By the time Lin Qin and the other three came back to their senses, the old woman and the child had vanished from before their eyes.

It seemed they had gone to chase after Chen Junnan.

“Let’s go quickly…” Lin Qin said, snapping back to reality. “Those two are too dangerous! We need to get back right away!”

The three nodded hastily and then sprinted toward the direction of “Heaven’s Gate.”

…

Chen Junnan and Qin Dingdong ran desperately for a while, but when they turned a corner, they saw the old woman and the child standing right in front of them, waiting.

“Uh…”

Seeing this scene, Chen Junnan slowly stopped in his tracks, leaning against the wall and gasping heavily for breath.

He felt he should never have left that room.

This was only the first day!

What kind of things was he running into?

Qin Dingdong stood nervously behind Chen Junnan. Both of them were trying their best to steady their breathing.

“Hey… I wondered who it was…” Chen Junnan finally raised his head with a face full of smiles. “Oh my, isn’t this Old Lady Ma? What a coincidence!”

“Oh…” The woman called Old Lady Ma narrowed her eyes slightly. “Little Chen, is that right?”

“Hey! It’s me alright!” Chen Junnan walked forward with a smile, his face covered in cold sweat as he greeted the old lady. “Hey, you really can’t say otherwise—after all these years, your body is still going strong!”

“Oh my… you really have a sweet tongue.” Old Lady Ma smiled and waved her hand. “I’m old now, not much use anymore…”

“How can you say that?” Chen Junnan helped Old Lady Ma sit down to one side, then reached out and patted the naked child’s head. “Look! Huzi has grown this tall!”

Qin Dingdong had been trembling the whole time. She knew Chen Junnan was stalling for time, but she couldn’t think of any way to escape.

“Uncle Chen!” the naked child called out with a smile.

“Oh my, you little rascal still knows to call me Uncle Chen! Come, let Uncle give you a hug!”

Chen Junnan bent down, wanting to pick up the child. Though the child’s height only reached his thigh, he was as heavy as if rooted to the ground.

No matter how hard he tried, the little boy’s feet never left the ground.

“Heh…” Chen Junnan gritted his teeth and tried for quite a while before finally giving up. “Looks like Huzi has grown up—Uncle can’t even lift you anymore…”

“Uncle…” The little boy smiled and sniffed at Chen Junnan. “You look especially delicious today…”

“Hey!” Chen Junnan patted the little boy’s head again. “I’m telling you, Huzi, don’t mess with Uncle. Uncle still has serious business to discuss with Old Lady Ma!”

“Mm!” The little boy smiled and nodded, then slowly drooled. “After you finish talking, can I eat you?”

Hearing this, the smile that had been plastered on Chen Junnan’s face slowly disappeared.

He looked at the little boy with some wariness, then turned to ask the old lady, “Old Lady Ma… what exactly brings you two out today?”

“Oh…” Old Lady Ma sat to the side, constantly pounding her back. “Little Chen… I don’t know if you heard the commotion a few days ago… that ‘clang’ sound, so loud, so resounding! So magnificent!”

“A few days ago…?” Chen Junnan slowly frowned. He naturally didn’t know what had happened a few days ago and could only look back at Qin Dingdong.

After hearing this, Qin Dingdong nodded and said, “About six days ago, a ‘Echo’ that had never been heard before appeared in the world—it could even shatter glass.”

“What…?” Chen Junnan was stunned. “It could even shatter glass?”

He wasn’t unfamiliar with the Land of the End, but he had never seen an “Echo” of this level.

“Was it Old Qiao who echoed?” Chen Junnan asked quietly.

“No… even more powerful than that…”

“Even more powerful than that?!” Chen Junnan stroked his chin and pondered for quite a while, going through almost every notable “Echoer” in the entire “Land of the End,” but none of them matched up.

“Little Chen…” Old Lady Ma pounded her back again, then stood up with great difficulty. “We need to find that child. We need to see what kind of ability he has.”

“Hey… isn’t that simple?” Chen Junnan’s eyes rolled, and he quickly stepped forward to support the old lady. “How about this—you and Huzi find a place to rest first, and I’ll take care of this for you!”

“Oh… that won’t do…” The old lady shook her head. “If this matter isn’t handled well, Little Hu and I will be in trouble. Little Chen, we appreciate your kind intention, but go on about your business.”

“Business…? Me? Hey, look at what you’re saying.” Chen Junnan rolled up his sleeve, exposing his white arm. “No matter how busy I am, I can’t ignore you. Besides, Huzi just said he wanted to eat me. As his uncle, how could I leave? Come on, Huzi, your Uncle Chen didn’t take a bath today, so the saltiness should be just right.”

Qin Dingdong nervously grabbed Chen Junnan’s clothes and said quietly, “You bastard… what are you trying to do?”

Chen Junnan turned his head back with a grave expression and said softly, “Sister Dong, I’m done for today. Go quickly and tell the situation to Old Qi. I’ll see him in ten days. Run like hell when they start eating me.”

After hearing this, Qin Dingdong still looked hesitant. She had only just caught this man—who knew if he would hide again?

“Little Hu, don’t eat him.” Old Lady Ma shook her head. Her steps shifted lightly, and in an instant, she was already seven paces away. “If we delay, you’ll be the one getting eaten.”

“Ah… yes.” The child suddenly remembered something and quickly nodded. He stepped forward and took the old lady’s hand, and in the blink of an eye, the two disappeared from the street.

Seeing them leave, Chen Junnan plopped down on his bottom.

“That was way too scary…” He looked up at Qin Dingdong, still shaken. “It’s only the first day! And fucking ‘Heavenly-Horse’ and ‘Heavenly-Tiger’ are already wandering all over the streets…”

Qin Dingdong also felt her body go somewhat limp and slowly sat down against the wall.

But three seconds later, she felt something was wrong and immediately stood up and kicked Chen Junnan.

“Hey?”

Before Chen Junnan could react, Qin Dingdong began pummeling him with fists and feet.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Chen Junnan shouted. “Sister Dong, if you keep hitting me, it’s getting a bit embarrassing!”

As Qin Dingdong kept hitting him, her expression changed, and tears the size of beans began streaming down.

“Chen Junnan, you bastard…” She stopped her hands and feet, her eyes red as she said, “Explain to me… is ‘Scapegoat’ supposed to be used like this? What gives you the right to die in my place?!”

Chen Junnan slowly stood up, then patted the dust off himself and smiled. “Could it be because this young master is willing?”

“You…”

Chen Junnan shook his head. “Sister Dong, what’s past is past. This time, I only want to help Old Qi and Old Qiao escape. The current situation looks very bad. We need to regroup with them as soon as possible.”

Qin Dingdong thought for a long time before asking, “So do you have a plan?”

“I don’t know what a ‘plan’ is. I only know that as long as I’m here, each of them has an extra life.”