Wild cultivation begins with wielding the Taiyin talisman.

Shi Yong stared in disbelief, his eyes wide, and asked, "You agreed without even knowing what he wanted?"

"A verbal agreement," Ning Che explained. "This is just a delaying tactic; we can't exactly fight them to the death right now."

Mancang also came over, looking completely bewildered, and asked, "So what do we do now?"

Shi Ying and Cheng Cai also came over, while Shi Gu stood behind, watching from a distance, seemingly not intending to say anything. Cheng Cai asked directly, "What's going on? Why are you fighting with the mountain guards?"

Shi Yong looked dejected, shook his head and sighed, "Ah—it's a long story. Let's go inside and talk." With that, he led Ning Che and the others towards the main house in the courtyard, then turned to Shi Gu, "Old village chief, would you like to listen too?"

Ishigani nodded and followed him inside, leaving the other members of the hunting team outside.

The room was spacious, with a rectangular, open floor. There was a weapons rack on the left, several boxes on the right, and a long table and matching chairs in the middle, nothing else.

Shi Yong pulled out a chair and sat down, leaning against the table with a bitter look on his face, as if he were facing imminent disaster. Man Cang sat down next to him and beckoned Ning Che to join him.

Ning Che nodded, waited a moment, and after seeing that Shi Gu, Shi Ying and Cheng Cai had all taken their seats, he sat down next to Man Cang.

Without wasting any words, Shi Yong directly recounted the whole story.

It turned out that the mountain guardian had come under a pretext to extort money. Coincidentally, during the exchange of supplies, they learned that Stone Pillar Village only had one Rejuvenation Talisman left. Using this as an excuse, they immediately made an outrageous demand, actually asking Stone Pillar Village to find them a demon bone.

These demon bones are not simply the bones of demonic beasts, but extraordinary materials that can only be created by certain demonic beasts through years of repeated tempering.

It is an excellent raw material for cultivators to forge weapons and refine magical artifacts. It is known as one of the three great spiritual materials along with Xuan Stone and Wu Iron. Not only is it extremely rare, but obtaining it also involves great risks.

After all, demonic beasts temper their demonic bones not to benefit human cultivators, but because these bones are their means of survival and a powerful weapon for fighting strong enemies.

Not to mention that among the three cultivators from Stone Pillar Village, only Shi Ying brought a magical artifact made from a demon bone from the Shi family. Even if there really were demon bones, they wouldn't have enough for themselves, so how could they just hand them over to him?

Upon hearing this, everyone reacted in different ways. Shi Ying was the first to speak: "This is too much! If you want to fight, then fight!"

Ning Che glanced sideways, never expecting that this usually aloof shaman had such a fiery temper.

Cheng Cai's face was tense: "Absolutely not, absolutely not! Those are the people of the Three Officials! Our little village only has three cultivators, how can we be their match? Even if we manage to defeat these three by chance, once the mountain guardian sends even stronger cultivators, our entire village will be doomed!"

Shi Ying's face darkened, and she snapped, "Do you think you can get away with this by backing down now?"

"Otherwise what?" Cheng Cai stamped his feet anxiously, his eyebrows furrowed. "Stone Shaman, how can you be so clueless! If we take a step back, we can pool some money and talismans, humbly admit our mistake, and smooth things over. There's still room for maneuver."

"If we really break ties with them, we'll be going against the mountain guardians and the Great Xia! Our ancestors have been rooted in Shizhu Village for generations. Are we really going to let the entire village die just for the sake of a grievance?"

Shi Ying retorted, "Would cutting off one's own flesh to feed a wolf drive away the pack?"

"Alright." Ishigani's aged yet powerful voice rang out, ending the argument. He looked at Ning Che: "Xing, what are your thoughts?"

All eyes turned to Ning Che, who hadn't expected to be called on. After a moment's thought, he spoke, "I think that sacrificing one's own flesh to feed the wolves is unacceptable, and so is throwing an egg against a rock. We need to find a way to resolve this without confronting the mountain guardians."

Cheng Cai retorted, dissatisfied, "Isn't that obvious?"

Ishitani slammed his fist on the table: "Shut up!"

Cheng Cai was startled and immediately shrank back, not daring to speak.

Shi Gu then looked at Ning Che and pressed, "Have you found a solution?"

Ning Che was unprepared, but he was somewhat confident in his ability to adapt to changing circumstances. No matter how unfamiliar the environment or how dangerous the situation, he could quickly formulate or modify his battle plan, and this time was no exception.

"I have an idea, but I don't know if it will work out," he replied.

"Why don't you tell me?"

Ning Che didn't directly state his plan, but instead asked, "I heard from a mountain guardian that during the desolate wilderness, when natural disasters and beast tides occur, a person lost is simply considered to have been devoured by monsters. Even the bones are difficult to recover. Is that believable?"

Shi Gu nodded, and Shi Ying further explained, "If it were you or me, we could say that's true. As for the mountain guardian, it depends on whether a powerful cultivator is willing to come looking for him. There are spells that can detect subtle traces, and spells that can deduce past events."

Trace evidence and surveillance... Ning Che pondered. The magic of this world is still too mysterious and cannot be judged by the standards of ancient feudal society.

He paused, then asked, "What if demons were really involved, or even if demons killed them?"

Shi Ying also fell into deep thought: "Then even if powerful beings use these spells, it will be difficult to find the truth. But how can we let demons kill them?"

"Leave it to me." Ning Che looked at Shi Ying: "I have a way."

Shi Ying and Ning Che exchanged a glance, and recalling the Taiyin Daoist Manual, she immediately understood that Ning Che must have mastered the relevant magic. She nodded, "Okay, I believe you."

"Xing, don't do anything stupid!" Shi Yong was a little nervous when he heard this and immediately stopped him, probably thinking that Ning Che was going to do something like "using himself as bait".

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Ning Che reassured him while considering whether he should find a time to talk to Uncle Shi Yong about the situation.

In his view, Zhao Di, Shi Ying, Shi Yong, and Man Cang were all comrades-in-arms on his side. Comrades-in-arms know each other's strengths and weaknesses, which allows for better cooperation in crucial moments. Blindly concealing information would only weaken the overall fighting capacity and would be a sign of falling into individual heroism.

Shi Yong wanted to say something more, but Shi Gu interrupted him: "Then let's do it this way."

……

The group reached a preliminary consensus and began to formulate a more detailed plan.

Looking at his brother who was talking so confidently beside him, Man Cang felt a sense of unfamiliarity for the first time. He didn't know if it was because he hadn't been with his brother for so long since he joined the hunting team, and they had become estranged; or if his brother was now too good, and he could no longer keep up with him.

He realized that he could no longer help Ning Che with anything, and he couldn't get a word in edgewise when Ning Che was talking.

He felt a tightness in his chest, and sadly apologized and left. Cheng Cai followed him out.

Outside the door, the other members of the hunting team were doing their daily drills, and Xiao Hu stood on the edge, imitating them. In the corner, Zhao Di stood upright, staring blankly in the direction of the main house.

Sparrows climb onto the eaves, and wild geese fly in the clear sky.