It was almost dark when they returned, with only the last rays of the setting sun on the horizon. Li Changzhou carried the frightened Li Qianxia on his back and walked all the way back from a very far place.

Every time Li Qianxia thinks about this, she feels both happy and guilty.

The brother and sister are twins. If she can't walk and is scared, how can her brother, who was born on the same day, walk (especially since he has to carry her)? Isn't he scared too?

If she could go back to that time, she would only let her brother hold her hand and walk back together, instead of crying and insisting that he carry her on his back.

"Don't even mention 1928, even if we go back to the Jurassic period, I'll still carry you home... What are you thinking about?" Li Changzhou sensed the change in his sister's emotions.

"I'm thinking... I won't tell you!" Li Qianxia said playfully.

She tightened her grip on her brother's arm and rested her chin on his shoulder, as contentedly as a pet resting its chin on a sofa armrest.

The streets were quiet, and the electric lights were bright.

Li Changzhou was worried about encountering people, so he deliberately chose to take a side road—he had already memorized the map of Song City from this era.

Wandering through the streets and alleys, just one small alley away, you'll reach the shantytown where Li Qianxia lives.

The alley was less than 1 meter wide, and you couldn't see the sky when you looked up. There were no electric lights either.

The houses on both sides of the alley were low, and you could reach out and touch the eaves. The roof ridges were dark in the night, like rows of people standing and watching the two walk by.

Li Qianxia gently hugged Li Changzhou—there was someone behind them.

The alley seemed endlessly long, and it was impossible to find a way out.

Li Qianxia held her breath and saw something squatting in front of her. As she slowly approached, she discovered that it was a collapsed wall piled up there.

I felt a little relieved, but the feeling of being followed was still there.

As he walked past the pile of debris from the wall, Li Changzhou suddenly lowered his waist and twisted his hips, lightning flashed into his spine, his potential surged, and a powerful force, like mercury, swayed into his right leg.

He turned around and kicked a square brick.

The force of the "send" did not cause the brick to explode; instead, it shot out like a cannonball.

"Whoosh!"

Bang!

One side of the eaves was wiped by square bricks, like a piece of a biscuit being bitten off, cleanly and neatly missing a piece.

The brick shot into the depths of the night, disappearing without a trace.

Did you miss?

Li Changzhou felt a chill run down his spine. This person who was following him was at least more responsive than the six white card players from before!

Li Qianxia was about to jump down...

"Don't do it! Don't do it! It's me!" a low voice cried out, and a small figure, riding a butterfly, flew out from the shadows.

"Little Radish!" Li Qianxia's eyes lit up immediately.

She was fair-skinned and delicate, about the size of Li Changzhou's palm, with straw-colored hair, and was still wearing the dress that Li Qianxia had altered from her own clothes back in the 'High Mountain Plain'.

Her dress was tattered and torn, making her look like a cavewoman.

"Qianxia!" Little Radish cheered and flew over to give Li Qianxia a high five—one hadn't gotten off her brother's back, and the other was still riding on the butterfly's back.

Li Changzhou stared at the butterfly, sensing that it was also a player, not a summoned beast.

"What are you doing here?" Li Qianxia asked hurriedly.

"This is my task too!" Little Radish said, his lips covered in clear saliva.

Li Changzhou suddenly asked curiously, "Is your mission, as animal players, also to keep Li Xinghua and Li Bichang alive?"

"Who are Li Xinghua and Li Bichang?" Little Radish asked, puzzled. "Our mission is to protect the 'basket starfish' in the harbor so that it can leave and survive."

"'Basket starfish'?"

“It’s…it’s…” Little Radish’s fair face contorted in confusion, unable to think of the right words. “Anyway, it looks a lot like a fishing net or vines, a messy pile.”

Fishing net?

Li Changzhou recalled the experience of the dockworker during the day.

"Protect it? You mean it was going to die anyway?" Li Qianxia asked.

"Yes, it will die!" Little Radish nodded. "The intelligence says it was killed by the master of the Vulcan Martial Arts Hall and the fleet's cannons. It seems to be one of the last few great monsters."

"A great demon? Demons have ranks?" Li Changzhou asked.

"Rank? There isn't one." Little Radish shook his head. "If you're really powerful, you're a great demon; if you're not really powerful, you're a little demon."

"Are you a big monster or a little monster?" Li Qianxia asked curiously.

"Little monster, little monster, look how small I am, I must be a little monster."

"How many of your stats are at maximum? 'Stamina,' 'Agility,' 'Constitution,' and 'Perception,' how many of them are at 10 points?" Li Qianxia asked again.

Little Radish counted on his fingers: "One, two, three, three equals 10 o'clock."

"How...did you do that?" Li Qianxia was a little surprised.

"There was so much food in the forest, everyone was fighting over it. I secretly picked some up, ate it, and then we arrived." Little Radish had a look on his face that said, 'What's so strange about that?'

Just like the expression on the face of the child in 2022 when the child in 1928 asks, "Why are you eating this (poop)?"

In short, the brother and sister were shocked.