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

When I came out of the underground stone chamber, it was already bright outside.

Niannian stood at the exit with her eyes half-closed, stretched out a big yawn, and when she raised her hand above her head, her sleeve slipped down a bit, revealing her slender white arm.

A cool breeze blew into her sleeves, and she hunched her shoulders and lowered her hands.

"There were two groups of people lurking at the exit. We really managed to slip away just in time."

They probably still think the rabbit got away and are just waiting there like fools.

Xiao Jin squeezed out from behind, plopped down on a rock next to him, and bent down to brush the dust off his trousers.

"Even rabbits can't run as fast as us!"

Niannian raised her chin and shook her head smugly.

Then he squatted down and spread the map out on the stone slab next to him. Looking at the newly marked area on the map, he reached out and patted the stone next to him.

"Let's go, let's go, next place."

Kiki crouched down next to her to look at the map, and after a while pointed to a winding line on the map:

"Sister Niannian, why are some of these threads thick and some thin?"

Niannian looked down, she didn't know either. She blinked and stared at the lines for a while, then frowned and muttered:

"The wide road might be the main road, and the narrow road might be the side road."

She wasn't quite sure herself, so she turned her head to look at Xiaoxiao.

"What do you think, little sister?"

Xiao Xiao was standing nearby tidying the opening of the cloth bag when she heard Niannian ask her a question. She leaned over to look at the map, then noticed the difference in thickness.

"It could be due to the terrain's elevation; the thicker lines represent mountain ridges, and the thinner lines represent valleys."

Qiqi said "Oh," repeated "ridge" in her mouth, and then stood up and looked around.

Surrounded by rocks and bushes, she wasn't sure which spot was the ridge, so she gave up.

Qianqian stood on high ground, her gaze sweeping over the surrounding terrain:

"Continue northwest, there is a dry riverbed ahead, and the end of the riverbed should be the location marked on the map."

Niannian stood up, dusted off the map, rolled it up, and stuffed it back into her arms.

"Let's go, let's go."

She strode forward, her steps light and quick, as if she were carrying an unopened gift, eager to see what was inside.

After walking for a while, the ground began to change.

Some shrubs with thick roots are growing in the gaps between the gravel and sand. The roots of these shrubs are intertwined, and some of them are as thick as a forearm.

Qiqi was walking along when she suddenly tripped over a tree root lying across the road, and stumbled forward two steps before regaining her balance.

She looked down at the dark brown tree root and gently kicked it with her toe.

"Oh dear, this broken root."

Niannian turned around and saw that she hadn't fallen, and chuckled:

"Be careful, this place is full of traps."

Qiqi said "Oh," then kicked the tree root again before walking around it.

As she rounded the tree roots, a crack about three zhang wide appeared before her, lying across the valley floor with irregular edges and several protruding rock corners reaching towards the other side.

Qiqi peeked into the bottom of the crack, but it was pitch black inside and she couldn't see anything.

She pulled her neck back and took half a step back, just inside Qianqian's side, and reached out to grab Qianqian's sleeve:

"It's so deep, I can't see the bottom."

Niannian had already stepped onto a protruding rock and crossed to the other side. After landing and checking her foot for a firm footing, she turned back and called out:

"You can get over here! Just step on those protruding rocks!"

Xiao Jin crouched down on the opposite side, leaned over and peered into the bottom of the crack, then whistled a short whistle:

"If it falls in, I'm afraid we won't be able to get it out."

Qiqi gripped Qianqian's clothes even tighter.

Xiao Xiao didn't urge her. She stepped aside and steadily crossed the rocky path. After reaching the other side, she turned back and called out:

"Make sure you're sure before you step on it, no rush."

Qiqi then loosened Qianqian's clothes and carefully stepped onto the first rock.

He stepped on the second block, and when he took the third step, his foot slipped, and half of his leg dangled in the air and wobbled.

Startled, she let out a scream and was grabbed by the back of her collar and pulled away by Xiao Jin, who was following behind.

After she regained her balance, she squatted down and patted her chest.

"That scared me to death, that scared me to death!"

Niannian squatted opposite, her eyes squinting with laughter:

"Aren't you a Qilin? A Qilin isn't afraid of heights?"

Qiqi squatted on the ground, raised her head, and replied confidently:

"A qilin isn't a bird!"

Niannian laughed even louder. After passing through the crevice, the path narrowed again, the rock walls on both sides began to shrink inward, and the vegetation on the ground gradually became sparse.

Niannian walked at the front, pushing aside the branches that stretched into the middle of the road as she went:

"Have we arrived yet? How much further do we have to go?"

