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

Niannian put the metal tag into her pocket and turned to walk towards the door.

She paused at the doorway. The light at the corner of the passageway was off; it was dimmer than when she had come in, as if something was blocking the light source.

She stopped and listened intently.

Very light footsteps came from deep within the passage. There was more than one person, and they were deliberately trying to keep their footsteps light, but the occasional soft sound of stepping on gravel still reached us.

"Someone's coming."

Qianqian spoke softly behind Niannian, having already retreated into the shadows beside the stone chamber door.

Her gaze was fixed on the corner of the passage, her voice extremely soft, the last syllable almost whispered.

Niannian didn't say anything, but reached out and took the Morning Dew Sword from her waist and held it in her hand.

His fingertips rested on the end of the scabbard, his palms were not sweaty, but he gripped it a little tighter.

She took a half step back and stood inside the stone chamber doorway, neither peeking out nor making a sound, holding her breath and listening for a while.

The footsteps stopped about twenty paces away from them, as if they were also checking the commotion.

Qiqi held the pottery jar, standing still and holding her breath. Her hands were so tense that they were stiff, but her feet did not move backward.

Xiao Jin silently crept up to Niannian's side from behind, having already spat out the grass stem he was holding.

Only Luo Nannan sat there, not moving. They were just small fry; she didn't need to lift a finger.

After about three or four breaths of silence, a slightly aged voice came from around the corner:

"You people inside, you must have taken quite a lot of stuff, right? We've been following you all this way."

"Everyone who sees this has a share; give half, and you may leave."

Niannian didn't speak. She turned her head and glanced at Xiao Jin, who shook his head.

She glanced again at the edge of the stone door frame beside her, where half a dark corner of her clothing was already showing.

It was moving slowly along the wall, like a curtain being carefully drawn back.

Niannian gripped the sword hilt tightly and tilted her chin slightly towards Xiaoxiao.

Xiao Xiao had retreated to the inside of the stone chamber, against the wall, and placed her palm on the wall.

The green light from the fingertips was spreading outwards along the cracks in the wall, like a vine growing in the dark.

The figure behind the corner finally ran out of patience while waiting. As another footstep approached, the dark-colored hem of clothing finally turned the corner first.

Niannian saw the person clearly: a gray robe, a short knife hanging at his waist, an older-looking face, and deep-set eyes.

His face resembled one of the people we had seen outside the city before, but he was older.

Three people followed behind him, standing loosely. One of them held a dark ball of spiritual energy in his hand, its surface constantly churning with tiny ripples of spiritual energy, as if it could be flung out at any moment.

Niannian watched the man walk out from around the corner and stop, but didn't rush to answer his question.

Instead, he first looked down at the sword at his waist, which was already half-drawn, then raised his head, his voice lower than usual:

"You've been following us all this way, why didn't you come in when we entered the stone chamber?"

"Wait until you've finished searching for your things before you come in, so we don't have to look for them ourselves."

The man took a step forward, and as soon as his foot landed, Xiao Xiao had already finished setting up.

A very light layer of green spiritual energy spread along the ground, taking shape in the shadows at the entrance of the stone chamber.

Niannian didn't say anything more. She gripped the hilt of the sword tightly and pulled the blade out forcefully. There was no friction sound between the blade and the scabbard.

After the sword was drawn from its sheath, a layer of silvery-white light shone along the spine of the blade.

In the dimly lit passageway, it was like a line suddenly ignited, instantly illuminating half of her face and the halfway through the passageway in front of her.

The man's expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Let's do it."

He lowered his hand, and the three people behind him moved at the same time.

Niannian didn't wait for them to rush over, but instead pressed against the first person who rushed over.

The sword energy was faster than ever before. The tip of the Morning Dew Sword drew a silver-white arc in mid-air and landed on the man's raised arm guard.

A thin crack appeared on the surface of the arm guard, and a portion of the spiritual energy was cut off at the crack by the residual edge of the sword energy.

He glanced down at his cracked arm guard and took a half-step back, trying to create some distance.

But Niannian didn't give him a chance to adjust, slipped and cut sideways into the direction he couldn't defend in time.

The second sword strike came down, the blade slicing through the front of his robe, revealing the fabric of his undergarment.

He instinctively raised his hand to protect his chest, but his arm was not fully extended in a horizontal position.

Niannian had already turned to the other side, stepping on the outside of his knee and kicking him off balance.

