Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

Well, I think I got a little too excited.

However, no matter what, they managed to strike up a conversation, even though a full five years had passed.

Chapter 29 Me, the Mouse

The frequency of the lotus seed spasms has decreased. Such a high frequency of spasms couldn't be sustained for long, and now the frequency of their appearance and disappearance has eased considerably.

Zhuang Xing took the opportunity to strike up a conversation with the girl. It was clear that one of them was in an active and the other was passive relationship. If he didn't speak, the girl would be even less likely to say anything.

"My name is Zhuang Xing. What's your name?"

"Yunling".

"Yunling, although it may be a bit abrupt, I hope you can help me investigate this matter."

According to his age, he should have called Yunling "sister," but the body of a five-year-old child contained the soul of an adult. He could pretend to be young in front of his father and mother, but he found it difficult to show the attitude of a younger brother in front of an eight or nine-year-old girl.

"Ah."

To Zhuang Xing's surprise, there was no argument, and Yunling nodded in agreement.

That simple? Am I really that approachable?

You couldn't tell what Yunling was thinking from her face. Maybe she was thinking of just agreeing to it for now, and then just getting rid of Zhuang Xing so that he wouldn't bother her anymore.

However, at least he agreed, even if it was just a verbal "hmm," Zhuang Xing finally found a tiny breakthrough.

So...where should I begin asking?

"Let's start with amulets," Zhuang Xing nodded and asked, "Before today, have you seen anything like this, or anything with a similar pattern?"

“I’ve seen it,” Yunling said.

"Really?! When?!"

"About three years ago, I saw a white lotus flower here that looked a lot like this."

Okay, so that's what I saw before. I was just getting excited for nothing.

"Besides that one time, were there any others?"

"No more." Yunling shook her head.

We've fallen into a blind spot again.

"Is that so..." Zhuang Xing touched his nose.

Just as the effects of the blue pill wore off, the twitching lotus seed phantom became listless, as if it were about to disappear.

Zhuang Xing frowned, carefully considering whether he had forgotten anything.

Just then, Yunling's words broke his train of thought.

The sound... is getting quieter...

"A sound?" Zhuang Xing looked up. "What sound?"

"It sounded like someone was crying for help."

A cry for help? Zhuang Xing pricked up his ears, but all he could hear was the sound of the wind and the flowing water, as well as the chirping of some insects in the grass.

Wait, a scream? Would a normal person use a scream to describe a cry for help?

Before Zhuang Xing could ask any more questions, Yunling put down the wooden basin and suddenly started walking around.

She seemed to be looking for something, pausing every now and then before changing direction.

Zhuang Xing felt that he shouldn't disturb her at this time; once you get distracted, it's hard to get back to the point.

He followed Yunling quietly. After a while, Yunling ran to a place overgrown with weeds. There was a narrow animal trail among the weeds. She parted the grass leaves and found a deep, tunnel-like hole in a low-lying area near the river that was not easily noticed. Water was seeping out of the hole.

Zhuang Xing finally heard the cry; the faint, weak sound entered his ears, coming from the dark cave.

The entrance to the hole was only the size of a palm, clearly a trail dug by some kind of wild animal.

Yunling walked towards the animal trail, completely ignoring the mud on the ground. With her small hands, she dug away the soil, seemingly intending to dig the hole open with her bare hands.

"Wait, we don't know what's in there." Zhuang Xing stepped forward to stop her. "Let's go back and call the adults."

Yunling shook her head: "It's about to die."

She showed no intention of leaving, stubbornly digging at the soil with her hands. In order to dig more efficiently, she even knelt on the ground, and even though the mud and water soaked her clothes, she did not hesitate.

Going back to find the adults here would indeed take up a lot of time. Just explaining things would be troublesome, and I wouldn't know how to persuade the adults to help.

Following his father's usual practice, he would probably just tell the old hunter about it and let the professionals handle it.

In a life-or-death situation, every minute and every second is crucial; the slightest hesitation could mean missing the best opportunity for rescue.

Despite saying that, Zhuang Xing still hesitated.

He didn't know what was calling for help from inside the cave; he couldn't identify it from the sound at all.

Things that hide in these kinds of holes are usually snakes, rats, or other creatures that bite.

But whether he participates in the rescue or not, Yunling is unlikely to be swayed by him.

You can tell just by looking into her eyes; she didn't even glance at Zhuang Xing.

Zhuang Xing looked at Yunling's back. Just like five years ago, her back was still so thin and frail.

If it were Miss Huai'an, what would she do in this situation? She would definitely come to help without saying a word.

It was just a small animal that was about to die. It tried to dig a hole to hide, but it got trapped in the hole it dug and almost died.

If you can't even face something as weak as this, then you might as well just shout "My life is over!" and surrender with both hands raised when you see a powerful monster in the future.

Thinking this, Zhuang Xing gripped the wooden sword in his hand and stepped forward to help.

He stepped into the muddy water in clean shoes and used a wooden sword as a shovel to help dig the soil.

Yunling looked up at him but didn't say anything. She continued digging, but moved aside slightly so that Zhuang Xing could exert his strength.

