Chapter 78
Crisis
During the night, the medicinal cauldron shined and rumbled. Soon after, the sounds of a sacrificial ceremony began to resonate. On top of the cauldron, many realistic images of divine birds and strange beasts appeared as if they charged out of the cauldron walls.
Hairy Ball was anxious as he used one little claw to cover his own large eyes. It extremely unwillingly bit into his other little claw to release two drops of its golden blood into the cauldron.
Then…as if it had broken an arm, it wretchedly screamed as if it had killed chickens and slaughter ducks before escaping back to the little guy’s shoulder. It covered one eye and peeked with the other.
The group of people could not refrain from smiling. This fist sized golden sphere was too very weird and lively, provoking their laughter.
The medicinal cauldron shined even brighter, and became even more mysterious. After it began to refine this precious medicine, it emitted a rich fragrance, and multi-colored light radiated everywhere. Thousands of ribbons of various colors were extremely magnificent and mysterious as they revealed their light.
“Qingfeng, don’t be nervous. Connecting your broken tendons will certainly be successful. With these precious medicine here, I guarantee that your bones will regenerate.” The little guy consoled.
This process was very painful. The scar on Qingfeng’s foot was peeled off once again, and it began to bleed. He cried out loudly in pain as tears continuously tumbled down, but he did not struggle when Shi Feijiao applied the precious medicine on it.
“Your muscles and bones have already been aligned. After applying this rare precious medicine on it, it will heal for sure. Don’t worry about it!” The elder consoled.
No one else touched this cauldron of medicine, and they left it completely for Qingfeng. After some of it had been applied onto his foot, he also consumed a lot of it. After a few days, his foot began to itch as his muscles and bones regenerated and connected together.
“Truly worthy of being the blood of a Zhuyan!” Some elders gasped in surprise.
In just a few days work, the broken muscles and bones on Qingfeng’s foot connected again. After raising it for a while, it will inevitably heal and be completely fine.
Everyone exposed an astonished gaze as they looked towards Hairy Ball.
It suddenly began to miserably shriek and roll within the little guy’s shoulders. Finally, it extended a little claw as it gestured and waved with all its might. What it meant was ‘yes, but in the future don’t look towards me for these things. I won’t do it even if you killed me.”
Apart from precious medicine, the little guy used symbols to treat him everyday as well. After half a month, Qingfeng recovered, and all of his muscles and bones rapidly healed.
“Precious medicines are so powerful! They possess such divine medicinal effects, making it heal so quickly!” Everyone was astonished, but they did not know that the True Primordial Record that the little guy practiced in was also extremely effective.
In the following few days, there was one more little figure by the lake shore that cultivated together with the children. Everyone shockingly discovered that aside from being feeble bodied, he unexpectedly understood the Bone Text. Although he was not as refined as the little guy, he was still very strong. In the words of the elders, he was a genius who was only being held back by his body.
After a few days of self-healing, Qingfeng gradually got better. His pale little face became rosy again, and his blood began to flow through his body nicely. He started to run wildly with the children of Stone Village, and his physique no longer inhibited his actions.
For the following few days, the little guy left early and returned late. He intensively studied the True Primordial Record by himself deep in the mountains, and he fought against the vicious beasts from time to time to test the stuff he comprehended.
The name of the next realm was ‘Heavenly Passage’. For a cultivator, it was extremely important. The more profound knowledge accumulated in the Blood Transformation realm, the more explosive and terrifying the force in this realm would be.
The little guy was constantly accumulating knowledge, hoping that he would charge into the heavens in this realm and astonish others with his performance.
During the evening, the sunset glow seemed like blood as it dyed the skies in scarlet. Burning clouds bubbled and surged as streaks of gold embedded their borders, and even Stone Village seemed to be enveloped within this shroud of mysterious luster.
Er Meng shouted and cried to attract the attention of the villagers. They only saw him saddled up on a unicorn as it madly galloping. Its speed was too fast, making his face turn white, and he was afraid of coming down.
