A Person's Appearance Can Be Deceptive

Because the Ancient Copper Ring carried the aura of Li Tiansu, Li Yinzhu subconsciously moved closer to him.

Song Shuhang gently patted Li Yinzhu and said softly, "Don't be afraid, the two older sisters are just helping you change your clothes."

Upon hearing his voice, Li Yinzhu nodded tremblingly. Then, she carefully extended her hand to the two female disciples of the Chu Household in front of her.

The female disciple of the Chu Household chuckled, picked up Li Yinzhu, and took her to a nearby room to bathe and change into clean clothes.

Song Shuhang breathed a sigh of relief; he sensed that Li Yinzhu's condition was somewhat off.

In his Dream Entry -like memory, Li Yinzhu must have been quite old.

She was already in her twenties before her first bout of Cold Illness. Afterwards, Li Tiansu spent all his family fortune searching for various treatments for her Cold Illness, and this treatment took many years.

But now, in terms of both appearance and behavior, she is no different from a three- or four-year-old girl.

Did her mind regress to a child's state after her body degenerated to the size of a toddler?

************

"Haha, young friend Shuhang, it seems you're quite good at taking care of children." Chu Kangbo, the Household Patriarch Chu, chuckled as he glanced at the little monk who stayed by Song Shuhang's side the whole time.

After arriving in China, the young monk did not return to World's End Wandering Temple, but continued to stay by Song Shuhang's side, waiting for his senior brother Three Days to come and take him back.

When the young monk noticed that the Household Patriarch Chu was paying attention to him, he put his palms together and bowed politely.

The Household Patriarch Chu returned the greeting with a smile.

Song Shuhang chuckled dryly. Good at taking care of children? -- Does he have Guoguo "king of kids" aura about him, which is why little Doudou Guoguo, Pekingese Soft Feather, Sixteen, and Yu Jiaojiao all appear around him one after another under the influence of this aura?

As they were talking, two female disciples from the Chu Household brought Li Yinzhu out.

After washing and grooming, Li Yinzhu let her silver hair down, letting it cascade down her back. It was long and thick, making her look even more adorable.

The only drawback was that she was wearing a thick sweater, and on top of that, Jade-Green Kasaya, she looked particularly strange.

As soon as Li Yinzhu saw Shuhang, she quickly ran to his side, her small hand reaching out from her Jade-Green Kasaya to grab the hem of his Song Shuhang, refusing to let go.

When Song Shuhang's body touched Li Yinzhu's Jade-Green Kasaya, he exclaimed, "So hot?"

The Jade-Green Kasaya automatically regulates its temperature, so when it senses that Li Yinzhu's body temperature is low, the Jade-Green Kasaya continuously raises its temperature. At this time, the kasaya feels like a heater used to keep warm in the cold winter, almost burning hot to the touch.

Hearing Song Shuhang's murmur, Li Yinzhu looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"It's alright." Song Shuhang patted her gently; this little bit of warmth meant nothing to Song Shuhang at the moment.

At this moment, Chu Kangbo, the Household Patriarch Chu, said, "Young friend, please follow me."

He led the way. Song Shuhang followed, and the little monk Shuang closely followed Song Shuhang.

The young monk kept glancing at Li Yinzhu, filled with curiosity about this girl who had emerged from the ice crystals—it was said that children sprang from stones, but this was the first time the young monk had ever seen one sprang from ice.

******************************

The Chu Household Grounds.

Song Shuhang sat on the sofa, with the little monk on his left, Li Yinzhu on his right, and Yu Jiaojiao perched on his shoulder.

Li Yinzhu's Jade-Green Kasaya had been returned to Song Shuhang, Household Patriarch Chu had changed her into a small female cultivator's robe.

The Household Patriarch Chu was, after all, Fifth-Grade Spirit Emperor. In his youth, he and Li Tiansu had explored many ruins, and he had collected many treasures. A mere robe was nothing to him.

Next, Chu Kangbo recorded the map of the 'Forbidden Land' and the information about the outer perimeter of the Forbidden Land that he and Li Tiansu had explored on a long scroll and handed it to Song Shuhang.

Chu Kangbo really dared not go back to that 'Forbidden Land'.

He was severely injured before he even saw the gate to the Forbidden Land, and it took him many years to recover. His friend Li Tiansu lost his life in the Forbidden Land, which was no longer a place that Fifth-Grade Golden Core Spirit Emperor could detect.

"Young friend, this is the location of the Forbidden Land and some of its surrounding arrangements. However, so many years have passed, and we don't know what changes have occurred around the Forbidden Land area. Therefore, the explorations that I and Fellow Daoist Li conducted can only serve as a reference," Chu Kangbo said.

"Thank you, Senior." Song Shuhang added, "Also, please rest assured Senior Chu. If there is a way to treat Li Yinzhu in that Forbidden Land, we will do our best to bring it out."

Upon hearing this, Chu Kangbo felt much more at ease.

Afterwards, the two talked for a long time.

Chu Kangbo's adventurous experiences in his youth greatly benefited Song Shuhang.

Finally, the two exchanged phone numbers, so that if Song Shuhang's trip to the Forbidden Land yielded any results, he could contact Chu Kangbo directly.

************

"Senior Chu, I have some matters to attend to at home. We'll meet again!" Song Shuhang, cupping his hands in greeting to Chu Kangbo.

"Until we meet again." Chu Kangbo rose to see his guest off.