He stumbled and crashed into the stone wall of the passage, the cracks in his arm guards deepening in the process.

The second person was faster, but instead of engaging head-on, they bypassed Nian Nian's position from the flank, their target clearly being the others inside the stone chamber.

As he passed by Niannian, he created a surge of spiritual energy, and the dark spiritual light in his palm had already taken shape, ready to be unleashed.

Xiao Xiao stood in the shadow of the side wall of the stone chamber, waiting for him to enter the pre-arranged spiritual energy sphere.

Xiao Xiao didn't move or retreat; her palm remained pressed against the wall, and the spiritual energy patterns extending from the wall had already closed.

She stood there watching the figure cross the threshold of the stone chamber, then clenched her fist.

At the same moment, the vines on the ground burst forth from the soil, four vines as thick as an arm emerging from different parts of the ground simultaneously.

Two ropes wrapped around his ankles, one around his wrist holding the spiritual light, and the other across his waist, suspending him in mid-air at the entrance of the stone chamber.

The ball of spiritual light in his hand, though interrupted, had not completely dissipated; it flickered a few times in the embers of his palm before finally extinguishing completely.

Qiqi stood at the deepest part of the stone chamber, holding the pottery jar, and at that moment she switched the jar to her left hand.

A faint golden spiritual energy condensed in his right palm, and a barely perceptible layer of Qilin Sacred Fire began to flow between the lines of his palm.

Qianqian had silently circled around to the outer edge of the enemy's formation. From that position, she didn't need to make a move; simply standing there had already cut off their last escape route.

Niannian's third sword strike landed on the leader's shoulder, the silver-white blade stopping at the spiritual energy shield between his shoulder and neck.

The shield wasn't cut open, but the pressure made it hiss softly, like the surface texture of something being continuously suppressed and about to crack.

He stood in front of Nian Nian without moving.

The two people behind him who were trying to break free of the vines had also stopped, with the leader standing still.

He glanced at the spreading crack on his arm guard, then at the sword still suspended in mid-air in Nian Nian's hand.

"Where did this sword come from?"

Niannian tilted her head slightly: "What does it have to do with you if I found it in the secret realm?"

The leader paused for a moment, without answering the question.

He glanced in the direction of the stone chamber, then at what was behind Nian Nian, and withdrew his spiritual power:

"We can leave without the goods, just release the people and we'll leave."

Niannian did not immediately let go; the sword tip remained on his shoulder for three breaths before slowly retracting.

When she sheathed her sword, she didn't put it back in its sheath; the blade hung at her side, its silvery-white light still shining.

"Don't follow me after I leave."

The leader didn't reply. He turned around and walked back around the corner at a moderate pace.

The mark left by the sword energy on his shoulder robe was still clearly visible as he passed the corner of the passage.

The two people behind him caught up, and the vines left behind were still entwined with a dark spiritual energy remnant that had not completely dissipated after being broken, like a small piece of ashes slowly extinguishing.

After the vines at the entrance of the stone chamber loosened on their own, the section that had wrapped around the ankles was left on the ground. Not long after, it began to dry and become brittle, with the edges curling into dark brown fragments.

Only after the footsteps had completely disappeared did Nian Nian sheath her sword.

She glanced back at the pile of junk she had rummaged through in the corner of the stone chamber, said nothing, and lingered by the doorframe for a while longer.

Only after making sure that no more footsteps could be heard coming from around the corner did she turn around and squat down in front of Xiaoxiao.

He placed the Morning Dew Sword horizontally on his knees, looked down to inspect the edge of the blade, and stood up after confirming there were no nicks or wear.

"It's tough enough. I thought the blade would bend when that arm guard cracked."

Xiao Xiao had already gathered up the aftershocks of her spiritual energy, but her gaze remained on the traces left at the broken ends of the vines at the entrance of the stone chamber:

"They will come again."

Niannian hung the sword back at her waist: "Come on then, don't be so polite next time."

Her tone was similar to usual, but a little softer.

Qiqi put down the pottery jar and leaned over to take a look at Niannian's sword:

"Sister Niannian, isn't your sword amazing?"

Nian Nian glanced down at the sword sheath at her waist:

"It's alright, I just tried it out, it's quite sharp."

Qiqi nodded, glanced at the vine remains on the ground, and without asking any more questions, returned to the pottery jar and picked it up again.