“I am from the Northern Song dynasty, back when Zhao Gou was on the throne, though I can’t quite recall which year it was!”

William Carter immediately stood at attention, not sure what etiquette to use, and after a moment decided to clasp his hands at his wrists, using a gesture he’d learned from TV dramas. “I’m from the era of the Republic, and now it’s... the sixty-first year of the Republic, I think!”

This time it was David Miller’s turn to be shocked. He exclaimed, “Who is the holy sovereign in your time, to have reigned for so long?”

William Carter could only answer vaguely, “It’s just that the era name hasn’t changed, but as for emperors, there have been seven or eight.”

David Miller muttered under his breath, “Wasn’t it after the Republic that there were no more emperors? I’ve been in the underworld for a long time, and I’ve heard a lot about dynastic changes and revolutions, but I didn’t expect retro trends to make a comeback…”

Sweat beaded even more on William Carter’s forehead... Even with the eloquence he’d honed in his professional life, he didn’t know how to explain this for the moment.

William Carter followed behind David Miller, searching for demon beasts along the way, while secretly practicing how to launch the five-colored stones to hit his targets more powerfully and accurately. “Strike, strike, strike, collect…” Wherever he passed, the waist-high grass fell in swathes, and William Carter gradually got the hang of it—within a hundred paces, he could hit the target eight or nine times out of ten. The five-colored stones could be sent and retrieved at will, giving them a bit of the flavor of an immortal’s magical treasure, though their power wasn’t much greater than ordinary stones, and they were far inferior to human firearms.

However, after dozens of practice attempts, William Carter unexpectedly discovered that these five-colored pebbles resonated with the mysterious water-and-fire energy within him. When he happened to channel this energy, it would follow a mysterious route inside his body, greatly increasing the power and range of his stone-throwing technique.

This phenomenon gave William Carter a bit more hope, but he still didn’t know how to evaluate the many strange things on Fengzhou. After all, he was a person without religious faith, lacking spiritual support in this regard, and his ability to accept such things was quite low.

“Careful, there’s another demon rabbit ahead.”

Reminded by David Miller, William Carter immediately stopped, raised his hand, and hurled a stone. The five-colored stone traced a mysterious arc through the air and knocked over a giant black rabbit that was gnawing on grass roots. This strike was much stronger than before, and the demon rabbit couldn’t take it—it let out a mournful cry, didn’t dare to resist, and dashed away on its four long legs, disappearing into the vast grassland in the blink of an eye.

“What a pity, I was a bit too reckless this time!”

David Miller laughed heartily and said, “The rabbits on the Xici Grassland are naturally timid. If bluffing doesn’t scare them, and the enemy is too strong, they always just run for it.”

The two of them hunted on the Xici Grassland for an entire afternoon and had quite a fruitful haul, killing five demon rabbits in total. William Carter learned the basic footwork of the Yue Family Spear from David Miller, and gradually began to apply it in his fights with demon beasts. Dodging two steps and counterattacking with a thrown stone—he was already quite proficient with these simple moves. Seeing that they couldn’t carry any more game, the two agreed to head back.

The burly, bearded David Miller had already been on Fengzhou for over half a year and was quite familiar with the geography. Instead of returning to Xinchen Hall, he took William Carter to his home in Xici Town. Several centuries ago, people had started to accidentally enter Fengzhou, and for convenience, they built a small town on the edge of the Xici Grassland near Xinchen Hall. Over time, merchants and families settled there, making life fairly convenient, and now the population had grown considerably. Most of the residents of Xici Town were ascenders from the underworld, with only a small portion being native-born, making it a gathering place for immigrants on Fengzhou.

“You’ve just arrived, so stay at my place for now. After tomorrow, we’ll go chop down a few big trees and build a wooden house, and then you’ll have a place to live. The seasons on Fengzhou don’t change much, and it’s not very cold. If you tan the demon rabbit hides we hunted today and make two bedding mats, you won’t have to fear the chill of the night wind.”

David Miller tossed the five demon rabbits to a shop not far from the entrance of Xici Town. The shop had dozens of large pots boiling food, and a chubby man, seeing David Miller, laughed loudly: “Good thing you brought back so many fresh rabbits from the hunt, or we wouldn’t have enough food for tonight. Once this batch is cooked, take some home with you.”

David Miller chuckled and said, “I want to take an extra portion of food. Also, Old Bolton, skin these five giant rabbits for me and remember to save the hides. This brother is new here and doesn’t have bedding to keep warm—I’ll come by to pick them up later.”

The chubby man rubbed his hands together and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll have San Niang sew the rabbit hides into a big bedding mat. You can come get it in a bit.”

Chapter Five: Xici Town

David Miller’s home was very rough, built from thick logs into three rooms. He tidied up one of them for William Carter to stay in. The two of them reheated the demon rabbits over the fire. Though things were a bit simple, the hot food was still very satisfying. Only then did William Carter ask why David Miller had ended up in the underworld for so many years.