Divine Tang Era

"Hmm, the presence is right here, but where is the person?"

Li Zhu and Zhu Yuxian followed Xu Dan's aura to the edge of a small hill, but lost track of him.

"Let me see." Li Zhu took out a precious mirror from her sleeve and guided her aura into the mirror.

Suddenly, the precious mirror flew from his hand and hung high in the air, like a bright moon in the sky, casting a beam of light that swept across the ground before finally settling in front of him. A figure emerged from the mirror's light; inside the newly dug cave, Xu Dan lay sprawled on the soft animal hide, sleeping contentedly, his arms and legs spread out in a "大" (big) shape.

"That heartless little thing! We sisters have been working tirelessly for him all night, and he's just enjoying himself here," Li Zhu said angrily.

"Sister, next time you can ask him to tell more legendary tales," Zhu Yuxian suggested.

"If you like him, just go and tell him. There's no reason for me to take the lead. Haven't you noticed he hasn't been coming lately? He probably doesn't want to talk to me anymore."

"Are you worried that he won't come, sister?" Zhu Yuxian said with a smile.

Li Zhu raised an eyebrow slightly; she wasn't worried about that. As long as the little guy wanted to buy and sell things, he would definitely come. After all, her older sister offered higher prices and often gave him gifts. For that reason alone, few wouldn't like him.

Seeing that he was alright, the two returned to Mingfeng Tower.

Xu Dan was fast asleep and had no idea that anyone had come by.

He had run all the way before finally finding this hill suitable for camping, but finding a tent too conspicuous, he simply dug a hole in the ground to sleep. So many things had happened tonight, leaving him physically and mentally exhausted. Sure enough, he fell asleep as soon as he lay down, all his usual vigilance gone.

A quiet night.

The deep and fantastical night sky, like a world of flickering light and shadow, plays a hymn of eternal damnation.

The void above the "Tomb of the Children" mound suddenly folded irregularly, and the stars in the sky twinkled, as if witnessing something.

Suddenly, a child's head popped out from the grave mound, looked around, jumped out of the ground, and clapped his hands happily, as if celebrating his rebirth or as if celebrating his emergence from the ground.

After jumping around for a while, it seemed to smell something and went to follow the scent.

Arriving at the tomb, seeing the various offerings laid out, they couldn't resist leaning over to smell them. Wisps of smoke drifted from the offerings, entering their nostrils. The child patted his belly and let out a burp, clearly full.

The wilderness was empty and silent, and the child seemed a little scared.

Looking around, it seemed to smell something, so it followed the scent and ran towards the distance.

They moved with incredible speed, and soon arrived at the wilderness above where Xu Dan was sleeping.

Finding no one around, the child seemed surprised. He sniffed around, as if he smelled something, then excitedly burrowed into the ground and reappeared beside Xu Dan. Xu Dan was sleeping like a log, completely unaware of his arrival. Seeing him, the child ran over joyfully, as if seeing a family member.

Suddenly, a strange light burst forth from the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer beside them.

The child was so frightened that he backed away and sat down on the ground, too scared to go any closer.

The strange light emanating from the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer grew larger and brighter, gradually enveloping the hammer's body. The figures on the hammer, inscribed with the eighteen hammer techniques, vanished within the light. The light surged like flowing water, one after another, wave after wave, relentlessly chasing and overtaking each other. After a while, the strange light disappeared, and thirty-six figures appeared on the hammer's body.

Eighteen of the thirty-six figures are figures from the previously recorded eighteen styles of hammer techniques.

Following the pattern above, the thirty-six figures represent the thirty-six styles of hammer techniques.

The thirty-six figures on the Thirty-Six Styles of Hammering Techniques danced with their sticks in unison, each move and strike resembling a carp leaping out of the water, a white snake spitting its tongue, a bright moon soaring in the sky, or a black tiger emerging from its den.

Ultimate moves, ingenious moves, brilliant moves—one move after another, each more treacherous and more powerful than the last.

But Xu Dan, who was asleep in his dream, did not see any of this.

