The Demon King is back, leading adorable kids on an adventure around the world!

The next morning, when they went out, Niannian noticed that Venerable Kumu was walking at the very back of the group. He was not walking fast, but he was keeping up steadily.

He seemed to be the same yesterday, but no one went to check on him.

"Grandpa Kumu, it's okay if you walk slowly, we'll wait for you," Niannian said, turning around.

The withered tree elder raised his eyelids slightly and said in a calm tone, "My old bones have just been assembled; I'm afraid they'll fall apart if I walk too fast."

Xiao Jin chuckled in front of her, only to be glared at by Nian Nian.

Today's route is heading north of the city. It is said that there is an old neighborhood there where the houses are still the same as they were decades ago, the stone-paved roads are narrow, and there are some old shops on both sides.

Niannian said she would go and take a look, and the others had no objections. Venerable Kumu followed at the back, unhurried.

The old neighborhood was quieter than I had imagined. The canopies of the plane trees lining both sides of the road intertwined overhead, filtering sunlight into dappled shadows that fell on the stone pavement.

There was a clock repair shop by the roadside, with several rows of old-fashioned grandfather clocks displayed in a glass case, their hands moving slowly.

Qiqi peered through the glass for a while and then asked Qianqian what it was. Qianqian said it was a clock, used for telling time.

Qiqi asked it why it didn't walk faster, and Qianqian said that it was always that slow.

Luo Nannan stopped in front of a used bookstore.

Rows of old books were displayed on the shelves, some of the words on the spines already faded.

She stood at the door for a while before going in. Niannian followed her in, and Xiaoxiao followed her in as well.

The shop was dimly lit, and the air smelled of old paper.

The shop owner was an elderly man with gray hair. He sat behind the counter wearing reading glasses and reading a newspaper. He glanced up at them, then looked down and continued reading.

Luo Nannan walked slowly between the bookshelves, her fingers lightly tracing the spines of a row of books, but she didn't pull any out to read.

She stopped when she reached the innermost row, bent down to look at a book on the bottom shelf. There were no words on the cover, only a blurry landscape painting.

She pulled it out and flipped through it; inside were handwritten words, the ink already yellowed.

Niannian leaned closer to look: "What does it say?"

"...I don't understand it." Luo Nannan closed the book and put it back in its original place. "But the paper feels very nice."

Xiao Xiao also picked up a book, flipped through a couple of pages, and then put it back.

The three of them stayed in the store for almost 15 minutes before coming out. When they came out, Niannian had an old picture book in her hand, saying that she bought it because she found it comfortable to flip through.

The Venerable Kumu stood outside the shop, his hands behind his back, watching a cat on the opposite rooftop.

"What are you looking at?" Xiao Xiao asked as she walked over.

"That cat," Venerable Kumu tilted his chin, "when it jumped down from that rooftop, it landed very steadily, without making a sound."

Xiao Xiao followed his gaze and saw that the cat was already squatting on the edge of the eaves, its tail drooping down and swaying slowly from side to side.

"Have you ever seen a cat before?" Xiao Xiao asked.

"I've met you. A long time ago."

Xiao Xiao didn't ask any more questions.

I had lunch at an old teahouse. The teahouse was very large, with wooden tables and chairs worn smooth and shiny. Several calligraphy scrolls hung on the wall, but no one paid much attention to what they said.

Niannian and the others sat at a large table, while Venerable Kumu sat by the window with a pot of tea in front of him.

He poured himself a glass, but didn't drink it right away. He first picked it up to check the color before bringing it to his lips.

"This tea is good," he said.

Niannian asked across the table, "How does it compare to the sect's tea?"

"They're different. The sect's tea has spiritual energy, this one doesn't." He took another sip. "But the aroma is different."

Qiqi took a sip of her juice, thought it tasted good, and then took a big sip.

Xiao Jin ordered a plate of peanuts and popped them into his mouth one by one.

Luo Nannan sat opposite the Venerable Kumu and poured herself a cup of tea, imitating him by first observing the color before drinking.

After finishing her drink, she put down the cup and said, "It's a little bitter." She added a sugar cube, stirred it, and drank it again. "It's not bitter now."

The withered tree master watched her add sugar without comment.

His gaze fell on an old locust tree across the street from the window. The tree was very tall with dense foliage, and it should provide a large area of ​​shade in the summer.

When the wind came, the leaves rustled.

After leaving the teahouse in the afternoon, I walked along most of the old street.

Passing by a shop selling handmade bamboo products, with several bamboo chairs and baskets hanging at the entrance, Luo Qiqi squatted down and touched the seat of one of the bamboo chairs; it was smooth and slippery.

Niannian asked her if she wanted one, and she said yes. Then Niannian asked the shopkeeper how much it cost, and in the end, they each bought a small bamboo stool and carried it in their hands.

The Venerable Drywood did not walk fast, but he did not fall behind and always stayed a few steps behind the group.

He didn't buy anything; he just occasionally stopped to glance at the items on the roadside stalls before continuing on his way.

When Luo Nannan returned to her residence in the evening, she placed the picture book she had bought that afternoon on the windowsill.

Venerable Kumu sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, holding a cup of water that had been brewed a second time with tea leaves he had brought from the teahouse, and slowly drank it.

As Niannian passed by him, she heard him whisper:

"That cat is still on the roof across the street today."

Niannian looked over the wall and saw that there was indeed one crouching there, its tail still hanging down.

……