The two worked together to dig the hole.

With Zhuang Xing joining the team, the digging efficiency increased significantly. Although he was only five years old, he was much stronger than other children his age due to his regular exercise. He often used maltose as stakes to arm wrestle with the village children, achieving a record of 28 wins and 0 losses, never suffering a defeat.

Even children older than him can't compare to him.

The faint call grew clearer as the sun began to set and several birds flew overhead.

After digging about half a meter deep along the animal burrow, Zhuang Xing finally saw what was making the noise.

He stared in astonishment at the strange sight before him; it was probably a rat.

However, it was completely different from the rats that Zhuang Xing knew. This was a pure white rat with white fur, red ears and feet, and eyes that looked like warm, lustrous red jade.

At first glance, Zhuang Xing didn't even think it was a living creature; it looked more like a rat sculpture carved from gold and jade.

The golden mouse was entangled by the roots of many plants, tightly bound and completely unable to move, the roots already leaving bloody marks on its body.

"Squeak..." Upon seeing Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling, the white mouse's eyes actually showed a human-like light, as if it were pitifully pleading for help.

I, the little mouse, am trapped.

It strained to arch forward, and then the vines tightened instantly, pulling it down tightly.

The moment it was pulled, Zhuang Xing felt the amulet on his chest vibrate, and the lotus seed phantom that had disappeared on the river surface flickered again and appeared before Zhuang Xing's eyes.

Chapter 30 The Human-like Rat Demon

Zhuang Xing understood why the lotus seed's phantom was twitching wildly. It was like some kind of mechanism; whenever the white rat moved, the roots of the plants would tighten, and the phantom would refresh at the same time. This was the source of the amulet's vibration.

This white rat is so strangely shaped that you can tell at a glance it's a monster, and these moving roots look like spirited grass demons.

Zhuang Xing didn't know why the rat demon was fighting with the grass demon. He knew very little about demons and didn't know whether he should help.

If it were an ordinary rat entangled in grass roots, he would save it and consider it as accumulating some merit for himself. But a demon is a different matter. He couldn't help but recall the man-eating tiger spirit.

The white mouse cried pitifully, its breath faint, and its eyes even revealed a human-like color.

Seeing that Zhuang Xing was not moving, Yunling walked down into the ditch by herself and reached out to grab the slender roots.

"Be careful!" Zhuang Xing warned her, "You might get tangled up in these grass roots too."

"If I don't save it, it will die soon." Yunling's hand gripped the grass roots.

She pulled hard, but the grass roots did not attack her, nor did they show any sign of letting go of the white rat. No matter how Yunling pulled, the grass roots that were entangled with the white rat did not budge.

The white mouse cried out even more pitifully, and its two forelimbs came together as if it were bowing to Zhuang Xing.

This white rat's mind was already eight or nine parts like a human's. Zhuang Xing was not heartless. When the white rat begged him like this, he eventually felt compassion for it.

"Alright, our meeting today is full of coincidences. Perhaps it is fate that we are destined to help you overcome this tribulation." Zhuang Xing took a breath. "Although I am willing to save you, I may not be able to help you break free from this calamity. If we fail to save your life, please don't become a ghost and haunt us."

He had already treated the white mouse as a "person," and the white mouse seemed to really understand. It nodded its head with difficulty and squeaked.

"Yunling, move aside, let me try to cut these grass roots." Zhuang Xing gripped the wooden sword.

“But… this isn’t an iron sword, it’s just a toy. How can it cut through these grass roots?” Yunling said. “Come down and help me pull it. If we pull together, maybe we can get it out.”

Zhuang Xing responded to Yun Ling with his sword. He swung his sword at his feet, and a burst of energy shot out from the tip of the sword, snapping the weeds beneath his feet in one fell swoop.

Yunling was speechless for a moment, then silently walked out of the ditch, her eyes darting back and forth between the cut weeds and Zhuang Xing's face.

Zhuang Xing nodded and walked into the ditch.

Fearing he might hurt the white rat, he walked only a hair's breadth away before stopping and raising his sword.

"I'm going to chop it down." Zhuang Xing squatted down in a horse stance, steadied his body, and raised his sword to get into position.

The white rat closed its eyes resignedly. Zhuang Xing took a breath and swung his sword an inch behind the white rat.

He slashed down with all his might, holding nothing back. He had tested the power of his sword energy before. If he swung the sword with all his might, he could barely cut through a single withered bamboo. If two withered bamboos were tied together, he could not cut them apart at the same time. If he cut through a stone, he could only leave a shallow white mark.

Judging from how Yunling pulled the grass roots just now, these grass roots are very resilient. It would be quite difficult for two children to pull them apart with brute force. So he used his sword directly. The sword energy he slashed was quite sharp. Although it was slightly lacking in power, the cut surfaces of the weeds and withered bamboo he had cut before were all very smooth.

In gaming terms, his sword aura attack power is not high, but it has a unique armor-piercing attribute.

Zzzzz!

With a scraping sound like metal clashing, the grass roots were cut down.

"Squeak?!" The white mouse opened its eyes, its cry filled with surprise.