Demon, come and cultivate for me.

One of the martial artists suggested that the twelve of them be divided into two groups of two, with each group responsible for eight to ten villages.

They ordered each village to build a simple beacon tower and arrange for villagers to take turns guarding it. If any evil spirits were to approach, they were to immediately light the beacon to warn of an impending attack.

Another martial artist countered that while this method was safe, it was not a long-term solution.

These martial artists could not possibly stay at Guniu Mountain for an extended period of time.

Once they retreat to Wuyang, the evil spirits will continue to wreak havoc.

The martial artists argued back and forth, but couldn't come to a conclusion.

Fan Li frowned, remaining silent, clearly unable to come up with a good solution.

The dumbest way would be to kill all the evil spirits on the bull, but there are at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, evil spirits here.

For twelve people to think they could slaughter hundreds of demons and monsters was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Several years ago, evil spirits caused chaos on Mount Guniu. His junior brother, Daoist Jiling, along with more than a dozen martial artists from Wuyang City, came here to subdue the demons.

The group fought a bitter battle against the demons for many days, but there were so many demons that they could not be eradicated.

In the end, Daoist Jiling went into the mountains alone and made peace with the mountain demon, the strongest among the demons, and finally reached an agreement.

Choose a place with the most spiritual energy in Guniu Mountain, build a temple for the mountain demon, enshrine its true form, and hold monthly sacrifices.

From then on, the mandrill's cultivation level improved greatly.

Intimidated by the mountain demon, all the demons lay dormant and dared not descend the mountain to cause trouble again.

In this way, the only scourge of Guniu Mountain is the mountain demon.

Although the mandrill needs to be offered monthly and is lustful, it is still much better than the evil spirits that appear at any time to harm people.

The villagers at the foot of Guniu Mountain had become accustomed to their fate and, having finally settled down, accepted the existence of the mandrill.

As for the cruel monthly human sacrifices, the villagers have their own understanding and logic.

In this world, men are the most important labor force for farming and for competing villages for water resources, so they are naturally more valuable than women.

Sacrificing a few women to ensure the safety of the entire village and reduce casualties among the men in the fight against the monster was their most "rational" choice after weighing the pros and cons.

Zhou Chu transmigrated here and accidentally killed a mountain demon, completely shattering this abnormal balance.

Back then, Ji Ling Dao Ren faced the same problems at Guniu Mountain as he does now.

Clearly, Ji Ling Dao Ren's solution was undoubtedly the best choice.

Support a powerful demon to suppress the other lesser demons, ensuring the safety of the villagers and providing a permanent solution.

But where can we find a powerful demon to support us now?

Both wolf demons and wild boar spirits are accustomed to living in groups, so if you want to make offerings to them, you must make offerings to their entire clan.

The area around Guniu Mountain is mostly remote and impoverished; how could it possibly support so many demons?

These beasts are inherently cruel and greedy, and they are not as easy to control as mandrills.

The rest are bear spirits.

The bear spirit lives alone; if he's full, the whole family isn't hungry.

But this beast is inherently dull-witted; it only knows how to be full and not hungry, and it cannot be a mountain god.

The fox demon clan would be a suitable choice, but they are too weak to suppress the other demons.

Disaster!Disaster!Disaster!

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from the village entrance, attracting everyone's attention.

A woman in white rode her horse into the village, carrying a white fox in her arms.

When Zhou Chu looked, he saw that it was Xie Ning and Hu Xiaobai.

The black horse that Xie Ning rode was the one that Zhou Chu had left at the city gate.

Upon seeing Xie Ning and the other woman, Zhou Chu suddenly recalled the scene from his encounter with Xie Ning a few days ago.

He remembered that this Miss Xie had the ability to track down demons.

I saw her use it when I was tracking Hu Xiaobai that day.

Now is the perfect time to use her skills to find the wolf demon and rescue Xu Kun's sister, Xu Yao.

This unfortunate family suffered a terrible fate: the mother was kicked to death by a mountain demon, Xu Kun was killed by a wolf demon, and Xu Yao's fate is now unknown.

When entrusted with a task, one should faithfully fulfill it.

Instead of wasting time here with them, we should take the initiative.

Saving lives is the top priority; every moment of delay increases the danger for Xu Yao.

