Bai Xue’s big eyes were firmly fixed on the ring on the young man’s right hand, low growls emanating from her throat. Her fur stood on end, making her appear as if she was angry.
But beneath Bai Xue’s angry exterior, Shen Yuan could faintly feel the tiny kitten’s body trembling incessantly, as if her anger was merely a cover for the genuine fear in her heart.
This was the first time Shen Yuan had seen Bai Xue behaving in such a manner. Even when confronted with the Fubo Dragon Monarch or Prince Ji Du, Bai Xue had always been able to proudly lift her little head to meet gazes with these formidable figures from ten thousand years ago.
On the surface, he showed no change in his expression, but inwardly, Shen Yuan became somewhat cautious toward the young man wearing the ring.
Shen Yuan reached out to gently stroke Bai Xue’s head, soothing her unease.
Finally, Bai Xue calmed down, quietly laying on Shen Yuan’s shoulder, but her gaze would occasionally dart toward the ring.
On the other side, after hearing the report, the Hunter Leader suppressed the pain on his face and addressed the young man:
“Aman, this gentleman saved us. You should thank him immediately.”
Aman turned around and Shen Yuan got a clear look at his face.
He didn’t seem very old, only about seventeen or eighteen. His first impression was of an honest and simple person.
He wore simple beast skin clothing on his incredibly robust body. Despite the blood and gore on Aman’s hand, he still didn’t exhibit any intimidation under his simple exterior.
“Hello, sir. My name is Aman.”
As he spoke, Aman extended his right hand to shake hands with Shen Yuan. But after seeing Shen Yuan’s clean, white outfit and the blood and flesh on his own hand, his face immediately showed an apologetic smile as he withdrew his hand.
No matter how one looked at it, this young man seemed harmless and honestly simple.
“My surname is Shen.”
Shen Yuan only responded casually, without delving into further conversation.
Although this Aman didn’t look to have any problems, the ring on his hand managed to provoke such a strong reaction from Bai Xue that it was bound to be unusual.
Compared to a strange young man’s actions, Shen Yuan was more inclined to trust Bai Xue, who he was closely related to, and naturally became a bit more cautious.
Shen Yuan’s lack of engagement left Aman disappointed. But then, he immediately wore a sad expression and said to the Hunter Leader:
“Uncle Li, we lost three members not long after we left this time. I want to take their bodies back first.”
The Hunter Leader contemplated for a moment before nodding, saying:
“You go and sort them out, we’ll return to camp and then decide what to do next.”
Aman nodded repeatedly, then started to sort out the ruins with others, as well as collect the remains of the hunters who had been torn apart by the bear demon.
As they gathered the fallen, some hunters whispered and looked at Shen Yuan with hostile eyes.
The Hunter Leader knew very well that it would be a simple matter for Shen Yuan to kill them all. He quickly apologized to Shen Yuan:
“I apologize, Teacher Shen, they are just momentarily unstable, please forgive them.”
Shen Yuan frowned slightly and glanced at the hunters. Even though saving them was a casual act to him, it was upsetting to save a group of ungrateful people.
Noticing Shen Yuan’s displeasure, the Hunter Leader suddenly spoke:
“Teacher Shen, you must have come from outside, right?”
“Yes.” Shen Yuan nodded.
“Then it’s normal for Teacher Shen to be unaware of our customs in Yunfu Mountains,” said the dejected-looking Hunter Leader.
“The mountain dwellers in Yunfu are protected by the Mountain God. As long as we don’t step outside the boundaries of the God’s jurisdiction, we can, in most cases, ensure that the monster tribe does not harm us.”
“But at the same time, we are restricted by the oracle of the Mountain God and we aren’t allowed to kill any monster, or else our entire village will be forsaken by the Mountain God.”
“Once we lose the protection of the Mountain God, the monsters circling outside our village will swarm in and tear everyone to pieces!”
Upon saying this, the tall Hunter Leader’s body trembled slightly, and his eyes reflected an uncontrollable fear.
“They were also worried that Teacher Shen killing the bear demon would anger the Mountain God and jeopardize the safety of the village. That’s why they harbour hostility towards Teacher Shen.”
The Hunter Leader’s words explained the doubts in Shen Yuan’s heart, but they raised even more questions.
“Then why don’t you leave Yunfu Mountains?”
The Hunter Leader was taken aback.
“Leave?” The look on the Hunter Leader’s face was one of unprecedented panic, as if the words Shen Yuan had uttered contained some unspeakable horror.
“No, no, no! We absolutely can’t leave Yunfu Mountains!
“In the mountains, we have the protection of the Mountain God. We just need to offer some tribute to save our lives from the monster tribe.”
“But if we leave Yunfu Mountains, we will certainly only have a road leading to death!”
The Hunter Leader’s words were surprising for Shen Yuan, and he couldn’t help asking: “Why is that?”
The Hunter Leader looked at Shen Yuan with a touch of suspicion:
“Since you come from outside the Yunfu Mountains, don’t you know there are even more terrifying demons outside the mountains?
“These demons don’t abide by the rules of the Mountain God and can freely slaughter humans. Once they leave, they can only live in fear every day.
