Temple Guardian, A-Can

After being hit by the witch rune, the strange bird no longer targeted Huo Tang. Instead, it screeched repeatedly and tried to fly away.

Screech! Screech!

At this moment, the tribesmen who had been affected by the mental attack reacted. They either drew their bows to shoot arrows or hurled wooden spears, but the creature dodged them all by flapping its wings.

Those it couldn't dodge had most of their force nullified by a pale light that shone from its feathers.

Even the witch runes that Huo Shan had snatched from other tribesmen were dodged by it.

"Those with witch runes, listen to my command."

Seeing that the witch runes he had thrown had no effect, Huo Shan also recovered from his excitement.

"Surround it!"

There were seven or eight tribesmen with witch runes. Hearing Huo Shan's roar, their years of hunting experience needed no further explanation. They immediately moved to surround the strange bird.

Buzz!

More than a dozen witch runes were torn open, blood-red light surged, and winding runes flickered.

This immediately drew the attention of the tribesmen present.

The strange bird flapped its wings and flew upwards.

But the runes followed like shadows, striking its body one after another.

The blood-red witch runes easily melted the pale light on the strange bird's feathers, dissolving its body.

The strange bird let out a pained cry and struggled, flapping its wings, but its wings froze in mid-air.

With a splat, it fell, blood-red light surging from its body, feathers falling off, and its flesh gradually melting into a pool.

"Burn it to death!"

Huo Shan, carrying a jar of beast oil, hurled it at the strange bird. Streaks of fire arrows followed closely behind.

Boom!

The beast oil exploded upon contact with fire. The strange bird's remains twitched a few times and then completely ignited.

With the strange bird gone, the Plague Worms remained.

But everyone discovered that the Plague Worms that landed on them didn't burrow into their bodies upon touching their heavily medicated robes. Instead, they quickly moved away.

Once on the ground, due to the pervasive medicinal smell, they became disoriented and didn't know how to crawl.

At this, their worries instantly vanished.

"Don't step on them! Use the bonfires to drive them together, then burn them!"

Huo Tang, having also escaped the harassment of the Plague Worms, quickly stopped the tribesmen from moving randomly.

With a commander, the situation stabilized.

Some bonfires were extinguished to make way for the Plague Worms, while others were relit to block their path.

The tribesmen grabbed torches and drove the Plague Worms on the ground into the gullies.

Huo Tang saw the Plague Worms outside the gully defenses beginning to run into the distance. He immediately gave instructions, "Go outside and light bonfires, fumigate with medicinal herbs. We can't let these worms run into the mountains."

Crackling.

The entire mountainside echoed with sounds like firecrackers.

Plague Worms exploded one by one, turning to ash in the fire.

Shen Can, who had run down from the mountain, felt the few witch runes in his embrace and slowly walked back up the mountain.

Fortunately, he had stayed late. Otherwise, dealing with the strange bird that appeared later would not have been easy.

If Huo Tang had been infected by the strange bird, the tribe would have faced disaster.

Returning to the mountain, he leaned against a rock and picked up the brush and ink prepared by Huo Xian, starting to write.

He had seen the strange bird clearly just now. It looked truly bizarre, with one claw and a pig's tail.

It seemed to possess the ability to nullify attacks like arrows and wooden spears.

"Pale light on its body..."

Shen Can bit the brush tip, carefully thinking about the strange bird he had seen, and sketching its shape and appearance.

Suddenly, he sensed a 'human' fluctuation approaching from several yards away. He looked up and saw Huo Tang coming over.

At this moment, Huo Tang stared at Shen Can with wide, bulging eyes.

Shen Can was so startled that he thought he had bitten the wrong end of the brush, biting the tip and drawing a mask on his own face.

"Witch... witch rune..."

Huo Tang spoke.

Shen Can replied, "Ah."

"You."

Then, the two stared at each other.

Huo Tang still held a useless witch rune in his hand, flipping it over and over as if something was on his mind and he couldn't figure it out.

Soon, a group of people rushed up from the foot of the mountain, their eyes burning as they looked at Shen Can.

"A-Can, did you draw this beast hide?"

"A-Can, are you a shaman!"

"A-Can, how can you draw runes?"

"A-Can, do you… do you want a wife!"

"A-Can…"

"Shut up, call him Temple Guardian, not A-Can."

The crowd spoke in a flurry of questions, their large eyes practically wanting to see through Shen Can.

Shen Can tightened his robes and clutched the beast hide scroll he had been recording.

Before he delivered the witch runes, everyone treated him as a junior, instinctively protecting his safety and urging him to stay away from the battlefield.

But now, the gazes of the tribesmen were somewhat fervent, as if they wanted to melt him.

There was even a hint of reverence in their burning gazes.

"Temple Guardian."

"Shaman."

Broken calls sounded continuously.

"All of you, shut up."

