Su City.
On a small path that should have been deserted, a crowd had gathered.
Everyone looked at a little girl in the middle of the road with strange and pitiful eyes.
The little girl, clad in sackcloth and wearing a mourning hat, held a spirit tablet in her hands, her expression a mixture of terror and grief.
Initially, people thought the girl's elder had passed away. But upon closer inspection, they realized the spirit tablet bore not a human's photo, but that of a dog!
This little girl was actually observing mourning rites for a dog!
"Hmph, you killed my Lele. It's already merciful that you're wearing mourning clothes. Later, you'll kowtow to Lele and perform the filial rites!"
"You little bastard, where did you get the nerve to hit my Lele!"
"Even if Lele bit you, drew blood all over you, you had to endure it, not fight back! Even a dog in my family is nobler than you, you bastard!"
A portly middle-aged man berated the little girl with fury.
Clearly, he was the owner of the dog whose spirit tablet was being held, and he was the one forcing the little girl to perform mourning rites for his dog.
"This is too much!" someone nearby couldn't bear to watch and stepped forward.
But he was immediately stopped by a friend.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed? Don't you know this guy is a local tyrant in Su City? He got into the earthwork business thirty years ago and is now a big shot in Su City's real estate! How can we afford to offend someone like him!"
Hearing this, the man who still had a shred of courage in his heart, his eyes dimmed instantly.
The middle-aged man swept a triumphant glance at him, then continued to address the little girl, "Come on, so many people are waiting, don't dawdle. Start performing the filial rites!"
"Lele is six years old this year, so kowtow sixty times!"
"No, funeral rites value auspicious numbers. Sixty-six brings smooth sailing, so you must kowtow three hundred and sixty times!"
The little girl, upon hearing this, was terrified. She wanted to say something, but only managed to stammer out incoherent sounds.
The middle-aged man sneered, "Almost forgot, you're a little mute! But I understand you, you don't want to kowtow! However..."
"Do you get to decide whether you kowtow or not?"
"I do!"
With that, the middle-aged man suddenly reached out and pressed down on the little girl's neck.
He intended to force her to kowtow three hundred and sixty times!
It was easy to imagine that once the three hundred and sixty kowtows were completed, the little girl would be crippled, if not dead!
Tears streamed down the little girl's face as she struggled with all her might.
But how could a five-year-old girl possibly struggle against an adult male?
Just as the little girl was about to be forced to death in full public view, at the critical moment, the child, who had lost her ability to speak due to self-isolation, unexpectedly opened her mouth and uttered two words.
"Dad!"
Not her mother, who had raised her alone, but the father she had never met since birth!
...
Border of the Dragon Country.
A group of archaeologists was at a loss, staring at a newly unearthed ruin.
Even Professor Li, the most experienced, couldn't find the entrance to this site, whether it was a tomb or a city!
It was as if this ruin naturally had no entrance!
"There's no other way! We have to try the Mountain Moving technique!" Professor Li suddenly stood up and said resolutely.
The Mountain Moving technique was a method from the Mountain Moving sect of tomb raiders, focusing on brute force demolition.
This method was generally forbidden by archaeological orders, as it could damage the artifacts within.
However, when there was no other option, one had to take the risk and employ this method.
"Be careful later. Try to select remote areas for demolition. This way, even if a collapse occurs, the core area's artifacts won't be damaged," Professor Li instructed his students.
"Understood, teacher."
As the students spoke and were about to carry out the demolition, a faint voice came from the wind, slicing through the sky, and reaching everyone's ears.
"Dad!"
Professor Li and the students froze.
They looked at each other, suspecting they had misheard.
This was a vast Gobi Desert, stretching as far as the eye could see, so who could be calling for their father?
Moreover, judging by the sound, it was a child.
"Teacher, are we seeing ghosts? Is this ruin haunted?" one timid student asked cautiously.
Professor Li's face darkened, and he reprimanded, "You're a university student, don't you know the saying 'A wise person does not speak of ghosts and spirits'?"
The student shrunk back under the scolding, not daring to speak nonsense.
However, at this moment, a sudden change occurred!
The clear and sunny weather instantly turned gloomy.
The scorching sun hanging high in the sky seemed to vanish in an instant, hidden in the void.
Boundless darkness enveloped the entire Gobi Desert, with only the eerie and piercing sound of the wind moaning incessantly.
"Teacher, the sun... the sun..."
Amidst the students' panicked cries, Professor Li looked up at the sky.
His pupils also contracted!
It turned out the sun hadn't disappeared; it had become a total solar eclipse!
A jet-black sun hung in the sky with an eerie posture, coldly staring down at the ground.
It resembled a human eye!
Professor Li, witnessing this scene for the first time in his life, his face turned pale. He forced himself to remain calm and said, "Don't be afraid, it's just a celestial phenomenon. Once it passes, it will be..."
Before Professor Li could finish his sentence, the scene changed again!
With a rustling sound, a vortex of quicksand appeared out of nowhere in the area of the ruins!
From the center of the vortex came a continuous surging sound, layers of sand rising like something trying to break out from underground!
Professor Li and the others exchanged glances, their minds uniformly conjuring images from horror movies.
"Run!" Professor Li decided instantly and shouted.
But as soon as his voice fell, with a boom, a massive object rose from the center of the vortex.
Wind and clouds surged, the heavens and earth hummed.
The entire world seemed to fall into silence, everything paused, including the breathing, heartbeats, and even the thoughts of everyone present.
After an unknown amount of time, Professor Li and the others took a deep breath, and their senses returned to normal.
Then they looked at the massive object.
Their expressions changed in unison!
The massive object was a statue of a warrior, towering into the clouds!
The warrior knelt on the ground, hands extended forward, holding something up.
In his palm, a coffin bound by chains shimmered with a faint light.
Upon closer inspection, the chains were actually talismans!
These talismans trembled incessantly, as if desperately suppressing something within the coffin!
"Yesterday the trees bloomed with red flowers, today the flowers have fallen from a hundred branches.
A thousand years of prosperity and decline, all passing in a dream.
Who has awakened me?"
Suddenly, a voice emanated from within the coffin, piercing directly into their eardrums.
Professor Li and the others' hair stood on end, and an icy chill ran down their spines!