Shi Yunfeng was praying and naturally wouldn't be distracted, pretending he hadn't seen the little one's actions.
Unexpectedly, Little Stone started moving with incredible agility, quickly reaching the massive tree trunk, which was over ten meters in diameter. Then, with his tiny arms and legs, he started climbing up the trunk.
At this moment, even if Shi Yunfeng tried to pretend he didn't know, he couldn't.
"Little Stone is mischievous; please, Willow God, don't take offense!" Shi Yunfeng muttered and immediately stood up, intending to pull the little one down.
However, his actions made the little one think they were playing a game. Little Stone turned around to look at Shi Yunfeng, and his hands and feet moved even faster. In a blink, he had climbed over three meters high and still didn't stop.
"Little Stone, come down quickly! That's our village's Willow God, you can't be disrespectful!" Shi Yunfeng was anxious. He originally wanted to jump up and grab the little one, but what happened next made his eyes widen.
On the charred tree stump, about seven or eight meters high, the only willow branch, surrounded by green mist, hung down like a radiant divine chain. It gently touched the little one's face, then retracted.
Shi Yunfeng was secretly shocked. He had always known of the willow tree's extraordinary nature. For decades, it had remained still, only sprouting a single willow branch ten years prior.
For all these years, it had ignored the villagers' offerings. Even in daily life, it had never shown any activity. Although Shi Yunfeng knew in his heart that the Willow God always possessed a spirit, silently guarding the village.
He never expected that it, as aloof as it was, would take the initiative to tease the little fellow.
After being touched, the little fellow was slightly stunned. Then, he looked longingly at the willow branch that had stopped not far from him. Afterward, he moved again, his actions incredibly swift. His small palms seemed to have suction, gripping the cracks in the tree trunk and climbing upwards with effort.
Shi Yunfeng frowned, truly worried that the little fellow wouldn't hold on and would fall directly.
That willow branch, like a slender, jade-like hand, touched the little fellow's fair face again, then stopped not far away, waiting for the little fellow to chase after it again.
The willow branch above was having fun, but Shi Yunfeng below was worried. He tightly gripped his beard, even the few beard hairs he had pulled out went unnoticed. He could only watch as the little fellow was lured by the willow branch, climbing all the way to the charred, giant platform at the top of the tree trunk.
"Chief, why are you standing in front of the Sacred Spirit, grinning like an idiot?"
At this moment, a loud voice rang out, and a tall, robust young man strode over.
Shi Yunfeng's old face twitched. He ignored the young man and instead looked up. The emerald willow branch had, at some point, become completely still, just like before, lacking any of its previous liveliness.
Even the little one, who had been having so much fun, was staring at the willow branch with a confused expression, seemingly wondering why it had stopped moving.
"Eh, where did this child come from? They've even climbed onto the Sacred Spirit's trunk!" Shi Linhu, who was approaching, also saw the little one.
Stone Village wasn't very big, with around three hundred people in total, men, women, and children. He knew everyone, but he had never seen a child like this before.
"Picked him up outside the village last night," Shi Yunfeng said, without looking at Shi Linhu. He stretched out his hands, gesturing to the little one above to come down quickly.
The little one looked at the motionless willow branch, then at Shi Yunfeng below. He tilted his head, thought for a moment, and then, with his small body, leaped down from the seven or eight-meter-tall tree stump.
"Good heavens…"
Shi Yunfeng was startled, but someone was faster. Shi Linhu leaped up and caught the little fellow, landing smoothly.
"Be careful, don't hurt him!" Shi Yunfeng walked over anxiously, reaching out to take the child from his arms and examining him carefully.
"This child is really bold. By the way, Old Man, why are you so nervous? How did you even find him?" Shi Linhu was puzzled by the village chief's behavior.
"Last night, Big Yellow kept howling. I was woken up, and then I heard a child crying outside the village entrance. After finding him, I brought him back." Shi Yunfeng examined the little one, gently placing him on the ground and letting him move around.
"What about his parents? Even if they abandoned him, they wouldn't just leave him, right? Such a cute little fellow, no one would want to abandon him, right?"
Shi Yunfeng was speechless. Whose child would be born from a lotus egg? Moreover, he could eat the morning glow and move like lightning!
"You didn't steal him from another village, did you?" Seeing Shi Yunfeng's silence, Shi Linhu cautiously asked.
"You try stealing one!" Shi Yunfeng's face turned stern, and he said seriously, "He really was found."
Shi Linhu nodded when he saw the village chief's rare serious expression. Perhaps there was some hidden reason, but did it matter?
This was unconditional trust; the village chief would never harm the village.
In just one morning, word of the little fellow's deeds spread throughout the village. Their hearts were simple, and they didn't ask many questions. Instead, they felt sorry for the child the village chief had taken in, and they sent clothes, fruits, and beast milk to Shi Yunfeng's house, without holding back.
At night, as dusk fell, Shi Yunfeng looked at the repaired roof and sighed softly, "Little Stone's future achievements may be very high, but the village is still too small."
With a soft "creak," Little Stone's big, black eyes darted around. Taking advantage of Shi Yunfeng's momentary daze, the little one opened the door and ran out, disappearing in a flash.
Shi Yunfeng was quite surprised. All day long, the little fellow had been well-behaved and obedient, always staying by his side. He hadn't expected that at night, after the villagers had gone to sleep, he would run off again.
When Shi Yunfeng got up and went outside, he saw that Little Stone had already climbed to the top of the Sacred Spirit's tree trunk, joyfully chasing the willow branch that emitted a faint glow.
"To be treated like this by even the Sacred Spirit... is it a blessing or a curse?" Although Shi Yunfeng said this, he was smiling. He always believed that no matter how extraordinary a child was, as long as they were guided correctly, they wouldn't go astray.
Three years later.
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed outside Stone Village. A massive Horned Ox, five or six meters long and three meters high, was hoisted high above the head of a small, pretty boy before being hurled towards the entrance of the village.
It was a truly incredible sight. The exceptionally handsome boy, perhaps three or four years old, was carrying a Horned Ox weighing tens of thousands of jin, moving with incredible speed as he returned from the Great Wilderness. He then tossed it to the ground.
Two burly youths had been waiting at the village entrance. They hurried forward, pinning down the ox's head and quickly slaughtering it. Judging by their practiced movements, it was clear they had done this many times before.
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