Chen Hao stood up and gazed at the rolling green mountains behind Fu Family Village.
His gaze was deep. "The Flame Spirit Stone wasn't originally hidden here. A Demonic Beast brought it here, stirring up the surrounding spiritual energy and causing the village's livestock to mutate."
He turned to Fu Zhaojie and asked directly, his voice utterly calm, "Do you know where there's a bear den in the mountains behind the village?"
Fu Zhaojie paused. "A bear den? Yes, there's one in the mountains behind our village. When we were little, the adults warned us not to play over there. They said some children ignored the warnings and went there to play, and something happened to them."
Chen Siyao and Yang Wanqing exchanged a glance. Yang Wanqing whispered, "A black bear brought the stone here?"
Chen Hao nodded and said to Fu Zhaojie, "Yes. Lead the way."
The mountain trail was far harder to navigate than the village roads. There were no stone steps or guardrails, only a dirt path covered in dead leaves. Each step sank halfway up their feet.
Fu Zhaojie walked ahead, sweating profusely. He nearly slipped several times, but gritted his teeth and kept going.
After about half an hour, a pitch-black cave entrance appeared halfway up the mountain.
The entrance wasn't large, a little over two meters high and three meters wide. Something had worn the rocks around its edges smooth and shiny.
Bones lay scattered outside the entrance: rabbit bones, pheasant bones, and others they couldn't identify. All had turned white, dried and cracked by the sun.
Fu Zhaojie stood outside the entrance, swallowed, and peered inside before shrinking back.
His legs trembled, and so did his voice. "High God, are we really going in? There's a black bear inside. It's vicious, and there