The little brat wasn't crying or fussing, just staring wide-eyed at all the demons and ghosts filling the room. After watching for a while, who knows how this little guy, at such a young age, could even see the graffiti hanging several meters up on the wall—drool started running down from the corner of his mouth.

Normally, at this age, anything more than a meter away should all blur together into people and animals for them.

Wen Yan picked up the little brat, who immediately started wailing at the top of his lungs, crying for ages, but not a single tear came from the corners of his eyes—it all ran straight out of his mouth instead.

Wen Yan gently patted the little brat on the butt.

"You're too young, can't eat solid food yet—just drink your milk nicely, got it."

He carried the little brat out of the yard. As soon as the child realized it wasn't working, he instantly stopped crying, his big eyes still longing for the inside of the house.

After dropping the little brat off, Wen Yan glanced at the little girl before leaving. She was still hard at work studying. Looked like she'd really gotten determined this time.

Wen Yan pulled out his phone, opened up his notes app, and jotted down his to-do list: when next month's bonus comes in, he'd get the little girl a phone or a tablet.

He figured, once his bonus comes, it'd be a pretty decent chunk—at least enough to last him quite a while.

These days, with daily martial arts practice and hitting the second stage, he was wasting a lot less Yang Energy, but the consumption of Warm Jade was ramping up.

The cheap Inferior Warm Jade, sold by the kilo, was still usable, but he was burning through it fast every day.

He suspected, after finishing the second stage, if he kept using Inferior Warm Jade, the efficiency would totally tank.

Basing calculations on his current rate, soon he'd need a few kilos of Inferior Warm Jade for just one round of practice—way too much wasted time.

After all, all that Inferior Warm Jade was the leftover scrap chopped off the same original Warm Jade ore. If you wanted a whole big piece, there might be some inferior parts mixed in, and maybe even a bit of Blood Warm Jade.

And that stuff cost at least two orders of magnitude higher than the Inferior Warm Jade.

A kilo of original ore could go for several thousand or even tens of thousands, and at his current rate, would only last about three days. A rough estimate—one month would be a hundred grand. Krypton Gold pay-to-win like this, he really couldn't afford it.

Better to prepare for a rainy day, figure out some ways to earn some extra cash.

Returning home, while waiting for the familiar delivery guy to drop off the groceries, Wen Yan took the opportunity to invite Old Zhao and the Five Brothers over for a meal.

The Five Brothers were the happiest—ate until they were stuffed.

Halfway through, as everyone was happily chatting, they started talking about the stone sculpture and Everbright Lamp that Wen Yan had brought back. Old Zhao blurted out,

"In today's terms, back then quite a few folks scammed King of Qin for funding to do their own projects.

This kind of Mermaid Lamp was just one of their results—this sort of lamp itself's not particularly rare.

What's precious is the lamp in your hand. Judging by the style, the wick, and lamp oil, this should be a proper Mermaid Lamp.

The materials probably actually came from the Merfolk—not just some whale oil stand-in.

Later, people all said that was mermaid oil—nonsense! I've seen mermaid oil before, and it's nothing like this.

This is just some kind of material traded from the Merfolk, refined with other things.

Recipe got lost afterwards, but this lamp definitely dates to the time of the King of Qin—absolutely.

As for that stone sculpture, I can't really tell—too weathered..."

Old Zhao, gripping a drumstick, looked around and saw everyone was silent, just quietly listening to him brag. He looked up, a little lost.

"What're you all looking at me for?"

"I'm pretty much full, listening to your stories—go on."

"What was I talking about? Uh... I don't know, I was just rambling, not even sure what I said—suddenly remembered it."

Wen Yan felt a bit disappointed—the big-shot mode Old Zhao had been online for just a moment, and now he was back to his regular old self.

"No worries, keep eating. Want a drink? I've got some good stuff."

After eating and drinking their fill, Wen Yan sent Old Zhao and the Five Brothers home. Old Zhao never suddenly 'remembered' anything else.

Wen Yan headed to the basement, moved the shelves a little apart, and placed some other stuff in the corner—just in case something went wrong.

Old Zhao's big-shot mode didn't last long, but Wen Yan still trusted the info he'd given.

No matter where that Everbright Lamp's window actually led to, Wen Yan had no plans to open it again—no need to gamble his life away.

He used to believe that, in Guanzhong County, after they'd opened a few massive 'super figure' excavation zones, they'd given up on further digs because of the difficulty and conservation needs.

After all, he'd seen the records—those giant figures, when first dug up, were brightly colored and incredibly lifelike, impressively crafted. Not a single one was a duplicate; each face was different.

But after only a short while outside, all the color faded and they turned into what they look like now.

Only recently did he learn that Spiritual Qi Resurgence had actually started decades ago.

So Wen Yan had to start coming up with conspiracy theories, imagining some grand drama. Maybe back in the day, the Scorching Sun Department of Guanzhong County took a serious beating, and that's why they abandoned everything afterwards.

Wen Yan definitely didn't want to let his curiosity get the better of him and crawl into a tomb passage, only to suddenly find a sergeant-sized mega figure jump out and, with a few other giant figures, beat the crap out of him.

A little reckless is fine, but tempting fate like that? No, thanks.

He also had to prevent others from doing something equally dumb—so Wen Yan called Sparrow Cat and Little Zombie over and sternly lectured them for ages.

To really impress on them how serious this was, Wen Yan put his foot down: anyone messing around would be sent packing.

By midnight, he still couldn't sleep. Wen Yan kept practicing martial arts in the backyard, Fierce Yang Qi continuously spreading and shining over the area.

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