Chapter 123: Little One Cries, and the Whole World Is Wrong
"Quick, dig out his bone! Graft it onto Yi'er!"
In the depths of the unseen, he only heard that vicious woman say those words.
Immediately after, Little One saw his chest being forcibly torn open.
No matter how he struggled, begged, or sobbed, it was useless.
In the end, that Supreme Bone he had been born with, shimmering with mysterious runes, was just like that—forcibly dug out from his body!
That kind of pain cut deep into the bone marrow!
"Ah!!!"
Little One suddenly jolted awake from the memory, letting out a terrified scream.
He clutched his chest. It had clearly long since healed, yet at this moment, it felt as though it had split open again. The pain made him roll all over the ground, and tears instantly blurred his vision.
"My bone… that's my bone."
"Was that Aunt? And that little brother…"
"Why… why would they treat me like this?"
At this moment, still very young, Little One simply couldn't accept this reality. He crouched on the ground, crying his heart out, his tiny body curling into a tight ball.
Although Qian Renxue hadn't seen that scene, she could guess something from the fragmented words. Her eyes had already turned red.
Seeing Little One crying in agony, she instinctively wanted to step forward to comfort him, but Liu Shen gently stopped her.
This was his tribulation. He had to face it himself.
After stopping Qian Renxue, Liu Shen suddenly spoke toward the empty space not far away:
"Envoy of the Primordial Immortal Court, since you have already arrived, why not reveal your true form?"
"Who?!"
"Primordial Immortal Court?"
Qian Renxue immediately turned her head, looking ahead in confusion.
Meanwhile, Liu Shen's willow branches swayed slightly, clearly sensing the arrival.
"Hehe, as expected, nothing can escape the eyes of the Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit."
The next moment, accompanied by a hearty laugh, the empty space in the distance rippled like water.
Then, a delicate-looking Daoist boy in a green robe, appearing only twelve or thirteen years old, stepped out as if from a painting.
With just one step, he crossed layers of space and landed in front of the willow tree with a cheerful smile.
It was Dao Yi!
He first respectfully bowed to Liu Shen, with an innocent smile on his face, and said,
"This junior Dao Yi, under the Immortal Lord's decree, has come here to wait."
"I did not dare disturb the Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit in settling worldly ties, so I remained hidden nearby."
After speaking, he subconsciously turned his head, just in time to see Little One still sobbing continuously.
Immediately, the Daoist boy frowned slightly, his smile fading.
"Shi Hao, a born Supreme."
"He should have shone like the blazing sun, yet he was schemed against by his own clan. His bone was dug out by his closest kin, reduced to a cripple, and abandoned in the Great Wilderness to fend for himself."
"Such actions, such karma, if it were in my Primordial Immortal Court…"
At this point, the Daoist boy let out a cold laugh, killing intent flashing in his eyes.
"Then the entire King Wu's Manor would have already been leveled by a single strike of my sword!"
Hearing this, Little One stopped crying. He raised his head, looking up with swollen, red eyes at this big brother who had once appeared outside the village with Jiang Chen.
Seeing this, the Daoist boy walked over, crouched down, and gently patted Little One's shoulder.
"Stop crying, little fellow."
"No matter what, you are still a member of my Primordial Immortal Court."
"Anyone who dares to bully a disciple of my Immortal Court shall be slain!"
"Come, we're going to the Stone Kingdom!"
However, although his words were domineering, they became the final straw that completely broke Little One's inner defenses.
He was still too young. Knowing so much darkness ahead of time was something he simply couldn't bear.
"Waaah!! I'm not going! I'm not going there!"
Little One shook his head desperately, his small hands gripping his clothes tightly.
Those originally bright, sparkling eyes were now filled with helplessness. Tears fell like broken pearls onto the ground, making one's heart ache at the sight.
"The people there all want to eat me… they dug out my bone."
"Where are Father and Mother?"
"Did they abandon me? Is it because I wasn't obedient, because I lost my bone, so they don't want me anymore?"
"Little One is all alone… Little One is scared."
Little Shi Hao's cries were unbearably tragic.
There was grievance and also fear toward that home in the Stone Kingdom.
He was only a three-year-old child. He should have been in his parents' arms, acting spoiled, yet he had already experienced the cruelest betrayal and abandonment in this world.
At the side, Qian Renxue watched that tiny figure curled up on the ground, trembling. It felt as if her heart was being fiercely clenched by something.
She thought of her own missing childhood, of that equally cold Spirit Hall.
Resonating deeply, two lines of clear tears slid uncontrollably down her beautiful face.
She stepped forward, crouched down, wanting to hug him, but found that Little One was rejecting all closeness, as if the entire world was filled with malice toward him.
"Child…"
At this moment, hearing the commotion, the villagers hurried over in panic.
The old clan chief Shi Yunfeng arrived with Shi Linhu and Shi Feijiao, along with all the men, aunts, and women of the village.
They had just heard Little One's cries from afar. Those cries made even these men, who shed blood but not tears in the Great Wilderness, feel their hearts shatter.
"Child! Don't cry! Don't cry!"
Shi Yunfeng threw away his walking stick and dropped to his knees with a thud.
Ignoring the dirt on the ground, he tightly embraced Little One.
The old man's withered hands trembled as he stroked Little One's back. Tears streamed down his aged, wrinkled face.
"Who says you have no family? Who says you're all alone?"
"Grandpa is here! Grandpa is your real grandpa!"
"And your Uncle Linhu, Uncle Feijiao, and everyone in the village… we are all your family!"
"Waaah, Grandpa…" Feeling that familiar embrace, Little One cried even louder.
He buried his head deeply into the old man's chest and broke down once more.
"I'm scared…"
"That place is so cold. There are bad people there. They all bully Little One."
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid!"
Hearing this, even Shi Yunfeng's nose turned sour. He hugged him tightly and gently comforted him.
"We won't go back to that cold home! What's so good about it? Stone Village will always be your home!"
"As long as Grandpa still has a breath left, as long as Stone Village still stands, we will never let anyone bully you!"
"That's right, Little One!"
Er Meng's mother, the loudest and most fiery woman in the village, stepped forward, her eyes reddened. With her rough hands, hardened by years of labor, she gently wiped away the tears on Little One's face.
"Auntie may not be capable, but if anyone dares touch even a finger of yours, I'll smash his head with my ladle!"
"Child, don't be afraid. Our Stone Village may be small, but our hearts are united!
"That's right! Whoever dares bully our Little One, I'll fight him to the death!"
The group of men from Stone Village stood around, their tiger-like eyes filled with tears, fists clenched until they cracked.
Watching the child they had raised since young cry like this hurt them more than their own injuries a thousand times over.
This warm and touching scene even made the Daoist boy, accustomed to the deceit and scheming of the cultivation world, fall silent.
He let out a soft sigh, filled with emotion.
"The Great Dao is ruthless, but people have feelings."
At this moment, Shi Linhu seemed to think of something. He wiped the tears from his face and stepped forward.
The next moment, this burly man dropped heavily to his knees before Liu Shen's figure, enveloped in green radiance.
End of Chapter