There was a look of self-satisfaction on his face as he spoke. Feng Miaojun guessed that perhaps the thief had drawn a lot for fun, only to receive a threatening message written by Cao Budao, something like “return the divination container or your entire family will die.” Later, some unexpected event probably validated the prophecy, frightening the thief into quickly returning the container to ward off disaster.

Regardless, this incident indirectly confirmed Cao Budao’s abilities, giving her a small sense of anticipation.

Uncle Liu lifted the divination container: “Which of you two will draw?”

“Only one person can?”

“No matter how many people travel together, only the principal person may draw.”

Feng Miaojun shrugged, knowing she had no chance, and stepped back.

Yun Ya took the container, and casually shook it a couple of times, and a bamboo stick flew out and fell to the ground.

Feng Miaojun had sharp eyes and immediately spotted the small characters on the stick:

“Clouds part, moonlight illuminates your return.”

What did that mean?

She had drawn divination lots at temples before, but this didn’t seem like the kind of phrase typically written on such sticks.

Yun Ya bent down to pick it up, his long eyebrows slightly furrowed. He glanced at her before asking Uncle Liu: “What does this mean?”

Uncle Liu also seemed stunned. Yun Ya had to ask twice before he came to his senses, muttering: “How could it be this lot!” Suddenly he turned toward the corner of the room. “Please wait a moment!”

They then watched as he dug out a square brick from the wall corner behind the shrine.

The brick was loose but probably had never been removed, as its surface was covered with a thick layer of dust and grime. Uncle Liu broke it open with a short shovel, revealing that it was a hollow brick with a letter hidden inside.

The title on the envelope matched the line of small characters on the divination stick.

“The interpretations for all other lots are kept in silk pouches, except for this one.” Uncle Liu let out a slight sigh. “Fifty years ago, Master Cao, in my presence, personally placed this envelope inside the brick and sealed it in the wall.” He pointed to the container. “Over all these years, more than half of the lots have been drawn, and I thought I wouldn’t live to see the person who would open the brick.”

As if completing a long-held duty, he smiled contentedly: “Take your time reading it. I’ll go prepare a meal.” He beckoned to Cao Qinghe, “Young master, would you like to help this old man?”

Before Cao Qinghe could answer, Yun Ya said: “Please wait, it seems Master Cao also mentioned this child in the letter.”

“Is that so? Then let the young master stay. I can prepare the meal myself.” Uncle Liu turned and quickly left.

Yun Ya opened the letter, and Feng Miaojun immediately moved closer, earning a glance from him.

She brazenly said: “We rescued this child together.” She was also involved, so why shouldn’t she read it?

Yun Ya remained silent, which she took as tacit permission, and stood beside him to read the letter.

The letter paper was quite large, and Cao Budao had beautiful handwriting. Feng Miaojun looked at it for a moment before suddenly saying: “This isn’t a divination interpretation. It’s just a letter.”

Indeed, the content had nothing to do with divining fortune or misfortune, wealth or poverty. It was a proper letter written by Cao Budao, beginning with “Meeting through this letter,” without indicating who the recipient was.

The words in the letter were concise and to the point: “If you’re reading this divination stick, my Cao family has already suffered a catastrophic disaster. Thanks to your great fortune, a single line of the Cao family still survives. I, Cao, wish to offer a rare treasure as a token of my gratitude.”

Feng Miaojun smiled and said: “This person is quite shrewd and predicted accurately, but he’s a bit stingy. He mentions giving us a treasure but doesn’t say where it is. How insincere!”

Yun Ya also smiled slightly: “That’s not necessarily true. Perhaps he has already delivered it right before our eyes, just waiting for us to claim it.”

Cao Qinghe looked at him and then at Feng Miaojun, completely bewildered, not understanding the riddle these two were playing at. Even with his cleverness, at only five years old, he couldn’t grasp the mystery involved.

The bamboo basket in his arms suddenly moved, and the white weasel, which had been listlessly curled inside, darted out in a flash, rushing toward the door.

Its movement was as fast as lightning, but just as it approached the door crack, it suddenly hit an invisible barrier.

The harder it had rushed out, the harder it collided, nearly bouncing back.

However, the invisible barrier in the air also trembled violently, clearly expending great energy to block this charge.

The weasel wasn’t stunned by the collision. It flipped over, changed direction, and headed straight for the gray wall instead of the door.

Behind that wall was the vegetable garden that Uncle Liu tended.

But someone moved faster than it.

The weasel had barely leaped a few yards when Yun Ya’s rope whipped out, swiftly binding it tightly.

The small creature fell to the ground, squeaking frantically in distress.

Cao Qinghe suddenly awoke from his daze and cried out: “Don’t bully my weasel!” He rushed forward to embrace the small animal.

But Feng Miaojun gently held him back: “That’s not a weasel.”

What else could it be if not his pet weasel? Just as Cao Qinghe was about to speak, he saw Yun Ya’s hand chop down, actually splitting the weasel in half!

The words that had reached his lips instantly turned into a scream.

But immediately afterward, the white weasel vanished.

Its disappearance was very abrupt, just like…

Just like that monster whose hand Feng Miaojun had chopped off when it ambushed Lu Ming on the frozen river!

At that time, it had also vanished from the human world like this, yet left behind its arm and weapon.

Weapon?

Feng Miaojun looked more carefully and suddenly saw that the ground was not empty after all. At the very least, the immortal-binding rope was still binding something:

A collar.

This was the collar that had been around the white weasel’s neck earlier, dull in color, seemingly made of inferior metal.

When she first saw it, Feng Miaojun had wondered why a small animal would wear such a heavy metal collar.

Of course, now she knew.

The white weasel was inconsequential, merely a distraction, just like the giant python, the crocodile demon, and that one-handed assassin.

The crucial element was this collar. She bent down to observe it while exclaiming in amazement: “Can this thing also gain sentience?”

When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. She was using this process of elimination while marveling at the world’s endless wonders.

It wasn’t in vain to journey to this world—there was truly something to learn at every turn.

Yun Ya extended his foot to kick the collar: “What other form do you want to take to fool people? Hurry up.”

The collar didn’t move, as if it were a dead object.

“Take it,” Yun Ya said to Feng Miaojun. “I’ll melt it down and make a necklace for you.”

“Good,” she said gleefully. “Set a pigeon blood ruby in it for me, one as big as a real pigeon’s egg. But can it still harm people now?”

“When it transformed back into a white serpent at the river bottom, I smashed all its teeth, probably injuring its true form. Even if you melt it down, it has no power to resist.”

Just as she was about to reach for the collar, unexpectedly, the object suddenly moved.

The white weasel appeared again, with the collar still around its neck. It curled itself into a tiny ball, with a completely dispirited appearance: “When did you discover me?”

Yun Ya seemed not to hear, instead educating Feng Miaojun: “This is a rare species, called a liquid metal demon. I’ve only seen one once before.”

Liquid metal? “You mean it’s made of liquid metal?”