Chapter 368: Childhood Innocence

The morning in Shicun was beautiful, with the morning sun casting golden rays and the village bathed in a layer of dazzling light.

At the edge of the village, the green grass was soft, and a group of colorful little birds foraged by the lake, which was as clear as a gem.

Various spiritual birds and auspicious beasts roamed nearby. With the presence of the Willow Spirit, who breathed in and out the essence of heaven and earth, and the Silver Peach Sacred Tree, which radiated silver-white holy light, many spiritual creatures were naturally attracted to the area.

These were all harmless. As for the large ferocious beasts, they did not dare to come near, showing great respect for the Willow Spirit.

“What a great day,” Shi Hao said, rubbing his sleepy eyes and stretching out comfortably. He had slept soundly through the night, without the need for vigilance as he would have had in the outside world.

Soon, the village became lively. Smoke from cooking rose into the air, and the aroma of meat wafted from every home.

“Uncle Shi Hao, what are you eating?” A small child soon ran up, circling around him with wide, greedy eyes, looking as if he were about to drool. Shi Hao immediately smiled and said, “Here, have a bite, but don’t overindulge.”

Shi Hao tore off a piece of tender, glistening dragon meat, having refined some of its essence with his engraving realm cultivation. Otherwise, eating such rich meat could cause problems for such a young child.

“It’s so delicious. My mother doesn’t let me eat it at home, saying it should be made into medicine to avoid spoiling me,” the child said contentedly, finishing the meat and licking his fingers, looking pitiably for more.

“You really can’t eat too much of this. I refined it before giving it to you. At home, be sure to listen to your parents, understand?” Shi Hao said.

“Got it,” the child nodded eagerly, his bright eyes fixed on the other pieces of roast meat.

Shi Hao smiled. He lived at the edge of the village with the village chief. In the morning, he would prepare food, and the aroma attracted the nearby children.

“Uncle, little uncle, I want some too.” The young son of Da Zhuang ran over, only two or three years old, panting but looking very sturdy and cute.

“And me, I want some too,” another very small child wobbled over, his eyes shining mischievously. This was Pi Hou’s child, only one or two years old.

The morning was lively, and Shi Hao attracted almost all the children in the village, helping them refine the excessive divine essence in the meat so they could enjoy the deliciousness.

“What a waste,” the adults said, feeling heartbroken.

“It’s not wasteful. The excess essence helps me refine their meridians and bones, which has many benefits,” Shi Hao explained.

Without a doubt, that day Shi Hao became the most popular person among the village children. Wherever he went, he was followed by a group of them, who surrounded him and spun around.

“Uncle Shi Hao, take us to find bird nests. I heard that the guardian birds of our village, like the Great Peng, Little Qing, and Zi Yun, were all found by you. Is that true?”

One child mentioned an old embarrassing incident, causing Shi Hao to touch his nose and making Da Zhuang, Er Meng, Hu Zi, and others nearby feel very awkward.

Now, they were all parents themselves. Hearing their own children bring up past misadventures made them feel a bit embarrassed, and they scolded the children.

“Little kids don’t know anything. Don’t say such things,” Da Zhuang scolded directly.

“I’m saying it anyway. Back then, you were quite naughty, always finding bird nests and climbing mountains, running into the wilderness all the time. Why did you care about us then, not letting us go?” A small child revealed past secrets.

“Nonsense, back then, we were just as well-behaved as Uncle Hao, never leaving the village, and never causing trouble,” Pi Hou’s old face turned red as he defended himself.

“Pff, we all know Uncle Hao was the most mischievous. When he was just over a year old, he would always chase after Da Huang, pulling its tail. Look, Da Huang’s tail is bald and hasn’t grown any fur since,” a child pointed out.

There was a large yellow dog nearby, still quite sturdy but with a bald tail. It was showing its teeth at Shi Hao, still holding a grudge even after all these years, not forgetting the past.

“Damn Da Huang, why do you hold grudges? I fed you dragon meat for nothing and helped you with your fur,” Shi Hao said, his face turning red.

Of course, the term “old face” was relative to these little kids. He keenly felt the passage of time. Even he, once a small child, had become an uncle, and a group of toddlers had replaced them.

“Uncle, let’s go find bird nests.”

“Uncle Hao, let’s find a companion for Da Huang.”

“Uncle, I know where the five-colored sparrow you used to chase nests. It’s behind the village. I’ll take you there.”

A group of children chattered excitedly, having just finished breakfast, full of energy with no outlet.

