The bishop and his men left Stone Village in the darkness of the night, their bodies full of anger. They didn't know what kind of situation they would encounter in the Great Wastelands in the future since they had no way of returning to Martial Soul Continent for the time being.
Now that the Outsiders had left, the villagers of Stone Village could finally make the necessary preparations for their sacrificial offering ceremony.
Once they were done with that, they finally took in what the strange phenomenon had done to their village.
The village was still in a sorry state - houses were on the verge of collapsing and vegetation grew unrulily everywhere. If they had not seen it with their own eyes, the villagers of Stone Village would have simply thought of this as a dream or that it was fake.
After all, the situation today had been too dramatic.
But the villagers were also extremely excited. Their worldviews had changed thanks to the arrival of the strange phenomenon and the Outsiders. They looked at the villager chief to listen to his explanation.
He was the oldest and the wisest among them after all. If anyone could explain what had just happened today, it would be him.
But Shi Hao's mind was elsewhere.
When the strong and terrifying Qi flow filled the entire Stone Village, not only was he terrified, he even felt like he had experienced it before.
But no matter how much he thought about it, he could not figure out why and how he had found the Qi flow so familiar.
"Village Chief, the unusual display today is not the work of the willow tree guardian spirit, right? I've thought about this quite thoroughly. When the strange phenomenon started, the willow tree did not react at all. However, I am not too sure who or what caused the strange phenomenon," said Huang Feijiao confidently.
The moment his words came out, everyone once again thought of the sword Qi that had descended from the sky to fight against the Suan Ni that day.
"You are right. We have always been worshipping the Willow Deity and know its behavior well. Although it has always protected us, it hardly made its presence known - it will not touch the sacrificial offerings or reply to us. It stood as it always did every day," said Huang Linhu as he agreed with Huang Feijiao.
For so many years, the guardian spirit had never made a move in front of everyone, except for the times it touched the Green Eagle Egg and awaken its ancestral inheritance as well as when the willow tree emitted light in the middle of the night. Otherwise, the Willow Deity looked like any other willow tree.
"I'm still feeling scared. I mean, even the Outsiders were scared witless," said Huang Shoushan.
"Village Chief, what do you think of all this? Please share your thoughts with us." Huang Feijiao noticed that the village chief had not spoken.
"That's right. Village Chief, what do you think? Are there powerful people protecting us in the village? Even if they aren't our ancestors, could they be experts assigned by our ancestors to hide in Stone Village for our protection?" asked Huang Linhu.
But the village chief simply felt helpless. He did not have answers to any of the questions. Even he wanted to know what was happening.
He might have looked confident and unfathomable when he faced the Outsiders earlier. But he was also quite scared after the strange phenomenon as well.
"How can there be experts secretly arranged by our ancestors walking among us in the village? Alright, why not we just call it a day? Everyone, go wash up and get some sleep," said the village chief in the end.
"What exactly is the situation? Please explain it to us. Otherwise, we will only continue to infer," said Huang Linhu.
"That's right, Village Chief, can you please explain it properly? We even saw the sword Qi in the sky today as well. If it wasn't the willow tree guardian spirit, then it had to be a hidden expert sent by our ancestors, right?" Huang Feijiao also pestered the village chief impatiently.
In the end, the village chief helplessly said, "I don't know what happened either today. If it was an expert, then he must have hidden his tracks really well."
He paused for a moment, "However, the fortunate thing is that I can assure you that the hidden expert - if there was one - will not pose a threat to Stone Village. He is silently protecting it."
The villagers nodded their heads in unison.
The village chief was right. The expert had not made a move against Stone Village.
"Village Chief, what do you think we should do now? Should we search for traces of the expert? After all, he has saved us twice. We can't just do nothing." Huang Linhu smiled, hoping to be able to thank the expert.
"I also agree. We are not heartless and selfish people. Since the expert has helped us, we must properly thank him. Sadly, he's usually hiding. But I also have a feeling that he is always watching us," said Huang Feijiao.
"Your analysis isn't without reason. It's just that-" The village chief spoke halfway when Shi Hao suddenly interrupted him.
"I know! The Qi flow today! I know it!" Shi Hao exclaimed excitedly. He had finally figured it out.
"Shi Hao, what is it? What exactly do you know that you had to interrupt the village chief?" Huang Feijiao was confused by the child's behavior.
"Yes, do tell. Your intuition has always been the most on-point in our village. What have you figured out?" asked Huang Linhu.
Shi Hao then seriously said, "Grandpa, remember when I told you of the strange Qi flow that I felt a while back?"
"Why are you bringing this up again? Didn't we already close that discussion?" asked Huang Linhu with more confusion. Why was Shi Hao bringing up something from the past that seemed unrelated?
"I felt the Qi flow again today, and it felt really similar to the one I felt last time. Maybe we came to the wrong conclusion last time. Maybe it isn't the willow tree guardian spirit's doing but that of another guardian spirit!"
Shi Hao's words shocked everyone.
"How did you deduce this? Was today's Qi flow similar to the previous one?" The village chief tugged at Shi Hao's arm in excitement.
Shi Hao blinked his eyes at the village chief. "Grandpa, calm down. I only thought that it was similar after it had happened. If I can sense it again, I can make a better judgment."
"Shi Hao, are you sure? But two guardian spirits in the same village? It can't be. We have verified it before." Huang Linhu looked at Shi Hao dubiously. He felt that the idea of the expert made more sense.
"I can. I just need to feel the Qi flow when it surges out again," said Shi Hao solemnly.
Huang Feijiao frowned. He knew Shi Hao was not one to lie, but his words still seemed quite inconceivable.
If Shi Hao's deduction was correct and two guardian spirits that had been silently protecting Stone Village...
"This matter has yet to be confirmed, and we can not make a firm decision at this moment. Even if our deduction is wrong, it won't affect us much. Why don't we wait for a period of time? Although we are not sure of this other guardian spirit's identity, if it had made a move twice, it will make a move again." The village chief expressed his stance.
"I agree with the village chief's words. Even if we make all sorts of deductions, we are still unable to come to a conclusion. We might as well wait for a period of time. Shi Hao has also confirmed that if that mysterious existence makes a move, he will be able to distinguish it." Huang Feijiao agreed with the village chief.
"Alright, alright. Today's discussion is over. The remaining questions can be discussed tomorrow. If a villager whose house has been destroyed, go to someone else's house and make do with it for now. Now, go get some rest everyone," said the village chief.