So he really had been blessed by the mountain god?

"Ah!"

Although he knew Xiluo was teasing him, Li Boyang still slapped the carrying basket indignantly.

Seeing this, Big Girl was just about to help translate for Li Boyang when Xiluo leaped onto the basket.

"Take it!"

"Talking to you is such a pain!"

Opening her mouth, Xiluo spat out the Spirit Rhinoceros Horn, then immediately retreated to a safe distance before Big Girl could react.

[I know my craftsmanship is poor, but surely it isn't so ugly it can't bear the light of day!]

The instant Li Boyang's voice rang out, Big Girl looked at him with shining eyes.

Or, more precisely, Big Girl had her eye on the Spirit Rhinoceros Horn in Li Boyang's hand and looked eager to give it a try.

Fortunately, although Big Girl had enough nerve to defy the heavens, she still knew where to draw the line.

Her eyes darted between Li Boyang and Xiluo, but she stood obediently to one side without interrupting.

[Actually, I noticed that the Sha Qi on the sculpture was dissipating.]

[Very slowly, but it really was disappearing little by little...]

[Then, to my surprise, I discovered that I could actually sense the Sha Qi in the earth veins, and even distinguish the direction of its flow.]

[I thought that, although I didn't know whether the statue could absorb Sha Qi on its own...]

[Burying it somewhere the Sha Qi had to flow through should be a little better than putting it on the fence or the traps, right?]

As he said this, there was a faintly questioning note in Li Boyang's voice.

After all, of everyone Li Boyang had encountered, Xiluo could be considered the most knowledgeable.

Moreover, this Sha Qi had originated from Ruifu's curse, so Li Boyang was a little worried that it might bring him some new trouble.

"You little one... you really are a freak!"

Her eyes widening in surprise, Xiluo bluntly delivered her verdict.

"For beings like you and me, sensing primordial Qi is perfectly normal..."

"But that's limited to sensing primordial Qi that matches our own attributes."

"Sensing Sha Qi-however you look at it, that's an ominous god's ability, isn't it?"

"If this keeps up, I'll want to resurrect Ruifu and kill him again myself, just to see whether I can gain a similar ability!"

At Xiluo's words, Li Boyang's eyes shifted slightly.

[Actually, sensing that Sha Qi isn't all I can do.]

Under Xiluo's shocked gaze and Big Girl's curious one, Li Boyang's shadow twisted eerily.

Immediately afterward, the Sha Qi invisible to the naked eye poured into Li Boyang's shadow, turning it from a flat silhouette into a three-dimensional, tangible form.

[Using my own shadow as a medium, I seem to be able to indirectly influence and control that Sha Qi.]

As Li Boyang spoke, the tangible shadow kept writhing, sometimes stretching its body, sometimes changing its appearance.

At first glance, it looked as though it really was about to come alive, giving off an especially eerie and terrifying impression.

"Little one, I'm starting to have doubts about your identity."

After silently staring at the tangible shadow for a long time, Xiluo finally spoke again.

"Apart from your appearance, what about you isn't like an ominous god now?"

"You should know that controlling Sha Qi is an ominous god's innate Divine Ability, just as I was born able to control flames."

After this remark, Xiluo finally revealed the purpose of her visit.

"What's happening to you has already gone beyond my understanding."

"My elder sister left a few scrolls in the temple. They might contain records of similar situations."

"And, actually, I came this time because I wanted to take you to the temple."

As it turned out, Xiluo's plan to take Li Boyang to the mountain god's temple proved far more difficult than expected.

"No!"

"Not even if you really are the mountain god!"

Standing at the edge of her family's field with her hands on her hips, Chen Yun cursed loudly like a shrew.

"I let it slide when you sneaked into my house before, but now you actually want to abduct my child in broad daylight!"

Facing Chen Yun, Xiluo turned her head aside as spittle sprayed over her.

She paid no attention whatsoever to the astonished looks from Li Boyang and Big Girl beside her.

When Xiluo had thumped her chest and guaranteed she could take him to the mountain god's temple, Li Boyang had thought she might have some brilliant idea.

Who would have thought she would simply come straight to Chen Yun and lay her cards on the table?

And his fierce mother had given her such a bloody tongue-lashing that she did not even dare talk back?

"Chen girl, we're old acquaintances, at least. Can't you trust me?"

"I promise I'll bring your little one back before dark. I absolutely won't let him lose so much as a hair!"

Faced with Xiluo's solemn assurance, Chen Yun only grew angrier.

"Acquaintances?"

"We only met once when I was little, didn't we?"

"When you came to my house last year, you didn't even use the front door!"

Just as Chen Yun said, she and Xiluo had only met once during her childhood.

Though that encounter had happened because Chen Yun had gotten lost by the river and was crying to go home, catching the attention of Xiluo as she happened to pass by.

Still, that experience had simply been too extraordinary.

On top of that, before leaving, Xiluo had tricked Chen Yun out of a skewer of candied hawthorn, casting a deep shadow over her childhood.

"So you noticed me back then?"

This time, it was Xiluo's turn to widen her eyes in surprise. She had thought Chen Yun had not discovered her.

"Do I look like an idiot to you?"

"Meat kept appearing in the house every so often. Anyone would have been suspicious, wouldn't they?"

"Besides, after eating that meat, my health really did improve a great deal. That was how I managed to give birth to Non-Crying Child safely."

In truth, Chen Yun had only been suspicious at first.

Only after pretending to sleep several times had Chen Yun discovered that a wildcat was carrying the meat into her house.

That coat of scarlet fur, so unlike an ordinary wildcat's.

It had immediately reminded Chen Yun of the wildcat she had encountered when she got lost as a child.

After Li Boyang was born, Chen Yun had also heard the village gossip, further strengthening her belief in her guess.

"If that's the case, what are you still worried about?"

"I just need your child to help me with something. Once he's done, I'll bring him straight back!"

Glaring at Chen Yun in considerable irritation, Xiluo reiterated this in a nearly frantic tone.

She had never imagined that the weepy little girl from over a decade ago would remain so difficult after growing up and getting married.

"No. How old is Non-Crying Child? What could he possibly help you with?"

"If you really need something done, wouldn't I do?"

"If that won't work, you can ask my husband! He certainly won't mind!"

Shaking her head like an electric fan, Chen Yun dug in her heels and refused to budge.

As a mother, she did not care what Xiluo intended to do. In any case, Chen Yun would never allow her son to leave the village.