“It’s not Little White that the little guy tamed, it’s another unicorn. Er Meng, this child has truly increased his abilities and unexpectedly wanted to make this precious mount yield!” A group of adults gasped in surprise since even they could not accomplish this.
After hearing these words, Er Meng almost began to cry. As the back of the unicorn flickering with a silver light, he said with a sobbing voice, “Who wants to make it yield? When I was feeding Little White berries, it came close and wanted to eat as well. It wasn’t scared of me, and in the end…my heart kept itching so I sat on top of it. However afterwards, it went crazy!”
When the villagers heard, they all bursted into laughter.
In the recent days, Little White returned to the unicorn herd and was not restricted when it wanted to enter and leave the village. The villagers also fed it berries from time to time, and this made that herd of unicorns’ wariness decrease a lot. Sometimes, one or two of them wanted to come close and eat some as well.
It was just like what the little guy said. Gradually, this herd of unicorns will accept the villagers and will become their precious mounts.
“Er Meng, put some more effort into it. It didn’t attack you, which means it still has some goodwill towards you. Don’t fall down and lose face, just keep holding on.” Shi Linghu yelled.
Just like this, the unicorn circled the large lake over ten times, but it still was not tired. Er Meng almost vomited as if he was riding on clouds and fog.
In the end, the unicorn stopped. It stood upright and threw him onto the ground, then it naturally jogged back slowly into the herd.
“This is good. This unicorn is obviously amusingly playing with the children. It will be part of our Stone Village sooner or later.” Chief Shi Yunfeng laughed as he gazed from the side.
As far as the elders were concerned, they had a rough time breathing. They wished that they could obtain the precious mounts immediately.
Sure enough, in the next few days, the unicorns relaxed even more and began to become increasingly intimate with the children. They allowed the children to climb onto their backs and carried them while galloping around the lake shore.
This made the robust adult males envious, but they have no other ways. They looked very large, so it was not easy for them to gain the unicorns’ trust. Thus, the unicorns were still quite vigilant towards them.
A group of elders all began to laugh. Stone Village was genuinely getting stronger and stronger. Soon, they would inevitably subdue over ten unicorns, and even thinking about it is making them smile.
This type of lively animal was very hard to capture. Let alone a village, even a powerful tribe would have a hard time capturing a few, but soon, they will have over ten!
Half a month later, the group of children clamored and shouted as over ten of them rode on the backs of the unicorns. They could handle them on the condition that they delivered large amounts of berries and raised them well.
“Haha, very good. Little guy, how about we race a bit? Let’s see whose unicorn runs faster.” Pi Hou and the others winked with a cocky expression.
“I still want to go cultivate,” the little guy said.
“Just come. Cultivating everyday is so boring. Let’s go relax and hunt for some vicious beasts in the mountains along the way. Isn’t that still cultivation? We can return at night and barbeque some delicious stuff. How good is that?” The group of children instigated.
“That’s fine then.” The little guy thought for a bit then nodded.
The adults’ eyes were red once again. They still hadn’t rode on any unicorns, yet the little brats had already rode on them. Many of them already had their own precious mounts.
“Dazhuang, once you come back, quickly tame one for me and let your father ride it for two days. Otherwise, once you return, I’ll strip you skin off.” Shi Dazhuang’s father angrily said.
At the side, Shi Linghu also shouted, “Huzi, did you hear that. You also have to tame one as soon as possible. Don’t just care about being cocky yourself. If you don’t let me ride it, I’ll clean you up when you get back.”
“Haha…”A group of people burst out into laughter. The elders’ eyes were all red because this truly made them speechless.
The elders were unable to contain their happiness. The best circumstances that they could have imagined were gradually emerging, Stone Village was restoring its strength again, and perhaps the day when they could really recreate their former glory was not too far off.
