"Ah, that was a story my grandfather told me. He said an old locust tree became a spirit and lived in a pitch-black cave, eating nothing but children."
Halfway through, Chi Wang suddenly came to his senses, his face filled with astonishment. "Uncle, did you say... she's your younger sister?"
Lan Changsheng nodded slowly, his tone solemn.
"Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Lan Changsheng, a million-year-old Blue Silver Imperial Emperor Grass, the chosen one, and the only one."
As Lan Changsheng spoke, he tilted his head toward the sky at a forty-five-degree angle. The Blue Silver Emperor Pattern on his forehead shone, and his regal, domineering aura was on full display.
It left an indelible impression on Chi Wang's young heart.
"There really are Soul Beasts that don't eat people! And they're so nice, too!"
Even many years later, in the final moments of his life, Chi Wang still remembered this scene as clearly as if it had just happened.
Then he said, "Uncle Lan Changsheng was at his most human back then, and now."
But the Iron-Armed Azure Ape gave Lan Changsheng no time to keep showing off.
Sensing his arrival, the ape leaped and swung back through the trees.
Tang San and Xiao Wu followed close behind, also crying "Ooh! Ooh!" as they swung back on vines.
"Uncle! Look, this is the new method Teacher Ape taught us!"
It would have been better not to mention it. The moment Tang San brought it up, Lan Changsheng's expression darkened.
"Roar!" You're back so soon. Who's this child? He doesn't smell like a Soul Beast. Is he a human-beast too?
"Where did you learn that term?" Then Lan Changsheng turned to Tang San and Xiao Wu. "This is Chi Wang. He'll be your classmate from now on."