Ordinary (Seeking Recommendation Tickets, Collection)

"You brat, where do you think you're running to?" Shi Linhu leaped with a powerful thrust, landing right in front of the fleeing Shi Lin.

He reached out a large hand and hoisted Shi Lin up as if he were a mere chick.

"See if I don't beat the living daylights out of you, you little rascal!"

"Dad, Dad, I was wrong, I was wrong! Don't hit me, I'm going to be crippled if you keep this up!" Shi Lin dangled in the air, flailing about.

Shi Linhu felt his resolve soften slightly, so he settled for landing a few solid smacks on the boy's backside.

"Ah! Ah! Dad, stop it, it hurts like crazy!" Shi Lin grimaced, his face twisted in agony.

"That'll teach you to run off! Are you going to run again, huh?"

Shi Linhu carried Shi Lin back toward the village with long strides, lecturing him the entire way, and they arrived back at the village in no time.

Stone Village was not very large, housing a little over three hundred people of all ages, and the houses were all constructed from massive boulders, simple and natural.

At the entrance of the village stood a colossal Lightning-Struck Wood, over ten meters in diameter. At this moment, the only willow branch on its main trunk had lost its luster in the morning glow, appearing entirely ordinary.

"Oh, looks like little Lin got a beating from his dad again!" a village elder teased.

The villagers looked over at the sound and burst into laughter.

"Oh, little Lin is getting a spanking again!" the children laughed.

"Yi ya, Brother Lin, why did Uncle Linhu hit you again? Was it because you stole some beast milk? It's okay, Little One has beast milk, just come find me." Little One clutched his beast milk jar, his voice sounding milky and soft.

Shi Lin felt his pride taking a hit and hurriedly asked Shi Linhu to put him down, but Shi Linhu didn't comply; instead, he landed another slap on his backside.

"Ouch! Ouch! It hurts so much!" Shi Lin felt as if his backside were burning.

Finally, Shi Linhu set him down. Shi Lin clutched his rear, doing nothing but repeating, "It hurts."

Everyone burst into laughter.

"Alright, disperse, go eat!" Shi Linhu barked.

The crowd laughed and scattered.

"Come on, Lin, let's go home and eat!" Shi Linhu nudged Shi Lin, who was still rubbing his backside.

"Yeah, yeah! Dad, slow down!" The two returned home, but the village remained lively.

"Oh, there's Earth Dragon meat! Give me a piece!"

These children were all lively and restless; even while eating, they couldn't sit still, and many emerged from their homes clutching clay bowls to gather together.

The area around Stone Village was lush with vegetation and teeming with fierce beasts, but despite being backed by the great mountains, the villagers' food supply was relatively meager, consisting only of coarse wheat cakes, wild fruits, and the small portions of meat in the children's bowls.

In truth, the lack of food had always been a grave issue for Stone Village. The mountain ranges were incredibly dangerous, and the exotic beasts and fierce birds were far too powerful and terrifying; every hunting trip carried the risk of someone losing their life.

If they had a choice, the villagers would never enter the mountains, for entering meant the possibility of bloodshed and sacrifice.

Food was precious to them and could not be wasted; every child understood this from a young age. Hunger, food, hunting, life, and blood were all inextricably linked.

At the village entrance was the courtyard of the old chief, Shi Yunfeng, built from giant stones and situated right next to the charred, massive Willow Tree. In front of the stove in the courtyard, a clay pot of white liquid was boiling, the fragrance of milk filling the air. He was simmering beast milk, occasionally adding herbs and stirring slowly with a wooden spoon.

Before long, the old man called out, "Little One, come over and eat."

Little One had lost his parents at six months old and had been raised on the milk of a hundred beasts. Now over a year and a few months old, a normal child would have been weaned long ago, but he still drank it with great relish and refused to stop, often being teased by the older children.

"Yi ya, phew... can't run anymore." He had been persistently chasing that Five-Colored Sparrow and was already panting, sitting down on the ground with a thud.

"Little One is having his milk!" a group of older children jeered.

"You little monkeys, as if you weren't all his age once," the old chief laughed and scolded.

"We weren't still drinking milk at a year and a half, heh heh."

Facing the older children's teasing, Little One just smiled foolishly, his bright, dark eyes squinting into crescent moons. He didn't care at all, sitting in front of the clay pot and scooping up milk with a wooden spoon, eating with great satisfaction.

After breakfast, several elderly men from the village gathered at Chief Shi Yunfeng's courtyard. Though their hair and beards were white, their spirits remained high.