The villagers were at ease. The little guy had already crashed his way through 300,000 li of the great wasteland. With him following closely behind, there shouldn’t be many dangers they couldn’t face.
“We’re going!” Er Meng shouted and charged out first.
“Slow down, wait for me.” The nasally kid was last as he wiped his mucus and chased. Even he had obtained a unicorn’s consent, which made the group of larger children who were temporarily without a mount speechless.
The silver hooves of over ten unicorns rampaged like divine holy arrows as they left their line of sight. They drew out streaks of silver light as they entered into the mountain range.
“Little guy, let’s compare a bit.” Pi Hou started being cocky again.
“Your unicorns cannot match Little White,” said the little guy. Originally, Little White was already the strongest unicorn when he had selected it, and it even consumed the egg of the Rainbow Peacock and drank the Zhuyan’s blood to become healthier. Rays of silver light circulated all over its body, and it was an extremely spirited horse.
The unicorns ran especially quickly, and as the group of children shouted and fussed, they had already charged over 100 li away. As expected, Little White lead by a wide margin and waited from way ahead.
“Let’s go hunting. We should show off our strength a bit too,” Huzi suggested.
Xiu Xiu…
Iron arrows streaked past the forest, arousing a large amount of beasts into shouting. After a short moment, the children who rode on the unicorns became startled, as they met a large fellow they were incapable of defeating.
It was as strong as the little guy, and even he was urging Little White to madly escape. Behind them was a spiny beast whose entire body was black, and as it charged out, the incomparably sharp spines on its body reached into the heavens and flicked in black light.
This spiny beast had the head of a Flood Dragon and the body of a hedgehog. It had an alligator’s tail, and its body was an enormous seventy to eighty meters long. It opened its mouth to spout of fire, and immediately melted an entire mountain, causing magma to tumble and roll.
The children’s faces turned green on the spot. They urged their horses to dash madly, and did not dare to be cocky ever again.
The little guy was at the rear, and he took care of the nasally kid and the others. Fortunately, the spiny beast wasn’t very fast, and they shook it off after a short period of time.
“My mom1, that was terrifying. When I rode the unicorn outside the village, I thought that I had become a great hero. Right now, it looks like I’m still a little bear who needs a lot more training.”
After escaping over several hundred li away, they stopped. They panted loudly as they still had lingering fear within their hearts.
“Little guy you’re truly something. Such a terrifying mountain range like this and you traversed over 300,000 li of it. That’s truly terrifying!”
They only rode out several hundred li, but they already encountered such a creature. If they were even a bit slower, they would have been swallowed or skinned alive, dying tragic deaths.
“This is nothing. When little elder brother protected me while returning, we saw a ferocious beast as large as a huge mountain that crumbled a mountain with a swipe of its claws.” Qingfeng said.
The children were speechless, and they were in constant admiration.
“Not enough, I have to train bitterly. I have to obtain perfection in the Bone Text and become an expert earlier.” Pi Hou vowed.
Dazhuang, Er Meng, Huzi, nasally kid and the others all nodded. This brief thrilling moment made them realize the importance of power, and they had to exert themselves to struggle and survive.
“Where are we going right now? We’re about six or seven hundred li away from the village. Yi, there’s chimney smoke coming from the mountains there.” Er Meng pointed ahead.
Huzi rolled his eyes and said, “Is your house’s chimney that thick and violent? And is it visible from a mountain away? That’s a fire, let’s go and take a look.”
Over ten unicorns rushed into the mountains ahead like a silver whirlwind. They peered down through the branches of ancient trees, and were immediately shocked.
“That village looks like it could contain over 200 families, but now there’s a house that had been set aflame. The blaze charged into the heavens as black smoke surged.
There weren’t any cries for help from within the village. Apart from the raging flames and thick smoke, it was lifeless.
“Look quickly!” Dazhuang pointed into the distance.