Shi Hao waved his arm and made a decision. “Alright, today Uncle will take you to find bird nests and catch ferocious beast cubs.”

“Wow, great, we’re going into the mountains!” The children cheered loudly.

They were overjoyed, bouncing around like a group of little bandits, running up and down the street in celebration.

“Sunny weather is perfect for an outing. If we say we’re going, we’re going,” Shi Hao waved his hand and said, “Those who haven’t finished their milk should hurry home. Once we go out, you won’t be able to eat.”

The children burst into laughter. Even Pi Hou, Er Meng, and others chuckled.

It was true. Three or four of the little ones wiped their noses and ran home, shouting, “Mom, I’m hungry, I want milk.”

“Ha ha,” everyone laughed heartily.

Even the village elders were smiling, and the middle-aged men could not hold back their laughter.

“Xiao Hao, you’ll be heading to the Void God Realm for the decisive battle in three days. There’s no time to mess around with them now,” Da Zhuang said.

“Little brother, hurry up and go into seclusion. You need to focus on preparing for the great battle and not waste time,” Qing Feng said worriedly.

“It’s fine. Just return to your natural state and face the enemy with a relaxed mindset. There’s nothing to be nervous about,” Shi Hao waved his hand dismissively.

When several little ones came running with milk stains still on their mouths, Shi Hao raised his hand and said, “Let’s go.”

Thus, all the children in the village ran after him, and he became the leader of the group. The old and young in the village watched, amused.

“Maybe we should also reminisce about the old days and follow them,” Pi Hou, Hu Zi, and others whispered.

In the end, they sneakily followed at a distance, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Uncle Hao, let’s go from behind the village. The five-colored sparrow builds its nest just behind our village. It’s really slippery. You didn’t catch it when you were young, and neither did we,” the children chattered.

Shi Hao nodded, feeling nostalgic. That five-colored sparrow had given him a lot of trouble when he was young. He would chase it for half a day, but no matter how hard he tried, he could never catch it, often ending up sitting on the ground, gasping for breath.

If we’re talking about childhood failures, this one was the most prominent, as he never succeeded.

“Uncle Hao, are you angry? I heard that once, you chased it all day, didn’t even eat, and ended up lying on the street crying uncontrollably,” a child said.

“Go away,” Shi Hao gave the child a light tap on the forehead.

“Hee hee ha ha,” the children laughed heartily.

"That's one of the few times Uncle Hao was really humbled in his childhood. You shouldn’t bring it up anymore," a big kid laughed, though it was clear he was intentionally bringing up old embarrassments.

Shi Hao touched his nose, feeling quite awkward. The five-colored sparrow wasn’t large, only as long as a hand, but it was incredibly slippery, almost like it had become an intelligent spirit. He recalled how that little bird had truly frustrated him in his youth; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t catch it, and it left him exasperated.

"The Willow Spirit moved Shicun ten thousand miles, and this little thing stayed in the village without leaving. Even after all these years, it hasn't aged and is still as annoying as ever," Shi Hao muttered to himself.

The group of children burst into laughter.

"Yes, it’s annoying. It always teases us, and we can never catch it," one child cried out.

"Right here," a little kid pointed to an ancient jujube tree as thick as a millstone. Among its lush branches and leaves was a bird's nest the size of a human head.

"Strange, I don’t see it today."

"Yeah, I saw it running around yesterday, provoking us. Could it be that it knew Uncle Hao was back and ran away to avoid a reckoning? This guy must really be a spirit now," the children said with frustration and reluctance.

Shi Hao took to the air and arrived at the nest. Peering inside, he gritted his teeth in anger. "This wasteful little bird has lined its nest with spiritual herb leaves. How disgraceful!"

The children were immediately in an uproar, and Da Zhuang and the others were also startled.

"It did come across the spiritual herbs in the village, but it only took a few leaves and then behaved itself. We haven’t seen it cause any trouble," Er Meng said.

"This guy might really have become a spirit. Some of these herbs I haven’t even seen before; I don’t know where it got them to build a nest," Shi Hao gritted his teeth, feeling that this was clearly a bird spirit playing tricks on him in his youth.

However, despite his search, the five-colored sparrow did not appear and was nowhere to be found.

"Forget it. Let’s not worry about it. We’ll head into the mountains," Shi Hao waved his hand.

The group of little rascals charged off like bandits, spreading out across the mountains and running around energetically. Thankfully, Shi Hao was keeping an eye on them; otherwise, they would have surely gotten lost.

