little boy said nonchalantly.

Du Lei, who was drinking water, almost spat out a mouthful of blood. He carefully recalled whether he had said such a thing back then.

And this guy, when he grows up, won't he just be himself?

He'd seen people who looked down on others, but this kid didn't even respect himself.

"Okay, okay, you're really handsome, the most handsome in the whole world, right?" Du Lei said with a forced smile after choking on his food.

"You're not so bad-looking, at least you're not blind," the little boy said admiringly.

"Kid, you need to keep a low profile from now on, you know? Being too arrogant will get you beaten to a pulp." Du Lei pinched the little boy's ear and whispered a reminder. He couldn't remember being so naughty when he was a child.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Let go right now! I'm warning you, let go right now, or I'll fight back! Let me tell you, I, Du Lei, fear neither heaven nor earth, not even wild boars! If you keep this up, I'm going to teach you a lesson!" the little boy shouted, scolding Du Lei.

"Fine, then try fighting back!" Du Lei was showing no mercy when it came to dealing with his younger self.

If we don't teach him a lesson, how will he ever learn his lesson?

"You two really do look more and more alike the more I look at you," Xia Yi said, resting his chin on his hand in amazement.

Who looks like him?

"If I were like him, I wouldn't be alive today."

The little boy and Dure both shouted at each other, neither looking down on the other.

"Haha, you two are really funny. But... I wanted to ask, is there anything to eat? I think I'm a little hungry." Xia Yi rubbed his stomach and said apologetically.

"No, I don't have any food here!" the little boy denied.

"No? But I see some here, oh my, there's even a ham hidden here." Du Lei knew very well how he hid things back then, and soon he had scavenged some food from various places.

"Are you a dog? Your nose is so sensitive! I'm saving these for the winter!" the little boy scolded Du Lei.

He desperately tried to protect his food.

"Kid, you need to be more generous. If you're so stingy, no one will want to be your friend. So be generous and share your food with us. You have to have a spirit of sharing, right?" Du Lei smiled and took out all the food.

"Who wants to be friends with someone like you who has no background? You think too highly of yourself. And this is mine, I'm not sharing it with you!" The little boy wasn't as strong as Du Lei, so he jumped up and tried to bite Du Lei's arm.

"Hey kid, you said I was born in the Year of the Dog, but I think you're the one who's born in the Year of the Dog! You actually bit me? Let go of me now, or I'll beat you up!" Du Lei tried to shake the little boy off, but the boy wouldn't let go.

"You two not only look alike, but you also have such a good relationship and are so compatible. It's really enviable," Xia Yi said with a chuckle, scratching his head.

"Who has a good relationship with him?"

"Who is compatible with him?"

Dure and the little boy stared intently at each other, looking as if they were deeply resentful.

The flames in the stove were still crackling and burning, and it was still snowing heavily outside.

But inside the room, it was warm.

()

855 Time Rift

Dure believes that everything happens for a reason, so his presence here is also for a reason.

Although what he saw were things he had experienced in his childhood.

Those sounds, those memories, are so vivid, but if you compare them carefully, you will still find some differences.

For example, when he was a child, he never discovered "himself," meaning he never met a person named "Redu."

Dure couldn't figure out why, but he knew that all he could do was gather clues.

If he just waits patiently, he'll eventually figure out what's going on here.

"Yawn, I'm so sleepy. What a bad day! I didn't catch any prey, and I even brought back two troublemakers. Hey, you two, why are you looking at me like that? I'm talking to you two! Well, I'm going to sleep now. You can find somewhere to sleep. Just don't disturb me. Goodnight." The little boy yawned slowly as he looked out the window at the darkening sky.

Even though there wasn't a proper bed in the warehouse, he actually slept on the floor, curled up in a ball next to the stove.

But he had long been accustomed to this kind of life, neither complaining nor envying others.

Du Lei looked at his old sleeping posture and felt inexplicably amused.

However, he soon left the warehouse and went outside. The reason he did this was not because he wanted to go out in the cold wind to clear his head.

It was Xia Yi who gave him a wink, signaling him to go out.

"This is quite an interesting place, and there are many interesting people here, aren't there, Mr. Redu?" After leaving the warehouse, Xia Yi tightened his body. The cold wind outside was biting, and it was certainly not as comfortable as the fireplace inside the warehouse.

"Yes, it's a very beautiful place, and the people in the village are all very nice." Du Lei couldn't quite figure out what Xia Yi was trying to say, because his meeting with Xia Yi wasn't in his memory. He remembered that he fell asleep the first night he met Xia Yi.

"So... to avoid making our conversation too awkward, I think I'll get straight to the point. What do you think, Mr. Du Lei?" Xia Yi had been smiling the whole time, his eyes always narrowed to slits; it was rare to see him with his eyes fully open.

"Excuse me, what are you saying, or did I mishear you?" Du Lei didn't take it too seriously at first, but when he carefully considered what Xia Yi said, he was suddenly stunned because Xia Yi's way of addressing him was very problematic.

Xia Yi no longer addressed him as "Lei Du," but as "Du Lei!"

“You heard me right. Let’s be frank, okay? When I saw you, I felt something was strange. Your aura… doesn’t belong to this world. Yet you’re here. That can only mean one thing: you have some connection with someone here. Because of that person’s existence, you were able to appear here in a special way. Am I right?” Xia Yi was sure to make a shocking statement.

He looked unremarkable, just an ordinary person with squinty eyes.

But he had only exchanged a few words with Dure, yet he had already astutely seen through Dure's secret.

This greatly alarmed the latter!

"Judging from your expression, I think I was right. Although it's hard to believe, is that really the case?" Xia Yi continued.

"How...how did you know?" Du Lei originally wanted to say something, trying to get away with it.

But he soon realized that talking to Xia Yi was completely futile. This guy was really unfathomable, and he wasn't sure how many secrets Xia Yi held. If he talked nonsense and aroused Xia Yi's disgust, that would be bad.

And another very important point is that Dure is unaware of his own situation; he is clearly underground in the Shadow Tower.

But he didn't know how he ended up here, and all his senses were so vivid.