Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

"How can a skeleton survive in this world?"

"What's the point of me guarding it here?"

Where can this skeleton be placed?

"Who wouldn't be afraid upon seeing such a skeleton?"

“If it is truly the embodiment of my daughter, and her soul is trapped inside, then as her father, I should let her rest in peace.”

The bearded man spoke at length, as if he were venting all the bitterness he had endured over the years.

"Please, Taoist priest, remove it..."

Zhuang Xing remained silent for a moment, then continued to look at the bones and the fence.

He approached Xiao An and waved slightly, but Xiao An did not react.

He felt something was off, so he walked around the fence and carefully examined the marks on it, discovering that the scratches were almost all concentrated in one spot.

And the direction he was heading was precisely towards the mountain he originally intended to reach.

These skeletons don't seem to be grabbing and running around randomly; rather, they seem to be attracted by something and want to go somewhere.

"Has Uncle Wei ever released Xiao An?" Zhuang Xing continued to ask.

The bearded man, however, was getting impatient and said, "Young Taoist priest, do you perhaps not want to help me?"

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that there are still many mysteries surrounding this skeleton demon," Zhuang Xing said. "To be honest, I came to this mountain to investigate the anomalies here."

"For some reason, the small animals in these mountains and fields have gained intelligence and become spirits."

"The fact that the skeletons have become demons is itself a defiance of the heavens, and it must be related to the anomalies in those mountains."

Zhuang Xing pulled the bearded man over to look at the scratch marks on the fence.

“Uncle Wei, look here. I think Xiao An isn’t mindless. On the contrary, it seems like it wanted to go somewhere, which is why it left these scratch marks.”

"Has Uncle Wei ever let Xiao An roam freely before?"

"This... has never happened before..." the bearded man said after a moment of surprise, "But how did the young Taoist priest know that there are spirits in these mountains?"

"Did you hear it somewhere, or did you see it with your own eyes?"

"I've always lived at the foot of this mountain, but I've never seen a fairy before?"

Zhuang Xing smiled faintly, pointed to the little panda over there, and said, "Uncle Wei, please take a look."

The bearded man looked over, and Zhuang Xing said, "No need to pretend anymore." The red pandas exchanged glances and then spoke in human language.

"Your Majesty, are you sure you don't need to pretend anymore?"

"A...a monster!" the bearded man exclaimed in surprise.

Upon hearing that Red Panda had addressed Zhuang Xing as "Great King," he took a deep breath and looked at Zhuang Xing with eyes full of fear.

"Uncle Wei, don't panic." Zhuang Xing called the red bears over. "These red bears originally lived on this mountain, but by chance they became spirits and learned to speak human language."

"It was by chance that we met and became connected."

"Please don't worry, they won't harm you."

"You...you...aren't you their king?"

The bearded man thought to himself that the demon had finally stopped pretending. Although he had prepared himself mentally, to be honest, this was the first time he had ever seriously seen a demon that could speak human language and transform into a human. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"That's just what they call me," Zhuang Xing said calmly. "More than that, Uncle Wei, don't you want to know what really happened to Xiao An?"

"How exactly did Xiao An become a skeleton demon? Where does he want to go? Uncle Wei, don't you want to know?"

When talking about his daughter, the bearded man's fear subsided.

He gritted his teeth, not caring whether the person was human or demon. As long as they could help him settle his daughter's matter, he would accept it even if the demon king wanted to eat his flesh.

"I'd like to hear your detailed explanation, Daoist Master." Although the bearded man still thought Zhuang Xing was a monster, he didn't show it on his face.

“I want to let Xiao An go,” Zhuang Xing said. “Going on a trip with her might yield some results.”

"This..." The bearded man hesitated for a moment, but looking at the scratch marks on the fence, he felt that Zhuang Xing's words made sense. He had never noticed these details before.

Could it be that my daughter still has some unfulfilled wish?

I remember when she was in good health, she loved going up the mountain with me.

Perhaps... she wants to go back to the mountain to take another look...

He eventually agreed.

It was getting late, so the two agreed to go up the mountain again tomorrow morning.

Zhuang Xing wanted to observe Xiao An further, so he asked the bearded man to take Xiao An to the house.

The bearded man then opened the fence and gently picked up Xiao An.

He held the small skeleton in his arms. The big man had been startled when he saw the panda speak, but now, holding a cold and eerie skeleton, he showed no fear on his face. Instead, his eyes were full of tenderness.

After walking for a while, it was already dark when we returned to the house.

Wuzhui had already found a place outside the courtyard and lay down casually.

The bearded man put Xiao An in the yard. Nighttime was perfect for her to move around. She was more energetic than when she was under the tree and kept trying to go outside. Her bones creaked and groaned, but the small fence stopped her. Her intelligence was probably less than that of a three-year-old child. All she could do was run outside.

