My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

Dust fell from the gate, landing on the heads of the two guards.

"Thump—"

Another shot. Closer still.

"Thump—"

The third time.

The two guards' faces had turned pale.

They saw it.

At the end of the mountain road, at the edge of that dense forest, a bear emerged.

No, it's not "walk", it's "rush".

Its body was too big, much bigger than a bear.

It was three stories high, with shiny black fur, like a giant rock that had rolled down a mountain.

Its four legs were as thick as tree trunks, and with each step it took, a deep pit was created in the ground.

Its head was lowered, as if it were smelling something.

Its eyes were red and dark, like congealed blood.

The most bizarre thing is its pupil—there is a thin line of blood in it, vertical, as if it divides the eye in two.

"Close...close the door!" a guard shouted hoarsely.

Two guards rushed toward the gate and pushed it desperately.

The gate was made of stone, thick and heavy, and usually required several people to close it with the help of a winch.

The two of them pushed so hard their veins bulged that the door slowly closed.

Through the crack in the door, the bear drew closer and grew larger.

It had already started running, not walking, but running, faster than a horse, shaking the ground.

"Quickly, go and call for help! Call the guard captain! Call the clan elder!" a guard shouted inside.

Hearing the commotion, the villagers rushed out.

Some people saw the bear and were so frightened that their legs went weak and they collapsed to the ground.

Some people screamed, some cried out, and some turned and ran.

A young man rushed out of the village; he was part of the guards. He glanced at the bear, his face turned ashen, and he turned and ran deeper into the village.

"The bear demon is coming! The bear demon is coming!"

His voice echoed through the alley, like a stone thrown into a calm lake, ripples spreading outwards in concentric circles.

The doors and windows of every household were closed, and the cries of children came from inside the houses, muffled behind the wooden boards.

The gate to the village was finally closed.

The bolt was inserted, and two thick stone slabs were placed across the back of the door.

Two guards leaned against the door, panting heavily.

Their legs were shaking, their hands were shaking, but they didn't run.

They are guards. If they run away, what will happen to the old and young people behind them?

"boom--!!!"

The gate of the stockade suddenly shook.

Debris splashed out from under the door and hit the faces of the two guards.

The bear crashed into us.

The gate didn't collapse, but the mountains on both sides of the gate frame—the ginseng-gathering village is built in a valley between two mountains, and the gate is wedged at the narrowest point of the two mountain walls—made a "creaking" sound, as if someone was trying to break a piece of wood that was about to break.

"It...it's going to crash the mountain down!" a guard exclaimed.

It wasn't the mountain collapsing; it was the stone walls on both sides that were cracking.

The cracks extended from both sides of the village gate into the depths of the mountain, like a dense spider web.

Gravel fell from above, hitting the ground, the door, and the guards' heads.

"boom--!!!"

The second time.

A larger crack appeared in the stone wall to the left of the door frame, big enough to fit a fist.

The door panel was dented, the wooden bar was bent, and the door latch was trembling.

"boom--!!!"

The third time.

The door panel is cracked.

A crack appeared in the middle of the door panel, revealing the red eyes of the bear outside.

It was staring through the crack in the door, the vertical line of blood trembling slightly in its dark red pupils.

The guards were speechless.

They leaned against the door, using their bodies to brace against the door that was about to fall apart.

They knew it was useless, but they didn't know what else they could do.

......

The sun was already setting in the west, casting a long shadow of the council hall in the center of the village, like a giant hand.

It extends from the threshold all the way to the base of the wall on the opposite side.

The council hall was small, a brick and tile building, with a plaque above the door that read "Guardian Hall" in vigorous calligraphy, written by Lin Wusheng in his youth.

A long table was set up in the hall, and on the table was a sheepskin map, which depicted the mountains, water sources, and roads surrounding the ginseng-gathering village.

There are also several red circles marked with charcoal pencil, which are some of the monster lairs newly discovered this year.

Guard captain Zhao Tieshan stood in front of the table, one hand supporting himself on the edge of the table, the other pointing to the red circle at the far east of the map, his brows furrowed.

He is forty-seven years old this year, in the prime of his life. With his cultivation at the late stage of the Blood Exchange Realm, he is the strongest in the Ginseng Gathering Village besides Lin Wusheng.

He wasn't particularly tall, but he was very sturdy, with broad shoulders and a thick neck; he looked like someone who had been physically and mentally strong for many years.

"We cleared out this den on the east side last month, but the patrolmen heard wolves howling again a few days ago."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was deep, like the muffled sound of a stone thrown into deep water.

"The grand ceremony is tomorrow; we can't let these things linger around the village. If they disrupt the ceremony, no one can bear the consequences."

Four people were sitting on the other side of the table; all of them were martial artists at the Blood Exchange Realm.

Sitting opposite Zhao Tieshan was Vice Captain Sun Dayong, a mid-stage Blood Exchange Realm cultivator in his early forties with a square face and thick eyebrows. He looked honest but was actually quite meticulous.

Next to him was Qian Laosan, a mid-stage Blood Exchange Realm cultivator, thirty-eight years old, lean and wiry, with eyes that were always squinting, as if he were sizing something up.

Next to him is Liu Heizi, a thirty-five-year-old at the early stage of the Blood Exchange Realm, with a dark complexion, few words, but efficient in his work.

Last in line is Zhou Xiaoqi, the youngest, at the early stage of the Blood Exchange Realm, at twenty-nine years old. He only broke through last year and still has a youthful vigor on his face.

Sun Dayong picked up the rough porcelain bowl on the table, took a sip of water, put the bowl down, and said slowly.

"I went to see that wolf den to the east last month. The mother wolf had a litter of cubs and had been practicing for at most ten years."

These little creatures would run away as soon as they smell our medicinal powder; they wouldn't dare come to the edge of the village to cause trouble.

Qian Laosan squinted and traced a line on the map with his finger.

"This forest to the south is the real problem. The people who patrolled the mountains last time said they saw a huge python, as thick as a bowl, and they don't know how many years old it is."

Liu Heizi said in a muffled voice, "Pythons are afraid of powder. The stuff we sprinkled is enough to make it suffer."

Zhou Xiaoqi, young and impetuous, couldn't help but interrupt.

"If you ask me, who cares about wolves or snakes? Before the grand ceremony tomorrow, let's go out for a walk and deal with anything that seems amiss, so we don't have to worry about it here."

Zhao Tieshan glanced at him, his gaze not intense, but Zhou Xiaoqi immediately shut up.

"The grand ceremony is the most important event of the year in the village, and it cannot go wrong in the slightest."

Zhao Tieshan straightened up, put his hands on his hips, and looked at the red circles on the map.

"At daybreak tomorrow, we'll split up and patrol. Sun Dayong to the east, Qian Laosan to the south, Liu Heizi to the west, and Zhou Xiaoqi to the north. I'll stay in the village and be ready to provide backup at any time."

The four people nodded.