After arriving at the open space outside, Song Shuhang took out the 'Silver Dragon Puppet' from his Inch-Shrinking Bag.

When Senior Seven Lives Talisman gave him this Silver Dragon Puppet, there was a Third-Grade Spirit Stone installed inside the puppet, enough for the Silver Dragon Puppet to fly for a long time.

Fortunately, there were already Spirit Stone inside the puppet... otherwise, Song Shuhang would be penniless now, without even half a Spirit Stone, and the Silver Dragon Puppet would be nothing but decoration.

Upon seeing the Silver Dragon Puppet, the little monk cheered and leaped onto its back in a flash. No matter how mature he was usually, he couldn't suppress his childlike nature when he saw something he liked.

Song Shuhang gently patted Li Yinzhu, who was tugging at his clothes. "Good girl, Yinzhu, go back and be with Senior Chu first... I'll come see you again in a while, okay?"

Li Yinzhu blinked, looking confused. Her hand was still tightly gripping Song Shuhang's clothes, refusing to let go.

On her shoulder, Yu Jiaojiao chuckled, "Hehe, she's got her eye on you, Shuhang."

"It must be the familiar scent of her on this ring I'm wearing," Song Shuhang, touching the Ancient Copper Ring.

This ring comes with a 'Flame Blade', a 'Healing Spell', and Third-Grade- grade Spirit-Gathering Formation, making it an invaluable treasure for Song Shuhang at this stage.

The 'Flame Blade' on it helped Song Shuhang escape life-threatening situations several times, and the Healing Spell was even more precious, as it was a Zheng Neng life-saving magic.

But after thinking about it, Song Shuhang still took the ring off his hand.

He knelt down, took Li Yinzhu's small hand, and placed the Ancient Copper Ring in her palm—it was her father's keepsake, so it was only right and proper to return it to her. This could be considered returning it to its rightful owner.

"Goodbye, take care," Song Shuhang said softly to her.

Li Yinzhu's silver eyes were fixed on the ring in her palm, frozen in place, motionless.

Chu Kangbo stepped forward, gently patted Li Yinzhu, and picked her up.

"Goodbye, Senior Chu." Song Shuhang leaped onto the Silver Dragon Puppet and bowed. The Silver Dragon Puppet's eyes gleamed with golden light, and with a gentle flap of its enormous wings, it soared into the sky...

The Chu Household gazed enviously at the puppet—they always felt that Flying Puppet were particularly cool. Unfortunately, let alone a flying puppet, even a ground-based one was incredibly expensive for the Chu Household. They'd be better off exchanging that money for cultivation resources.

"Let's go back," Chu Kangbo said.

In her arms, Li Yinzhu remained intently staring at the ring, her thoughts unreadable.

Chu Kangbo gently patted his old friend's daughter. "From today onwards, let's live together."

He will treat Li Yinzhu like his own daughter, teaching and nurturing her with care.

If one day he could remove the cold poison from her body, then he would have been able to give an explanation to his old friend.

After Chu Kangbo had carried her for five or six steps, Li Yinzhu suddenly spoke, uttering a single syllable. "Burn."

Then, a small pill-sized object flew out of Li Yinzhu's mouth.

That's... Sword Pellet!

Made of extremely fine, thread-like blades wound into a ball shape, the Sword Pellet can transform into a sharp longsword or directly kill the enemy in its Sword Pellet form by infusing it with true energy or spiritual power.

Sword Pellet pellets are difficult to forge, and at the same level, their value is five to ten times or more than that of ordinary flying swords.

The Sword Pellet flew out of Li Yinzhu's mouth, expanded rapidly in mid-air, and transformed into a complete sword light.

Chu Kangbo was stunned for a moment. "Sword-Flying Technique!"

Just then, Li Yinzhu broke free from his embrace. With a light leap, her small body landed on the sword light. Then, she carefully lay down on the sword light, like a cute little animal.

'Whoosh!'

The sword light shot out and disappeared into the horizon in the blink of an eye... Judging from the direction, it should have been chasing after Song Shuhang's location.

"Fourth-Grade Xiantian." Chu Kangbo smiled bitterly.

He had misjudged her; his old friend's daughter was a cultivator at the Fourth-Grade Xiantian Realm!

How old is she? She's already at the Fourth-Grade Cultivation.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. In order to cure his daughter's Cold Illness, Li Tiansu spent all his family fortune and went into debt. He also risked his life countless times in various Secret Realm and ruins, and all the resources he obtained were poured into his daughter.

That was a truly massive amount of rare and precious medicinal materials. Even if most of it was used to resist the 'cold energy' in his body, the remaining small portion of medicinal power was enough to push Li Yinzhu to the Fourth-Grade Xiantian innate realm.

After thinking for a moment, Chu Kangbo took out his phone and dialed Song Shuhang's number.

The call was answered quickly.

"Huh? Senior Chu, is something the matter?" Song Shuhang asked, puzzled. Had he perhaps forgotten something at the Chu Household?

Chu Kangbo said apologetically, "Young friend Yinzhu flew towards your location."

"What? She flew over? How did she fly over?" Song Shuhang asked.

Chu Kangbo: "Sword Flight."

"Fourth-Grade Xiantian?" Song Shuhang was stunned for a moment.

Chu Kangbo: "Hmm, Fourth-Grade Xiantian."

Song Shuhang: "..."

Are geniuses so worthless these days? In the past, it would take our predecessors hundreds of years to advance to the Fourth-Grade Xiantian realm.

First update!