Divine Tang Era

Lately, Xu Dan has been spending all his time in the city, either practicing martial arts or telling stories to people, and he feels like his body is getting tingly.

The weather was nice today, so he decided to go for a walk.

Furthermore, in martial arts training, there needs to be a balance of tension and relaxation; being too tense is not a good thing. Also, the golden lily beef at home is almost gone, and he plans to hunt some monsters. Buying them would cost a lot of money.

Go catch them yourself for free, and you can go out and have fun too. It's a win-win situation, so why not?

"Brother Xu, please don't catch any more guinea pigs, they're poisonous," Xiao Que'er and Yun Niang said worriedly as they saw Xu Dan to the door.

Last time he caught a few guinea pigs, but when he took them out, he saw Xiao Que'er's terrified expression, and even Yun Niang was stunned. Xiao Que'er cried out, "Brother Xu, guinea pigs are poisonous and can't be eaten. If someone eats them, their whole family will die." Yun Niang also repeatedly advised against it.

Helpless, Xu Dan could only put it away and sell it at a restaurant, earning a few coins in the process.

"Okay!"

Xu Dan patted Xiao Que'er's head and said, "Be a good girl and stay home. Don't run around. Your brother Xu will bring you something delicious when he comes back."

"I'm the most obedient child; even the teacher praises me as a good child." Little Magpie tilted her head proudly, then, afraid Xu Dan might forget, added, "Brother Xu, you really can't eat guinea pigs, please don't catch any more!"

"I'll remember, I won't arrest you."

Xu Dan waved to Xiao Que'er and Yun Niang and walked towards the city gate.

He Rong happened to be outside, so he went over to ask him to help look after the house, since only Yun Niang and Xiao Que'er were home. Neighbors should help each other out. He Rong nodded in agreement, telling him not to worry.

Yunniang waited until he entered the city gate and could no longer see him before turning back into the house with her daughter and the black bear, and closing the door.

The little magpie followed its mother happily to the backyard, while the black bear lay prone behind the door to prevent anyone from barging in.

Xu Dan said that black bears are silly, but they are actually very smart. They knew how to guard the door when they were very young.

As it grew older, its Tibetan Mastiff form began to emerge. Its long, dark fur obscured its eyes, giving it a bear-like appearance, which made it seem rather silly. That's why Xu Dan wanted to feed it a "Wisdom-Enhancing Fruit" to make it a little smarter. As for whether the fruit was poisonous, that had already been proven in the chubby body that Yu Longzi had transformed into.

This guy ate a brain-opening fruit, and not only is he fine now, he's become very intelligent and can even understand what Xu Dan is saying.

Xu Dan walked out of the city, using the Seven Star Steps to run wildly across the wasteland.

He wasn't running aimlessly; he headed straight for Jinshan, intending to visit Jinshan and then catch some monsters.

The starlight was dim during the day, and a faint stellar energy gathered beneath his feet to replenish his depleted strength. For Xu Dan, this amount of stellar energy was barely anything more than a drop in the ocean.

After running for a while, Xu Dan stopped to rest and drank some water.

Looking ahead, Jinshan is already in sight; we'll arrive in a little while longer.

The weather was nice today, clear blue skies, but the UV rays were a bit strong. If it weren't for his good skin that doesn't tan easily, he might have ended up like those treasure hunters, all dark and tanned, like a lump of charcoal.

Continuing forward, the speed was like a wild horse galloping, almost undetectable.

They had only run a short distance when they saw soil flying out of a large pit not far away, with a pile of fresh soil already surrounding it.

It looked like there were treasure hunters digging for treasure over there, so I went over out of curiosity.

As he approached, Xu Dan shouted, "Friends in the pit ahead, may I take a look?" This situation was extremely dangerous; if they thought you were trying to rob them, they might shoot an arrow. So it's important to give them advance notice. If they don't want to come, they should quickly leave to avoid any accidents.

As soon as he finished speaking, a person jumped out of the pit. Seeing Xu Dan, he seemed to recognize him. "It's you, come here!"

"Hey buddy, do you know me?"

"Jingning is only so big, who doesn't know it?"

Yang Zhonglei knew Xu Dan because he once saw him running towards Mingfeng Tower, and the maids inside greeted him obsequiously as he entered. They had never seen anything like it before. Every time they went to Mingfeng Tower, the maids always held their heads high and treated them with arrogance. Even when they greeted him, it wasn't like that.

It is said that the owner of Mingfeng Tower was very fond of him. If it weren't for his young age, one would think he was the owner's favorite guest!