Huo Tang spoke, "I already knew about this. I was just afraid of you long-tongued gossips, just like those old wives."

"What are you all crowding around here for? Have you cleaned up the plague worms, and now you're here howling!"

"All of you, get down there and plow this land three times, then burn it with fire three times."

"If there's no smoke and dust smelling of medicinal herbs among the surrounding mountains, I'll bury you all in the ground."

"Chieftain, the shaman…"

Among the scolded crowd, someone still spoke cautiously, but before they could finish, Huo Tang interrupted them.

"Get down there and work."

After scolding and driving away the crowd, Huo Tang's gaze fell back on Shen Can. The angry expression from moments ago was replaced by a smile.

"A-Can."

"Chieftain, please don't be like this."

Shen Can felt a bit unaccustomed to Huo Tang's sudden change of expression.

Slap!

Then, Shen Can received two heavy slaps on his shoulders.

Huo Tang, after patting his shoulders, walked towards a distant rock and looked down at the tribesmen busy at the foot of the mountain.

His shoulders twitched from time to time.

Actually, Shen Can had already prepared an excuse, but he didn't expect Huo Tang not to ask and to even shield him from the tribesmen.

With the chieftain's demeanor and the tribesmen's excited gazes just now, he felt that his position as Temple Guardian… was secure.

He spread the beast hide on the rock again and continued to record the unfinished scene.

If the tribe's foundation was insufficient, he would slowly build it up.

When Shen Can finished drawing, he noticed that Huo Tang in the distance was still twitching his shoulders from time to time.

Looking down the mountain, the tribesmen were digging three feet deep and burning with fierce flames.

Smoke and dust billowed up, and the strong medicinal scent permeated the tribe's territory, aiming to completely eliminate the aura left by the plague worms.

Shen Can observed for a while and suddenly realized.

It was bad; he had tied his master to the Ancestral Temple.

He grabbed the beast hide and was about to go back, but he stopped after taking a few steps. He first went down the mountain to find a large pot of medicinal soup, jumped in himself, and soaked himself from head to toe before rushing back to the cave.

Fortunately, he had tied up the old man. With today's situation, if the old man had come, the probability of him being infected by the plague would have been quite high.

The people of the Great Wilderness recognized plague worms as visible and invisible, but Shen Can understood that this thing was more like 'qi'. Therefore, even if the tribesmen had never seen a plague worm, they would still be infected.

"Wuwu…"

Inside the cave, Huo Xian was no longer struggling and was quietly waiting for the outcome. Seeing Shen Can return, he let out a whimpering sound.

"Master, the plague worms have been burned away."

Shen Can quickly untied the ropes, and as Huo Xian was about to pounce on him, he handed over the wet beast hide.

After soaking in the medicinal soup, some of the characters on it had deformed.

"Master, here are the records. Take a look, and I'll explain the details."

As Shen Can spoke, he sorted through the medicinal herbs. He felt that with such a significant impact, the tribe needed to strengthen its defenses to prevent infection from the 'plague energy.'

As evening approached, while Shen Can was still explaining the battlefield situation to Huo Xian.

Outside the Ancestral Temple cave, Huo Shan's voice rang out.

"A-Can looks frail, I didn't expect his voice to be so loud."

Huo Tang and Huo Shan entered the Ancestral Temple.

Huo Tang stepped forward first to the ancestral shrine and bowed respectfully.

Huo Shan, who had intended to speak, quickly followed Huo Tang to the ancestors after seeing his actions.

"With the ancestors' protection, I've truly opened my eyes in this life. I never thought I'd see a true shaman."

"I can die without regrets now."

After Huo Shan finished speaking, Huo Tang kicked him.

Inside the cave, Huo Xian, who was watching Shen Can record on the animal skin, paid no attention to the two of them, let alone their words.

"A-Can, you're amazing."

Huo Shan entered the cave, his palm outstretched towards Shen Can. "A-Can, do you have any witch runes left? Give me a few to show the Yan Shan Tribe."

"The witch runes A-Can draws are indeed very good."

Huo Xian also looked up, nodding in agreement.

"Clan Uncle, A-Can's witch runes are more than just good. If it weren't for A-Can's skill, how could we have taken down that strange bird today?"

"After the witch rune was torn, that blood-red light condensed into a rune in the void..."

"What did you say?" Huo Xian's old eyes widened.

"Old Clan Uncle, you don't know, but at that moment, the strange bird flew out from among the Fu Shan Tribe members and went straight for the Chieftain."

"This strange bird also made a strange screech, its sound piercing, making people instantly cover their heads and crouch, unable to exert their strength."

"If it weren't for A-Can's witch rune, I might have become Chieftain earlier..."

"Slap!"

Huo Shan's head was hit from behind, and his words abruptly stopped.

"Condensing runes in the void," Huo Xian fell into deep thought.