Wild cultivation begins with wielding the Taiyin talisman.

Seeing that Shi Gu was determined, Ning Che no longer hesitated and revealed all his speculations about the "mastermind" hiding in the shadows over the past few days.

Upon hearing this, Shi Gu's expression turned solemn, but he was not surprised. He said in a deep voice, "Shi Yong and I have already thought of this, but the biggest problem now is that we don't even have enough manpower to protect ourselves."

He paused, his voice lower, filled with unspeakable pain: "Last night, the forest was almost completely wiped out, and the monsters have already invaded the village. If it weren't for the villagers' united efforts, I might not be able to see you today."

Three more have fallen in the wasteland, plus seven more seriously wounded and lying in the ground. Now, in the entire village, including this old man, there are only eleven people left who can still fight with knives and guns.”

Eleven people—this isn't just a matter of being strapped for cash; they're practically on their last legs.

The absolute gap in hard power cannot be bridged by any tactic. Even Ning Che was at a loss for what to do in this desperate situation.

The room fell silent again, with only the flickering flame of the oil lamp casting two shadows that swayed and danced on the mottled earthen wall, like two candles about to be blown out in the wind.

Ning Che closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, having suppressed his hesitation. He looked at the map and said, "Even if we pull all the able-bodied men in the village onto the defensive line, we'll still lose people during the next beast tide, until everyone is wiped out."

"In that case, the only option is a counterattack. Our only way to survive is to find the demonic entity orchestrating this and kill it first. Once it's dead, the beast tide will naturally collapse, and the scattered beasts, broken up into smaller groups, will become our food source."

"Do you have a solution?" Ishigani asked.

"Not quite," Ning Che said honestly. "It's just a direction. I believe that only by acting in this direction can we have a glimmer of hope."

As he spoke, he pointed to the densely packed crosses on the map and said in a deep voice, "These are the villagers who died in battle, right? That thing has been hiding in the shadows watching us all along. We have been passively defending ourselves every time. We are just pawns on the chessboard, manipulated at will. No matter how steadily we play, we can't hurt the player behind us in the slightest."

"The only way is to take the initiative."

A cold glint flashed in Ning Che's eyes, and his words carried the sharpness of a sword: "Only by putting a knife to its neck will we have a chance to break this deadlock!"

Shi Gu fell silent again. He knew Ning Che was telling the truth. But he had to consider whether this would be a futile attempt to defeat Ning Che.

"What makes you think we can kill it?" Shi Gu finally spoke: "Last night it commanded over a thousand beasts and seven demons, all with cultivation levels of at least eighth rank. Even if we all joined together, we might not be able to defeat it alone. Moreover, given its abilities, it probably wasn't alone."

Ning Che countered, "Can a seventh-grade demon beast surpass a human in intelligence?"

Shi Gu thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Ordinary demonic beasts, even if they cultivate to the seventh rank, are not as intelligent as normal humans. However, I haven't seen many demons, so perhaps this is an exception."

"Our greatest advantage is our intelligence," Ning Che explained. "Moreover, as the strongest among these demons, it shouldn't have remained completely hidden. Especially last night, if an eighth-grade demon beast had joined the fight, we wouldn't have been able to hold out."

Upon hearing this, Shi Gu's eyes lit up, and he seemed to have become several years younger: "That's right, please continue."

Ning Che's eyes shone brightly, as if he had seen the truth: "I think this demon that has been hiding behind the scenes might only be able to stay behind the scenes. It understands that it has a fatal flaw, that it could be killed by us ninth-rank cultivators. So, even though it had already stormed into the village last night and almost devoured us, it still didn't make a move."

"Good, good, that's how it should be!" Shi Gu suddenly stood up, his spirits lifted again: "Your plan hit this beast right where it hurts! I'll go get Shi Yong right now, you wait here for a moment—if you haven't eaten anything, there are some freshly made jerky in my bedroom, go get it yourself."

After saying that, Shi Gu left in a hurry.

The main room fell silent again, with only the oil lamp flame still flickering tirelessly, making the dense crosses on the wooden map even more glaring.

Ning Che stood still and did not go to the bedroom to find dried meat as Shi Gu had instructed.

He slowly closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and began to gather his lung-golden sword energy. The enemy was in the shadows while he was in the light; the situation was fraught with danger. He had to seize every opening and grasp every opportunity to improve his strength. Moreover, he wouldn't feel at ease without accumulating a powerful trump card.

Not long after, the door opened slightly, and Shi Gu entered with Shi Yong. Ning Che also finished his practice and went over. The three of them sat down and discussed their next plan.

Shi Yong's left arm was still stained with fresh blood from the bandage, his eyes filled with urgency as he stared intently at Ning Che: "The village chief told me everything! Kid Xing, do you really have a way to kill that beast behind the scenes? If it works, I'll risk my life to be your vanguard!"

"Uncle Shi Yong, don't rush," Ning Che stopped him. "Right now, we only have a general direction, so we can't make any detailed plans, and we certainly can't just leave on a whim."

He pointed his finger at the blurry outline of the wasteland on the map and said in a deep voice, "Our current understanding of this monster is all guesswork. Where exactly is it hiding? In the wasteland, in the forest, or in the mountains to the south? What is its fatal weakness? Is it seriously injured, unable to leave its lair, or has some other concern? How many guards does it have, and how are the beasts distributed in the wasteland? We know none of these things."

Ning Che looked up at the two men and said seriously, "An operation without intelligence is a gamble with our lives. We only have these eleven able-bodied men left, and we can't afford to gamble. If we lose what little strength we have left, the village will truly be finished."

Shi Yong was stunned for a moment, then he understood and said with an awkward laugh, "I'm not fully awake yet, just pretend I was talking in my sleep."

Shi Gu looked at Ning Che, gesturing for him to continue: "You already have a plan in mind, right? Just tell me what to do now."

Ning Che didn't mince words: "We need to do two things at the same time. One is to gather intelligence. We must first have a general understanding of the demon behind the scenes before we can talk about beheading him."

Secondly, the village needs to train as many able-bodied men as possible, ensuring they can at least use a knife. This isn't just for defense against the beast tide; afterwards, there will be plenty of hides suitable for making leather armor, and the village needs to replenish its manpower.

Ning Che continued, "Then, it's all about improvisation. Those three mountain guardians are dead, will anyone else come?"

Shi Gu sighed softly, "Logically, they should. But right now, they probably don't have enough manpower. If we don't go to the city to look for them, they probably won't find any. My opinion is not to look for them; they might not be able to send any good people."

……

Before long, the three finished their discussion, and Ning Che and Shi Yong went out, exchanging fist bumps in farewell.

Ning Che had just woken up and felt no drowsiness, so he went to the village entrance to cultivate. Unexpectedly, the stone he usually sat on had been occupied by something.