Furthermore, Xu Dan frequently travels to markets and counties; he may be young, but he's quite capable.

Jingning City is only so big, and he knows everyone he needs to know, but he's still in the dark.

"Remember not to shout or yell later, and don't talk about it when you get back, so as not to cause trouble for everyone, understand?" Yang Zhonglei said.

"Don't worry, I know the rules. I only brought my glasses, I don't know anything else." Xu Dan made a gesture to seal his mouth.

Seeing that he understood, Yang Zhonglei led him over. Xu Dan walked to the edge of the pit and peered down; the pit was about ten meters deep. This guy was capable of throwing soil up from below; he certainly had brute strength.

"Should we go down and take a look?" Yang Zhonglei asked.

"No need, I'll just look around from up there."

Xu Dan dared not go down into this unfamiliar place. If he encountered someone with ulterior motives, he might be murdered for money, or even have his body buried. Come to think of it, this pit seemed perfect for him. Xu Dan took a tiny, barely noticeable step back to avoid being accidentally slapped into it.

Seeing that he was unwilling, Yang Zhonglei did not force him.

"Zhong Lei, throw down a rope and pull the treasure up!" someone shouted from below.

Xu Dan looked closely and discovered a hole beside the pit. Two ashen-faced men were carrying a corpse out and leaning it against the side, panting heavily. Yang Zhonglei quickly dropped the rope and grabbed one end.

The two men below tied the rope and called out, "Zhong Lei, you can pull now."

Yang Zhonglei immediately pulled him up, but the things tied up were a bit heavy and he didn't have enough strength, so he said to Xu Dan, who was watching the show, "Young master, can you lend a hand? I'll share some of the money with you when we sell them."

"It was just a small favor, why should we split the money?"

Xu Dan walked behind Yang Zhonglei, grabbed the rope, and pulled upwards.

As soon as Yang Zhonglei loosened his grip, he saw the thing he was tied to rise up rapidly. He couldn't help but widen his eyes in disbelief. How much strength must that have been!

Xu Dan initially pulled slowly, but then, feeling it wasn't heavy enough, he put the rope on his shoulder and ran forward quickly. The thing being tied to rose rapidly under the pull of the rope, and finally, with the force of the pull, flew directly out of the pit and crashed heavily to the ground.

Xu Dan pulled up the things, threw down the rope, and walked over. The two people who had been in the pit also climbed out.

"Zhong Lei, why did you bring this young man here?" The short, iron-headed man asked Xu Dan in a low voice.

"He just happened to be passing by and stopped by. Don't worry about him."

"oh"

When Xu Dan came over, he realized that what they had pulled up was a skeleton dressed in tattered armor, its body almost rotten. It was far inferior in condition to the giant skeleton he had seen that night, and he couldn't help but ask, "Does anyone want this piece of junk?"

Seeing the disdain in his eyes, Li Daoning said to Tie Tou, "Show off your skills to the young master."

Iron Head picked up the shovel and smashed it against the bone. With a clang, the seemingly rotten bone frame emitted a series of metallic sounds.

Xu Dan realized he had misjudged the situation. Putting everything else aside, the quality of these bones alone would be highly sought after. This stuff was an excellent material, whether for refining corpses, forging weapons, or making armor.

"It seems you had a good harvest. I won't bother you any longer. I'll treat you to drinks when I get back."

Xu Dan called out to them and continued running forward, disappearing from sight in no time.

"That young man runs really fast!" Li Daoning exclaimed.

"He's the one who pulled the baby up here just now," Yang Zhonglei said.

"This young man is really strong!" Li Daoning exclaimed again.

"Nonsense, someone who can smash a hole in a woolly cow's head with a hammer must be strong, right? If they weren't skilled, Huleitu would hide like they're afraid of a cat and wouldn't dare to retaliate," Tie Tou said gruffly.

"No matter what, that was someone else's skill. Now this treasure is our skill." Yang Zhonglei said happily as he looked at the skeleton.

"Let's quickly put these things away so no one sees them," Li Daoning reminded him.

"Yes, hurry up and pack it up. This place is too close to the city; someone might come over," Tie Tou said.

The three of them quickly packed up their things and filled in the pit.

It's not that they're environmentally conscious, but rather they're afraid of being discovered, having their find discovered, and getting envy and trouble. Therefore, treasure hunters prefer to keep their wealth hidden and quietly amass their fortune. If they were to gossip, trouble would inevitably follow sooner or later.