"Something isn't right lately. Large creatures pass by in the dead of night, and the commotion is far too great. Something must have happened deep within these mountains."

"Indeed, I was startled awake several times last night. My bones felt chilled; surely some primordial fierce beasts and great insects were passing through."

The elders spoke one after another, frowning or deep in thought, discussing the recent signs of danger and sensing that something extraordinary was unfolding.

"I suspect something incredible has emerged deep in the Great Wilderness, drawing the attention of Primordial Remnants from the surrounding regions, all of whom are rushing toward it," the old chief, Shi Yunfeng, said after some deliberation.

"Could it be that a Mountain Treasure has appeared?" One elder's eyes widened, his hair and beard bristling with shock.

The others also revealed strange expressions, their eyes burning with fervor, but the flames in their gazes quickly extinguished. Such things were not for them to obtain; they were far away in the deepest reaches of the mountains, where no one could enter.

For so many years, no one had ever been able to enter and return alive. The mountains were filled with all manner of powerful species, and even if the entire Stone Village were to charge in together, they wouldn't even cause a ripple.

"Chief, it has been a while since we last entered the mountains." Just then, a sturdy adult male walked into the courtyard. He was the leader of the hunting party and the future chief of Stone Village.

"Things haven't been peaceful lately," the old chief, Shi Yunfeng, frowned.

"But we are truly running low on food," said Shi Linhu. He was exceptionally tall, over two meters, with a three-hundred-pound broadsword strapped to his back. He was as sturdy as a human bear, his bronze-colored muscles rippling like snakes beneath his skin.

"The children are growing; they cannot go hungry. We must find a way," an elder suggested.

"Although the nights are restless, there is no abnormality during the day. If I take some men out and we are careful, it should be fine," Shi Linhu said.

In the end, dozens of strong, able-bodied men gathered at the village entrance, led by Chief Shi Yunfeng to the Lightning-Struck Wood, where they prayed earnestly to the Old Willow Tree.

"Sacrificial Spirit, please protect our clansmen. Let the children strike down fat, succulent prey and return in safety. We shall worship and provide for you with pious hearts for generations to come."

Under the prayers of the village chief and several elders, all the able-bodied men wore solemn expressions as they performed their rites. Many women and children had also rushed over, praying silently, begging for their kin who had gone hunting to return unscathed. The mountain ranges were too dangerous; once outside the protection of the Willow Tree, the village would be a completely different world, one filled with terrifying raptors and giant beasts.

"Father, be careful!" Shi Lin said to Shi Linhu.

"Don't worry, who do you think your father is? Go on back!"

Just like that, the strongest group of men in the village shouldered their giant bows and carried their broadswords as they set off, walking into the vast mountains and marshes. Instantly, the aura of the Great Wilderness rushed to meet them.

Watching the hunting party depart, the old village chief, Shi Yunfeng, led a group of children to the grassy area at the edge of the village and sat down cross-legged. "Alright, you little monkeys, it is time for you to study hard."

The group of children immediately pulled long faces, listless and unwilling as they sat in a circle, looking like leaves withered by the sun.

"Grandpa Chief, those bird-script and turtle-character things are as complicated as ghost runes. They are truly too hard to learn; why should we put our hearts into memorizing them?"

"That's right, they aren't even as useful as the archery my dad taught me!"

The children all wore bitter expressions, deeply resistant.

"You bunch of brats truly lack understanding. Bone Text are the symbols naturally manifested on the bones of tyrannical Primordial Remnants, containing mysterious and unfathomable power. Countless people wish to learn them but have no path to do so. Once you achieve success, you will be countless times stronger than your fathers' generation." The old chief sighed, feeling they were failing to live up to his expectations as he scolded them.

"Grandpa Chief, demonstrate the power of the Bone Text for us," a slightly older child said.

"Little One, come here," the chief called out toward the distance.

Little One, who had been busy pulling the tail of a large yellow dog after chasing a Five-Colored Sparrow, turned his head in confusion at the sound. After letting go, he trotted over, blinking his bright, large eyes. "Iya, iya, what is it, Grandpa Chief?"

"Use the Bone Text I taught you," Shi Yunfeng said.

"Okay!" Little One was very obedient. He stretched out his two small hands, closed his mouth, and put all his effort into it, his little face turning flushed and red.

With a "hum," a glow appeared in his palms, and a strange character emerged. It looked as if it had been cast from metal, possessing a metallic luster and texture. Soon, the same appeared on his other hand.

Little One took two steps forward and lifted a blue stone that was taller than he was.

