The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 400 The Demon Hand
Zhao Ti felt a chill run down his spine. What was going on? Why did the sandalwood box open by itself, and why was the hand inside standing up?
If the box contained a mechanism that he had just triggered and which caused it to spring back, that would be somewhat plausible. But why was the succubus's hand standing inside the box?

Zhao Ti looked at the fair and jade-like hand. Although there were no eyes on the hand, the posture clearly showed that it was staring at him, causing a layer of cold sweat to instantly seep out of his back.

His mind raced, but he couldn't figure out how the hand had moved on its own in a short time. He didn't have time to think about it in detail before he turned around and ran towards the round gate to leave the place as soon as possible.

But before he could fully turn around, the hand in the box suddenly leaped into the air and flew straight toward him like lightning.

Zhao Ti was immediately terrified. The Heavenly Demon Hand, which had been dead for thousands of years, had actually come back to life. This was something that would be hard for anyone to accept.

It's already incredible that a hand can move independently after being separated from the body, let alone a severed hand that has been dead for thousands of years and whose bloodline has long been severed!
At that moment, Zhao Ti had only one thought in his mind: to run.

This is even more terrifying than a demon rising from the dead. How can a hand without a blood supply move on its own?
But no matter how fast he ran, how could he compare to that hand flying through the air? In just a moment, before he could even turn around and take a step, the severed hand was right in front of him.

Zhao Ti shivered. He was facing the round gate, only a few steps away, but the hand was hanging three feet in front of him, seemingly quite curious about him, looking at him and blocking his way.

He dared not move an inch, his eyes fixed on the jade-white hand. Had the Heavenly Demon been resurrected through this hand? Or was there something strange about this hand, some kind of demonic monster born within it?

At this moment, he neither made a move nor moved, and the two remained locked in a stalemate, staring at each other for several dozen breaths.

Zhao Ti tried to calm himself down, his thoughts constantly shifting. Finally, he took a deep breath and moved a step to the side.

As he moved to the side, the hand moved along with him, blocking his way again, still looking at him with a curious expression.

Zhao Ti's face paled slightly. He moved his feet again, and his hands followed suit. No matter which way he moved, he could always quickly block in front of him.

Zhao Ti's face was extremely ugly. What exactly did the other party want to do? If they wanted to harm him, they should have attacked him instead. It was completely inexplicable that they were just following him and blocking his way.

He then took a step back, but his hand moved forward. He then moved forward again, but his hand moved back, always maintaining a distance of three feet from him.

Could it be that this thing can't get within three feet of me? Zhao Ti frowned, making this guess in his mind, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

If they can't get within three feet of me, that's easy. I can just go out and ask the crow for help. There's no way a crow can't handle a hand that's been dead for thousands of years.

Thinking of this, he tentatively took another step forward, and sure enough, his hand continued to retreat. He took another step forward, and his hand retreated again. After a few steps, his hand slapped against the round door.

Hmm? At this moment, Zhao Ti was exactly three feet away from the round gate, but suddenly felt something was wrong. He found it difficult to move forward. It seemed that something was blocking his way, making it impossible for him to move an inch.

Is it difficult for someone to get within three feet of another person's hand, and equally difficult for them to get within three feet of the other person?
What was the reason for this? He couldn't figure it out. He had clearly been in close contact with the sandalwood box before, and had even touched the sandalwood box and felt its temperature. Why couldn't he get close to it now?

His hand was pressed tightly against the round door, seemingly with some difficulty, and he stared at Zhao Ti as if in a daze, without moving.

How could he possibly leave? Zhao Ti was at his wit's end. Every time he tried to move forward, his hand blocked his way, preventing him from getting even three feet closer to the door. In that case, he wouldn't be able to reach the door and open it.

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly thought of a solution: why not just turn sideways? Since his hand was in front of him, not to the side, he could simply move laterally to the door and open it to get out.

At this thought, he suddenly turned his body to the side, and the hand quickly left the door, flashing in front of him.

Zhao Ti wiped the sweat from his forehead. Sure enough, as long as he walked sideways, he could open the door and leave.

He carefully moved his body sideways, like a crab, to the door, and then stretched out a hand to place on the door.

At this moment, the severed hand in front of him suddenly tilted a few fingers to the side in mid-air, as if it was puzzled by his behavior and tilting its head in thought.

Zhao Ti had no time to care about the other party's words. Now that he had arrived at the door, the most important thing was to get out as soon as possible.

He pushed the door hard, but the round door was heavy and difficult to open with just one hand.

He was holding the golden gourd in his arms, but his other hand was not strong enough, so he had to slightly change his posture, tilting his shoulder towards the door.

Just as his shoulders were leaning towards the round door, a sudden change occurred. The flashlight darted over like a spark and slammed against the door with a "snap." Zhao Ti was immediately thrown back three feet away.

His expression changed slightly, and after a moment's thought, he realized that his shoulder was too far to the round gate, causing the severed hand to fly over and knock him backward.

