Wild cultivation begins with wielding the Taiyin talisman.

Ning Che's gaze swept across the entire scene, and in an instant, he took in the entire situation.

In the open space in front of the shaman's building, Shi Yong stood with his broadsword held horizontally, the tip of the blade pointing diagonally at the ground. Blood seeped from the split wound on his hand, covering the cloth wrapped around the hilt of the sword.

Behind him lay the bear carcass, which had been mostly dismembered. Beside him stood several hunters who were still able to move, each clutching a weapon. Some looked tense, while others were angry.

And on the other side, as expected, was the trio of mountain guardians.

The man with the pointed lip rested his hand on the sword at his waist, his eyes narrowed to slits, a sinister smile playing on his lips. The fat woman stood beside him, hands on her hips, cursing, her flesh jiggling with each movement. The tall man remained silent, merely drawing his sword and confronting the hunting party.

What made Ning Che's heart sink was that behind the three of them were more than a dozen villagers, each with a look of anxiety and bewilderment on their faces, holding hoes and sickles, and shouting that they should use the Rejuvenation Talisman to save the grain.

"Shi Yong, I advise you not to push your luck!" The fat woman raised her voice even higher when she saw Ning Che and Shi Ying come out, shouting in a shrill voice:

"Now that the calamity has struck, the entire village's grain will rot in an instant, and your hunting team has lost half its men. You can't even stop the demonic beasts, yet you dare to occupy the granary and the Rejuvenation Talisman? We are the mountain guardians sent by the imperial court; these things should be our decision-makers!"

"Bullshit!" Shi Yong roared, veins bulging on his forehead, his voice silencing everyone around him. "The grain in the granary is the life-saving food that the whole village has saved bite by bite. The Rejuvenation Talisman was given by the Witch God Tower to help with disaster relief. When did it become your place to tell us what to do? In the few days you've been in the village, besides stirring up trouble, have you done anything for the village?"

"You can't just say things like that. Do you have any evidence? Are you trying to slander the officials?" the fat woman said, shaking her head and wagging her tail.

She immediately turned around, patted her chest, and stood up for the villagers who had gathered around her, looking bewildered, adopting a stance of upholding justice for the people: "A single healing talisman could have saved the grain that was about to rot in your granaries, but the village shaman is holding onto it and refusing to give it to you! Only we can uphold justice."

Ning Che pushed through the crowd and stepped into the arena. His clear voice steadily drowned out the surrounding noise: "Fellow villagers, seven days ago, the shaman Shi Ying gave them her personal magical artifact as collateral and made a three-point agreement with them, asking them to do their duty and guard the village's defenses."

But just today, our hunting brothers fought a deadly battle against a bear demon in the wilderness for the sake of feeding the entire village. Many suffered severe injuries and broken limbs, while these corrupt officials, who had taken bribes, stood by and watched without lifting a finger!

His gaze swept over the three mountain guards, whose expressions had suddenly changed. His voice rose sharply, becoming firm and resolute: "Fellow villagers, do you really believe that people who go back on their word and break their promises will genuinely save your grain and uphold justice for you?"

"I don't believe it!" Zhao Di shouted first from the crowd. Immediately, villagers who supported them joined in. The waves of voices rose higher and higher, engulfing the fat woman and turning her face a deep purplish-red.

Seeing that things were going badly, the man with the pointed beak snorted coldly and turned to leave. He rudely pushed through the crowd, but was blocked by Shi Gu.

Ishitani stood with his hands behind his back on the road, a slight smile still on his face: "Shouldn't you keep your promise?"

The man with the pointed lip gritted his teeth and said, "How are you going to fulfill your promise?"

Shi Gu glanced at them and said slowly, "Since you also know that the hunting team suffered heavy losses, but the beast tide is approaching and there can't be no one patrolling at night, the patrol duties will be assigned to you until they recover from their injuries. How about that?"

"Dream on!" the sharp-mouthed man immediately exploded, shouting angrily, "There are only three of us, and we need to rest at night. You're asking too much of us; we absolutely cannot do it!"

The fat woman chimed in with a shrill voice, "That's right! If you really push us too far, we'll report you to the city lord's mansion and say you've gathered a crowd to coerce the officials. Let's see who gets what!"

These words ignited the villagers' anger, and some were already itching to confront them. Shi Gu raised his hand to calm the restless crowd, sighed softly, as if relenting: "Fine, since you say you're short-handed, I won't force you. I can't really expect you to be responsible for patrolling the entire village."

"Then let's compromise: you'll only patrol for three days! During these three days, you don't need to venture deep into the countryside; just guard the main road at the village entrance. Once the hunting team members are able to get up, they can take over immediately. If you still hesitate after this, it's clear you're going back on your word. In front of the whole village, gentlemen, think it over."

The man with the pointed lip showed a complex expression in his eyes, and finally nodded, saying, "Then let's do it this way!"

His tone was harsh, but Ishigani didn't take offense and smiled as he made way for him.

As the crowd gradually dispersed, familiar villagers passing by would bow to Ning Che and Shi Yong. Clearly, after making the matter clear to the villagers, they had already formed their own judgment.

The hunters dragged their weary bodies back home. Shi Yong, busy distributing meat to the villagers, laughed loudly, "Xing boy, you're amazing! You solved it with just a few words."

Ning Che shook his head and said, "It's nothing special. I just told the villagers the truth. Justice resides in the hearts of the people. Everyone can see what we did and what the mountain guardians didn't do."

"Justice resides in the hearts of the people..." Shi Yong murmured, repeating the phrase as if he had come to some understanding.

Ning Che took a breath, wrapped his left hand with burlap, and looked around. He saw Zhao Di withdrawing her gaze from him and about to leave with the sparse crowd.

Ning Che walked straight over, smiling and thanking him, "Thanks a lot just now!"

"No, I don't think so." Zhao Di lowered her head again and said, "You're right. Even if... even without me, everyone would still believe it."

Ning Che noticed that she always looked down when she spoke, so he squatted down and looked up, only to find that her cheeks were a little red.

Zhao Di was caught off guard by Ning Che's sudden squatting down. Her heart tightened, and she tried to back away. Ning Che quickly reached out to pull her up, but forgot that he was still injured and gasped in pain.

"Your hand..." Zhao Di rushed back anxiously, raising her hand to touch him, but afraid of hurting him, her fingertips hovered in mid-air. She spoke quickly, "How did you get hurt like this? Is it because of that bear demon? I'll go find you some medicine?"

"No need, I've already been here." Ning Che paused for a moment, straightened up, and changed the subject: "Why are you here? Did your family let you go out?"

She shook the box in her hand and said, "My mom heard that we were going to divide up the bear demon meat, so she called me here. She also told me to play the victim and get a bigger share so I could take it back to Jia Dong to help him recover."

Ning Che suppressed his smile and fell silent for a moment. He knew that Jia Dong was Zhao Di's younger brother.