Xu Le sat cross-legged, meditating. This battle against the illness had taken a great deal of his energy, and he needed to recover as soon as possible.
Why does it take so much effort to cure a little girl's illness?
This left Xu Le completely baffled. At that moment, Yi Ming approached Xu Le and respectfully said, "Master, thank you so much for saving my sister!"
Xu Le nodded, not objecting to the title. He had fulfilled his promise; Yi Ming was now his slave, and he could do with him as he pleased. However, he asked the question that had been on his mind: "How did your sister fall ill?"
Yiming was taken aback, but dared not hide anything and recounted the events of that year in detail.
………………
On the other side, in a luxurious room, an elderly man with white hair and beard sat in a sandalwood chair, listening to the middle-aged man's report, his expression somewhat solemn.
After a long silence, he asked softly, "Where is the immortal?"
The middle-aged man dared not delay and quickly replied, "The immortal followed that refugee boy from the village to the refugee settlement in the east."
To prevent the refugees from affecting public order or the poor from ruining the town's appearance, Qingquan Town relocated them to a remote piece of land on the east side of the town. However, as time has passed, there are not many refugees left, basically only Yiming and his sister and a few beggars remain.
The old man was the magistrate of this town, and had been governing the town for nearly thirty years. He had unparalleled influence in the entire town, and it could be said that even the emperor's edict was not as effective as his word.
I had heard that tigers were approaching the town, but I thought it was just these troublemakers causing trouble, so I ignored them and just had the soldiers drive them away.
He failed to kill the tiger, but instead encountered a celestial being. He didn't doubt that the man in front of him was deceiving him; he was just wondering if the celestial being was genuine.
"Let's go, tell the steward to prepare some gifts, we're going to pay our respects to the immortal!" The old man suddenly stood up, his eyes as sharp as a hawk's, and walked straight out the door, heading east. The middle-aged man saw this and immediately chased after him.
Meanwhile, other local gentry and wealthy people with ulterior motives also headed east.
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Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Kingdom is Named Shang, and It Has Orders to Use Black Iron
On this land, the Shang Dynasty ruled its people for nearly five hundred years, and its orthodox ideology was deeply ingrained in their hearts. Legend has it that the founding emperor of the Shang Dynasty received the help of immortals, successfully defeating other countries and establishing his rule over the land.
The current emperor is the thirty-second emperor. Yiming does not know the emperor's name, and he only heard about these things from others.
His sister's illness occurred three years ago, when Wan'er was just six years old. He and his parents came to Qingquan Town. Although they were refugees without land, their lives were quite happy.
But that night, the parents looked flustered and only told them to stay at home before disappearing into the night and never returning.
For the first few days, Yiming naively thought his parents had just gone out on business, but reality proved too harsh. From that moment on, he had no choice but to shoulder the burden of the family and provide for his younger sister.
Although there were only two children, life was hard but not impossible. However, the younger sister, Wan'er, found a lump of iron in her parents' trunk. Yiming didn't pay attention at first, but just thought that his sister missed her parents.
However, from that day on, Wan'er's health deteriorated day by day, and the iron lump in her hand became darker and darker. It was then that Yiming realized that the iron lump was an evil object, and he quickly found a place to bury it.
Unfortunately, even after discarding this evil object, Wan'er's life force grew weaker and weaker, as if a gust of wind could extinguish it.
Wan'er's serious illness dealt another heavy blow to the family.
Xu Le found this matter very strange. For example, judging from Wan'er's appearance, how could Yiming's parents be ordinary refugees? Secondly, how did such an evil object end up in his parents' box?
You should know that this is a world similar to ancient China, so it's impossible for it to have such a fantastical object. Or is it just a mineral that emits harmful radiation?
After pondering for a while, Xu Le instructed Yi Ming, who was waiting for orders, "Take me to the place where you buried that thing, dig it up and show it to me."
"Yes, Master!" Yiming was somewhat surprised. Although this iron lump was terrifying, it was, after all, related to clues about his parents. He still couldn't believe that his parents had died in the mountains, and he held onto a sliver of hope. However, he wasn't capable of studying this evil object, so the fact that the immortal was interested was very good news for him.
Xu Le followed Yi Ming to a large tree not far away. In the dim moonlight, they could only vaguely see what was under the tree.
Xu Le opened his hands, and flames rose from them, illuminating an area of hundreds of meters in radius, making the ground as bright as day.
Yiming marveled at the boundless power of the immortals, took out the small hoe from his waist, felt around on the ground to determine the location, and then started digging.
Bang bang bang!
Xu Le looked at the big tree. Its once lush branches and leaves had all withered, showing a withered appearance. But it was summer now, and there had been no major disasters such as drought. Why was this happening?
bite!
"I found it! What happened? How did the iron lump turn into this?" Yiming was initially surprised, but then his voice became somewhat doubtful.
Xu Le looked up and saw a flash of black light appear in the dark yellow earth. With a wave of his right hand, he used his mental power to grab the object and examine it closely.
Contrary to what Yiming described, this item was not a black lump of iron; rather, it was exquisitely crafted, resembling a token.
Token!
Xu Le wiped away the dirt. There were no words on it, but it was engraved with a magnificent bird, its head held high, surveying the surroundings like a king. Its four tail feathers swayed wildly in the air, as if it could suppress everything.
Black Bird!
The Heavenly Mandate of the Black Bird descended and gave birth to the Shang Dynasty.
This divine bird of destiny is no different from the totem of the ancient Shang Dynasty in China, only it is more magnificent than the one Xu Le saw in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, almost like a real black bird scrutinizing him.
Xu Le wondered if this world was related to the Shang Dynasty. He hadn't paid much attention to it before, but now it seemed more complex than he thought. This dynasty was called Shang, and its totem was exactly the same as that of the ancient Shang Dynasty of China.
According to Yiming's description, this world did not have the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Legend has it that before the Shang Dynasty, it was all divided into several small states. In the end, the Shang emperor, by the mandate of heaven and with the help of immortals, finally established this vast feudal dynasty. That's right, it was feudal, not slavery. Otherwise, Yiming might be a slave to some landlord right now, not even a vagrant.
Therefore, the concept of immortals became increasingly popular during the five hundred years of Shang rule, eventually gaining universal acceptance. The Shang Dynasty was a nation that worshipped immortals.
Putting aside his doubts, Xu Le probed the Xuan Bird Token with his spiritual power, but it was like digging into a quagmire, yielding nothing.
At the same time, he could feel the token slowly eroding his life force. It was slow for him, who possessed the Dog Talisman, but it was deadly for ordinary creatures.
“Master, the piece of iron I buried back then really was a black lump of iron, but I don’t know why it turned into this thing. I’m not lying to you.” Yiming argued excitedly, afraid that Xu Le would think he was lying.