An Agreement

"All right, old chief, hurry and have everyone move these big fellows. Leaving them at the village entrance like this won't do."

Di Yi motioned for the old chief to get moving. Leaving the carcasses of those enormous beasts and vicious beasts at the village entrance for too long would not do. They were not only an eyesore but also interfered with everyday life.

"Ah, yes, yes." The old chief came to his senses. Those two "mountains" were treasure troves in every sense, and they could not be squandered. "By the way, honored guest, how do you intend to dispose of these big fellows? If you mean to sell them, I wonder... could you sell some to our Stone Village? Our village may be small, but we can still offer some valuable medicinal treasures in exchange."

"Sell them?" Di Yi shook his head at that. "Old chief, there's no need for all that trouble. I brought them back for you in the first place."

"What!?" The old chief's eyes widened in disbelief.

"I've seen many fascinating new things during my time in Stone Village. It's an interesting place, and it's given me an experience unlike the dull life I led before. Consider these payment for your hospitality." Di Yi was very fond of Stone Village's rustic yet delightful way of life. Everyone treated him with respect and warmth.

Having eaten and drunk at their expense for so long, he felt he should help with Stone Village's struggle to survive wherever he could. After all, it took no more than a casual effort on his part.

"Honored guest, we can't accept that. It's far too much. How about this? We'll help you process them and take a few materials we urgently need as payment for our labor. You should take the rest yourself." The old chief shook his head, refusing Di Yi's generous gift.

To be honest, when he heard that all those big fellows were being given to Stone Village, claiming he had not been tempted would have been a lie, a thoroughly affected pretense.

Still, one matter was one matter, and another was another. Di Yi had no ties whatsoever to Stone Village, and he was their guest besides. It was bad enough if the hosts failed to provide hospitality; how could they possibly accept gifts from their guest?

Moreover, everything Stone Village had served Di Yi was ordinary fare. The most precious offerings had been nothing more than meat from enormous beasts.

The two were utterly incomparable in value.

They were neither kin nor old friends. Stone Village could never repay such an immense favor.

Yes, the old chief had previously considered drawing closer to Di Yi, but he had only hoped Di Yi might give the village's younger generation a helping hand, allowing them a chance to see the world beyond the Great Wilderness.

Stone Village was rustic and hospitable, but it was certainly not greedy, nor would it shamelessly demand things from others.

"But I can't take this much with me either." Di Yi waved a hand. If he had to drag those things everywhere day after day, would that not just be making misery for himself?

"Didn't you bring a storage Treasure Tool, honored guest?" The old chief pondered for a moment before continuing, "Then how about this? Stone Village will hold the treasures harvested from these big fellows for you. When you return to the world beyond the Great Wilderness, bring a storage Treasure Tool, and we'll give everything back to you."

"A storage Treasure Tool? Are there things beyond the Great Wilderness that can hold these two 'mountains'? Are they like those pottery jars you use to store beast meat? Wouldn't they have to be pretty big too?" Di Yi asked. This was another unfamiliar term.

"Please don't tease an old man, honored guest." The old chief did not believe Di Yi truly did not understand. Instead, he thought Di Yi was "playing dumb," hinting both openly and subtly that he insisted on giving them this generous gift.

To be honest, the old chief had wavered at first over such a generous gift, wondering whether they might accept it. Now, however, he no longer wavered in the slightest.

Eat another's food, and your tongue grows short; take another's gifts, and your hands grow short. This was an ancestral maxim passed down through the ages.

Although he felt Stone Village had nothing worth taking, Di Yi had come to the Great Wilderness alone, that rainy night had followed soon afterward, and the very next day, their Sacrificial Spirit had changed.

He felt there had to be a story behind it all.

He had already drawn a very clear line between what they ought to receive and what they ought not.

"All right, then. As long as you've decided, old chief." Di Yi looked at the old chief,

understood his stance, and compromised. Of course, although he had compromised, that did not mean he intended to follow the old chief's proposal.

After all, once he left the Great Wilderness, he would probably never return to Stone Village. He had his own road to travel, and even he did not know when that journey would end.

"Don't just stand there! Everyone, get moving! These big fellows are treasures from head to toe. Don't waste any of them!"

After receiving Di Yi's answer, the old chief swore an oath to him in Stone Village's name. Then he called to the villagers, urging everyone to get moving and come out to haul away and process those two "mountains."

Once they had the signal to act, the people of Stone Village, who had long been salivating over those two "mountains," could not contain their delight.

They had not dared act rashly before. After all, these were Di Yi's hunting spoils, and they had no right to dispose of them.

Now, however, things were different. Di Yi and Stone Village had reached an agreement. In their eyes, even if they only took a little payment for their labor, its value would surely be astonishing.

Thus, some eagerly honed their knives and headed toward those two "mountains," while others turned and went home to summon more helping hands.

"Be careful as you process them. These are all exceptionally rare vicious beasts. Their blood essence, sinews, and some of their bones are extremely precious. Don't let their essence escape through improper handling," the old chief cautioned the young and able-bodied men who had already begun working.

"Chief, we understand. We know what matters." Those young men knew perfectly well how precious these two "mountains" were and did not dare let their attention stray for even a moment.

For a time, silver blades flashed and sparks flew everywhere.

Although the bones of those enormous beasts and vicious beasts were formidable, they were dead, after all, and had lost the source of their tremendous strength. With the men's strength, easily amounting to thousands of pounds, and specialized tools, dismembering them was not particularly difficult.

"Good heavens, this is a descendant of Yayu, isn't it? I never thought I'd live to wield a blade and butcher a vicious beast like this." Someone marveled, clicking his tongue in wonder.

Yayu was a king of the Great Wilderness, one of the renowned primordial remnants. Even if its descendants no longer possessed a pure bloodline and could only be called vicious beasts, they still held astonishing value.

"Is this... a Two-Headed Fire Rhinoceros? Hiss! Its blood essence is far more precious than that of a Yayu descendant. It's a material that can be used in medicine!" From another direction came another exclamation.

"Chief, this Dragon-Horned Elephant's horn is good stuff too! And it's quite old. It could definitely be used to make a bone-mending medicinal treasure."

"The sinew in this Kui Beast's single leg is really tough. At a glance, there are five or six of them here. We could probably replace a whole batch of strings on the village's great bows!"

Without a doubt, this was a tremendous harvest. The more beasts they processed, the more the people of Stone Village clicked their tongues in amazement, irrepressible smiles blossoming across their faces.

Those two "mountains" truly were astonishing. They were more bountiful than ten or twenty years of Stone Village's hunting spoils piled together. Even if they received only a small portion of those resources, the villagers believed it would certainly make Stone Village stronger than ever before.

"Hmm, old chief, where are the village children? Why haven't I seen them?" Just then, Di Yi suddenly realized that despite all the bustle at the village entrance, those little rascals were nowhere to be seen. That was very unusual.