Chapter 3: The Golden Toad Jade Pendant

Hu Yue'er continued, "Based on this method, you can trace the path of the Cold Dan by searching through various ancient tombs. If fortune favors you, you will surely find it."

Hearing this, a spark of hope was ignited within us. I turned my head to look at Li Kun beside me, whose brows were tightly furrowed. Nodding at Hu Yue'er, I said, "Since that is the case, starting today, we will keep an eye out for any traces of the Cold Dan."

With that, I glanced over at Xu Tian. "By the way, old Xu, didn't the village elder give us a jade pendant? Take a look and see what kind of background it has; it might just lead us to the Cold Dan."

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the jade pendant and handed it to Xu Tian.

Xu Tian nodded, taking the pendant from my hand, while Li Kun and I crowded closely around him.

We examined the pendant in Xu Tian's hands. It was entirely emerald green, roughly half the size of a palm, and carved in the likeness of a toad. Strangely enough, some technique had been used to dye the entire toad a golden color, and right in the center of the pendant was a small circular hole, as if a piece was missing.

What surprised us even more was that this golden toad rested quietly, yet it possessed six legs—two normal ones beneath its body, with two additional legs growing from both the front and rear positions.

Faced with such a bizarre carving, Xu Tian frowned deeply. After studying it for a long time, he still could not figure out its origins.

Seeing his expression, I asked, "Well, old Xu? Can you tell what background this pendant has?"

Xu Tian shook his head. "The material itself definitely dates back to the late Northern Song Dynasty, but this carving of a six-clawed golden toad... I feel like I've heard of it somewhere, but I can't quite place it right now. This six-clawed golden toad must be some sort of mysterious totem."

Li Kun and I exchanged glances and asked in unison, "A totem?"

Xu Tian nodded. "To be honest, this thing has truly stumped me. Besides, as you can see, a piece is missing from this pendant; it's incomplete. I can only recognize the manufacturing craftsmanship of the Northern Song era and estimate its general value.

"As for what this six-clawed golden toad actually represents, I really have no idea. Perhaps we'll have to ask my grandfather. Maybe the old man knows what kind of artifact this six-clawed golden toad is and what its origins are."

At this, I nodded. Xu Tian then flipped the jade over to look at the back, only to find a completely different carving. It was dyed black using some method, depicting a massive black dragon.

At this sight, Xu Tian was truly baffled. After pondering for a long time with no clue, he handed the pendant back to me and said, "Old Liu, let's take a rest today and tend to our wounds. Once we've recovered, we'll go home and ask my grandfather."

I nodded in agreement. Indeed, Li Kun and I were both still nursing injuries. For some inexplicable reason, ever since the Soul-Executing Blade acquired that extra line of blood, it had lost its previous ability to heal my wounds entirely.

A wave of helplessness washed over me. If the Soul-Executing Blade could have permanently healed my injuries, it would have been entirely too heaven-defying. It seemed that after absorbing the lingering death qi of the white fox, something must have gone wrong with the blade. For the time being, it was best to avoid using it altogether.

Not long after, while Xu Tian and the rest of us were still chatting upstairs, Xu Tian's cousin walked straight up.

Xu Tian's cousin was named Xu Xiuxiu, a delicate and graceful name that matched her appearance. Upon closer inspection, she was quite the beauty.

During the days when Xu Tian and I were away, this cousin had been running around busily, keeping the shop in immaculate order. Our impression of her was quite favorable.

Upon reaching the second floor, Xu Xiuxiu noticed us lounging on the sofa and hurried over, greeting us, "Bosses, you're all back."

Then, her brows knitted together in concern as she asked, "What happened to you guys? Why are you all carrying injuries?"

Before the words had even faded, she noticed the strikingly beautiful woman sitting beside me. Upon seeing Hu Yue'er, Xu Xiuxiu's eyes lit up instantly, and she couldn't help exclaiming, "This sister is so pretty."

Realizing a moment later that she might have been too forward, her face flushed red. Hu Yue'er, however, didn't mind at all. She waved a hand at Xu Xiuxiu and said, "You're very pretty too. Come sit down."

Xu Xiuxiu nodded and began asking what had happened to us. Naturally, we couldn't tell her about our escapades in ancient tombs, so we simply made up some vague excuses and deftly changed the subject.

Xu Xiuxiu was far from an ordinary person. Her grandfather and Elder Xu had spent years together, venturing into ancient tombs and braving the earth. However, Xu Xiuxiu's father hadn't shared their fortune.

A few years prior, her father had supposedly entered a grand ancient tomb and never returned. Not even Elder Xu nor Xu Xiuxiu's grandfather knew precisely which tomb had claimed his life.

