I saw an even more incredible sight—as Man Niao Niao brushed past Hua Er, the usually shameless Man Niao Niao actually sported a sneer, a fierce glint rising in his cheeks as he stared at Hua Er’s retreating form, grinding his teeth.

"Damn it, are you still sleeping?" Man Niao Niao slammed a hard blow into my stomach. With that slap, my mind suddenly cleared, and my eyes snapped open to see Man Niao Niao's smirking face.

Wait! Wait, wait, wait!! I slapped my head. I clearly saw Hua Er speaking to me just moments ago. Why am I only opening my eyes now? Did I just have a dream?

"Niao Niao, did you hear Hua Er talking?" I asked Man Niao Niao hesitantly for confirmation.

"Hear Hua Er talking? You old fool, are you delirious? Which dog can talk? Let me see if you have a fever!" Man Niao Niao’s face was full of mockery, and he reached out to touch my head.

I waved his coarse hand away. "Didn't you just pass right by Hua Er? I even saw you smiling so wickedly!"

"You son of a bitch, either you’re dreaming or I am! I didn't see Hua Er at all when I came in; how could I have passed by it? That creature is outside gnawing on bones right now!"

"Then... what was I doing when you came in?"

"What were you doing? Sleeping, of course! Sleeping like a pig. Look, you drooled all over the pillow!" I turned my head and saw the pillow was indeed damp, and the scent wafting over was no less potent than the taste of my own drool. So, I really was dreaming just now? And I had a conversation with Hua Er in that dream?

I secretly pinched my thigh; it hurt, proving I was in reality and not some dreamscape. Thinking it over, I couldn't help but chuckle. Although too many bizarre and inexplicable things had happened recently, the idea of a dog speaking fluently was something I’d only ever heard about in legends!

But how could this dream be so vividly real? And the things Hua Er said in the dream were exactly the questions perplexing me! Thinking this, I leaped up, shuffling my slippers, and ran outside to find Hua Er. I squatted down, staring intensely into its eyes, and asked eagerly, "Who are you?"

Hua Er, completely absorbed in gnawing a bone, was startled by my behavior. It completely ignored my question, finally letting out two low, cautious whines, a hint of dissatisfaction flickering in its eyes. Seeing that I wasn't trying to steal its bone, it lowered its head and happily resumed its meal. This fellow was clearly just a perfectly ordinary dog!

Man Niao Niao, who had followed me out, saw me crouching in front of Hua Er muttering to myself and couldn't help but start viciously mocking me again. "You really think this thing is your little brother, huh? If you were right, if this creature could really speak, I swear I would crawl through your ass ninety-nine... no, ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine times!" Man Niao Niao concluded this speech with a dismissive tch.

I couldn't be bothered with him. I stroked Hua Er's back rhythmically, murmuring to myself, wishing Hua Er could truly speak so it could confirm the reality of that dream conversation. Unfortunately, Hua Er remained focused on the bone, utterly indifferent to my strange actions.

Ji Ye and Qin Ping'er’s expressions weren't much better, yet they didn't step forward to restrain me either, just staring, dumbfounded, at my frenzied state.

After a long silence, Ji Ye finally bellowed, "What in the blazes is going on?"

Before I could answer, Man Niao Niao had already spiced up my actions with his own embellishments, chuckling sinisterly afterward.

I sighed, standing up. As my vision swam, I inadvertently caught sight of the enormous growth on Hua Er’s thigh. Something flashed across my mind, gone as quickly as it appeared. I froze instantly, patting my head, trying desperately to grasp that fleeting spark of insight. After a long moment, I recalled what Hua Er had told me in the dream: "I know where those two ceramic seals are; all you need to do now is find that Suo Luo sacred tree!" This sentence sparked an idea in me that was both unbelievable and incredibly audacious.

I sprinted back into the house, grabbed a kitchen knife, and snatched up a bone with more meat on it. I dashed back to Hua Er, tossed the bone to it, and plastered the kindest smile on my face, hiding the knife behind my back. I gently prodded the large growth on Hua Er’s leg a few times, then placed it carefully flat on the ground.

Hua Er dropped the bone it had already gnawed clean, its eyes gleaming. It snatched up the new bone I offered and began chewing contentedly, showing me absolutely no guard.

Steel-hearted, I thought, fortune waits for no man, and in the midst of Qin Ping'er's shriek, I suddenly raised the sharp knife in my hand and brought it down with unstoppable force toward the growth on Hua Er’s leg, aiming right at its base. There was a dull thud, and the growth was cleanly severed from the edge of Hua Er’s leg bone. Hua Er cried out in pain, springing off the ground like a coiled spring. But before it could react, I had already grabbed its leg, which was now spurting blood. Ignoring its ferocious, throat-tearing howls, I turned and roared at Man Niao Niao, "What are you gaping at? Get a clean cloth, quick!"

Man Niao Niao snapped out of his stupor and was frantically looking around for a white cloth from my mother when Qin Ping'er had already ripped a strip from her own clothing with a swish. Completely disregarding the risk of exposing herself, she rushed to my side and hurriedly began bandaging Hua Er’s leg.