"Bird’s nest, what a huge one!"

"This is a mountain eagle’s nest. Climb up quickly and get the eggs."

The children were excited and shouting as they rushed up the mountain.

The mountain eagle's nest was indeed very large, covering the entire mountaintop. There were several huge black eggs inside, each as big as a millstone.

"Too big, it’s hard to take away."

"Forget it. This isn’t a particularly strong ferocious bird. Let’s leave it and have Uncle Hao take us to find a phoenix nest later."

The children had high expectations, knowing that Shi Hao and the others had once found the nest of a mutated azure-scaled eagle and brought back powerful magical birds like Zi Yun and Da Peng. Naturally, they wanted something similar.

"Dragon, catch it quickly!" One child shouted as he climbed into a hole the size of a water bucket, pulling out a tail with all his might.

The little ones, seeing this, all jumped and rushed forward, working together to pull out a flying python with wings that spewed poison.

Shi Hao immediately had a black line on his forehead. These kids were wild, daring to catch anything they came across.

They continued on, deeper into the mountains. Shi Hao carried a basket of medicine, putting two of the milk-drinking babies inside, holding one, and having another sit on his shoulder. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to keep up.

"Purple marten, wow, what a powerful beast," one child shouted.

There was a purple marten, as large as a tiger, emitting a terrifying aura, confronting them.

In the end, after looking at Shi Hao a few times, it had to yield and disappeared into the mountains.

"This guy is really fierce. Look at all the beast bones next to its den. It’s so powerful."

"Hey, there are a few cubs, just born and still with their eyes closed," the children shouted excitedly, rushing to grab them.

Shi Hao stopped them. "If you take the marten cubs, the mother marten will go mad."

"Oh, right, that’s too cruel. It would be very sad to lose its babies," one child said quietly.

Shi Hao smiled and said, "You can take one." He pointed to a very weak little marten, clearly sickly and likely to die soon.

One child picked it up, and Shi Hao took it, giving it a sip of monkey wine. It immediately became drunk but seemed much better in spirit.

"Let’s go. Since it’s going to die anyway, it doesn’t matter if we take it," Shi Hao said as he continued on with the children.

"Wow, this little marten has three eyes. It has one in the middle of its forehead that hasn’t opened yet. How special! This is a real mutant," one child exclaimed.

The group of little ones gathered around it, delighted.

Shi Hao knew that this marten was quite exceptional. If raised in the village, it could be useful in the future.

Now, with Shi Hao’s cultivation in the late engraving realm, he could easily traverse the wilderness and wasn’t too worried. He used his treasure to take the children deep into the primordial mountains.

A strong smell of blood filled the air. Ahead, two giant beasts had died gruesomely, and the ground was stained red with blood.

Shi Hao was shocked. One was a mutated scale leopard, red all over and shimmering with divine light. The other was a golden beast, surrounded by electric sparks. It was the renowned ancient species, the lightning hound.

"The wilderness is truly cruel. Such powerful ancient species fought each other to the death."

"Look carefully to see what caused the battle."

The group searched, and soon Shi Hao sensed something. The children, being sharp-eyed, discovered the lightning hound’s den. Inside, golden light flickered, and several fluffy, golden cubs looked out pitifully.

"Lightning hound cubs!"

"There are four of them. Da Huang will have a companion now."

The children cheered.

If it had been a few years ago, Shi Hao would have been cautious seeing the nest of such a rare ancient species. But now that his realm had improved, he was fearless. "Take them all. Raised properly, they can definitely protect the village."

The children were all smiles, ecstatic with their finds.

Meanwhile, Pi Hou, Snotty Kid, Hu Zi, and others watched with envy. Even they were tempted by such young beasts, and they quickly sprang into action.

These people didn’t find the mutated scale leopard’s den but encountered a ten-zhang-tall black bear demon. After a battle, the old bear bowed repeatedly, and they didn’t press the matter, letting it go.

"Monkey Uncle, Snotty Uncle, Tiger Uncle, you can’t compare to us. We’ve gathered more," the children taunted.

"Let’s go, keep moving," the children shouted.

By the time the sun was setting, everyone had something to show for their efforts. Some carried huge bird eggs, others cradled rare young beasts, all grinning from ear to ear.

As Shi Hao accompanied the children on their wild outing, on the other side of the mountains, a figure with a third eye strolled alone. Stepping on grass and leaves, treading on tree tops, and climbing to the peak of the majestic mountains, they took in the grand view of the surrounding landscape.