After the Traveling Merchant left, Chen Lin put the One-Arm Circumambulation into his travel bundle, then said to Niuniu, "Thank you for helping me get justice, Niuniu. Otherwise, I would have had to swallow that loss. But that Traveling Merchant can move freely through the Nightmare Realm, so he must be very powerful. He won't retaliate against you, will he?"
Niuniu giggled and said casually, "It's nothing. He's just a peddler."
With that, she dropped the subject and addressed her companions. "All right, go home for now. I'll come play with you when I have time!"
These bizarre children clearly followed Niuniu's lead. At her words, they scattered in a rush and returned to their respective cottages.
Watching the Mushroom Girl Xiaohong leave, Chen Lin couldn't help thinking of her Enlarged Millstone. Its effect had been incredibly powerful. If only he could get another one.
But he didn't ask for it. As always, he had to carefully maintain his closeness with Niuniu. He couldn't let insatiable greed leave her with a bad impression of him.
"Uncle, we haven't seen each other in so long. Did you miss Niuniu?"
The little girl tucked both hands into the pockets of her straw skirt and scuffed the ground with her little foot, speaking somewhat bashfully.
Chen Lin smiled. "Of course I did. I thought about you every single day. Niuniu is so adorable-how could I not miss you? But I didn't have a medium, so I couldn't come visit you myself!"
Hearing this, Niuniu immediately brightened, her large eyes curving into crescents.
"Oh, I forgot to give you a Medium Object last time! The seal has loosened a little more recently, too. That's how I was able to sense your location through the Road Guide you used last time and pull you in."