"So strong!" the group of children exclaimed. He was just a little guy over a year old; how could he lift such a large stone?

"Little One, you used up all your strength, didn't you?" an older child teased him.

"Iya, yes, all my strength is gone." Little One dropped the blue stone and sat down on the ground, laughing mindlessly. He was very pure, and the runes in his palms quickly dimmed and vanished.

"Grandpa Chief, is this the mysterious Bone Text power you have been researching for over a dozen years?" The children's eyes lit up, a stark contrast to their lack of interest just moments before.

"Don't get excited. These can only lead you onto the path; they are still far inferior to the legendary Heavenly Bone Text from ancient times." The old man nodded, then shook his head. "Grandpa Chief, tell us about the world outside," the children asked, their faces filled with hope.

Everyone in Stone Village knew that when the old chief was young, he had traveled to the far ends of the earth with over a dozen powerful clansmen, venturing into the outside world.

However, over a dozen years ago, only two returned covered in blood. One of them died shortly after, and only Shi Yunfeng survived.

All these years, he had been researching the mysterious Bone Text, occasionally using the physically strong men of the village as test subjects. These children knew clearly that whenever their fathers, who were as strong as tigers and dragons, were called to that stone courtyard, they would let out heart-wrenching howls, causing the children to develop a sense of resistance and awe at a young age.

It was only in recent years that the old chief's research had eased, and he no longer frightened the villagers as much. Furthermore, Little One, who had grown up on the milk of a hundred beasts and the meals of a hundred families, had been adopted by him and became the best subject for his research.

"The outside world..." The old man wore a look of reminiscence, lost in thought for a moment before saying, "The world is too vast, boundless. From one region to another is often millions of miles. No one knows how truly expansive it is; a person could walk for a lifetime and never leave a single region. The Great Wilderness is vast and endless. It is difficult for different human regions to communicate, as it is simply too dangerous. The earth is filled with tyrannical species, terrifying and mysterious. Even a tribe of hundreds of thousands or a magnificent giant city could be destroyed overnight by a few Primordial Remnants. Of course, there are also humans powerful beyond imagination, possessing combat strength comparable to other species, with divine might that is peerless. They can be called the heaven-gifted prodigies of the human race."

The children felt awe, but also a sense of longing, curious about the unknown world. Someone asked, "Are there earthly treasures and immortal medicines in the mountains and rivers that can transform a person overnight? How great is the power of the most formidable human prodigies?"

The old man smiled and said, "If you want to know, then make yourselves strong first."

"If we master the mysterious power of the Bone Text, can we go and venture through the various regions of the world?" some children asked with longing.

Shi Yunfeng patted a child's head and said, "Don't talk about other regions; even in our own, if a remarkable person can traverse half the territory, it is already extraordinary!"

All the children were stunned.

"All I can do is lead you onto the path. How far you go in the future depends on yourselves. The things I teach you should not be inferior to what children of the same age learn in the outside world." At the end, the old man's eyes flashed with a strange light as he touched a piece of peculiar jade bone in his robes.

The group of children sat around the old chief, finally focused, and began to listen to his teachings earnestly until they dispersed at noon.

"It's too hard. The chief actually said it would take years for even a few people to integrate a small amount of Bone Text into their bodies, and most might never succeed."

"But Little One is only as big as a bean sprout, and he actually did it." Little One blinked his large eyes innocently, then went back to pulling the tail of the large yellow dog, which barked even more innocently in response.

"Little One, Little One, let Grandpa Chief teach me that Bone Text power too! I want to learn!" Shi Lin chased after Little One and said.

"You can, Brother Lin! I'll ask Grandpa when we go back!" Little One laughed.

Little One looked very beautiful when he laughed, his eyes like crescent moons, his small face fair and tender, chubby and extremely cute.

"Thanks, Little One!"

"Iya, it's nothing!" Little One blushed slightly.

The red sun sank in the west. In the glow of the sunset, the entire Stone Village was bathed in a pale golden radiance. In the distance, apes wailed and tigers roared, while here, the large expanse of stone houses looked like an ancient temple, sacred and peaceful.

Dozens of people appeared on the horizon, their long shadows stretched across the ground by the sunset, their silhouettes rimmed with gold by the evening clouds. They appeared incredibly tall and robust, and almost everyone was dragging a giant beast, returning fully loaded.

"They're back!" The group of women and children who had been waiting at the edge of the village for a long time cheered. The unease and fear in their hearts vanished instantly, and they shouted aloud.

"Father and the others have returned safely!"