"Father!" Pi Hou burst into tears and rushed from the village. He threw himself forward, holding onto one of Shi Shoushan's arms. Tears streamed down his face as he cried, "What happened to you? Who hurt you like this?"
His mother also came running, her eyes filled with tears. She grabbed one of Shi Shoushan's hands and stayed by his side, weeping softly.
"Why are you crying? It's just an arrow wound. During normal hunts, I often get injured by fierce beasts. This little blood is nothing!" Shi Shoushan glared, not allowing them to cry. He was a very tough man.
His upper body was covered in blood. An iron arrow had pierced through his protective steel armor, penetrating his right lung and emerging from his back. The one-meter-three-long arrow shaft had a cold metallic luster, stained with blood, a horrifying sight.
"Big sister-in-law and eldest nephew, don't cry. Brother Shoushan is not in danger of his life. With some rest and recovery, he'll be as strong as a wild ox and will get better soon." Shi Feijiao consoled.
This injury was indeed serious. Even though Shi Shoushan was physically strong, he couldn't be careless. Otherwise, he might suffer from serious underlying conditions, remaining weak and prone to asthma for life.
Fortunately, Shi Linhu and the others had temporarily treated his wound, crushing old medicine from the mountains and applying it on the wound. At the same time, they fed him medicinal powder concocted by several elders using genuine blood from fierce beasts and other ingredients.
"Don't cry. It's good to be alive and back." Village Chief Shi Yunfeng came forward and forcefully pulled out the iron arrow. Immediately, a stream of blood gushed out from the wound. He moved swiftly, and a flash of light appeared in his palm. Runes shone like stars and were quickly pressed down. The bleeding promptly stopped and the wound closed.
Shi Yunfeng took out a jade jar from his bosom, poured out two purple pills with a refreshing fragrance, crushed one and smeared it on the wound, and had him swallow the other.
Shi Shoushan was carried back home. A large group of men, women, old and young from the village came to visit, bringing all kinds of old medicine and dried meat to nourish his body. It was very lively. The villagers were simple and kind-hearted.
"Uncle will definitely get better soon!" The little one also offered his regards, bringing a basket of his favorite red berries.
"What exactly happened?" In the courtyard of the village chief, a group of important figures gathered. Shi Yunfeng frowned and asked.
"Village chief, it was indeed the people from the Village of Jackals who caused trouble. They crossed the boundary into our territory, snatched the six-legged camel that Shoushan shot and killed, and even resorted to lethal force. If Shoushan hadn't dodged in time, it would have been a fatal arrow through the heart." Shi Linhu said with hatred.
Everyone's expressions changed upon hearing this. This was a fatal attack.
"How could they be so ruthless? They really have no rules. Although the two villages are dozens of miles apart, each guarding their own area and rarely seeing each other, after all, we all live in this mountain range. We should still show some kindness. It wasn't like this before." An elder of the clan sighed.
Shi Feijiao said, "The one who attacked was a youngster, about fourteen or fifteen years old. He had a good appearance, fair and handsome. But his heart was truly malicious. He shot an arrow at Shoushan as if killing a wild beast. There was not the slightest ripple in his eyes. He was terrifyingly cold."
The people of Shicun were immediately enraged and rushed forward together. But the other side was not at all weak either. Dozens of people quickly gathered, very tough and confrontational.
If it weren't for a suanni deep in the mountains going wild, roaring and shaking the mountains, causing rocks to roll down, both sides were worried and quickly retreated. Otherwise, there might have been a serious bloody conflict.
"Why are they so aggressive? Do they think they are so powerful that they can ignore our feelings? How else could they be so bullying?!" Several elders of the clan were also somewhat angry. Living in the mountains, strong young and middle-aged men were very important for a village. The other side was so unscrupulous, killing without hesitation.
Someone added, "That youngster is not simple. The feeling he gives is very bad. Looking at him is like facing an adult pi xiu. Strong, vicious and cold."
"So the Village of Jackals has produced an extraordinary youngster. It seems this clan has become much stronger and is now at its peak, and their ambitions have grown." Village Chief whispered, squinting his eyes towards the direction of the Village of Jackals.
Then, he turned to Shi Linhu and the others and said, "We don't cause trouble, but we are not afraid of it either. Be on guard carefully in the future. If they go too far, don't hesitate to act!"
