Aunt Chen: "Just waiting here wonât let you smell the aroma. Itâs just psychological."
Tiger Girl, standing her ground: "I can smell it."
"Yikes! The carâs here! The carâs here!"
Upon seeing a car, Tiger Girl jumped up, spread her arms wide, and ran towards Xu Ran.
"XuââRanââBroââtherïœ"
Xu Ran: "Goodness, I havenât seen you in half a month, do you want a hug from your big brother?"
Well, a hug it is then.
However...
Who knew Tiger Girl would slip under Xu Ranâs arm, eyes gleaming... running towards the car trunk.
"The cake? Whereâs the cake?"
Xu Ran: "..." In the end, it was all for nothing.
Mom laughed heartily: "She talks about you every day... your cake, that is."
Xu Ran shook his head with a smile. After all, sheâs still just a kid, not yet eight years old.
Opened the trunk.
Tiger Girlâs eyes turned starry: "So many?!"
Aunt Chen: "You can only eat one today, and you need to share some with your classmates, donât eat it all by yourself."
Tiger Girl gave a small nod, her golden eyes dimmed a bit. How great it would be if she could eat it all by herself.
Xu Ran, surprised: "Did your eyes turn gold?"
Tiger Girl raised her little face: "Yeah, yeah, theyâre gold. Everyone says theyâre pretty."
"Yu Hengâs eyes turned blue."
Xu Ran looked at Zhu Yuheng.
Indeed, blue eyes, as blue as a gemstone, shining and shimmering.
Sheâs eight years and seven months old.
Beautifully delicate, stylishly pretty, but a bit shy and quiet.
Tiger Girl generously offered Zhu Yuheng: "Here, Yu Heng, have some cake."
Handed Zhu Yuheng an entire cake.
Tiger Girl opened up a piece of cake for herself too; she was too lazy to use a spoon and just held it up, chomping down with happiness and satisfaction all over her face.
She hadnât had cake for twenty days! Finally, she tasted the sweetness, and was moved to tears!
After only seven or eight bites, she had eaten the cake clean and was licking her fingers to the side.
In contrast, Zhu Yuheng used a spoon to eat, one scoop at a time, calmly and elegantly.
Tiger Girl: "Mom... can I have another one? I can eat up to ten. Two wonât make me full..."
Aunt Chen, with a serious expression: "You can only have a little."
Tiger Girl: "Then what about the double-skin milk? If I donât eat it quickly, itâll spoil..."
Aunt Chen: "...Alright, you can have the double-skin milk."
Saying so, Aunt Chen began to distribute the sweets, taking some for herself, and sharing some among the moms and the kids...
Looking at the trunk, now half-empty of delicacies, Tiger Girl felt disheartened.
She had already finished the double-skin milk by then, her golden eyes scanning everywhere: "Hmm? Xu Ran brother, that egg looks really tasty?"
Xu Ran, with a face showing a refusal to eat indiscriminately: "You shouldnât eat that, itâs meant for hatching."
Tiger Girl, blinking her bright, golden eyes: "Will hatching it give lots of tasty eggs? I know cakes are made from eggs!"
Xu Ran: "I doubt it will lay eggs. Once hatched, it becomes a war beast, and we can fight together."
Tiger Girl, disappointed: "Itâs not for eating? Thatâs a bit of a pity..."
Xu Ran, helpless: "Not at all. Iâve spent quite a lot. It would be a pity if it was just for laying eggs!"
Tiger Girl smiled sweetly: "Thank you, Xu Ran brother, for bringing me sweets... By the way, why did this training take half a month this time?
If only every time you trained, you could come back every four or five days as you did before."
Hmm?
Xu Ran couldnât be bothered to expose the little girlâs intentions.
He hugged his mother.
Mom looked him over: "Not bad, you seem tougher!! You seem to have grown a lot."
Xu Ran, surprised: "Am I much tougher?"
