"Awroo?"
The Golden Hou followed behind Di Yi. The moment it saw Stone Village, it abruptly stopped, as though it had spotted something unbelievable, and began studying it closely.
They were not far from Stone Village. To it, the two or three li between them could be crossed in an instant, and it could see everything clearly.
It was an open basin. At first glance, the village looked ordinary and simple. Its houses were built from piled mountain stones, with beast hides drying on their roofs and smoked meat hanging from them. The calls of chickens and dogs carried between homes; everything spoke of mundane life.
Yet on closer inspection, it could faintly discern a thin veil of light enveloping the village, as though it were cut off from the world, no longer part of this heaven and earth.
The Golden Hou was puzzled. When had a human settlement appeared here? It had grown up in this stretch of the Great Wilderness, so how had it never noticed?
This was far from normal.
It felt that choosing to follow this powerful human might have been the wisest decision of its life.
"Have Shi Yunshan and the others returned?" Di Yi dragged the carcasses of numerous creatures onto the open ground before Stone Village and asked the scattered groups of villagers.
"They have." The old chief came forward to greet Di Yi. "By the way, honored guest, is that... a Golden Hou?"
"So it's called a Golden Hou?" Di Yi did not really know the primordial remnant's name, but since the old chief had asked, that was most likely what it was. "Yes. You must have felt the disturbance deep in the Great Wilderness earlier, right? It caused that."
"Hiss..." The old chief drew in a sharp breath, suppressing his shock as he asked, "Was that disturbance caused by a battle between you and it, honored guest?"
"No, that disturbance came from its battle with another primordial remnant." Di Yi shook his head. "I originally wanted to exchange a few blows with it, but it had internal injuries, so I gave up on the idea."
"Hiss..." The old chief sucked in another sharp breath. To dare challenge a primordial remnant alone-and an uncrowned king among primordial remnants at that-just how confident was he in his own strength?
He could only count himself fortunate that Di Yi was an easygoing, approachable powerhouse. Otherwise, if he had possessed any strange, nasty habits, Stone Village would have been in trouble.
At the same time, he realized that his initial estimate of Di Yi's strength might have been too low. Even the kings and marquises beyond the Great Wilderness probably could not face an uncrowned king among primordial remnants head-on.
"By the way, honored guest... since you haven't subdued it, why is it following you?" The old chief steadied himself before asking.
"Perhaps because it found the way I stroked it comfortable?" Di Yi could not answer that question, but he felt it probably had something to do with that.
After all, aside from that, he had not had any other interaction with the Golden Hou.
At those words, confusion spread across the old chief's face, question marks filling his head. For a moment, he had no idea what to say.
As far as he was concerned, that certainly could not be the truth.
What primordial remnant would become obedient just from being stroked? If such a method of taming really existed, could those great beasts in the Great Wilderness still be the greatest threat to survival?
"Uh... honored guest, it won't harm us, will it?" The old chief could hardly say anything else. The Golden Hou was no ordinary animal, after all. However harmless it appeared, it was still a terrifying primordial remnant.
Since this Golden Hou had chosen to follow Di Yi, it would clearly be living nearby for a long time, and they would surely encounter it as they came and went.
The adults would be fine. They had witnessed the terror of primordial remnants and would not cause any problems.
But Stone Village had more than just adults. There were plenty of children too, many of them mischievous beyond all bounds. Even if they were told how terrifying primordial remnants were, that probably would not extinguish their curiosity.
There had been warnings written in past mistakes. Throughout Stone Village's history, quite a few mischievous children had secretly slipped out of the village,
ventured into the mountains to see those great beasts with their own eyes, and then... there had been no then. "It's fine. It probably just followed me out of curiosity. Once it gets bored, it'll leave on its own." Di Yi felt this was indeed a concern, but indicated that there was no need to worry.
After all, this Golden Hou was quite intelligent. Having grown up in the Great Wilderness, it had its own habits. How could it stay here forever? Surely it would not abandon its home and territory.
Yet after hearing Di Yi's words, the Golden Hou came trotting over. Whether it happened to understand some of the words or instinctively sensed something from his tone was unclear.
The next moment, it obediently lay down beside Di Yi and wagged its tail, seemingly demonstrating its harmlessness.
"This..." The old chief stared in astonishment. He knew primordial remnants were quite intelligent, but he had never seen one so attuned to human behavior.
"You want to stay here?" Di Yi also looked at the Golden Hou in surprise. This fellow showed him a different side of itself every time, and he found that fascinating.
"Whine..."
The Golden Hou rose, first walking over to the mountain of meat and picking up some beast flesh. Imitating the way smoked meat hung in Stone Village, it sorted and arranged the pieces by category.
Then it returned to Di Yi's side and naturally lay down. With "flashing lightning and rumbling thunder," it began giving him a massage.
"Ah!" The sudden "flashing lightning and rumbling thunder" startled the old chief, sending his heart racing.
Yet a moment later, seeing Di Yi unharmed and apparently enjoying himself, he was briefly lost in confusion. He felt as though much of his common sense had collapsed in that instant.
"All right, all right." Di Yi stroked the Golden Hou's fur, signaling for it to stop.
Although this "flashing lightning and rumbling thunder" was harmless to him, and even somewhat comfortable, it was far too dangerous for the people of Stone Village.
After all, he had watched the Golden Hou fight the Carved Bear and knew the power of this "flashing lightning and rumbling thunder." It was enough to pulverize an entire mountain. If any of it spilled outward, Stone Village would probably become a ruin.
"Whine..."
The Golden Hou withdrew its "flashing lightning and rumbling thunder," then walked to an open space large enough to stretch out in, curled up, and grew quiet.
"It's adorable, isn't it?" Di Yi looked at the now-quiet Golden Hou, then turned to ask the old chief.
"A-adorable?" The old chief did not know how to answer.
If they were talking about adorableness, the Golden Hou did indeed look rather adorable when it acted so harmless.
But looking past appearances to its true nature, it was still a primordial remnant. Once it unleashed its might, it would hardly be adorable.
That was a monster that could take lives!
"Actually, it's a good thing if it wants to stay here. The Great Wilderness is dangerous, and vicious beasts fight at the slightest provocation. If their battles spill over into Stone Village, it will serve as a deterrent." Di Yi signaled for the old chief to calm down, explaining that Stone Village was currently transitioning between its old and new sacrificial spirits. Having a primordial remnant willing to settle here would bring far more benefits than harm.
"That's true. I just hope it behaves itself." Hearing Di Yi's words, the old chief had to admit that having a Golden Hou stay in Stone Village truly was a safeguard.
After all, they knew nothing of the new sacrificial spirit's actual condition. No matter how they offered sacrifices or prayed, they received no response.
If the previous sacrificial spirit, the Strange Stone, had not left a written message saying that Broken Willow could protect Stone Village, he would have considered relocating the entire village.
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