Divine Ability: Town Protection

Yu An had no idea what kind of havoc the beast had wreaked in the settlement earlier.

Nor did he know that, at that moment, Tiezhu wasn't the only one in the settlement gripped by despair.

All he knew was that the beast lingering outside, seemingly testing the waters and waiting for something, gave him an ominous sense of danger.

The problem was, surely a beast wouldn't gnaw on a tree?

Yu An stayed in the little hut. Though he couldn't see outside, he had just heard the beast's heavy footsteps as it approached, their uneven rhythm, and its labored breathing.

He could tell with near certainty that the beast was wounded.

And there was a good chance it was the very beast Tiezhu had wanted to hunt when he came to invite Old Man Yu earlier.

Otherwise, it would be too much of a coincidence for two powerful beasts to appear near Ox Ridge Settlement, both injured.

So the commotion he'd heard earlier must have been caused by this beast fighting the Insect Race as well.

To have survived for over ten days in its wounded state, enduring the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster, and then fought an insect—even if it was only the lowest-grade Servant Insect—was proof enough of its strength.

Old Man Yu had wisely refused Tiezhu earlier and hadn't rashly gone after the beast.

But why hadn't the beast fled? Why was it lingering outside the wall?

Yu An's thoughts stirred, and he quickly thought of the Corpse Stench Devil Plant.

After all, there was no way a beast could sense his current state through a thick stone wall.

Thinking of the tree-root space and the way Old Man Yu had taken deep breaths, looking intoxicated, it was clear that the Corpse Stench Devil Plant's scent strongly attracted humans and animals with a sense of smell, including beasts.

So had he brought this danger upon himself by using the Corpse Stench Devil Plant's sap?

But then Yu An dismissed the idea.

After the beast had fought the Insect Race, tremendous crashes had echoed from all over the settlement. But those sounds hadn't seemed like fighting; they'd sounded more like something being smashed to pieces.

Ordinary insects couldn't have made such a racket, given their size. The enormous beast was the more likely culprit.

Why would it wreak such destruction even with the Insect Race threatening it?

"Leading the danger elsewhere?"

That was the only explanation Yu An could think of.

There were still plenty of ordinary people in the settlement. If the beast destroyed the houses where they were hiding, along with the cellar entrances, the Insect Race would sense them.

Would the insects still pursue the beast relentlessly then?

The possibility startled Yu An. Could a beast really be that intelligent?

If not for the scent of the Corpse Stench Devil Plant's sap, the beast would probably have started tearing apart Old Man Yu's house already.

And then the little hut where Yu An was hiding wouldn't have been spared either.

He would have been exposed directly to the beast and the insects.

So, judging by the situation now, Old Man Yu's failure to rally the settlement and kill the beast earlier had left them with an even greater threat.

Whose fault was it?

Tiezhu's, or Old Man Yu's?

But both Tiezhu and Old Man Yu had their reasons for choosing as they did.

After all, who could have guessed that once the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster arrived, the beast wouldn't leave? That it would linger nearby, with such intelligence—and such a thirst for revenge?

With the beast's intelligence, now that it had smelled the Corpse Stench Devil Plant's sap, what would it do?

When Zhao Kun had brought over the Corpse Stench Devil Plant's sap, Yu Ershan had introduced the plant to Yu Xiaoshan, and Yu An had happened to hear it all.

Corpse Stench Devil Plants often grew in marshes or places thick with rot. Yet their scent carried a hint of the grace of a lotus rising unstained from mud.

At first, people had used the plant's sap to make fragrance, carrying it on their bodies.

Then, by chance, someone discovered that the Insect Race hated the scent and wouldn't even go near it.

From then on, people finally found a use for the Corpse Stench Devil Plant. Spirit Planter Masters cultivated and improved it, enhancing its effect as much as possible.

Aside from that, the Corpse Stench Devil Plant had no use at all. Even if you ate it, it wouldn't do you any good.

Though it smelled fragrant, it tasted awful.

So even if the beast had caught the scent, it couldn't have wanted to eat "him."

Or did the beast know how the Corpse Stench Devil Plant affected the Insect Race?

Was that why it hadn't destroyed Old Man Yu's house—so it could hide here and evade the insects' senses?

Yu An was a little surprised when he reached that conclusion.

But he couldn't think of any other reason for the beast to stay instead of destroying Old Man Yu's house.

Just as he thought he'd figured it out, the beast suddenly let out a furious roar and bolted away.

Not long after, Yu An heard the sounds of fighting.

"What's going on?"

Yu An was baffled. Was something wrong with the beast's head, or had he guessed wrong?

Still, since the beast had left and was even fighting the Insect Race again, Yu An felt a little relieved.

But before long, he heard another set of faint footsteps. It sounded as if some presence was tiptoeing closer, cautiously and quietly.

"What the hell?"

Before Yu An could figure out what was happening, something nimbly vaulted over the wall and landed in the courtyard.

"Did that beast come back?"

Yu An was completely stumped.

He'd thought the beast would come to the little hut where he was hiding, but to his surprise, he heard it pawing at a door again.

What was it trying to do?

Was it going to squeeze into Old Man Yu's room and then enter the cellar?

But there was no way it could fit through, given its size.

Besides, in a cramped place like the cellar, Old Man Yu, with his spear at hand, would clearly have the advantage.

Helpless, Yu An could only listen in silence.

Before long, the beast pawed away the stones Old Man Yu had piled in front of the room's doorway, squeezed inside, and then fell completely silent.

"Could the beast have come here for some reason other than the Corpse Stench Devil Plant? What could possibly have made it act so strangely?"

Yu An wondered.

Suddenly, something seemed to occur to him, and a Divine Ability surfaced in his mind.

Divine Ability: Town Protection (With one elm in the household, there will be a surplus year after year; it can slightly improve the household's fortune and shelter future generations.)

The reason Divine Abilities were called Divine Abilities was their wondrous nature. They were powers akin to rules, often capable of turning the impossible into the possible.

The wonder of the Destiny Bond Divine Ability was plain from its ability to produce Immortal Destiny. It also had an effect much like "fallen leaves returning to their roots."

But all this time, Yu An had never experienced anything miraculous from the Town Protection Divine Ability. It seemed to be nothing more than a Divine Ability whose power was passive and tied to fortune.

Only now, after noticing the beast's strange actions and choices, did Yu An finally understand.