It must be said that the time elapsed from when I raised the knife to the moment the growth separated from Hua Er’s leg could hardly be described as less than "lightning fast." Everyone else was still perplexed by my action; the fleshy tumor that had accompanied Hua Er for years now lay at its feet.

With its hind leg firmly held by me, Hua Er tried several times to twist around and bite my hand, but always pulled back at the last second. Only after Qin Ping'er had finished bandaging its leg and Ji Ye applied some medicinal powder so the blood stopped seeping did I let go. I haphazardly wiped the blood off, then brought out a basin of pig's head meat from the room to comfort Hua Er. By then, Hua Er had already limped back to its own nest.

Only after comforting Hua Er did I finally have time to examine the growth I had cut off.

Even then, everyone, including Man Niao Niao, had no idea why I had suddenly swung the knife to lop off that growth. Qin Ping'er even grumbled irritably, "Did your brain get waterlogged from sleeping? How could you be so cruel? That growth didn't affect Hua Er at all; you must have nothing better to do!"

I paid her no mind, ignoring the bloody mess. I reached into the flesh tumor and started digging around, pulling out two heavy, hard lumps. The lumps were encased in skin and flesh. I carefully used the knife to trim away the outer layer of one, revealing a long, rectangular object, pitch black in color.

Seeing this black object, I was overjoyed. Without even looking closely, I repeated the process with the other hard lump and, sure enough, another rectangular object appeared.

Man Niao Niao was initially utterly astonished, then a greedy smile spread across his face. "Haha, dog treasure?"

"Dog treasure my ass!" I dodged his rapidly reaching hand. I washed the grime off the two black rectangles in a nearby basin of water. Holding them up to the light, I saw faint, inscribed characters on one end of each rectangle. Upon closer inspection, I realized the characters were the same palm markings we had seen in the underground Imperial City—though what they meant, I had no clue. The markings on the two rectangles were different, clearly indicating they weren't identical, but their shape and size were very similar, and their black surface made them look utterly unremarkable.

Ji Ye’s expression finally began to shift. He reached out, took the two rectangular objects, and examined them closely.

I ran into the room, pulled out the Blood Soul Stele from my backpack, and hopped back to the open area. I snatched the two items from Ji Ye’s hand and promptly inserted them into the indentations on the Blood Soul Stele—Good heavens! The indentations fit the two objects perfectly, snug as a glove. When I viewed the Blood Soul Stele from the front, it matched the image of the Blood Soul Stele shown in the silk manuscript exactly!

Qin Ping'er paused, then erupted in a cheer, snatching up the Blood Soul Stele and stroking it. Man Niao Niao, realizing the two items weren't the dog treasures he coveted, had a flicker of disappointment cross his face. However, even with his dull wit, he understood these two objects were the ceramic seals the manuscript had directed us to find. They were worth far more than ordinary dog treasures, and his smile broadened and deepened. Of course, Ji Ye also looked like he'd finally grasped the situation, but he quickly lowered his head, sinking into thought.

Seeing Ji Ye like this, I managed to temper my excitement and said to him, "Are you thinking about how these two ceramic seals ended up growing on Hua Er’s leg?"

"Yes, you know something?"

"I don't know how. But my risk just now wasn't taken without reason."

"Because you had that long chat with Hua Er in your dream?"

"Uh-huh!"

Ji Ye fell silent for a moment, then shook his head. "There might only be one reason why these two ceramic seals grew on Hua Er’s leg."

"What is it?" Qin Ping'er and Man Niao Niao also crowded closer.

"Stone Gu!"

"Stone Gu?"

"Simply put, the Stone Gu is a type of Wu Gu (sorcery insect). The summoner places a stone on the road, marks it with a thatched symbol to keep others unaware. When a traveler passes, the stone jumps onto their body or into their stomach. Initially, it’s just a hard lump. After three to four months, this stone can move and even cry out. The infected person slowly develops severe constipation and grows thinner. Within three to five years, the victim is certain to die."

The three young people exchanged bewildered glances, but I quickly found the inconsistencies. "According to what you say, the Stone Gu is used to harm people; it doesn't say anything about afflicting animals. Besides, if Hua Er had contracted the Stone Gu, it would have died long ago. Why is it still alive? And look at Hua Er—does it look emaciated and unable to defecate? Furthermore, if this were indeed the Stone Gu, why would it target my Hua Er instead of someone else?"

"That... I was only saying it's a possibility," Ji Ye admitted, sounding puzzled himself. After pondering for a long time, he looked up and said, "Regardless of how these two ceramic seals grew on Hua Er’s leg, I’m now thinking that the task described in the silk manuscript must be carried out after all..."

My heart lurched, and I realized the same thing. While I had previously doubted the authenticity of the silk manuscript's contents, leaning toward the idea that "the Luo tree hasn't existed for ages, and finding two tiny ceramic seals is impossible," events had now taken a sharp turn. A conversation with Hua Er in a dream had led directly to finding the legendary seals on its leg.

How could all this be explained? It was utterly bizarre.