Mom patted Xu Ranâs head: "Yes. More of a man now. Did you encounter any danger during the training?"
Xu Ran, downplaying: "No. My strength has grown significantly."
Mom, brimming with pride: "Thatâs my boy, amazing!"
After some small talk and meeting with everyone, the moms got together to play mahjong.
The kids, led by a guard, went off to class.
Finally, it was the principalâs turn.
The principal looked around: "During the training, you encountered two terrifying mechanical monsters?"
Xu Ran nodded.
The principal, still nervous despite knowing Xu Ranâs safety, said: "I heard the second one was more terrifying; Celestial Summit Pavilion labeled it as a celestial calamity. It could create large-scale illusion skills... even the Fire Prison Godslaying Squad and Purifying Soul Godslaying Squad almost fell for it?"
Xu Ran smiled slightly: "Yes. But it has been resolved."
Principal: "I know, you kid... comprehension root bone did a great job! To think youâre smart enough to analyze a mechanical monsterâs heaven-gifted divine techniques on the battlefield!"
"There wonât be such dangerous training in the future, right?"
Ye Ping, struggling not to laugh: "How many days has the old man not slept well?"
Principal, seriously: "Youâre still laughing! Xu Ran is so young, not even at Hill Realm yet. If he hadnât encountered a monster he could counter, it might have been so dangerous!! Iâve been teaching in kindergarten for decades, and this is the first time Iâve encountered such a top talent; you think I could sleep soundly?"
Xu Ran, calmly: "Itâs alright, principal. Not only did I break its heaven-gifted divine techniques, but I also learned a treasure skill from it. We couldnât kill it this time, but next time we meet, Iâll scare it."
Principal, shocked: "You learned a treasure skill as well?"
Ye Ping explained the origin of the seed of faith.
The principal fell into a long silence.
He couldnât find the words to describe these complex feelings...
Principal: "Sigh, I canât find a reason to stop you from training... after all, for you, training is a way to grow quickly."
Xu Ran gave a gentle smile: "Donât worry, principal, I still have to go with Uncle Ye to find the Talisman Vengeful God."
Principal, silent: "Training again?"
Xu Ran: "I have no choice. Itâs been 616 days since the fleshy altar appeared..."
"The Talisman Vengeful God must be doing something sneaky, even if it isnât, itâs preparing some technique. It canât just be inactive."
Ye Ping: "Only Xu Ran can sense the eerie aura in the second version of the mysterious talisman, other cultivators canât perceive it..."
Principal pondered: "This stuff is indeed mysterious... even researchers at Celestial Summit Pavilion didnât detect anything odd... and ever since the second version of the mysterious talisman was purged, thereâs been no activity, which is very unusual."
Muttering to himself.
The principalâs gaze fell on Xu Ran: "Looks like itâs up to you; make sure to be safe, go to the Investigation Corps, and enlist some Yue Realm experts to assist your investigation, how about that?"
Xu Ran shook his head: "No need, Uncle Ye is enough. The Talisman Vengeful God must be dealt with through wisdom... always lurking, means it specializes in setting traps..."
"Uncle Ye and I will take a look around, see if we find any clues, and weâll call for assistance once we have a lead."
Principal: "Alright. When will you leave?"
Xu Ran: "In two days. I need to look up some information first..."
The Talisman Vengeful God, with its extremely mysterious methods and exceptional knack for hiding itself.
First wave, fleshy altar, no sight of its true form.
Second wave, mysterious talisman, no sight of its true form.
Not even a trace was left.
The hiding techniques of the Talisman Vengeful God gave Xu Ran a real headache, with not even a single clue!!
He has to consider several strategies based on a plethora of documents.
Otherwise, merely venturing out like the last time, would just end up going in circles with no gains...
That certainly wouldnât do.
Itâs been 616 days since the fleshy altar successfully gathered power; if it keeps hiding, it might become unstoppable!