Stone Village, Beneath the Willow Tree
"Having the heart isn't enough! I stored the Blazing Ox Demon and King-tier Demon Ape in my passages, planning to make a grand feast to thank Liu Shen!" Shi Yi declared, thumping his chest with fervor.
At nine years old, he brimmed with youthful vigor, his spirit unrivaled. Another might have been ignored, but Liu Shen, intrigued by the culinary skill that earned the old suanni's praise, grew curious about Shi Yi's boast.
"I don't want barbecue," Liu Shen said.
She knew Shi Yi's grilling was exceptional—praised even by the suanni—but if he meant to repay her, the same old barbecue wouldn't do.
"No problem," Shi Yi replied, flashing a confident grin. Grilling, stewing, boiling, stir-frying—he mastered them all. No barbecue today. Today, we're having hotpot!
Swiftly, he opened his six passages, releasing two archaic species' remains in the village center: the King-tier Demon Ape and the Blazing Ox Demon. The ape, roughly two meters tall, looked unremarkable, but the Ox Demon—over ten meters high and dozens long—was awe-inspiring.
Though a month had passed since their deaths, as archaic species, their bodies resisted decay for millennia. They appeared freshly slain, blood still seeping from the suanni's tears.
"Archaic species? The King-tier Demon Ape and Blazing Ox Demon, kings who roamed the Cangmang Mountains' outskirts? Shi Yi, did you hunt these?" Old Patriarch Shi Yunfeng, the first to recognize them, asked in shock. In his youth, he'd wandered the Great Wilderness, gaining rudimentary knowledge of such creatures.
The Great Wilderness wasn't just home to small villages like Stone Village. It housed vast tribes and clans, some with tens of millions, scattered like grains of sand across billions of miles. Humanity's prolific breeding fueled this—centuries could spark population booms, ensuring pureblood beasts never ran out of prey. Humans ate beasts, beasts ate humans; both preyed on each other in a cycle of survival, unbound by notions of cruelty.
"No, I just scavenged their remains," Shi Yi said, shaking his head.
"Shi Yi, is there… is there any true…" Shi Yunfeng hesitated, his voice trailing off.
"There is, Patriarch. You still don't see me as family? I've secured their true blood, ready for Hǔ Niū, Skinny Monkey, and the others' baptisms," Shi Yi said. His six volcano-like passages erupted, producing several man-high wooden barrels filled with the true blood of the Demon Ape and Ox Demon.
True blood, drawn from the heart, was finite. These barrels held every drop from the creatures' hearts.
At that moment, a girl about Shi Yi's age pounced, clinging to his back like an ornament. "Yi-gege!" she cried.
Though young, she was already blossoming into beauty, her waist-length black hair failing to hide her graceful figure.
"Hǔ Niū, stop messing around. Get off," Shi Yi said, prying her long legs from his waist. How is a girl her age so developed? Do girls mature fully by their teens?
"No way!" Hǔ Niū shook her head vigorously, her tiger-like energy undeterred. She clamped her legs back around him, giving him no chance to escape.
"Get down, and I'll treat you to hotpot later," Shi Yi coaxed.
"Hotpot? The red, spicy, oily stuff we had last time?" Her eyes lit up, drool escaping her lips—landing, unfortunately, on Shi Yi's neck. He was at a loss for words.
Can't hit her—she'll cry if I do.
"Yes, yes, now get down!" he urged.
"Yi-gege, you're scolding me!" Hǔ Niū's eyes brimmed with tears, her aggrieved look almost speaking for itself.
"Hǔ Niū, I didn't mean—" Shi Yi's mouth twitched as he hurried to soothe the little troublemaker, lest she derail his plans.
This hotpot was critical—it could determine whether Liu Shen would maintain her human form long enough for him to "win her over." I can't exactly fantasize about a willow tree. That's beyond perverse.
Ten minutes later, having calmed Hǔ Niū, Shi Yi pondered which beast to use for the hotpot. The Demon Ape was quickly ruled out—dark, ugly, and lacking meat. The Blazing Ox Demon it was.
"Patriarch, the Demon Ape's remains are yours to handle. It devoured countless humans in life; in death, it should feed our people," Shi Yi said, handing the ape's body to Shi Yunfeng.
Though stripped of true blood and treasure bones, the ape's flesh still held immense benefits. The village's hunting team could gain significant strength from it, avoiding tragedies like the last hunt. When Shi Yi was breaking through a passage and couldn't join, Shi Linhu, a candidate for the next patriarch, had perished to a beast.
Liu Shen wasn't a nanny. She protected the village's safety but didn't shield hunters from external dangers. Death by beast was commonplace in the Great Wilderness—Shi Linhu was no exception. Some ruthless archaic species and pureblood beasts devoured entire tribes.
"Shi Yi… you've given us so much with the true blood, and now an archaic species' remains…" Shi Yunfeng stammered, overwhelmed.
Others might not grasp the value of such treasures, never having hunted such beasts, but Shi Yunfeng, who'd roamed the wilderness, knew their worth. In large tribes, these were priceless heirlooms.
"Patriarch, you're a Shi, I'm a Shi—we're family. No need for formalities," Shi Yi said, adopting a mature tone.
With that, he offloaded the unwanted Demon Ape to those who needed it. Drawing a sharp stone knife, he began deftly carving the Ox Demon's remains.
Why so skilled? Years of hardship.
Crack. The knife snapped.
Shi Yi stared at the blade, his companion for three years, now broken. Sighing, he murmured, "Even after my careful sharpening, this stone knife can't cut the Ox Demon's hide. Truly an archaic species."
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