The pandas stood by, looking up at her, and were not afraid.

"She's so stupid."

"Not as clever as Your Majesty."

She had no desire to attack living creatures. Even when Zhuang Xing waved a chicken in front of her, she completely ignored it.

He was a mentally challenged child in life, and he remained mentally challenged even after death.

Zhuang Xing wasn't sleepy at the moment, so he moved a small stool and sat under the eaves to see what Xiao An would do.

The sounds of frogs and insects filled the air, countless stars dotted the night sky, and a crescent moon hung beneath the Milky Way.

That small, white skeleton was stretching its finger bones out of the yard with great effort.

Chapter 164 Born with a hideous face

Zhuang Xing sat upright under the thatched eaves, with the Milky Way stretching across the sky above him, the crescent moon casting a frosty white light.

You can smell the scent of grass and earth. The two mulberry trees in the yard are growing very well, and in front of the mulberry trees is White Bone Xiao An.

Zhuang Xing had adapted to the moonlight, and even without a lamp, his vision remained clear.

He had been sitting there watching for quite a while. Xiao An was much more lively at night than during the day.

After all, it was a skeleton that had become a demon. Although it had a body that was different from a ghost, it still didn't like sunlight. At night, when the yin energy was at its peak, that was when Xiao An was active.

After watching for a while, the red pandas lost interest in Xiao An. They preferred to play with Wu Zhui, who pleased them greatly because they had never seen a horse before.

The black horse got along quite well with them, but the little horse was a bit tired after running all day. After eating the tender grass and filling its belly, it had already found a place to sleep.

It sleeps lying down, whereas most horses sleep standing up.

Wild horses, in particular, can remain conscious even when asleep, and their tails will flap to scare away insects. As soon as there is any movement, they will wake up, take off on all fours, and gallop away into the distance.

Horses will only lie down to sleep in an extremely comfortable, or rather, reassuring, environment.

Wuzhui looked to be sleeping very comfortably. It wasn't worried about encountering any danger at all. Perhaps it had seen too many monsters with Zhuang Xing and felt that there was nothing to be afraid of outside.

After all, back then, it dared to charge recklessly and fearlessly when it saw a boar demon as big as a mountain.

It has always been fearless.

The scenery here is quite nice, with a wide view and majestic mountains in front of you. On a clear spring day, you can see many stars. Just sitting here, Zhuang Xing felt a sense of inner peace.

But this tranquility is both an advantage and a disadvantage.

Apart from this one house, the rest of the houses were empty.

Moreover, Zhuang Xing knew from his journey that the nearest village was about half a day's walk from this location. If one did not go out, one could imagine what it would be like to live alone in such a place.

Unless one is completely enlightened and single-minded, living alone in such a place without talking to others is like being stranded on a deserted island; the loneliness cannot be fully described by the word "loneliness".

After Zhuang Xing sat for a while, the bearded man sat down next to him.

Looking at Xiao An's shadow, the bearded man asked, "Does the young Taoist priest find me repulsive?"

"Why do you say that, Uncle Wei?" Zhuang Xing asked him.

The bearded man's appearance was certainly not handsome; rather, he was extremely fierce. He had thick hair, but his features were not crooked. He was more like a little scary and unfriendly than repulsive.

At first glance, he is easy to misunderstand because he is expressionless and looks like he is about to get angry and kill someone. But after spending time with him, Zhuang Xing realized that he was actually kind-hearted and just an ordinary person.

"People used to say that about me a lot," the bearded man said with a wry smile.

“I don’t believe Uncle Wei is as they say at all,” Zhuang Xing replied.

“But I was born looking like this. When I was a child, the children in the village never played with me. They said I was a big hairy monster.”

The bearded man took a sip of his drink and looked up at the night sky.

“My parents disliked my ugly appearance, so I separated from them early on, started my own household, cut wood and carried firewood to build this house.”

“I live in the village and make a living by raising chickens and farming. Although I am ugly, I raise chickens well and farm well, so the matchmaker still found me a wife.”

“But my wife is also afraid of my appearance. She dislikes Xiao An for being mentally challenged, but she doesn’t dare to show it in front of me. She only dares to secretly beat Xiao An.”

“But I have never hit or scolded her, nor have I ever asked her to do any work.”

“When my wife heard that I wanted to divorce her, she ran back to her parents’ home with joy. Although she gave birth to my daughter, she never thought that marrying me was a good thing.”

"She said she doesn't dare to go out on weekdays because people outside gossip about her, saying she must be blind to marry me."

"It's funny, only Xiao An and the young Taoist priest have never been afraid of me."

The bearded man's tone was filled with bitterness and helplessness.

"But I didn't like looking like this either."

“I know I look strange, so after I moved out, I was all alone.”

"Only Xiao An isn't afraid of me."

"It's only because of Xiao An that my face has any use."