Ning Xiu had been crawling with his head down for quite a while before he finally looked up. Around him were dense shrubs, growing taller than his standing height.
He wasn’t afraid at all.
Ning Xiu stood up, holding onto some grass leaves, and looked back, unable to see where he had crawled out from.
Father is the most awesome, he wanted to be like Father, not afraid of anything!
Ning Xiu gripped his little hammer tightly, his fair little face filled with determination, though the determination didn’t last long as the small stones under his feet hurt the soles of his feet.
Ning Xiu wiggled his bare little feet, he had forgotten to wear his tiger shoes…
He tried taking a few more steps, hurting so much that tears nearly fell, so he very cleverly got down on the ground and started crawling again, but after crawling for a while, his hands also became very painful.
Ning Xiu sat on the ground and sighed glumly, “Father~ hands hurt~”
But Father wasn’t around.
No big brothers or sisters either, no Big Yellow or Little Black.
Headteacher Song wasn’t there, neither were Xixi and An An.
“Wuu~” Ning Xiu, with tears in his eyes, wanted to go back, but all around were identical tall grasses, and he didn’t know which direction to crawl to get back.
He couldn’t enter Father and Mother’s little house either.
Ning Xiu sniffled, lowered his head and took out his little water bottle from the bell, sadly drank several gulps, and only then felt a bit better.
“Hungry~” Ning Xiu smacked his little lips, but only found a few bags of rice powder, “Da~”
Don’t know how to cook~
Being a big child is so hard~
He hung his little head and took out many things from his small bell.
Big gems from the riverbank——several pretty small stones.
Awesome sticks——several dried twigs that Feng Zizhang had whittled until they were smooth.
Green Leaf Uncle’s gift of leaves——the jade leaf pieces Yan Lanpei had given him to stabilize his soul.
A little ball of useless cotton——Canghai Tower’s treasured Soul-Calming Flowing Cloud.
Leaves from Mother——a yellow jade maple leaf carved for him by Chu Jun.
Tasty little duck——a half-eaten little yellow duck molded with spiritual power by Ning Buwei.
Ugly yellow paper drawn by Father——explosion talismans Ning Buwei had stuffed for him.
Many round beads secretly placed by Father——medicinal pills prepared for him by Ning Buwei.
…………
Ning Xiu patiently took out and examined all his things, then sighed worriedly, “Da~”
These are all useless things~
But he liked them all very much~
After fretting for a long time, he was about to carefully put his treasures back into the small bell when footsteps came from the bushes.
“Changming, is your leg really better?”
“Of course, my brother found me a bone-mending pill.”
“Then we should hurry back to class.”
“Tch, can’t you have some initiative? It’s rare to get a chance to breathe some fresh air——hm?”
Two boys about seven or eight years old looked at the little baby sitting on the ground. Xie Changming crouched down with interest to look at Ning Xiu, “Where did this little kid come from?”
“Da~” Ning Xiu tilted his head slightly, imitating his tone, “Little kid~”
“He’s quite cute, like a little snowball.” Xie Changming reached out and pinched his face, then looked up behind him, “Did you run out from the nursery?”
“Zao~ Father~” Ning Xiu asked him seriously, gesturing with his hands, “Tall~ Awesome~ Yes, awesome~”
Have you seen my father? He’s tall! He’s the most awesome and impressive cultivator!
“Hey, I’m not your father.” Xie Changming poked his chubby cheek.
“Changming, quick look, is this a Jade Spirit Pill?” Ge Yunyang pointed at the medicinal pills in front of Ning Xiu and asked, “Oh my, there’s also Bone-Mending Pills, Premium Yangyuan Pills, Marrow-Cleansing Pills…..hiss.”
These pills they rarely even got to see, let alone possess. In their pill-making classes, the headteachers treasured them like precious jewels.
Xie Changming frowned, “Are these all yours?”
Ning Xiu nodded and said happily, “Mine~ Xiao Shan~”
“So your name is Xiao Shan.” Xie Changming crouched in front of him and said, “These are all valuable things, they’ll get stolen if left outside.”
Ning Xiu tilted his head, “Steal?”
Ge Yunyang also crouched down, nodding seriously, “Even adults get robbed, little babies like you would be robbed even more easily. They’d beat you without hesitation, put them away quickly.”
Ning Xiu blinked, then lowered his head and grabbed two Jade Spirit Pills, “For you~ big brothers~”
Xie Changming and Ge Yunyang were stunned.
“For us?” Ge Yunyang swallowed, “These are Jade Spirit Pills!”
Ning Xiu nodded, “Da!”
These sweet round beads taste so good~
Just as Ge Yunyang and Xie Changming were about to reach out to take them, their hands were struck by two small stones. They quickly withdrew their hands.
The three of them looked up simultaneously and saw a child about ten years old sitting in the tree.
“Brother!?” Xie Changming was startled and turned to run, but was immediately caught by a rope that securely bound his ankle, causing him to fall face-first onto the ground.
Ge Yunyang hugged himself, trembling.
“Aya~” Ning Xiu was startled and pointed at Xie Chang’an in the tree with his baby voice, “Mean doggy~”
It’s the mean doggy’s owner~
“You’re the dog.” Xie Chang’an rolled his eyes, jumped down from the tree, grabbed Xie Changming’s ear and pulled him up, “I was wondering where you went, turns out you’re skipping class.”
Xie Changming cried out in pain and defiantly said, “Brother, aren’t you skipping class too!?”
