He saw a hazy picture, without warmth but only indifference. Although it was intermittent, it was heart-wrenching. He wanted to try to see clearly, but mist surged in and everything vanished.
At that time, he was too young to have a truly clear memory. This was just a deep imprint in his subconsciousness that emerged due to his intense emotions.
"Child, don't cry. Everyone in the village is your relative. This is your home." Shi Yunfeng used his rough palm to wipe away the tears on his small face.
"Little One, don't cry. We are all your brothers. Don't think about unhappy things." A group of children all rushed over at once.
Little Shi Hao wiped away his tears and said, "Grandpa, continue your story."
"There wasn't much else later. Your parents didn't say much." Shi Yunfeng recounted the past events of those years.
The couple took care of Shi Hao in Stone Village for several months. After confirming that he could survive, they left. At that time, the weak little one was one year and a few months old, but he looked like a half-year-old child.
"They don't want me anymore..." Little Shi Hao shed tears again, his big eyes full of mist.
"No!" Shi Yunfeng shook his head and said, "They were reluctant to part with you, but had to leave because they wanted to cure your injury and find the sacred medicine for you."
Pi Hou scratched his head and whispered, "I was young then, but I still have a little impression. That uncle was very heroic, but with some sickly looks. And that aunt was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
"I have a deeper impression. Little One lost his parents when he was half a year old. At that time, they disappeared." Shi Dazhuang nodded.
Although several years had passed, the reluctance and sorrow of the couple when they left were still clearly remembered by the old chief. He said, "You are their only child. They said that even if they died, they couldn't watch you weaken."
Tears kept flowing from Little Shi Hao's eyes as he called out, "Father, Mother, where are you?"
The chief told the events of that year and felt a lot lighter in his heart. The couple was very powerful back then, but they didn't mention much about that ancient country. Therefore, many things were unclear.
The couple wanted to pick the sacred medicine and inevitably had to step into the most dangerous primitive ancient lands, such as the Ancient Divine Mountains. There might be real Qiong lurking. If they really found it, it would surely trigger the scramble of the ancient remnants.
"Willow God, can you help me and let me see clearly what's in my subconsciousness?" When alone, Little Shi Hao stood under the tree and whispered softly, extremely eager.
"I'm going into deep sleep. When you are a little older and your blood energy is strong enough, maybe in a year or two." Surprisingly, the willow tree responded.
"Okay!" Little One opened his eyes wide, full of hope, and clenched his small fist. He was no longer sad. He wanted to figure out his physical condition and then learn where his parents had gone. This was his simple goal.
The villagers found that this place was really suitable for living. There weren't overly fierce vicious beasts. There were many prey in the distant mountains and forests. Although there were fierce birds and beasts, they weren't too difficult to deal with.
Nearby, the lake had all kinds of fish, especially the dragon whisker fish, which was a precious tonic. It was truly too valuable, making every villager grin from ear to ear. In the past, even the direct descendants of the Purple Mountain Clan, the Thunder Clan, and the Golden Wolf Clan couldn't enjoy such a luxury of eating precious fish that could increase strength every day.
"We should go outside and take a look. What place is this? How far is it from the original Vast Mountains? What happened to our original habitat?" Shi Linhu said.
"Uncle, let me go. I'll go with Auntie Green-Scale Eagle to take a closer look."
Amid the envious gazes of a group of children, Little One climbed onto the back of the Green-Scale Eagle. With a spread of its silver wings, the wind whistled. They soared up and vanished into the clouds.
The fierce bird was extremely sensitive to directions. After circling in the high sky for a while, it quickly flew towards one direction, like a silver lightning bolt, at an extremely fast speed.
"Ah, what happened? How did these mountains crack?" Little Shi Hao was shocked. Just after flying a few hundred miles, he discovered the anomaly on the land.
The earth cracked, lifeless. The mountains and rivers completely broke apart, losing all vitality.
As they went deeper, he saw ruins of collapsed cities, one after another. They turned into huge ruins, bloodstained but without bones.
