The thunderclouds receded, and the great river fell silent.

Chen Xu collected the ashes of the plaque from the River God Temple into the Fire and Smoke Kitchen; this ash too had entries.

But at this moment, he could not attend to them, for as the plaque turned to ash, Chen Xu vaguely saw through it the century-long rise and fall of the village since its establishment.

A hundred years of change passed in an instant, and within the flash of divine thought, infinite ideas were born and died.

Chen Xu was in a daze for a moment, then quickly regained his clarity.

Holding the little hedgehog, he immediately said, "Mr. Wei, we must hurry, this village is about to be destroyed."

Wei Yuan was startled and quickly jumped onto Chen Xu's shoulder, sitting properly.

It clung tightly to one side of Chen Xu's collar, afraid that standing in his hand might hinder his actions.

Chen Xu moved slightly underfoot, and winds arose on all sides. He leapt into midair on the wind, his cloak billowing like waves, and in an instant, like a bird, he had flown over the fields of the village below.

He flew towards the distant mountains, casually utilizing the Wind Summoning Skill as if it were innate.

Wei Yuan was caught off guard, not expecting that in the time they'd not seen each other, Chen Xu had learned to fly.

The little hedgehog couldn't control its joy and excitedly shouted in the wind, "Mr. Chen, this is flight, this is Wind Control flight! So this is what Wind Control feels like."

It was so happy, but after a few shouts felt it was inappropriate, and quickly closed its mouth tightly.

It just widened its small eyes and glanced back at the village now far below their feet.

This look back caused the little hedgehog to let out a "huh".

"Mr. Chen, those people, those people why..."

As it spoke, Wei Yuan's voice unconsciously lowered.

It turned out that behind the River God Temple, the group of people in white clothes were self-immolating, the flames gradually engulfing the entire temple. The villagers who had been shouting by the river suddenly turned together for some reason.

Then, they shouted loudly, "The River God burns the country, surely he is here to take us to bliss!"

"Hurry, hurry!"

The villagers crowded and ran.

Some of the elderly with white hair suddenly sprouted sharp white claws from in front of their toes.

With a screech, the claws pierced through their shoes.

The villagers' running speed began to increase.

In the blazing flames of the River God Temple, the screams of those in white gradually disappeared.

Yet the excitement among the crowding villagers running intensified.

They shoved each other, scrambling to get ahead.

As they ran, these villagers argued aloud.

"Immortal Child! To devote oneself to bliss, next life I will be an Immortal Child, all of you get out of the way!"

"You get out of the way; I've sacrificed my two girls and my little son to the River God. In the whole village, who is more qualified than me to be an Immortal Child?"

"Ah!"

Bang!

Suddenly, there was a scream.

It turned out during the shoving and quarreling, an elderly villager picked up a stone from the ground and smashed it into the head of the person in front, breaking it open.

Blood splattered, and the person in front screamed and fell.

But this smash completely opened the prelude to a melee.

The villagers quarreled, fought, and brawled, with dozens mixing together in a frenzy of killing.

More cries were heard: "What's the big deal about sacrificing three? I brought back four or five from outside! You shameless coward dare brag, who is more qualified than me?"

Others dashed towards the fire scene to stealthily escape, but were ensnared by the chaotic crowd, while dragged down with screams.

Yet running to the fire meant death, as did the mutual slaughter in chaos.

To self-immolate at the fire, did it warrant such a desperate scramble?

The madness grew, the entire village went mad.

Wei Yuan looked back at this scene in the wind and was greatly shocked.

It hurriedly lowered its head against Chen Xu, not daring to look at the chaos within the village anymore.

"Mr. Chen." Wei Yuan's voice trembled slightly, filled with lament and panic, "Why are those people so cruel?"

Chen Xu carried it with the wind, passing over layers of lush forest tops, rugged mountain paths, and halfway cliffs, encountering a small monkey descending from the mountain top while leaping cliffs.

The little monkey, at the sight of Chen Xu, was startled and scampered away along a tree vine.

Chen Xu finally carried Wei Yuan with the wind, landing on a clearing atop the mountain.

Looking back at the village, the mountain village now seemed so very small.

Standing atop the mountain, all the chaos and disorder in the small village seemed like a mere farce in a jug.

Wei Yuan sat on Chen Xu's shoulder, its small body unconsciously leaning against Chen Xu's temple.

It gazed into the distance at the village, its eyes unknowingly filling with glistening tears, but it only shed tears without crying out.

"Mr. Chen." Wei Yuan's voice carried an unspeakable sadness, it said, "Actually, those people captured me, I should hate them, and originally, I indeed hated them very much.

But for some reason, seeing how they ended up, I couldn't hate them anymore.

I felt so sorrowful, the teacher said to repay resentment with virtue, but with what to repay virtue? Yet I am so weak, am I not terrible?"

Chen Xu's emotions were actually very complicated too, but at this moment his expression was tranquil.

He opened his palm and said, "Ah Yuan, come here."

Wei Yuan was stunned for a moment, as Chen Xu usually called it "Mr. Wei", and this intimate calling of "Ah Yuan" was a first.

This "Ah Yuan" was so gentle, the little hedgehog felt completely at a loss, but its heart was warm, as if filled with sweetly sour little fruits.

Seeing Chen Xu waiting with an open palm, it was unwilling to let him wait long, hastily jumping into Chen Xu's hand.

Chen Xu held the little hedgehog and first chuckled, saying, "Ah Yuan, you've grown taller."

Wei Yuan stood in his palm, meeting his gaze, and shyly said:

"Mr. Chen, I've made a breakthrough in my cultivation, now at the Third Transformation. Once I reach the Nine Transformations, I can Condense Pills, and then maybe transform into a human shape after Condensing Pills."

Saying this, there was a hint of longing in its tone.

Chen Xu also rejoiced for it, saying, "Since you're at the Third Transformation, the Nine Transformations are surely within reach..."

Saying this, Chen Xu suddenly paused, noticing the injury on Wei Yuan's shoulder and sensing that its current aura was somewhat weak.

Earlier, preoccupied with battle, Chen Xu hadn't noticed this.

Now thinking back, Wei Yuan must have suffered a lot when captured by the villagers.

Chen Xu felt a bit distressed and hurriedly said, "Ah Yuan, hold on, I'll heal your wound."

Saying this, he placed Wei Yuan on a smooth stone about a foot high beside him.

This mountaintop clearing wasn't large, roughly five zhang in square area.

If one looked west, beyond the vast cloudy cliffs, a large river wound through the mountains, with the riverside village being the one currently in turmoil.

To the east lay deep forests, densely wooded.

In the distance, more mountain ranges extended, their true length and breadth unknown.

On the mountaintop clearing, there were several peculiar rock formations.

The rocks appeared artful, a picture in themselves.

Compared to the chaos at the mountain foot, this seemed like a haven of peace.

Chen Xu set up a small stove, bringing out a jar of Rootless Water.

He was about to retrieve spiritual materials when he vaguely heard the sound of roaring fire.

At this moment, the Food Cauldron Celestial Book's prompt appeared: [You have used fire to obliterate the village of the evil path demon child, cooking both grains and demons, and have earned a reward of Fireworks Value +1000.]

[Reward: Spiritual Material Corpse Demon Dew.]

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