In a dilapidated little courtyard, firelight flickered, and several children huddled together, their eyes fixed on the glistening, roasted wolf meat in front of the Golden Ancient Emperor. The enticing aroma made them constantly swallow their saliva.
"When can we eat?" asked the gluttonous A-Si.
"Silly A-Si, of course, we can only eat it when it's cooked. Your drool is all over the ground," said the little girl A-Wu.
Hearing this, A-Si hurriedly wiped his mouth, finding no saliva there. Laughter came from his companions, and he knew he had been tricked by A-Wu.
"Wicked A-Wu, I'll eat faster and more later, and eat your share too," A-Si said, revealing his plan for revenge.
"Tch!" A-Wu hissed. She didn't believe A-Si could finish it all; Uncle had hunted several wolves.
The Golden Ancient Emperor watched them play and frolic calmly. At this moment, A-Xiong walked over and asked, "Uncle, are you a cultivator?"
The Golden Ancient Emperor nodded.
"That's right. If you weren't a cultivator, you wouldn't have fallen from the sky, made a big hole in the ground, and been unharmed. You also wouldn't have been able to hunt so many wild wolves."
A-Xiong said to himself, not noticing the slight twitch at the corner of the Golden Ancient Emperor's mouth. A dignified ancient emperor had actually fallen from the sky and been seen by several mortal children.
However, the Golden Ancient Emperor noticed the scars on A-Xiong's face and asked, "Did you get into a fight?"
"Yeah!" A-Xiong nodded. "Those guys in the east of the town are too much. They actually stole our begging spot and openly broke the rules, so I fought them. But I'm not their match, and I got hit a few times on the face."
A-Xiong spoke calmly about being beaten, as if it were commonplace. If it were a seasoned adult, the Golden Ancient Emperor wouldn't think much of it. But he had seen A-Xiong's bone age, and he was only ten years old this year. He must have developed this calmness from fighting people often since he was young.
When he was this young, he was already a Mind Focusing Realm expert, unbeatable among his peers in the ancient clan. He hadn't met a worthy opponent until he reached the Quasi-Emperor peak, until he met that freak boss!
Now, he didn't know how strong his boss had become. He was still stuck in the Supreme Realm. When he and his boss fought for three months, could it be that his boss was letting him win? No way, right?
The more the Golden Ancient Emperor thought about it, the more likely it seemed. He and his boss had fought for the Heavenly Heart Imprint for three months non-stop. Thinking about it now, it was likely that his boss couldn't find an opponent and, after finally seeing someone who could barely be considered one, had gone easy on him. Otherwise, with his boss's strength of suppressing all paths with his own and becoming an emperor against the heavens, how could he have lasted three months?
Damn it, this wasn't just going easy; he had probably released several endless seas worth of water.
"Uncle, it's burning, it's burning..."
Just as the Golden Ancient Emperor was reminiscing about his past glory, he heard anxious shouts from the side, followed by the smell of burning.
"Crap!"
The Golden Ancient Emperor instantly snapped back to reality, but it was too late. Most of the wolf meat was already charred black, and some of the skin was even carbonized.
Fortunately, the wolf was big enough. The surface was a little burnt, but there was still meat inside. Eating meat wasn't just about eating the skin.
So, the Golden Ancient Emperor took out a sharp knife, shaved off the burnt meat, and was about to throw it away when A-Xiong stopped him.
"Uncle, why are you throwing them away? They're still edible," A-Xiong said.
"You eat them even when they're burnt?" the Golden Ancient Emperor asked in surprise.
"Of course. The meat we've eaten before was even more burnt than this. It was all leftovers from the restaurants in town, and then we were lucky enough to have some, hehe."
A-Gou revealed a reminiscent expression. The Golden Ancient Emperor was stunned. He looked at the others and saw that their expressions were the same as A-Gou's. He felt something in his heart and unknowingly entered a state of enlightenment. Entering a state of enlightenment twice in one day would scare even immortals to death.
"Uncle, Uncle..."
The children surrounded the Golden Ancient Emperor and called out a few times, but they found that although the Golden Ancient Emperor's eyes were open, he didn't seem to hear them. A-Xiong couldn't help but check the Golden Ancient Emperor's breath and found that it was the same as before, a "sleeping" state. Having experienced it once, they weren't surprised.
"Uncle, we're going to start eating!"
The gluttonous A-Si said, and seeing that the Golden Ancient Emperor didn't answer, he took it as his default agreement. So, he took the lead in picking up the roasted wolf meat and devouring it. The others, seeing this, couldn't wait to pick up the wolf meat and eat it as well. However, all five of them first picked out the burnt parts to eat, and then wrapped the unburnt parts in the dry leaves they usually used to wrap buns. These leaves were washed and dried by themselves and were cleaner than themselves.