After traveling thousands of miles, not a single person was found. Only residual blood remained. Many large tribes were destroyed. This vast territory became a dead land.
"That's a huge footprint!"
High in the sky, at the same height as the clouds, looking down at the land, one could clearly see that there was a huge footprint that had trampled a mountain range and many peaks had shattered!
Little One was shocked. How colossal a creature must this be.
Continuing to fly forward, several abysses appeared on the ground, pitch black and boundless. But upon careful observation, it was discovered that they were actually claw marks, dug out by some kind of fierce bird with a single claw.
"This fierce bird..." Little Shi Hao stared blankly.
The Green-Scale Eagle trembled. This was a kind of soul-stirring悸动, a reverence for the supreme being. As birds, the gap was truly too great.
Further forward, the land was barren for thousands of miles. The entire mountains and rivers were melted, scorched.
"Could this be the result of Little Red being pushed too far?" Little Shi Hao muttered to himself.
The Green-Scale Eagle had high intelligence. It circled above these battlefields for a long time, capturing that supreme fighting will. It seemed to have some insights. Especially the battle traces of birds were of great help to it.
"Auntie Green, when Ziyun, Dapeng, and the others can fly, I'll accompany them to these places to gain insights." Little Shi Hao said.
With a long cry, the Green-Scale Eagle responded, expressing its appreciation for Little One's intelligence and thoughtfulness.
Further ahead, countless mountains collapsed. Many were swept away neatly. Thousands of majestic mountains broke off uniformly. The scene was terrifying to the extreme!
It took most of the day. After traveling a long distance, the Green-Scale Eagle returned to avoid any accidents because the post-war wasteland might also hide great dangers.
At sunset, they returned. The journey was long. The Green-Scale Eagle had flown for a day. Even as a descendant of the Ancient Magic Bird, it was somewhat tired.
"Awuu... Auntie Green-Scale Eagle is back!" A group of children shouted.
"Child, what did you discover? Where is this? How far is it from the Vast Mountains?" Shi Feijiao asked. A large group of people gathered around. Even several elders of the clan came. The villagers were very concerned about this question.
"I don't know how far it is from our original habitat. I think it's at least over fifty thousand li. The entire land has sunk and the mountains and rivers have collapsed..."
Little Shi Hao recounted everything he saw along the way. Everyone was horrified upon hearing it.
"It's truly a great disaster. No wonder the Willow God took Stone Village away!" The chief sighed. He deeply knew that without the willow tree, Stone Village would surely be flattened and not a single person would remain. The tragic scene of that land said it all.
In the following month, Little Shi Hao would go out with the Green-Scale Eagle from time to time. Sometimes, he would disappear for many days. Finally, he found out the situation.
"Grandpa Chief, the thousands of miles of the Vast Mountains have completely shattered. Our habitat can't be found." Little Shi Hao brought news that made everyone stunned.
Within a radius of a hundred thousand li, all living beings were exterminated. Even the fierce beasts and the overwhelming number of fierce birds had disappeared. No one knew where they went. Maybe they were swallowed by the supreme beings.
The territory of a hundred thousand li had turned into a dead land. Not a single living being could be seen anymore. All were extinct!
"What a disaster. The Thunder Clan, Purple Mountain, Luofu Great Marsh, and the Golden Wolf Clan. How powerful these clans were. There were tens of millions of people in the marquis' territory. Just like that, they're gone." An elder of the clan sighed, feeling deeply moved.
Although they were once hostile and had unpleasantness, in the face of such a tragic disaster, that bit of grievance didn't matter anymore. The combined population of all the major clans was in the hundreds of millions. All died. This was a terrifying catastrophe!
"Get stronger!"
"We must get stronger to protect our homeland well!"
A group of children shouted. Such a tragic disaster shook their little hearts, but it also sparked their fighting spirit deep inside. They all shouted that they wanted to become stronger.