However, he couldn't open the door with just one hand, so he had to use the hand that was holding the gourd to help. Once that hand helped, the shoulder would be facing the round door, and if the body turned to the side, the severed hand would shoot over.

What should I do? Zhao Ti's tension gradually dissipated, after all, this hand had not yet done anything to harm him, so he couldn't help but ponder.

He thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a good solution. It seemed that the only way to leave this place was to outrun the severed hand.

Under normal circumstances, I would never be faster than this hand. This hand is incredibly fast, and it arrives right in front of me before I can even see the trace of its flight. Unless my movements are small enough, I might be able to turn around and push open the round door before the other party arrives.

If I were facing the severed hand sideways as before, my turning range would be very small, but the severed hand would fly in almost a straight line and bounce me away.

"Then...how about this," he thought, turning his body so that his back was to the round door and his face was towards the underground palace.

Seeing this, the severed hand drew an arc in the air, barely visible to the naked eye, and flew back to Zhao Ti's front.

Zhao Ti pondered for a moment, then retreated step by step, with his severed hand following behind. After a few breaths, he had retreated to the doorway, his back pressed against the round door.

Since it's impossible to outrun this hand no matter what, then don't turn around, just use your back to smash the door open. The force of a back impact is no less than that of pushing with your hand, and with the added momentum, it can even be greater than the force generated by your hand.

Zhao Ti hugged the golden gourd tightly in his arms, afraid that it would be knocked away by the impact. He then took a slight bow step forward and slammed his back hard into the round door.

With a loud bang, the door was smashed open, creating a crack. However, the door was too heavy, and the rebound force caused Zhao Ti to stumble and almost fall forward.

"I still don't have enough strength," Zhao Ti thought to himself, recalling martial arts once again. If he had learned martial arts, even just a rudimentary one, he probably would have already smashed the door open with that one strike.

He steadied himself, calmed himself down slightly, and leaned back against the round door again, looking straight ahead. At that moment, the severed hand made an even stranger movement in mid-air.

Its thumb and little finger point downwards, resembling two legs; its index and ring fingers extend horizontally, like two arms; and its middle finger points upwards, resembling a small head.

At this moment, his index finger tilted slightly, as if tilting his head. He then pulled his index finger back and scratched his middle finger, looking as if he was scratching his head in bewilderment at Zhao Ti's previous actions.

What on earth was that thing? Zhao Ti's lips twitched, his whole body tensed, and he used all his strength to desperately ram the round door behind him. With a loud "boom," the door was almost half-opened, and his body was momentarily thrown into the air. Unable to stop his momentum, he stumbled back three or four steps, already outside the underground palace.

Zhao Ti was overjoyed and was about to call out to the crows to deal with the severed hand when he saw a white light fly out of the underground palace and directly enter his left arm, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

What was that? Zhao Ti was startled. He couldn't see what entered his arm. The white light was too fast. He couldn't even see it clearly, let alone dodge it.

Could it be that hand? The thought sent chills down his spine, but then he thought it couldn't be. Wasn't that hand supposed to stay at least three feet away from him? How could it have entered his body?
But something's still not right. Where did that hand go? It's not there. Wasn't it always following me? How did it disappear?
“Brother, you’ve finally come out.” The crow greeted him. “It’s almost dawn. If you hadn’t come out, I would have risked making a commotion and getting noticed so I could go in and look for you.”

“Brother Crow…” Zhao Ti’s eyes gleamed, his voice somewhat weak: “Did you see something fly into my body just now?”

The crow was taken aback by what he heard, and shook its head: "What is that? What are you talking about, brother? By the way, brother, why did you come out backwards?"

“Brother Crow…” Zhao Ti looked somewhat embarrassed: “Didn’t I see a white light rushing into my arm the instant I stepped out?”

The crow's red eyes darted around in surprise. "I've been staring at the round door the whole time. I only saw you suddenly crash out backwards, but I didn't see any white light..."

“Oh no…” Zhao Ti’s expression changed drastically. He tossed the golden gourd in his arms into the crow’s wings and said, “I, I’ll go in and take another look.”

“Brother, you…” Before the crow could finish speaking, Zhao Ti had already stepped forward, pushed open the round door, and entered again.

His heart was pounding as he tried to see if the severed hand was still inside the underground palace. If it wasn't, then the white light from before must have been its manifestation. But why did the hand have to crawl into his arm?
At this moment, the round gate closed behind, and Zhao Ti stood in front, looking towards the underground palace.

The area is very spacious, with nothing but three altar tables inside, so you can see at a glance whether the severed hand is there or not.

He looked at it carefully from top to bottom, left to right, and right to left, but there was nothing else there, not even a speck of dust in the air.

Zhao Ti hurriedly ran to the third altar table. Only the scene inside the sandalwood box was unclear from a distance. When he got closer and looked inside, a chill ran from the top of his head to his toes.

Still nothing. The box was empty; there was nothing inside.

So the white light that shot into his left arm earlier was the Hand of the Heavenly Demon? The thought sent a chill down Zhao Ti's spine.