Seeing that the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer was no longer glowing, the child sitting on the ground mustered up his courage and went forward to smell Xu Dan. It was the same scent he had smelled before, and he immediately started jumping up and down happily clapping his hands. After a while, he stopped, his eyes blank, as if he didn't know what he was supposed to do.

Suddenly, I saw Xu Dan sleeping with his arms and legs spread out like the character "大" (big), and my eyes lit up.

He then lay down next to him, just like him, mouth wide open, and fell asleep, "woo-woo-woo".

Xu Dan woke up after a dreamless night and stretched.

It turns out that last night's decision to dig a hole and sleep underground was the right one; otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble might have gotten into the middle of the night. From now on, I'll definitely dig a hole and sleep underground every night. If I'm lucky, I might even dig up some treasure.

While thinking about the wonderful things, Xu Dan got up and started collecting animal furs.

The child sleeping next to him was suddenly pulled over by the force of the man gathering the fur, and fell to the ground with a thud.

I woke up groggily and saw Xu Dan. I happily went over to him.

Xu Dan felt something was off, as if someone was around. But after looking around, he found no one and didn't find it strange. After thinking for a moment, he focused his gaze, and an invisible beam of light shot out from his double pupils, sweeping around.

The scenery inside the cave came into view one by one, and children also appeared in his field of vision.

The sudden appearance of the child startled him; thinking it was a ghost, he immediately took out some talisman and threw it at the child.

However, the talisman passed through the child's body and landed on the ground.

The exorcising powder is specifically used to ward off evil spirits and cleanse impurities. If a child is a ghost or spirit, they are absolutely susceptible to its effects. The exorcising powder is ineffective on him, meaning he is neither a ghost nor possesses any yin energy. So what is that little fellow—a demon, a spirit, or something else entirely?

Xu Dan didn't know.

Seeing that the child meant him no harm, he ignored him, figuring he was about to leave anyway and the boy would probably leave as well.

After packing his things, Xu Dan crawled out of the cave and onto the surface. The sun was already high in the sky. He washed up, took out the large steamed buns he had brought, and started eating.

The children curiously gathered around, looking at the large steamed buns, smelling the aroma, and couldn't help but take a deep breath. A wisp of smoke rose from the buns and entered the children's mouths. Xu Dan ate the large steamed buns, but somehow they tasted bland and tasteless.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the large steamed buns had turned a dull gray, as if they had gone bad from being left out for too long.

Xu Dan frowned. He had bought these steamed buns from Meng's Steamed Bun Shop yesterday. They were freshly baked, so how could they have gone bad? He couldn't help but glance at the child.

The child looked over innocently.

It couldn't be him causing the trouble! How could he possibly spoil the taste of the steamed bun? Absolutely not. Xu Dan didn't care about the one steamed bun. Since he couldn't find the cause, he stopped looking and took out another steamed bun to eat. He took a bite, and it tasted like a steamed bun, not spoiled, so he couldn't help but eat it in big bites.

The child smelled the aroma and couldn't help but take a deep breath.

A wisp of smoke rose from the large steamed bun and entered the child's mouth.

This time, Xu Dan was more careful. He didn't focus entirely on eating the steamed buns, but instead kept a watchful eye on the children. When he saw the steam rising from the buns, he quickly swallowed the bun he had just eaten and took another bite.

The steamed buns that came out of the oven yesterday have gone bad.

It turned out the little guy was behind it all. Xu Dan was a bit annoyed, but seeing his innocent and clueless expression, he didn't say anything. He figured the boy was hungry, so he took out three steamed buns and placed them on the ground, gesturing for him to eat.

The child jumped up and down happily, then lay down on the ground and sucked hard on three large steamed buns. Three wisps of smoke rose from the buns and entered the child's mouth. The child burped, rubbed his belly, looked at the buns Xu Dan was eating, and became worried.

I want to eat, but I'm too full.

Xu Dan took a bite and found that the bun hadn't changed much, so he ate it without worry.