Wild cultivation begins with wielding the Taiyin talisman.

What will it grow into? Such a big seed, maybe it will grow into a tree?

Ning Che stood by the window, his mind filled with a myriad of thoughts.

A moment later, he tried to infuse the seed with magic to see if it would deny its master.

Of course not.

He activated the Dao talisman again to sense the seed. Invisible ripples spread out, and the clear light on that tender sprout flickered in response. A pure power flowed into his body through an inexplicable connection, equivalent to more than ten nights of his cultivation.

However, when it was activated again, there was no such feedback, probably because the power accumulated by the seed was only so much.

Are seeds demons too? No, that's not right.

Ning Che suddenly understood and realized the key point. The Beast Taming Technique did not control demonic beasts at all, but rather beings belonging to the Taiyin category. The so-called Taiyin Jielin Grand Lord's Precious Record never mentioned the word "demonic beast."

This is a spell with immense potential, originating from the eternally high moon, and it must have once possessed a truly illustrious name. Unfortunately, he was unaware of it.

Pulling his wandering thoughts back, Ning Che suddenly felt that the consumption of using the Beast Taming Technique had decreased slightly.

Could it also be related to the insights I just had?

A long-lost look of joy finally appeared on his face, but it was fleeting. He activated the Dao talisman again and greeted the seed.

Unsurprisingly, the seed did not respond to him.

He hesitated for a moment.

Judging from the current situation, Shi Xiujuan does indeed know something. Perhaps it's safe to leave the seeds here for now, while bringing them back to the mountains would only make them the center of attention, and there's a possibility that Mu Qingming would notice something amiss.

If there are no problems with the current situation, do not change it if you are not confident.

He roughly tidied his clothes and noticed that the coat that had been stained with white mud was now washed and hanging on the wall. His gaze sharpened slightly.

In the end, he only took the clothes that Zhao Di had made for him and most of the remaining money, then turned and left, quietly closing the door behind him, to visit the village chief, Shi Gu.

As usual, Shi Gu was still awake and practicing boxing in the courtyard.

When he saw Ning Che, he was visibly taken aback: "You're back?"

His voice was a little louder than usual. He walked over quickly, raised his right hand as if to pat Ning Che on the shoulder, but then suddenly stopped, his gaze fixed on Ning Che's mountain guardian uniform.

Ning Che noticed the hand; the knuckles were thick and the skin was crisscrossed with wrinkles. There was a new wound on the back of the hand, covered with a thin scab, as if it had been there in the last few days.

"You're back." Ning Che grasped his hand.

Shi Gu looked him up and down again, then nodded and said, "Come in and talk."

The two pushed open the door and entered the main room, where they each took their seats.

An oil lamp was lit inside the room; the wick had been trimmed recently, and the flame was steady.

"Shi Yong said you... have already fallen victim to that mountain guardian's evil deeds. I thought..." Shi Gu spoke slowly, with a long pause, without looking at Ning Che.

He just stared at the oil lamp on the table, the flame of the wick gradually blurring into a warm yellow in his pupils.

"You are a child who came from Shizhu Village. I have been the village chief for twenty years and I have seen countless people leave. But you are the only one... You are a good child. You should go to bigger and farther places. You should not stay here."

Ning Che remained silent.

After a long silence, Ishitani asked again, "How did you get here?"

Ning Che understood his meaning, briefly recounted what had happened after he met Mu Qingming, and explained his purpose for coming.

"Alright." Shi Gu thought for a moment, then looked at Ning Che: "The room where I put you before is still empty. You can rest there now. I only have one thing to say: Shizhu Village is behind you."

Ning Che was silent for a moment, then nodded: "I've got it. How's the village now?"

"We have enough dried meat for a few more days, don't worry. Recently, a big monkey came to the woods with a group of little monkeys. If we run out of food, we'll go and snatch it from it."

His tone was slow and deliberate, revealing a sense of weariness. The series of misfortunes had left the old man feeling very weak and listless.

Ning Che stood up, bowed to him, and took his leave.

He didn't look for anyone else, and went straight to the village entrance.

The carriage waited quietly at the village entrance. Lin Ye leaned against the wheel, saw him, and straightened up. The child was already back in Lin Xiuer's arms, while Zhong Hongyao was in front, talking to the coachman.

Lin Caiwei sat in the carriage, her eyes lowered, as quiet as a clay sculpture.

Ning Che waved: "I have a place to stay, come with me."

The house was in the center of the village. As we passed by the houses, a boy with a topknot looked over and seemed about to say something, but his parents pulled him back.

Ning Che vaguely remembered him; his name seemed to be... Daqi?

Without giving it much thought, he first helped everyone settle down.

Dusk was falling, and it was completely dark.

It was a truly thrilling day, and most people were exhausted and soon fell asleep.

Only two people weren't asleep, or rather, one was a person and the other a ghost.

Ning Che and Lin Caiwei.

Ning Che sat by the door, which was ajar. Moonlight shone through the crack and fell on his knees. The sound of the wind in the wilderness outside came and went, as if something was moving about in the distance but never getting closer.

Lin Caiwei lay on a makeshift wooden bed next to her, her head facing inwards, so her face could not be seen.

But at this distance, even without having super hearing, he could tell that Lin Caiwei wasn't breathing.

Ning Che was already quite familiar with this situation, or rather, he was numb to it. He didn't feel fear; instead, he was somewhat curious about the structure of this "withered ghost's" body.

Although talking about biology with this kind of thing is pure nonsense, even its own situation is very unscientific.

But it's not easy to discard something you've believed in for twenty years in your previous life all at once.

When people have experienced many things and return to their hometown, they always have many feelings.

The moonlight moved almost imperceptibly across his knees, just enough to cross a thread.

He looked up at the crescent moon and closed his eyes.

Spiritual practice.

In the middle of the night, Zhong Hongyao suddenly sat up.

She dressed, got out of bed, spun around on the floor in a daze, and then walked towards the door. Ning Che stepped aside to let her pass.

She looked around for a moment, her cheeks flushed slightly, and then asked Ning Che where the outhouse was.

Ning Che was taken aback, finding it inexplicably amusing. He paused for a moment, suppressed his laughter, and pointed out the location of the outhouse to her.

She left in a hurry, and after a while, she slowly walked back. She paused as she passed Ning Che and asked, "Aren't you going to sleep?"

"Not sleepy," Ning Che replied succinctly. He made way for Zhong Hongyao at the doorway, paused his cultivation again, and thought to himself that he couldn't cultivate in a place like this next time; he would have to climb to the roof for some peace and quiet.

Since he had already stopped, he stood up and prepared to stretch.

But for some reason, Zhong Hongyao didn't go in either, and stood at the door, lost in thought.

Ning Che bypassed him, came to the dirt road, and began to do the warm-up exercises that he already knew by heart in front of the moon.