Qianqian's voice came from behind her:

"We're almost there. There's a stone wall blocking the way. The entrance marked on the map should be behind that stone wall."

Niannian quickened her pace and soon saw a stone wall covered with shrubs and vines. The vines hung down densely, completely obscuring the rocks behind it.

She stood in front of the stone wall for a while, then reached out and parted the drooping vines:

"There must be something behind this. Look at these vines, they're so dense, like a curtain. How could they grow naturally like this?"

Xiao Xiao also squatted down, parted a section of vine near the ground, revealing a ring of runes carved on the surface of the stone beneath:

"This rune is the same as the one on the archway before; it should be marking the entrance."

Xiao Jin squeezed in and peered inside for a while: "How do I open it?"

Niannian squatted in front of the stone wall, supporting herself on her knees with her hands, and watched for a while:

"Last time it opened with just a push, it should open the same way this time, right?"

She placed her hand on the center of the rune, and the spiritual energy in her palm spread along the surface of the stone wall. Sure enough, a muffled sound came from the inside of the stone wall.

Then the entire stone wall slowly receded inward, revealing a narrow gap.

Niannian was the first to squeeze in sideways, then leaned back and waved to those behind her.

"Come quick, come quick, it's huge inside!"

The passage was short, but once you passed through it, the view suddenly opened up.

High overhead, beams of light slanted down from several narrow cracks, illuminating a huge old tree in the center of the space.

The tree trunk was so thick that Kiki looked up for a long time but couldn't see the top. She tilted her head back and turned around, her neck aching, before finally looking down.

"What a huge tree!"

Niannian walked around the tree trunk and patted the bark.

She then noticed a knot on the side of the trunk that was darker than the rest of the tree, and scraped off the moss with her fingernail.

"Something seems a little different here."

Xiao Xiao also squatted down to take a look, and reached out to press the edge of the scar to feel it:

"There's something under the tree roots. The spiritual energy fluctuations are very faint, but it's definitely moving."

Qiqi also came over and reached out to press the knot. As soon as her fingertips touched the surface of the bark, the knot suddenly shrank inward, and then the soil at the base of the tree began to loosen.

Niannian reacted quickly and pulled Qiqi away from the tree root:

"Hey, watch out, or some big bug might pop out and scratch you."

Qiqi stumbled back a couple of steps after being pulled, but once she regained her balance, she wasn't afraid. Instead, she nestled next to Niannian's arm and peered down.

"Are there any bugs? Are they big?"

A crack appeared in the ground, revealing a shallow pit underneath.

The bottom of the pit was covered with a layer of dead tree roots and fallen leaves. A stone box was half-buried at the edge of the fallen leaves, and its surface had fine cracks.

Niannian squatted by the edge of the pit and looked down for a while, then jumped down, bent down, and lifted the lid of the stone box to take a look:

"Hey, there's another roll of animal hide here, and it's in much better condition than the last one."

She took it out, unfolded it, glanced at it, and then looked inside the stone box to see if there was anything else.

He casually tucked a few dark-colored metal pieces into his pocket, then climbed out of the pit and patted the dirt off his hands.

She spread out the animal hide for Xiaoxiao to see:

"Look, this is the same map as ours, this is a supplementary page."

Xiao Xiao leaned over and looked for a while:

"This is a new route marked on it, and the direction is different from the route we took before."

Niannian rolled up the animal hide and stuffed it back into her bosom:

"Then let's follow the new route; maybe we can bypass the exit that those people are waiting for."

Kiki, still perched on her arm, peered into the pit:

"Sister Niannian, are there any big bugs in there?"

"There aren't any big bugs, just a few old animal hides and some broken stones. The big bugs are probably still underground and haven't woken up yet. We'll catch them for you later," Niannian said.

Kiki thought for a moment and said, "Never mind, let's wait until it wakes up."

Niannian chuckled, stood up, and patted the dirt off her bottom.

"Let's go, let's go."

She turned and walked towards the exit of the passage, but after a few steps she turned back and waved to Qiqi.

"Hurry up, or I won't help you if you trip over a tree root again."

Qiqi immediately took off following, her short legs moving quickly as she looked down at her feet.

"It definitely won't happen this time."

Then, just as he finished speaking, he tripped over a tree root lying across the middle of the road, stumbled forward two steps, and was helped up by Xiao Jin who was walking in front of him.

Before Xiao Jin could speak, Qi Qi had already steadied herself, looked down at the tree root, and muttered softly:

"It's you again."

She kicked the tree root hard, then quickly caught up with Niannian ahead.

Niannian walked ahead, glanced at the scene, smiled slightly, and continued walking.