Once Zhou Chu made up his mind, he told Fan Li what he was thinking.

Fan Li readily agreed and they agreed to meet at Baishi Village later.

As the two were talking, Xie Ning had already ridden up to them.

Upon seeing Master Hu, the white fox leaped down and landed right in his arms.

Master Hu affectionately hugged the white fox, rubbed it against his face, and asked, "Where have you been these past few days? I've been looking everywhere for you."

The white fox transformed into human form, pulled Master Hu to a secluded spot, and began to recount her experiences over the past few days.

Zhou Chu told Xie Ning about his plan to rescue people from the wolf demon's lair, and Xie Ning immediately agreed, overwhelmed with a sense of justice.

The thought of being entrusted with a mission to avenge someone in the martial arts world made Xie Ning's blood boil.

She ignored the white fox, grabbed Zhou Chu's sleeve and left, asking him to take her to see Xu Kun's body.

Those who are killed by demons will have some demonic energy remaining on their corpses.

Xie Ning intended to use this wisp of demonic energy to search for the wolf demon's whereabouts.

She walked to Xu Kun's body, made a hand seal with her left hand, and pointed to Xu Kun's crown chakra.

After a moment, she said to Zhou Chu:

"Alright, let's go."

"You found the trail so quickly?" Zhou Chu asked in surprise.

Xie Ning nodded:

"With my current cultivation level, I can only detect areas within a ten-mile radius. The wolf demon happens to be outside that range."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chu decided to set off immediately.

The wolf demons were incredibly fast. Zhou Chu feared that if he was even a step too late, even Xie Ning wouldn't be able to find any trace of these beasts.

Xie Ning withdrew her spell and was about to leave when she heard Hu Xiaobai's voice behind her:

"Miss Xie, wait for me."

Zhou Chu turned around.

It was Hu Xiaobai, who had transformed into human form, running towards him, with Hu Daxian by his side.

Xie Ning rolled her eyes; she had just been planning to get rid of this little fox.

Well, now two vixens have appeared.

Her relationship with Hu Xiaobai was somewhat inexplicable, even a bit outrageous.

Originally, one was the hunter and the other was the prey, but in the centipede cave, Hu Xiaobai took the initiative to help her rescue the unconscious Zhou Chu.

She and Hu Xiaobai usually got along quite well.

However, whenever Zhou Chu was present, Xie Ning would feel that Hu Xiaobai was somewhat superfluous, and even a little annoying.

She couldn't understand why this was happening.

Hu Xiaobai brought Hu Daxian to Zhou Chu and introduced him:

"This is my older sister, Hu Xiaoxian."

Zhou Chu looked at Hu Xiaoxian and thought to himself, "Why has he turned into a little fairy again? Isn't he supposed to be a great fairy?"

This doesn't look small either.

"Thank you very much for gifting my clan's cultivation technique, young master. We are deeply grateful."

Hu Xiaoxian bowed slightly to Zhou Chu, kneeling gracefully.

Gongfa?

Zhou Chu was taken aback, then thought of the fragment of the "Bai Ze Book" he had given to Hu Xiaobai.

"Ah, it's nothing, you should thank me..." Zhou Chu's mind went blank as he was dazzled by the vast expanse of white before him.

He tried to shift his gaze upwards to look at Hu Xiaoxian's fair and delicate face.

Hu Xiaoxian met Zhou Chu's gaze and raised an eyebrow slightly.

One glance was enough to make Zhou Chu's heart flutter.

Xie Ning chuckled when she heard his words.

Zhou Chu realized he had misspoke and quickly corrected himself:

"No, I mean... um..."

Zhou Chu couldn't figure out what to say for a long time; his mind was completely blank.

Hu Xiaobai tugged at Hu Xiaoxian's sleeve and whispered:

"Sister, please stop using your supernatural powers."

Hu Xiaoxian chuckled and completely withdrew the charm spell she had cast.

Once Zhou Chu calmed down, he looked at Hu Xiaoxian again. Her appearance was still stunning, but the captivating charm she had just possessed was gone.

He couldn't help but feel secretly alarmed; this woman's seductive skills were truly terrifying, far surpassing Hu Xiaobai's tricks.

Even those at the peak of the Acquired Martial Arts realm are unknowingly deeply entrenched in it; it is truly not to be underestimated.