” In their eyes, humans are just a group of ants to be killed at will. Only the likes of you, powerful beings, can survive to get to Yunfu Mountains.”
Shen Yuan was taken aback. He didn’t expect such a response.
The world outside Yunfu Mountains, as described by the Hunter Leader, seemed to be a completely different world from what he had experienced.
Seeing that Shen Yuan, who was taken aback, didn’t argue, the Hunter Leader revealed an “As I thought” look on his face, and began to complain:
“We, the Yunfu mountain dwellers, have lived deep within these mountains since we were young, with very little contact with the outside world. Ever since more than half a year ago when a large number of monsters began to appear, we cut off all contact with the outside world.”
“Thankfully, the Mountain God we have revered for generations appeared and protected us from the demons.”
“Similar to you, there have been strongmen who have visited the several villages around us. At the time, they tried to convince us to leave the Yunfu mountains.”
“One of them even stated that there were no monsters outside, and that only the Yunfu mountains were infested with them. He said that we could go to any city and live without fear of being attacked by the monster tribe once we left.”
“At that time, one village was seduced and planned to migrate along with that strongman. However, they were attacked by the monster tribe halfway and perished, the village of more than seven hundred people was reduced to mere dozens.”
“Teacher Shen, I know that you powerful people are all virtuous. Like you, you helped us to kill that bear demon.”
“However, we mountain folk have our own way of life. Please do not continue to interfere with our lives.”
Listening to the Hunter Leader’s explanation, Shen Yuan finally understood.
These mountain dwellers originally lived in the Yunfu mountains and had minimal contact with the outside world. After the Spirit Energy Tidal Surge, the monster tribe took over the Yunfu mountains, completely cutting off contact with the outside world.
This has led the mountain people to believe that the outside world is fully occupied by the monster tribe, and only the Yunfu mountains can maintain a piece of untouched land.”
“That’s not right!”
Shen Yuan narrowed his eyes, instantly recognizing that there were certain issues.
If it were simply a misunderstanding due to information discrepancies, the Yunfu mountain dwellers would not be so terrified. There must be other reasons.
While Shen Yuan was deep in thought, the Hunter Leader also went into the ruins of the temple to help the other hunters examine everyone’s injuries.
“Let’s get ready to leave. If we offer the tribute to Lord Mountain God sooner, he might pardon us.”
Several Yunfu mountain dwellers, who had finally collected the bodies, sighed and discussed.
At this moment, the often goofy-looking Aman scratched his head and suddenly spoke quietly:
“Teacher Shen saved us, should we invite him back to our village as a way to thank him?”
Upon hearing this, the hunters became chaotic, questioning in low voices:
“Thank him?”
“He killed the bear demon, this will infuriate the Mountain God.”
“Aman, you fool, is this something you should say?”
Even the Hunter Leader looked troubled.
He didn’t have the same prejudice towards Shen Yuan as the other hunters did. However, the other hunters clearly harbored ill-will towards Shen Yuan, hastily inviting him may cause some problems.
Aman, who was scolded by a few hunters, spoke softly with a wronged look on his face:
“I think, since Teacher Shen is so powerful, he might be able to plead with Lord Mountain God for us.
Maybe Lord Mountain God might be lenient and forgive us for this offense.”
As soon as they heard that there was a chance the Mountain God could let them off, the hunters who were scolding Aman instantly lit up and voiced their agreement.
“Who would have thought that the day would come when this blockhead Aman could prove himself useful.”
“That’s true, since he killed the bear demon, he should be the one to explain to Lord Mountain God.”
After pondering for a moment, even the Hunter Leader nodded heavily, then warned the other hunters in a low voice:
“No matter what schemes you have, you must be respectful to Teacher Shen if we invite him.”
“If you offend Teacher Shen, we might all be killed by him even before the Mountain God releases his wrath.”
The words of the Hunter Leader reminded the hunters of Shen Yuan’s deadly sword that took down the bear demon.
At first, due to fear of the Mountain God’s wrath, they showed no restraint towards Shen Yuan. Now when they thought carefully, they all broke into a cold sweat.
“Don’t worry, we definitely won’t provoke him.”
“You just handle inviting him to our village.”
After a brief, quiet discussion, the Hunter Leader came out from the ruins of the temple with a warm smile on his face:
“Teacher Shen, considering the long journey you’ve made to come to the Yunfu mountains, how about resting in our village?”
“It will also allow us a chance to thank you for saving our lives.”
Unbeknownst to the Hunter Leader, they couldn’t keep their voices down from Shen Yuan, all their scheming had already fallen into Shen Yuan’s ears.
However, after some brief thought, Shen Yuan went along with it.
“Alright!”
He had no interest dealing with these scheming hunters, but he was rather interested in the Mountain God.
Ever since he got the Rain Calling Divine Ability from his journey in Yunmeng Village, Shen Yuan was very keen on actively exploring things that he had not previously understood, as they might bring unexpected gains.
Under the lead of the Hunter Leader, Shen Yuan gradually left the ruins. As for Aman, since he was responsible for carrying the bodies, he walked at the end of the line.
As he watched Shen Yuan walking ahead, Aman seemed to hear the sounds of saliva swallowing in his ear.
” What a... perfect body!”

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