"I understand." Shi Linhu nodded.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. The people from the Village of Jackals often crossed the boundary. They even dug many traps in this area. People from Shicun accidentally fell into them and were almost pierced by sharp iron spears at the bottom of the traps.
This almost led to a bloody battle, but at the last moment, the people from the Village of Jackals retreated.
"Why are they hunting fierce beasts so frantically? Even if their population has increased sharply, they shouldn't do this. Something must have happened in their village." Village Chief Shi Yunfeng made an inference.
After several conflicts, the people from the Village of Jackals restrained themselves a lot. But the people of Shicun were not at ease. They sent people to sneak over at night and from afar, they heard intermittent roars from the village, which were very astonishing.
"Don't worry about it for now. As long as they don't go too far, it's better not to engage in a bloody battle. Life in this mountain range is not easy for any of us." An elder of the clan said.
Just like that, everything returned to tranquility.
A few days later, Shicun had good luck in hunting. They found a lot of carcasses left behind after a rampage of fierce beasts in the mountains. There were powerful strange beasts fighting, affecting dozens of miles of forest and causing many beasts to suffer.
From time to time, ancient remnants deep in the mountains clash and fight each other, which can trigger terrifying disasters. This was the case this time. Fortunately, it did not affect the village.
"Village chief, there are eight dead dragon-horned elephants alone. There are also several snow-white moon rhinos and many other huge beasts. If made into dried meat, it would be enough for our village to eat for a long time."
Shi Linhu led people to drag back some of them and gathered more hands to transport the fierce beasts.
"Good, good, good!" The elders of the clan were all very happy.
Many villagers set out to go to the mountains to meet them.
"Roar, so many huge beasts. Let's go too. We will definitely collect a lot of genuine blood!" A group of children shouted excitedly.
In recent years, seeing the little one's skills growing stronger and stronger, a group of children couldn't sit still anymore. They no longer resisted the medicinal baths and cooperated very well during each bath in the copper tripod. Now knowing that a large amount of precious precious blood was coming, they were naturally very excited.
"I'm going too. Dapeng, Xiaoqing, Zixun, wait for me in the village. Be good." The little one, Shi Hao, also wanted to follow.
However, before the large group of men, women, old and young had even reached halfway, they saw Shi Feijiao covered in blood, leading a group of villagers fleeing back. His hair was disheveled and he looked very tragic.
"Feijiao, what happened?" Shi Linhu shouted loudly.
"Brother Hu, it's the Village of Jackals again. They ambushed us and snatched all the remaining prey!" Shi Feijiao gritted his teeth.
"What? This is truly bullying too much. We have tolerated them again and again. Have they taken our good nature as weakness?!" Shi Linhu roared.
The people of Shicun were not willing to take this anymore. Time and again, the people from the Village of Jackals had been overbearing. This was not the first time they had attacked.
"Did any brothers lose their lives?"
"No, but several were seriously injured. Their spleens and other organs were pierced by iron arrows. I don't know if there will be any underlying problems."
"What? They were so ruthless. Let's fight them!"
The villagers were immediately enraged. Being bullied repeatedly, even a clay figure would have some anger.
"That fourteen or fifteen-year-old youngster was truly malicious. Those few arrows were all shot by him. If an elder from their village hadn't shaken his head, he would definitely have killed many of us." The father of Er Meng, covered in blood, said.
"Just a youngster who hasn't even grown all his hair. How powerful could he be? Could it be that you were bullied by him?" A lame man from the village who came to meet them was dissatisfied.
"Of course we weren't afraid. It's just that they had many more people, several times our number."
"That youngster is very powerful. Looking fair and handsome, but with a malicious heart. Don't be careless. Several brothers had three layers of fine steel thick armor on their chests, and all were pierced through. Only me and Brother Hu in the village can do that." Shi Feijiao added.
"Get back our prey. We definitely can't swallow this anger!" Every villager was boiling with anger, their internal organs feeling like they were being fried in oil, extremely furious.
A group of people marched in a mighty force, charging deep into the forest. This time, the people from the Village of Jackals had gone too far, exceeding the limit that they could tolerate.
"Uncle Fu, you were also injured. You will definitely be okay and get better soon." The little one looked at Shi Fu, who was covered in blood and often picked berries for him on normal days. He clenched his small fist, comforted him, and then chased after the large group of people in front.