"Yes, we must start now and work hard to cultivate bone inscriptions. Now that a radius of a hundred thousand li has become a vacuum, perhaps we can establish a country." Some older children said this.
"The ambition is not small, but it's too difficult. The reason why those ancient countries have been passed down from ancient times until now is that perhaps there are ancient gods still alive and they are powerful enough themselves. Any retainer of a minister of an ancient country can easily destroy the Golden Wolf Clan, Luofu Great Marsh, etc. From ancient times to now, the terrifying degree of those ancient countries that have never perished is unimaginable!" The chief sighed.
"Don't be afraid. We have the Willow God. When we grow up in the future, we will all be very powerful. With Little One's talent of being able to fight with the cub of the Ancient True Qiong now, won't we be able to conquer a big country in the future?" A group of children were not convinced and all clenched their fists.
"Okay, I'll wait for you to create brilliance. According to the deceased elders of the clan, during ancient times, our clan was extremely powerful. There were once ancient gods who could fight against the real Ancient Ferocious Beasts. I also hope that you can recreate the brilliance and make our so-called ancestral land renowned in this vast domain!" Shi Yunfeng said. He touched the heads of these children to show encouragement. Men should be self-reliant and have a lofty ideal.
In the following days, the children of Stone Village worked very hard, striving upward, painstakingly cultivating bone inscriptions, and tempering their blood energy. Each one grew as strong as a fierce beast.
This habitat was endowed with unique advantages. Besides the dragon whisker fish, the villagers also discovered the Dragon Tendon Snake. Although it was an extremely fierce snake, it could be hunted. Its tendon was extremely precious. After boiling and consuming it, it could significantly strengthen a person's bones and tendons. It was a rare precious medicine.
Not only did the group of children grow quickly, but even the adults benefited greatly, becoming so strong that they felt an abundance of strength.
Time passed quickly. In a flash, more than a year had passed. According to his original age, Little One was a little over five years old. But if calculated based on actuality, including the few months he "lost" as a child, he was six years old.
"I'm six years old. Now I can lift a boulder weighing thirty thousand jin. When will you wake up, Willow God?"
In front of the big willow tree, Little Shi Hao whispered. After more than a year, he had grown taller. His big eyes sparkled with wisdom. He was fair and beautiful, becoming more and more refined and elegant.
"Chirp, chirp..."
Bird chirping came from the sky. Ziyun, Dapeng, and Xiaoqing didn't grow very fast. Now their bodies were four meters long, but they could flap their wings and soar into the sky, able to rush above the clouds at high speed.
"Don't worry. I'm coming. Let's go to the battlefield ruins for insights!" Shi Hao waved his hand and then stomped forcefully, shooting straight up into the sky and landing steadily on Ziyun's back.
"Woohoo..."
The wind howled. In an instant, they disappeared into the horizon and rushed towards the lifeless land in the distance.
This was a shattered mountain range. The earth cracked and the mountains collapsed. It was desolate and silent.
"This time we should change directions and go to the west." After going deep into the battlefield, Shi Hao pointed to the broken mountain range in the west.
The wind whistled as they sped along and quickly arrived at this collapsed mountain range, carefully searching for the remaining battle imprints.
"Chirp, chirp..." Xiaoqing chirped and rushed towards a huge basin. Brilliant stripes lit up on its body. After consuming the flesh and blood of the Suanni, it and Dapeng also mutated.
"Eh, this isn't a basin. This is a huge lake, but it dried up during that earth-shattering battle." Little Shi Hao was surprised.
Suddenly, Ziyun made a sound, indicating that there was a living being below.
The Dapeng, which emitted a pale golden light, down for a distance and circled around the dried-up big lake.
"What kind of creature is that?" Little Shi Hao was shocked.
At the bottom of the dried-up big lake, there was a creature lying there, covered in dirt and motionless. It seemed to have been sealed for many years. If not for its shining eyes, one would really suspect it was already dead.
"Ah, it's a monkey. It's only one chi long. How... does it have three heads and six arms?!" Shi Hao was shocked.