"Village Chief, why are you standing there in a daze? What are you thinking about?" asked Huang Feijiao.
"I'm just wondering when the noise will end. Even if the peerless treasure is about to appear, we don't have the ability to wield it. I've already told the others not to go hunting during this chaos. I'm afraid something might happen to them."
"I know. I agree with you. The commotion has been going on forever."
"Also, I haven't heard the from the Outsiders for a while. I know they entered the forest recently but with all of this going on, I'm afraid they might have been devoured by desolate beasts. I'm guessing that their corpses might not even be around anymore."
"Who cares about them? They don't even know anything about the guardian spirit or magic treasures"
"I wonder how long the peace in our village will last? If the chaos there doesn't end soon, we have to brace ourselves for the worst. Even if we might be able to restrain or take down whatever threat is looming, we don't know what that'll cost us. We must be careful," said the village chief with his hands behind his back.
Stone Village had just rebuilt the houses destroyed by the storm of the strange phenomenon from last time. Was their peace and tranquil life about to be disrupted again?
——
"How strange, Uncle. I think I see a figure moving over there. What a courageous figure to be wandering in the dense forest where desolate beasts hide." A girl with fair and tender skin stared at the embarrassed Lang Feng who was slowly approaching them.
This group of people consisted of three teams where each team represented a separate large tribe. The few children among them were the cultivation prodigies of their tribes and had been traveling around to train, escorted by the older cultivators from their tribes. These young ones were their tribe's pride and joy after all and had to be protected at all costs, even when they were simply training.
"Hmm, he seems to be in quite a sorry state. He probably won't be alive for long," said another girl from the same team.
How could there be experts in the desolate mountain?
"This young man is still in the prime of his youth. Have you noticed the treasure in his hand?" The old man next to the girls had a fake smile, making him look a little weird.
"Yes, I have. Is it Wolf Fang? I think it's a gift given by guardian spirits to their worshippers," said one of the girls.
"The treasure in his hand doesn't have much luster anymore. It's probably no longer that powerful. Maybe their guardian spirit has grown weaker," said another child from another team. But his voice came from above.
This child was very different from the other children - he had a mount on which he was now sitting cross-legged: a flood dragon.
Not long after, Lang Feng finally arrived at the group's camp and stared at the strangers with vigilance.
Before the Wolf Village's chief was captured, he had instructed Lang Feng to go to Lone Mountain Town and look for a strong warrior of a tribe. As the cultivation prodigy of his village, his possession of Wolf Fang would convince that person to return to Wolf Village, exact revenge on the perpetrators, and help reclaim their village.
Thus, when Lang Feng escaped the chaos in Wolf Village, he headed straight for where he thought Lone Mountain Town was. He had been injured by the bishop, which did not make his travels through the forest that lurked with danger easy. And now, he had stumbled upon a group of strangers.
At least they didn't seem to be Outsiders.
"Show me what you're holding in your hand," said one of the members of the group. Lang Feng looked serious and frowned unwillingly. However, they had the advantage of numbers, and his body was not strong enough to deal with them.
And from the looks of it, some of them were especially powerful.
Lang Feng also did not fail to notice the flood dragon flying above him. Honestly, that alone would have been enough to make him tremble in fear. Since they seem to know of Wolf Fang, they must be from one of the larger tribes.
Ultimately, Lang Feng had no choice but to hand over Wolf Fang. The child on the dragon dismounted and stepped forward. But instead of receiving Wolf Fang, he cracked his whip at Lang Feng's face. The left side of his face split open and blood started to drip down his face.
"Why do you look so unwilling? Are you looking down on me?"
Lang Feng was shocked by the unexpected reaction. The left side of his face seared in pain and two of his teeth had been knocked out as he spat them out with a mouthful of blood.
Hatred and anger built up inside him, but he knew that he was at a disadvantage right now. Thus, he stiffly smiled as he handed Wolf Fang to the boy.
The child held Wolf Fang and inspected it. "It's not anything good, Uncle Luo. What do you think? In my opinion, this person and his guardian spirit aren't worthy. How about we kill them and use the guardian spirit as a medicinal bath for me? The blood essence of a guardian spirit is probably better than that of a beast," said the child calmly as if killing a guardian spirit was a simple thing.
Lang Feng's head hung low, shocked once more.
Killing a guardian spirit? If they had the ability to kill a guardian spirit, it would be effortless for them to wipe him off the face of the earth. But that also meant that they could go to Stone Village, slaughter them, and indirectly help Wolf Village take revenge.
With this in mind, Lang Feng plucked up the courage to say, "Respected cultivators, you might not know of this but the guardian spirit of our village has been killed. However, there are other more powerful guardian spirits around the desolate mountain. If you want, I can show you the way."
"Oh? An even more powerful guardian spirit? What ability does it have? Tell me." Lang Feng's words piqued the child's interest.
"A lightning-stuck tree. It is still alive and has but a single low-hanging branch that is evergreen," said Lang Feng.
Afraid that that wasn't enough to arouse their interest, he added in the incident with Suan Ni too. "Some time ago, their village took all of the precious bones and blood essence of an ancient descendant, Suan Ni. I believe you are more worthy of such treasures than those villagers."
"Are you sure? Suan Ni's precious bone?"
If they found the lightning-struck tree interesting, the thought of Suan Ni's precious bone made them excited.
No matter the tribe, an ancient descendant's precious bone was always considered an unparalleled treasure. What right did a mere desolate mountain village have to obtain it?
When the other teams heard Lang Feng's words, they also secretly plotted a plan in their heads. If they used Suan Ni's precious bone to help the children temper their bodies, then their trip down the mountain wouldn't have been in vain.
"Where is this place? Hurry up, lead the way."
Lang Feng's plan was working!
Back at Stone Village, the villagers had not been out hunting recently, as instructed by the village chief. Today, they were marinating desolate beast meat they had previously obtained to prevent it from rotting.
While the adults were busy, Shi Hao's eyes had been locked on the crimson bird resting on the willow tree.
He had seen it before in the desolate mountains, but he was not sure why he was here today.
"Why are you staring at me? Be careful, or I'll peck you blind," said the crimson bird in human language.
The three Green Scaled Eagle chicks below the willow tree shivered as if they had sensed something terrifying.
And that was what woke Ye Yun. He activated his Divine Sense to check the willow tree. He had thought that the Willow Deity had awoken when he heard the voice earlier.
But the one who spoke was a crimson bird that could speak human language. Ye Yun knew that it was not an ordinary magical beast. Perhaps it was a high-level magical beast that could change its form.
Ye Yun found it interesting and kept observing the crimson bird.