For years, Xu Xiuxiu had been searching for any trace of her father, desperate to discover where he was buried so she could bring his remains back to their hometown.

Alas, fate was cruel. Despite scouring for clues over so many years, she had found no trace of her father's final resting place, though she had managed to unearth a few faint leads. The single most important item her father had left behind was a map.

As for Xu Xiuxiu's mother, she had suffered a sudden, severe illness right when Xu Xiuxiu was born and passed away in the operating room—a detail strikingly similar to Xu Tian's background, whose mother had also fallen victim to a sudden illness immediately after giving birth, passing away in the presence of the village midwife.

Noticing the lingering wounds on our bodies, Xu Xiuxiu urged, "Your injuries don't look light at all, especially yours, Liu Jie. Look at the state of your thigh; if you don't go to the hospital, it's going to get serious. And your hair is scorched—you need to get it trimmed."

At this, Xu Tian and Li Kun burst out laughing. Xu Xiuxiu glared at them and snapped, "The two of you needn't laugh either. Hurry up and change your clothes, take a shower, and both of you go get yourselves sorted out at the hospital."

The three of us exchanged amused glances and chuckled. Xu Tian stood up and said, "Alright, alright, Cousin is right. I'll go take a shower and change first, and then you two can go. Afterward, the three of us brothers can head to the hospital together. Old Liu, I reckon you won't even need Uncle Zhao to cut your hair; I might as well just buzz it off for you later."

Fearing the world wasn't chaotic enough, Li Kun chimed in eagerly, "You don't need to do that, I'll buzz Old Liu's hair myself. Back in the army, I was always the one cutting this guy's hair, though I've never given him a completely shaved head."

I rolled my eyes at the two of them and said, "Enough, stop the nonsense. Neither of you is any good."

With that, we all laughed. Hu Yue'er watched our harmonious camaraderie and smiled as well. Her simple smile left the rest of us momentarily dazed—she truly was an enchanting beauty, and her smile was devastatingly captivating.

Once we had cleaned ourselves up, Xu Xiuxiu and Hu Yue'er remained at the Liuyun Shop, while the three of us hurried off to the hospital, where we joined the lengthy queues.

I was the most severely injured among the three of us, followed by Xu Tian, with Li Kun sustaining the lightest blows.

To our surprise, while Li Kun and I only had superficial scrapes and cuts that posed no major threat, Xu Tian had apparently slammed hard into a wall, causing internal bruising that required minor surgery to properly clear. Fortunately, nothing was critically wrong, and a few days of rest would see him fully healed.

We spent a full three days at the hospital. During this time, Hu Yue'er and Xu Xiuxiu both came to check on us, and somehow Gao Feng and Tian Tian caught wind of our situation and rushed over as well.

When Gao Feng saw my leg and body wrapped tightly in bandages, she burst into tears on the spot. Her sudden crying frightened me so badly I genuinely thought I was at death's door.

It took a long time to comfort Gao Feng and calm her down. However, when she saw Hu Yue'er and Xu Xiuxiu bringing us breakfast, all four women stared at one another in stunned silence.

Xu Xiuxiu had taken a liking to Li Kun's boorish yet simple nature—she preferred robust and straightforward young men, a category Li Kun fit to a tee. Yet, upon finding Tian Tian chatting and laughing amiably with Li Kun, Xu Xiuxiu instantly grew jealous.

A woman's jealousy was truly a force to be reckoned with; it sparked an unspoken competition in everything they did. Initially, I expected Tian Tian to have the upper hand, but I soon realized that Xu Xiuxiu possessed a far more delicate and meticulous mind than even Gao Feng, let alone Tian Tian. Perhaps due to her military background, Tian Tian was more straightforward and lacked Xu Xiuxiu's subtle cunning.

Yet both young women possessed unique charms, neither willing to yield an inch to the other. To our utter astonishment, after a single night of tension, the two women suddenly began chatting and laughing together like old friends—a sight that left Xu Tian, Li Kun, and me with our jaws practically unhinged.

As for Gao Feng and Hu Yue'er, their dynamic was much simpler. Upon learning that Hu Yue'er was supposedly my cousin, Gao Feng became too shy to speak much around her. Hu Yue'er, being worldly and experienced, easily won over the young girl. Within a few days, Gao Feng was trailing behind Hu Yue'er, affectionately calling her "Sister Hu."

Of course, Gao Feng assumed the "Hu" in Sister Hu referred to the surname rather than a fox spirit, though she remained slightly puzzled by Hu Yue'er's habit of asking rather peculiar questions.

For instance: "Why is someone talking inside this stone you're holding?" ("That's a phone.")
"Why does water automatically come out when you twist this thing?" ("That's a faucet.") And so on...