What was that hand trying to do by crawling into his body? He hadn't felt anything unusual about his left arm before, but now it felt heavy, as if the severed hand of the Heavenly Demon was stirring up trouble inside.

He walked out of the underground palace somewhat absentmindedly. A crow carrying a golden gourd flew to him and asked in a solemn voice, "Brother, what exactly happened?"

Zhao Ti was silent for a moment, then smiled wryly and said, "Brother Ya, it's really hard to explain in a few words. Isn't it getting light? I think... let's go back and talk about it later."

The crow nodded and tossed the golden gourd back into Zhao Ti's arms: "Take this Demon Banner for now, brother. Give it to me when we get home, otherwise it will be inconvenient to fly."

Zhao Ti took the gourd and followed the crow out of the underground passage without saying a word. They returned to the second floor of the Flying Tower, then went out the window and stood on the eaves. The crow raised its claws, gently grabbed the back of his clothes, and flew into the air.

As night fell and dawn approached, the crows flew even faster than they had come, returning to the area above Xinghua Lane in no time. They then silently landed, and a man and a crow entered the house.

Zhao Ti placed the golden gourd on the desk, his expression complex and slightly dazed. Crow said, "Brother, can you tell me now? What exactly happened in the underground palace?"

After Zhao Ti picked up a glass of cold water from the table and gulped it down, he began to recount his experiences in the underground palace.

He briefly mentioned the Demon-Summoning Banner and the corpse of the Feathered Spirit, focusing instead on the severed hand. He recounted in detail everything from opening the sandalwood box and being unable to resist touching it, to the severed hand actually coming back to life and relentlessly pursuing him, until he managed to break open the round door and a white light flew in. When he returned to the underground palace to search, the severed hand was nowhere to be found.

“Brother Crow, the Demon's severed hand is definitely inside my arm right now, this…” Zhao Ti’s breathing became rapid.

After listening, the crow opened and closed its long beak several times, lost in thought.

Zhao Ti stared at it, a chill creeping down his spine. It seemed even the crow had never encountered such a situation before.

After a long while, the crow said, "I naturally believe everything you say, but this is really too bizarre. I have never heard of or seen such a thing before. But the Heavenly Demon Hand could never give birth to intelligence again, let alone be resurrected by the Heavenly Demon."

Zhao Ti remained silent, and then the crow continued, "Although I have never seen such a situation before, I speculate that perhaps it was because you touched that hand, causing a trace of your own life force to seep in, which led to the abnormality of that hand?"

Zhao Ti asked, puzzled, "Brother Ya, what does this mean?"

The crow said, "That is to say, your sliver of life force inadvertently entered that severed hand, which caused it to act on its own and follow you. In reality, it is your every move that is influencing the severed hand. The movement of the severed hand is traceable and is controlled by your actions."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ti thought for a moment and said, "That is somewhat possible, but... I've noticed that the hand sometimes makes a grabbing motion in the air, which is probably beyond my control."

The crow said in a heavy tone, "Of course, it cannot be ruled out that there is still a remnant of demonic nature in its hands. Thousands of years of suppression have not completely eliminated the demonic intent of the Heavenly Demon, which is why there are abnormalities. However, there should not be much demonic nature, otherwise, my brother would not be able to stand here and talk to me, and would have been attacked by it long ago."

"Then what should we do?" Zhao Ti held his left arm. "How could such a big hand get into my arm? How can we get it out?"

The crow shook its head: "Sometimes the Heavenly Demon can take form. What's in your arm right now shouldn't be a hand anymore. It could be a demonic talisman, or it could just be a wisp of demonic intent. It seems that I can't leave Yuzhou for a while, and I can't be far away from you either. I have to resolve this matter before I can leave."

"Demonic talisman, demonic intent?" Upon hearing this, Zhao Ti felt a lightness in his left arm, realizing it was just his imagination: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother Ya."

The crow shook its head and said, "This matter arose because of me, so naturally I must help you resolve the future troubles. Do you feel any discomfort right now?"

Zhao Ti looked at his left arm and said, "I don't feel anything. The heaviness I felt earlier was probably due to my mental state. Now that I think about it, after the white light rushed in, there was actually nothing else unusual."

The crow said, "If there is no demonic nature, then there will be no danger. If there is indeed a trace of demonic nature remaining, I will eliminate it, or if the demonic nature cannot bear to show itself, I will destroy it."

Zhao Ti said, "That's for the best. Then I can rest assured. By the way, Brother Ya, take a look at that Demon-Summoning Banner. I see it's badly damaged. I wonder if it can still be used?"

Upon hearing this, the crow hopped onto the table and examined the golden gourd in front of it from head to toe.

Just then, Zhao Ti suddenly felt his vision blur, and the scene changed instantly, like ripples on water.

His body trembled slightly, and he felt a sudden lightness within him, as if something had left the place.

When he opened his eyes again, there were no crows or golden gourds to be seen, and the room was not the Zhao family's house in Xinghua Lane. He was clearly in the military camp's command tent...

(End of this chapter)