Filed to story: Eight Uncles Beloved Treasure
Liam was stunned by the question and didn’t know what to say, “Uh…”
“It’s fine, Uncle Liam. I understand.” Lilly compassionately patted Liam’s back.
Liam was extremely confused by her instant change in opinion.
Uh, she is a child. What does she know?
Just as he was about to say something, Edward came back from the construction site.
“Lilly, come here, sweet pea!”
Edward stretched his arms and was about to carry Lilly without taking off his safety helmet, not to mention that he was also drenched in sweat.
“Go clean yourself.” Liam slapped away his hands.
Edward ignored Liam and carried Lilly out of the office.
“Lilly, isn’t it too boring here? Let’s go, I’ll take you to the construction site!” Edward said excitedly.
He had just finished his inspection at the construction site. Now that he was done with work, all he wanted was to show her off to his colleagues.
Liam disagreed, “It’s too dangerous for kids, and it’s for employees only!”
Edward playfully said, “Our darling is an employee as well. She’s our little CEO!”
“That’s right, I am an employee!” Lilly nodded proudly.
A while ago, Ugly Aunty mentioned that Aunt Winona went to the construction site. Something was hidden in the statue.
She needed to go and find out.
Edward was delighted. He carried Lilly in his arms and greeted everyone along the way, saying, “Yo, this is my niece!”
“My niece is cute, right?”
“This is my niece. Isn’t she adorable?!”
Lilly covered her face awkwardly. She couldn’t help but feel embarrassed after being praised and adored by so many people!
Her adorable actions made everyone burst into laughter.
Edward was an easily irritable rough man who had a nasty temper. Surprisingly, he had transformed into a soft-spoken and gentle family man.
Unbelievable!
Edward still had some common sense. He prevented Lilly from entering the building that was under construction. Instead, he brought her to the plaza where the floor tiles had been laid and where the statue was situated.
“This plaza is fully built, and there’s a playground for children. Let’s go there and play!”
He then pointed at the high-rise building in front of them that was under construction, saying, “That building is an office building, and the building beside it that is shaped like a bowl is a shopping mall. There’s even a huge supermarket in the basement. I built all of these. Did I do a great job?”
“Great job!” Lilly reassured Edward.
Edward’s ego was boosted by Lilly.
Out of the blue, Lilly pointed at the statue located in the middle of the plaza, asking, “Uncle Edward, what is that?”
Edward glanced at the statue and said, “That is a statue of a phoenix, and it is made of stainless steel. Your Uncle Liam designed it.”
Lilly escaped from Edward’s arms and ran towards the statue.
“Don’t run, it’s dangerous!” Edward shouted.
“Uncle Edward, do you have a huge hammer? Can you let me see?” Lilly requested.
Edward thought Lilly was genuinely interested in all kinds of tools like him. People used to say that he had a weird hobby. Now that he finally found someone who shared the same interest, he quickly asked a worker to bring all kinds of hammers for
Lilly.
“Lilly, I can proudly say that I own the most working tools in this country. I have four thousand different hammers!”
Liam rushed to the plaza when he was done with work. He was bewildered when he saw a worker pulling a wagon filled with a variety of hammers to the plaza.
“What are you two doing?”
Lilly raised her head and showed her rosy cheeks, saying excitedly, “I’m looking at hammers!”
Edward squatted in front of Lilly and passionately introduced the tools.
“This is a wooden hammer, and it is used for hammering nails. Whereas this is a stone hammer…this is a flat hammer.”
All the hammers that the worker brought were baby-sized so Lilly could hold them.
Liam was speechless.
Lilly rummaged through the hammers to find the perfect one.
Pablo floated beside Lilly and ordered, “Tulip, take that and crush this statue!”
“But it looks too heavy…”
Pablo smirked, “How do you know it’s heavy when you haven’t tried?”
Upon seeing Lilly holding a large hammer, Edward exclaimed with excitement, “This is amazing! It can be used to demolish walls. The handle is flexible, allowing it to bend, and this design is intended to prevent…”
“Yes, go ahead!” Pablo commanded.
“Uncle Edward, may I borrow your hammer?”
Liam and Edward anticipated that she would not be able to lift the hammer, as they had forgotten about the incident where she effortlessly bent the iron railings with her bare hands.
Without hesitation, Lilly vigorously swung the hefty hammer and repeatedly struck the statue.
“Bang!”
The lower portion of the statue shattered, revealing a substantial hole. Something mysterious descended from it, accompanied by a cloud of dust.
Liam and Edward were astounded by what they witnessed.
A skeleton hand emerged from the shattered statue, clutching something wrapped in paper.
Liam swiftly shielded Lilly’s eyes from the eerie sight. Edward, momentarily stunned, regained his composure and said, “Liam, I think it’s best if you take Lilly home.”
“I want to stay here!” Lilly protested, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. “Lilly, I’m sorry, but you can’t stay here,” Liam replied without hesitation. He scooped her up and hurriedly made his way home.
“Now, Lilly, why don’t you go home and play with Granny? Uncle Edward and I will handle the statue,” Liam continued, “Remember, if anyone asks, tell them Uncle Edward accidentally destroyed it.”
“Why?” Lilly was confused. “It wasn’t Uncle Edward. Why do I have to lie?” Liam frowned and said, “Just trust me this once, okay?” Lilly shrugged and replied, “Fine.”
Liam brought Lilly home and promptly left. While Bettany was busy preparing food, Lilly turned to Pablo and asked, “Master, why do I have to lie about destroying the statue? Lying is bad.”
Without looking up from his book, Pablo nonchalantly replied, “Ever heard of a white lie? Lying isn’t always bad. Your uncles are simply trying to protect you by asking you to lie. If people find out about your extraordinary strength, they might harm you.”
“No,” Lilly was frightened, “Please don’t let them hurt me! I’m not food! Why would anyone want to harm me?”
Bettany found amusement in Lilly’s fear. “Don’t be silly! No one is going to hurt you,” she reassured, handing an apple to Lilly, “Here, eat an apple and everything will be alright.”
Lilly took the apple and glanced at Pablo, puzzled. Pablo retrieved the jar of souls and summoned a female spirit. He asked the spirit, “Why was your hand hidden inside the statue?”
Pablo hadn’t realized that the spirit had a severed hand because she had kept the full details of her death from him. Now it was clear that she was trying to retrieve her severed hand so her soul could find peace.
“I was holding my money when I was killed, and my hand became separated from my body,” she answered sadly, “I couldn’t find peace without my hand. I’ve been wandering the mortal realm for the past five years, trying to reclaim it.”
