An hour later, in a cave beneath a rock face.
A campfire blazed, lighting up the cave as Chen Mu and his two companions cleared it out, preparing to spend the night there.
All three had the strength of martial artists. Spurred on by the great battle half a year ago, Chen Shanxiong had even broken through to become a Fourth Stage Martial Artist. Ordinary wild beasts in the mountains posed little threat to them.
"Granduncle Xiong, the little guy's awake!"
In the dim firelight, the little boy opened his eyes and warily surveyed his surroundings.
Chen Shanxiong walked up to him and said kindly, "Little fellow, what's your name?"
The boy looked at Chen Shanxiong without a word, his face expressionless.
"Could he be a mute?"
Chen Zihu couldn't help muttering.
Chen Shanxiong shrugged and went on, "Which tribe are you from?"
Seeing no sign that the boy wanted to answer, he didn't press him. "All right, then! We rescued you on Fire Forging Mountain, so we'll call you A Huo from now on!
"A Huo, would you be willing to come back to Chen Village with me?"
This time, the boy finally reacted, nodding blankly.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. At the very least, it proved the boy hadn't been scared silly.
"Good! I'll take the first watch. Zihu, relieve me in four hours, and Little Mu, you're last. Everyone, get some rest early. We have to be on the road again first thing tomorrow."
With that, Chen Shanxiong sat down at the cave entrance and stared blankly outside, lost in thought.
The next morning, all four got up early and set off.
Compared with the main road they had taken to the market, the trail Chen Shanxiong led them along this time was much harder to travel, and they encountered more wild beasts along the way.
None of them wanted to invite unnecessary trouble, so they avoided the beasts whenever they could and dealt with those they couldn't avoid as quickly as possible.
Roar!
Chen Mu's luck was poor this time. He actually ran into a second-tier demonic beast, a Crimson Flame Tiger.
Demonic beasts' tiers were different from martial artists' stages. A first-tier demonic beast was equivalent to a human martial artist at the first through third stages, while a second-tier demonic beast was equivalent to a martial artist at the fourth through sixth stages. Demonic beasts were also far more tenacious than humans and extremely difficult to kill.
The Crimson Flame Tiger they encountered was a late second-tier demonic beast, equivalent to a human Sixth Stage martial artist.
Given enough distance, Chen Mu could indeed have easily killed a Sixth Stage martial artist with his Rune Gun.
But the Crimson Flame Tiger had attacked very suddenly. At close quarters, Chen Mu's Rune Gun was hard to use effectively. In the end, Chen Shanxiong had to pay the price of an injured arm before Chen Mu's Rune Gun finally frightened the tiger away.
The fight also showed Chen Mu that A Huo was no ordinary boy. Although A Huo's physical abilities were only around the level of a First-Duan Martial Artist, he seemed to have mastered some profound movement technique and was exceptionally good at dodging.
The four of them hurried onward with all their might, finally returning to Chen Village at eight that evening.
In the living room of the village chief, Chen Hongjie.
Chen Shanxiong placed everything they had gained at the market on the table and told Chen Hongjie about their trip and how they had met A Huo.
Chen Hongjie listened silently to everything Chen Shanxiong had to say, then looked at the silent A Huo beside him and smiled kindly.
"A Huo, I can tell you have an extraordinary background, but since you fell into the hands of the Red Wolf Tribe, that likely means your tribe has already been destroyed.
"Now let me ask you: would you be willing to join Chen Village?"
A Huo looked a little nervous. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but shook his head firmly.
"Oh?"
Chen Hongjie frowned. He hadn't expected the boy to refuse.
A Huo seemed somewhat afraid of Chen Hongjie and instinctively edged closer to Chen Mu beside him.
Perhaps because they were close in age, and because he had seen Chen Mu's calm responses and seemingly endless powerful methods on the journey back, he had developed an inexplicable fondness for him.
Chen Hongjie thought for a moment and sighed. "All right! If you're unwilling, I won't force you. But if you want to stay in the village, you'll have to work. We can't just feed and shelter you for nothing!"
At that, A Huo instead breathed a sigh of relief and nodded obediently.
"A Mu, what did you think of your trip to the market? Shanxiong told me you bought a lot of books. Do you have some more good ideas? If you have any, just tell me. I'll do my best to give you what you need."
Chen Hongjie looked at Chen Mu happily, his eyes full of anticipation.
"Thank you, Third Uncle. The trip to the market really opened my eyes! As for ideas, I have far too many. I still need to give them some thought. If I need help, I'll come to you again."
Chen Mu grinned.
Chen Hongjie nodded in satisfaction. Ever since Chen Mu had become a talisman master, life in the village had been much better than before, and he had come to rely on Chen Mu more and more.
"All right, you've been on the road all day and must be tired. Go back and get some rest."
Chen Zihu and Chen Mu nodded and turned to leave.
Chen Shanxiong glanced at A Huo, who stood motionless, and only then remembered that he had forgotten to arrange a place for him to stay. He hurriedly said, "A Huo, you can stay at my place from now on! I still have a spare room."
To his surprise, A Huo shook his head and pointed at Chen Mu beside him.
"You want to live with Little Mu?"
A Huo nodded.
Chen Mu was a little taken aback, but after thinking it over, he realized he still had a spare room at home. The house had also been rather quiet since his parents left, so there was no harm in having another person stay.
Although he had only spent a day with A Huo, Chen Mu could sense how wary he was of adults. He was, after all, a child not yet ten years old. Having been captured by the Red Wolf Tribe at such a young age, he must have suffered a great deal. Beneath his bristling exterior was still a tender heart, and if Chen Mu could help him, that would be something to be happy about.
"All right! You can stay at my place from now on!"
A Huo showed a rare smile and followed close behind Chen Mu as they left together.
At the market, Chen Mu had brought back quite a few materials for making talismans. At last, many of the runes he had previously been unable to use could be put to work.
There were also the books he had brought back. He had benefited greatly from every one of them, and he still needed time to slowly digest what he had learned.