Sleepless Night

The news that Chili Mu possessed Immortal Child Potential quickly spread throughout the entire village, and everyone was overcome with joy.

It's important to know that the White Dog Stockade's existence wasn't due to the Hunting Team or the White Dog, but because someone from the village had entered Skull Mountain and become a cultivator.

To become a cultivator, one needed an immortal root, and people with immortal roots were extremely rare. Skull Mountain sent people to patrol the Eighteen Villages every year, and one of their important tasks was to search for spiritual children with immortal root potential.

It had been over sixty years since they last discovered Man Xiongmu had immortal root potential. In those sixty-plus years, not a single person with immortal root potential had appeared in the White Dog Stockade.

In fact, this was the norm. Even a large stockade like Crimson Blood Stockade, with over a thousand people, would be fortunate to have one person with an immortal root in a hundred years.

Currently, Crimson Blood Stockade had three people on the mountain, which was a very rare occurrence.

Among the Eighteen Villages under Skull Mountain's jurisdiction, White Dog Stockade was the smallest. The largest stockade had over ten thousand people. The Eighteen Villages combined had a population of about a hundred thousand.

With a radius of a thousand miles and only a hundred thousand people, the most fundamental reason was the difficulty of survival in the Savage Jungle.

Whether it was the fierce birds and savage beasts or the demons and monsters, they could bring about the destruction of these villages.

The White Dog Stockade once had over a thousand people at its peak, but a single Demon Calamity could cause heavy casualties.

This was the fate of the people of the Southern Border...

Although there were cultivators on Skull Mountain, they only viewed the Eighteen Villages as resources within their territory, places to recruit spiritual children with immortal roots. Therefore, they only provided limited protection.

Only those cultivators born in the Eighteen Villages would offer more help to the ordinary people in their stockades.

Chili Mu possessing immortal root potential, coupled with Man Xiongmu, was enough to grant the White Dog Stockade a higher status on Skull Mountain. With the protection of two cultivators, the village was bound to enter a period of rapid development in the coming decades.

This sent the entire village into a frenzy. Whether it was hunting a python that was close to becoming a spirit, Man Xiongmu's arrival as a Patrol Envoy, or Chili Mu's immortal root potential, these were all joyous occasions for the entire village.

One happy event after another had the entire village buzzing.

Even the Chieftain, for the first time in history, brought out his treasured Horn Wine. It was known that food was scarce in the village, and even corn was precious. They only took some out to brew wine in years of abundant harvest.

Most of this brewed wine was sealed and stored in horns. Yet, today, the Chieftain had brought out all the Horn Wine he had treasured, cooked python meat, and started a lively bonfire party.

With the arrival of the Patrol Envoy, they no longer had to worry about the Hundred Beast Yin Spirits at night and could freely sing and dance around the bonfire, enjoying good wine and food.

As night fell, a chilling wind swept through, and the Hundred Beast Yin Souls roamed at night, their roars echoing through the heavens, instilling a primal fear in ordinary people.

However, Man Xiongmu took out a palm-sized black banner from his embrace, covered in dense blood incantations.

He tossed the small black banner into the night sky, and in an instant, it transformed into a giant banner suspended in mid-air, its black fabric fluttering violently in the chilling wind.

Yet, upon seeing the banner from afar, the Hundred Beast Yin Souls directly detoured, not daring to approach.

The villagers saw this scene. Even though they knew Man Xiongmu was one of their own, many still knelt in reverence.

Such power, like that of an immortal or a demon, could make even the Hundred Beast Yin Souls retreat. How could they not be in awe!

The bonfire blazed. After Man Xiongmu displayed the banner, there was a brief silence, but soon, loud cheers erupted, and the atmosphere became lively again.

Even the usually calm and rational Guxiong Mu drank a lot, his face flushed red. His father had named him Gu Xiong, hoping he would achieve great things like Man Xiongmu, who had been accepted into Skull Mountain.

Although he hadn't become a cultivator himself, he led the villagers in hunting in the jungle, ensuring they didn't go hungry.

As the wine flowed, his eyes reddened, and looking at Man Xiongmu, he seemed to be reminded of his father...

The Chieftain also drank with Man Xiongmu. They had been close childhood friends. Since Man Xiongmu went up the mountain, he had only descended a few times in decades, and each time it was a hurried visit.

Only this time, as a Patrol Envoy, was he qualified to stay in a village for an extended period.

They drank and reminisced about the past. The Chieftain's aged face was illuminated red by the flames.

"Man Xiong, this might be the last time we see each other. I'm getting old, and I can feel my ancestors calling me."

"But now that you've become a Patrol Envoy, and Chili Mu has immortal root potential, the village will surely get better and better."

"I can rest easy now..."

Man Xiongmu looked at his childhood friend's aged face, wanting to offer words of comfort, but none came to his lips.

The aging and death of mortals was the Principle of Heaven's Will. Only those with immortal roots were qualified to become cultivators and Seize Life from Heaven.

Recalling his carefree childhood in the village and the harsh life on Skull Mountain, he took a large gulp of wine and cursed under his breath, though it was unclear what he was cursing.

"Drink, drink!"

Laughter, curses, tears, the myriad facets of life filled the village in this strange and unrestrained atmosphere.

Even Chili Mu's Grandpa was helped to the bonfire. Someone brought a bamboo chair so the old man could sit and enjoy the wine and food.

The old man took a sip of wine and looked at Chili Mu, who was chasing White Dragon around the bonfire, his gaze becoming distant.

"My child, Chili Mu has immortal root potential. I was always worried about how she would survive if I passed away while she was still so young."

"Now, I can finally rest easy!"

He sipped the wine in small mouthfuls, his face gradually turning red, as if he had returned to his youth.

He looked at Man Xiongmu and the Chieftain, at the drunken Guxiong Mu, at Chili Mu and White Dragon, at the other villagers, and at the blazing bonfire, and let out a murmur, "It's so good!"

"This wine is truly good..."

The night was filled with revelry. Everyone let loose, and many got drunk. They hadn't drunk much, but perhaps it was the atmosphere; the wine didn't intoxicate them, they intoxicated themselves.

However, as dawn broke, Chili Mu, holding Wu Tian, came before her Grandpa. Her small face was flushed, and after a night of revelry, she was a little tired. She tugged at her Grandpa's sleeve and said, "Grandpa, Grandpa, I'm tired. Let's go home..."

But she called out several times, and the old man did not respond.

Wu Tian curled up in the little girl's embrace. He had already sensed through the wind that the old man had long stopped breathing, and his body had even grown cold.

At first, Chili Mu didn't react, but later, when Grandpa remained motionless, she seemed to understand something.

At some point, two lines of clear tears rolled down from her eyes, splashing onto Wu Tian's snow-white fur.

"White Dragon, Grandpa is just sleeping, right?"

"He must be too tired. Let's take him home."

"Grandpa, you must be too tired. Let's go home, okay?"

Wu Tian felt the cold tears dripping onto him and gently nudged his head against the little girl's chest.

"Woof woof~"