On the flat horizon, there was an enormous figure in the distance, and there were several people riding on fierce beasts. Their hands were holding sharp blades stained with blood as they retreated. Even while separated by such a huge distance, they could sense the thick and evil aura.
“What kind of people are they? Did they destroyed this village?” Dazhuang and the others were shocked as they felt a chill in the air.
The little guy did not say a single word as he stared at that enormous figure. It was a vicious beast that had flickering symbols on the surface of its body, and it was currently being worshiped by the surrounding group of people. He felt that it was highly likely that it was a Guardian Spirit.
Only when that vicious beast and that group of people disappeared did the children begin looking at each other.
“Let’s go down and take a look.”
They rode on their unicorns and charged downwards. Just as they arrived at the village, they smelt the stench of blood piercing their nostrils. They walked forward and what their eyes saw was an appalling sight.
Corpses were laid atop each other in a pile of blood. There were old and gray haired elders whose heads have been chopped off and thrown onto the side of the road, and there were children in the early stages of infancy that were killed and beheaded along with their mothers.
“Too malicious. They did not even let the elderly and children go.”
When the children saw this wretched sense, they shivered all over as they were overcome by extreme anger; how could these people be so inhumane? Why did those people so maliciously murder even the weak women, children and elders who had no way of resisting?
Some of the children’s eyes turned red, and they could not help but weep.
“What kind of people were these? How could they do such a thing?”
The large fire burnt on, and all the buildings were set ablaze. A fierce resistance had occurred in the eastern part of the village, and that was where a group of able-bodied men fought. However, they all became corpses and died wretched deaths, and even their weapons were snapped and broken.
“Ya, this is the village’s Guardian Spirit. It’s been killed.” A child astonishingly said.
In the center of the village, there was an altar with a huge beast that looked like a lion with eight legs. Furthermore, it also had a pair of black ox horns on it. Its body was bloodied as it fell beside the altar, and half of its body had been bitten clean. Even the primitive precious bones within its body had disappeared.
“That vicious beast that just left ate half of its body.” The children were scared since even a Guardian Spirit unexpectedly became food.
Flames rushed into the heavens within this village, and even the streets were roasted. The unicorns were a bit fidgety, and did not wish to stay here any longer.
Suddenly, a feeble groan of a old and gray haired elder echoed through. His belly had been split open as his blood and intestines spilt onto the floor. However, to one’s surprise, he was still breathing.
“Old grandpa!”
The children jumped off their unicorns and quickly squatted down to checked on his injuries. However, they were immediately startled, because with such fatal injuries, he had no way of living.
“Such hatred… That group of people were too merciless… They did not even let children who several months old go as they massacred everyone in our village.” The old man grievingly cried.
Not far away, several children were thrown dead on the ground. Such cruelty was difficult to look at, and it made people’s hair stand up.
“Who are they? Why did they do this?” Huzi asked.
“They’re a group of vicious bandits who suddenly appeared. They came here once and demanded for our black gold. The deadline had been reached, so we had to hand things over. However in the end, they massacred our entire village, including our Guardian Spirit,” replied the elder while crying. He was already so old, but his gray hair was sticky with blood, and his tears making people feel sad and angry.
“Wuwu, hatred…” These were the old man’s last words, and his life immediately reached its end. A single tear hung on his face, and as it dropped down, he no longer moved.
In the end, the children left and headed back. The flames gradually diminished, and the entire village was turned into an area of scorched black ruins.
Their moods were incredibly gloomy, and they were no longer in the mood for any hunting. They rode their unicorns to quickly return to Stone Village as they relayed this information to the adults.
“Could it be those people… A crisis is coming.” A village elder coughed as he put his hands on his chest. He thought back to the matter during those years when a group of their men wandered the world together, yet only one escaped with their life in the end.
“Grandpa chief, who are they? What are they here for?” The little guy asked.
“They’re a group of terrifying people, who came for the sake of…searching for a Supreme God’s treasure.” The elder sighed with his face full of worry as he gazed into the distant earth.