After the children were full, they used the light of the firewood to wrap the remaining wolf meat and put it in a ventilated and dry place so that it wouldn't spoil easily. This was the life experience they had summarized themselves. Then, they worked together to move the Golden Ancient Emperor into the remaining half of the house and put him on a wooden board. The children then came to the side of the wolf carcasses.
"There are still five wolves. If we leave them for too long, they will definitely rot. We don't know how to cut them open, skin them, and draw out their tendons like Uncle. What should we do?" A-San said.
"Brother A-Xiong, what do you think we should do?"
At this time, everyone looked at A-Xiong. In their little family, all important matters were decided by A-Xiong.
A-Xiong said, "This was hunted by Golden Uncle. Let's ask him when he wakes up tomorrow."
"Then let's do that. I'm full and sleepy. I'm going to sleep," A-Si said, touching his bulging belly and laughing.
No one said anything to A-Si this time because they were also sleepy. This was the first time they had eaten so much and the first time they had felt so sleepy.
The children slept until dawn. When they woke up, they found that the Golden Ancient Emperor was still sitting motionless on the wooden board. The children were worried because the wolf carcasses had been left for a night, and if they weren't dealt with, they would stink.
"What should we do, Brother A-Xiong?"
A-Wu asked.
A-Xiong looked at the wolf carcasses outside and then at the Golden Ancient Emperor who was sleeping with his eyes open. He walked over and asked, "Golden Uncle, wake up, wake up!"
But the Golden Ancient Emperor was now in a deep state of enlightenment, and his six senses were closed. He would only wake up if there was a life-threatening danger. Obviously, A-Xiong and the others were not a threat to the Golden Ancient Emperor, so they naturally couldn't wake him up.
Seeing that he couldn't wake up the Golden Ancient Emperor, A-Xiong said to the others, "Let's go sell the wolves. We'll give the money we get to Golden Uncle when he wakes up."
The children naturally agreed. So, they worked together to move the five wolf carcasses onto a wooden board and tied them to the board with the vines they had used to drag the Golden Ancient Emperor yesterday. After eating some of the roasted meat from last night, they worked together to pull the five wolf carcasses towards the town.
...
Mo Family Town was a remote town in the Zhou Kingdom of the Southern Wilderness. The strongest cultivator here was Mo Fan, the town chief of Mo Family Town. He was in the early stage of the Mind Focusing Realm. The early stage of the Mind Focusing Realm was just a newbie in the cultivation world, but in Mo Family Town, he was a high and mighty immortal master, worshiped by countless people in Mo Family Town.
Mo Family Town had no guards. A-Xiong and the five children pulled five wolf carcasses into Mo Family Town. The five little beggars pulling five wolf carcasses naturally attracted the attention of others. But fortunately, most of these people were mortals who had been farming all their lives. Although they were curious as to why A-Xiong and the other little beggars were pulling five wolf carcasses, they didn't have any malicious intentions. Or rather, they didn't dare to have any improper actions. Mo Fan, the town chief of Mo Family Town, although his cultivation was low, was also an ambitious town chief. Under his jurisdiction, Mo Family Town hadn't had a murder case for many years. After all, ordinary people committing crimes would be seen through by him, the immortal master in the Mind Focusing Realm.
The benefits were too small, and the risks were too great. It wasn't worth it.
Although A-Xiong and the others were young, they often frequented the market, and they understood some principles. They knew that Mo Family Town had good security, so they dared to pull the five wolf carcasses over.
The children pulled the wolf carcasses in front of a butcher who sold meat. The butcher was naked, with muscles all over his body, and looked fierce, scaring A-Wu to hide behind.
Butcher Zhang recognized A-Xiong and the other little beggars because he sometimes threw away the rotten meat he couldn't sell, and they would come over to pick it up. Although they hadn't spoken, they had become familiar with each other after going back and forth.
"Where did you get these wolves?" Butcher Zhang asked in a loud voice.
A-Xiong was also talking to Butcher Zhang for the first time. Although he had become familiar with him before, he still felt very nervous, especially when he saw the knife in front of Butcher Zhang that was bigger than his head. He couldn't help but tremble in his heart. He pretended to be calm and said, "This... we caught them in a trap and smashed them to death with stones."
Butcher Zhang naturally didn't believe him. He looked at the wolf carcasses. Although there were traces of being hit by heavy objects on their bodies, with his years of butchering experience, these wounds were made after the wolves died. That is to say, these wolves were not smashed to death.
