The Village Guardian's Fate Should Not Be Like This

After Da Bao fell unconscious, several people hurriedly carried him to the village chief's home.

He had no property or home of his own in the village, nowhere else to settle him, so the village chief's home was the only option.

By the time Chu Danqing and the village chief returned, the village doctor had already diagnosed Da Bao's condition. It came down to just four words: depleted qi and blood.

The villagers of Xianghua Village truly had ulterior motives toward Da Bao, but they would not go so far as to leave him depleted of qi and blood.

The main cause of his depleted qi and blood was malnutrition.

With the way Da Bao ate, that should have been impossible.

The village chief said nothing. He merely had someone see the doctor out, then sent someone to fetch medicine.

Chu Danqing, meanwhile, went to the side room to check on Da Bao.

Da Bao lay on the bed with his eyes shut tight, his breathing remarkably steady.

Other than being impossible to wake, he was no different from someone asleep.

Not long after, the village chief entered as well. "The White Dragon Fish carries a thin trace of the True Dragon Bloodline."

The moment he came in, those words left Chu Danqing puzzled. "Could Da Bao's unconsciousness be related to the White Dragon Fish?"

The man would not have brought it up for no reason. Most of the White Dragon Fish had been eaten by Da Bao.

"Yes. A weak body cannot bear strong nourishment. It caused the other half of his Cave God Bloodline to awaken ahead of time," the village chief said.

From that sentence alone, Chu Danqing could tell that Da Bao was not the first Village Guardian Xianghua Village had created.

"What will happen after the bloodline awakens?" Chu Danqing asked in a low voice. He felt things were not that simple.

"He will become the Cave God's offspring—a Cave Beast." The village chief spoke calmly. "Da Bao must have told you that there is a Great White Ape and some little dwarves in Fallen Blossom Cave."

"That Great White Ape is a Cave Beast."

"As for those little dwarves, they are a pack of skeletal monkeys. No one knows where they came from, but they cannot be unrelated to the Cave Beast."

After hearing this, Chu Danqing's expression barely changed. "That Cave Beast was the previous Village Guardian?"

"No. It was the strongest Village Guardian before him." The village chief denied it, while delivering even worse news. "That is why it became the Cave God's Priest."

"As the bloodline awakens, the rationality of a human will gradually fade, until they inevitably return to the back mountain."

"There can only be one Cave Beast. When two Cave Beasts meet, only one will survive."

"So you plan to abandon Da Bao and create another Village Guardian." Chu Danqing did not even hesitate to use the word "create."

"You are mistaken. If you can resolve Fallen Blossom Cave, little brother, there will be no more Village Guardians in the future, nor will there be any more sacrifices." The village chief's tone remained gentle, yet Chu Danqing found him strangely unfamiliar.

It was like a kindly old man suddenly revealing his dark side.

"What about Da Bao?" Chu Danqing's gaze fell upon Da Bao.

"He is a hero of our village. He will have his own incense offering in the ancestral hall." The village chief told Chu Danqing the outcome directly.

Never before had Chu Danqing felt so furious.

Their kindness toward Da Bao had only been the care one gave a tool.

Once the tool was no longer useful, they discarded it like worn-out shoes, without a shred of feeling.

"I want Da Bao to come with me and deal with Fallen Blossom Cave." Chu Danqing's voice turned cold, all friendliness gone from his face.

The village chief was not particularly surprised by those words. "That is possible, provided he wakes up."

"Then let me remind you of one thing. Even if his Cave God Bloodline has not fully awakened, the moment he encounters that Cave Beast Priest, they will fight to the death."

"If you bring him to the back mountain, he will be a burden."

Yet Chu Danqing ignored the village chief entirely. "That is my business. You do not need to concern yourself with it."

"Village Chief, if there is nothing else, hurry and arrange the things and manpower I asked for."

"Oh, and do not forget the reward for my acting as bait to get rid of the White Dragon Fish."

He disliked what the man was doing, but it was not yet time to tear off all pretenses.

"Fine. The supplies and manpower will be ready for you tomorrow. The reward will take some time; I will give it to you the day after tomorrow." The village chief sensed the change in Chu Danqing's attitude, but it was within his expectations.

With that, the village chief left directly.

Chu Danqing stood beside Da Bao's bed. "What kind of mess is this?"

From the beginning, he had never considered contracting Da Bao.

Yet now he had that chance. Xianghua Village could no longer accommodate Da Bao.

The White Dragon Fish carried a faint True Dragon Bloodline, while Da Bao was the Cave God's son.

But Da Bao was currently unconscious. He could not obtain Da Bao's consent, and relying only on favorability and the difference in their attributes, the contract's chance of success was not high.

The contract scroll had only 1 point of durability left, which meant he had only one chance.

If he failed, he would have no means left to form a contract.

"His depleted qi and blood are real. The bloodline awakening process lacks sufficient nourishment."

"Those White Dragon Fish flesh and blood Da Bao ate were not enough to support him waking up and eating."

"If I want him to wake up, he needs enough nourishment." After saying that, Chu Danqing took out the Wolf Blood.

He pried open Da Bao's mouth and poured it in. Before long, it had all gone into Da Bao's stomach.

The instant it entered his body, wisps of blood-colored aura emerged around Da Bao, exceedingly thin.

Chu Danqing recognized it. It was the aura that had surrounded the White Dragon Fish when it unleashed that powerful water-flow impact attack.

He had not expected Da Bao to develop this blood-colored aura as well after devouring the White Dragon Fish's flesh and blood. It even appeared to have mutated.

It seemed related to the ability that increased his strength whenever he grew angry.

"Still not enough." Seeing that Da Bao remained unconscious, Chu Danqing understood that Wolf Blood alone could not wake him.

He hesitated now. He had given the Wolf Blood without pause because it was a restorative consumable with a slow recovery rate.

But the remaining Lesser Fish Marrow Blood was different. It was a restorative item that could immediately recover 10% of one's health.

If he used it and still failed to contract Da Bao, the sunk cost would be too great. It was a loss he could not afford.

Chu Danqing gritted his teeth and ultimately took out the Lesser Fish Marrow Blood, feeding it to Da Bao.

You could not catch a wolf without sacrificing the child. He still had the White Dragon Fish as a fallback, and there was room to maneuver in the Trial Mission as well.

As the Cave God's son, Da Bao far surpassed the White Dragon Fish in both potential and upper limit.

That much was obvious from the fact that devouring most of the White Dragon Fish had still not been enough to support the awakening of his Cave God Bloodline.

The blood-colored aura suddenly grew dense. At the same time, Da Bao opened his eyes, which were filled with bloodshot veins and radiated violence and rage.

He immediately suppressed it, looked at Chu Danqing, and said in a hoarse voice, "Little Chu, I'm hungry."

"Alright, wait here. I'll find the village chief and have him prepare food for you. Eat as much as you want." Chu Danqing did not discuss matters with Da Bao right away. He wanted to replenish his nourishment first.

After saying that, he went to find the village chief.

Before he could even step out the door, Da Bao spoke first. "Little Chu, I heard what you and the village chief said."

Chu Danqing paused, then replied with a single word. "Alright."