“I do as I please.” Xie Chang’an snorted coldly. “Hurry back to class.”
“I won’t!” Xie Changming resisted. “You hit my hand! He was going to give me something!”
“He’s so small, what does he know.” Xie Chang’an glanced at Ning Xiu, “If you took a Jade Spirit Pill, could you protect it? You’re just asking for trouble.”
Xie Changming looked confused, “Huh?”
Ge Yunyang nodded, “Brother Chang’an is right, even if we took them, we’d definitely be robbed. It would be a waste of Xiao Shan’s goodwill.”
Xie Changming nodded with a troubled expression, “Alright, I understand, brother, let me go first.”
Xie Chang’an put the rope back into his sleeve and impatiently waved his hand, “Hurry back to class.”
“But——” Xie Changming looked at Ning Xiu sitting on the ground, and was immediately kicked by Xie Chang’an. Miserably, he was dragged away by Ge Yunyang.
Xie Chang’an sat cross-legged opposite Ning Xiu, imposingly asking, “You’re Cui Xiu, right?”
“Da?” Ning Xiu looked completely confused.
Who is Cui Xiu?
Xie Chang’an stared at him with hostility, “Cui Yuanbai broke one of my brother’s legs, so it’s not too much if I break one of your legs, right?”
Ning Xiu yawned slightly and imitated his speech. “Too much~ ba~”
Xie Chang’an: “…Alright, it is a bit too much. I never bully those smaller than me. Someone like you I could crush with one finger.”
“Da~” Ning Xiu picked out a Yangyuan Pill and offered it to him.
Xie Chang’an said irritably, “Why do they get Jade Spirit Pills, but I get a Yangyuan Pill?”
“Mean~ doggy~” The very grudge-holding Ning Xiu had his reasons.
Xie Chang’an rolled his eyes, “Who wants your stupid pills, hurry up and put them away!”
Seeing that he didn’t want it, Ning Xiu slowly stuffed them back into his small bell.
Even if they’re useless, they’re still treasures from Father~
After putting two pills back, he accidentally touched the wound on his palm. He puffed up his cheeks, raised his hand to show Xie Chang’an, and said softly, “Hands~ hurt~”
Xie Chang’an crossed his arms and looked down to see that both of his chubby little hands were covered in dirt and mud, with some bruising at the base of his palms.
Ning Xiu pouted and pointed at his little feet, “Feet~ hurt~”
Xie Chang’an said gruffly, “What’s that got to do with me? I’m not your brother. If it hurts, go find your actual brother!”
Ning Xiu thought of Brother Zizhang and Brother Huan, and became even more upset. With tears in his eyes, he looked at his little hands, “Want~ big brother~ carry~”
Want Big Brother Zizhang to carry me~
Xie Chang’an sneered. “I’ll never carry you, even if I die! Don’t even think about it!”
Ning Xiu was sad for a little while, then continued slowly putting the rest of his things back into the small bell. He frowned for a long time, then his eyes suddenly lit up. “Da!”
I’ve got an idea~
Light golden spiritual power gently wrapped around his little hands and feet, even covering his knees securely. Before Xie Chang’an could react, the little baby had already crawled into the bushes on all fours.
“Hey wait don’t run off——” Xie Chang’an quickly stood up to look for him, but Ning Xiu had already disappeared without a trace.
****
“Where’s Ning Xiu?” Headteacher Song stood at the door counting the children, but after counting repeatedly, Ning Xiu was missing.
“I-I clearly put him to sleep!” Another young headteacher said anxiously, “The safety formation didn’t give any alert——“
“Headteacher Song, look! There’s a small hole here!” A headteacher crouched in the corner of the room and pointed for them to see, “It looks like it was blasted open with spiritual power.”
“Ning Xiu is just a baby who doesn’t even know what spiritual power is, how could he possibly use spiritual power to blast through a wall!” Headteacher Song said with a serious expression.
“Are you suggesting someone came and took him away?” another headteacher asked in alarm.
“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions yet. Quickly send people to search! Activate the island’s protective formation, allow entry but no exit! Send someone to inform Dean Hao and Dean Shang!” Headteacher Song said, “You few stay here and watch over the remaining children, the rest come with me!”
Meanwhile, Xie Chang’an couldn’t find Ning Xiu and after struggling with himself for a while, decided that less trouble was better and prepared to leave. However, he tripped over something at his feet. Looking down, he saw it was a small ball that the little baby had dropped earlier, with a silly-looking fat duck drawn on it.
He picked up the ball and stood up.
Headteacher Song led people following the subtle traces in the bushes all the way to where they saw Xie Chang’an standing up. Headteacher Song’s face immediately turned grim as he sternly called out, “Xie Chang’an!”
Xie Chang’an was startled, dropping the small ball in his hand. It rolled a couple of times before stopping at Headteacher Song’s feet.
Someone behind Headteacher Song said, “That’s Ning Xiu’s favorite ball!”
Immediately, several sharp gazes fell on Xie Chang’an.
“Xie Chang’an, where is Ning Xiu?” Headteacher Song asked sternly.
“Who is Ning Xiu?” Xie Chang’an scratched his head in confusion, “But there was a little baby earlier——“
“Where did he go?” someone asked anxiously.
“He…” Xie Chang’an looked at the identical bushes all around and said blankly, “Good question.”
“Smooth talker! Take him!”
“Hey what does this have to do with me! I’m just an innocent bystander!”
“Shut up!”