"You didn't steal them, did you?" Butcher Zhang confirmed.
"Of course not!"
A-Xiong and the others seemed to have suffered a great grievance, staring stubbornly at Butcher Zhang. They were beggars, not thieves. Saying they stole was insulting them.
"Alright then!" Butcher Zhang believed them because when he went out to deliver meat to customers before, these little guys were across from his stall. When he came back, nothing was missing, but these little guys were sitting next to his stall, as if they were watching his stall for him. Although he had told the widow Li next door to help him watch, he thought the little guys' actions were pretty good.
"Really? How much?" A-Xiong asked quickly, no longer pretending to be calm. After all, he was only a ten-year-old child.
"I have to look at them first before I can set a price."
As he spoke, Butcher Zhang walked to the side of the wolf carcasses, lowered his head, and looked at the wolf carcasses, saying, "The carcasses are very complete, but unfortunately, some of the wolf fur in some places has been smashed off and stained with a lot of blood. If they weren't smashed, making them into wolf skin coats would be more expensive, but it's a pity."
A-Xiong's face showed an embarrassed look. The idea of smashing the wolf carcasses was naturally his. Because he found that there were no wounds on the wolf carcasses, he smashed them a few times with stones on the way to make people think they were smashed to death with stones. He didn't expect that this would backfire.
"But these wolves are very big, and losing a little fur doesn't matter. Five wolves, fifty taels!" Butcher Zhang quoted.
"Fifty taels!"
A-Xiong and the others' eyes lit up. This was a huge sum of money for them.
In the mortal world, although low-grade source crystals also circulated, ordinary people generally used gold and silver for daily transactions. In this world, gold and silver were very depreciated.
But this depreciation was only relative to cultivators. Gold and silver were useless to them, and source crystals were useful. But for ordinary people, especially little beggars like A-Xiong, fifty taels was enough for them to live frugally for half a year.
After A-Xiong took the money bag from Butcher Zhang and carefully counted it, confirming that it was fifty taels, he left with A-Wu and the others, returning to their home.
Fortunately, there were no surprises along the way, and no one followed them, which made them breathe a sigh of relief.
When they returned, the Golden Ancient Emperor was still in the same state.
A-Xiong took the money bag containing fifty taels and put it in front of the Golden Ancient Emperor, saying, "Golden Uncle, those wolves were sold for fifty taels. I put them all here."
A-Xiong didn't care whether the Golden Ancient Emperor could hear him or not, and then took the others out to beg again.
Although there was wolf meat at home, it would eventually be eaten, so they still needed to beg.
At noon, the Golden Ancient Emperor woke up from enlightenment again. This time, his eyes were clear, and he seemed to understand something. As soon as he moved his body, he touched the money bag placed in front of him. He picked it up and looked at it, first stunned, and then looked at the wolf carcasses that had disappeared from the yard. He knew what had happened.
"These children are really pure and kind. It's a pity that their physiques are not suitable for cultivation. That's right. If they were suitable for cultivation, they would have been taken in by the human sects long ago. How could they have been reduced to being beggars."
"But since we met, it's fate."
"The boss has already taken in two disciples. My strength is not as good as the boss, but my disciples can be more than him, hahaha!"
Thinking that he could surpass Gu Changsheng in terms of taking in disciples, the Golden Ancient Emperor couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Golden Uncle, are you stupid? Although fifty taels is a lot, it's not enough to laugh like this, right?"
At this time, A-Xiong and the others returned. As soon as they came back, they found the Golden Ancient Emperor laughing up to the sky, holding the money bag he gave him. This made A-Xiong think that the Golden Ancient Emperor was laughing like this because he saw the money, which made them think that the Golden Ancient Emperor was not doing well in the cultivation world.
The Golden Ancient Emperor's laughter came to an abrupt stop, but he quickly regained his composure.
"You're back?"
The Golden Ancient Emperor asked.
"Yes, we were so lucky today. We got three steamed buns."
A-Xiong smiled and took out three steamed buns to show off to the Golden Ancient Emperor.
"Hehe, I snatched half a chicken leg that a restaurant customer didn't want." The gluttonous A-Si was covered in grease, obviously, half a chicken leg had already gone into his stomach.
"I only have two steamed buns," A-Wu said miserably.
A-Gou and A-San looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, obviously, they had nothing.
The Golden Ancient Emperor saw that they seemed to be showing off their achievements to him, and the corners of his mouth twitched. How did he feel like he was the leader of this group of little brats, and they went to beg at his instruction?
The Golden Ancient Emperor shook his head and said, "Do you want to live a life with endless source crystals in the future?"
...
