"Buzzzz..."
Almost the instant the Divine Soul Mark merged into his Divine Sense, five fragments of images appeared in Xu Taiping's mind in succession, accompanied by the trembling hum of his Divine Soul.
Xu Taiping was no longer unfamiliar with this situation.
With a mere stir of his Divine Sense, the scene within the first fragment began unfolding in his mind.
In that scene, two plainly dressed boys, eleven or twelve years old, were scraping the black soot off a large pot bit by bit, then carefully gathering it into the battered Pottery Bowls beside them.
Only after each had collected a full bowl did they cradle the Pottery Bowls against their chests and carefully leave the dim kitchen.
"Woof, woof, woof!"
The moment they stepped out of the kitchen, a large yellow guard dog outside the courtyard spotted them and began barking furiously.
Hearing the barking, the two boys immediately took off their clothes and wrapped the Pottery Bowls in them, then raced toward the courtyard wall, their footsteps pattering rapidly.
"Thieves!"
"Thieves have broken into the estate! Everyone, come catch them!"
They had only just reached the foot of the wall when the shrill, piercing cries of the servants rang out behind them.
Seeing this, the sturdier boy suddenly thrust his clothes-wrapped Pottery Bowl into the arms of the smaller, thinner boy, then said with extreme urgency:
"Little brother, quick! Step on my back and climb over the wall!"
As he spoke, the taller boy braced both hands against the wall and bent his back.
Seeing this, the smaller boy asked worriedly:
"What about you, big brother?"
The tall, sturdy boy turned and glared at the smaller boy.
"I told you to go, so go! Hurry!"
The smaller boy immediately nodded hard. Hugging the two Pottery Bowls full