Forest God

"Xiaohua…" The old man frowned.

"Grandpa, Long Chen is my man, and he will be a member of the village from now on. He has the right to know about this," Xiaohua said righteously.

Hearing this, the old man stopped speaking. The others quickly finished the thin porridge in their bowls and returned to their houses, leaving only Long Chen and the other two.

"That Demonic Beast was sacrificed by us," Xiaohua said, looking into Long Chen's eyes.

"Sacrificed?" Long Chen was startled; it was the first time he had heard that term.

"Yes. At the time, your injuries were too severe, and you could have died at any moment. We had no choice but to take you before the Forest God. The Forest God healed you, but we had to sacrifice that Rock Leopard to it. That is why you were able to fully recover in just three short days," Xiaohua explained.

Long Chen's heart shook violently. There were actually gods in this world; this completely overturned his understanding.

"Not only that, but your injuries were so severe that, besides the Rock Leopard, we sacrificed all the meat in the village. Even so, we still owe the Forest God a lot of flesh and blood. We need to continue hunting to repay the debt," Xiaohua said quietly.

Only then did Long Chen understand why the entire village was only drinking thin porridge and why there was no meat to be seen.

Thinking about how these strong men needed meat to boost their physical strength, yet had to go hunting on empty stomachs because of him, he couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness.

"Long Chen, I'm telling you this not to make you feel guilty, but because you are now a member of the village, and I feel you have the right to know the truth," Xiaohua said softly, holding Long Chen's hand.

The more Xiaohua said this, the guiltier Long Chen felt. Having lived in the cruel environment of the Imperial Capital for so long, this kind of trust felt incredibly warm.

"Can you tell me about your Forest God?"

Xiaohua looked at her grandfather, and seeing him nod, she began to recount a truth to Long Chen that sounded like a fairy tale.

It turned out that shortly after this village was established, their ancestors discovered a very magical tree. Once, their ancestors had been attacked by a Demonic Beast and were nearly killed, but they managed to escape to this tree. The tree dripped a drop of sap, and their ancestor's severe injuries were completely healed in just half a day.

To show gratitude for the tree's kindness, they hunted a beast and placed it as an offering before the tree. They discovered that the tree absorbed the beast in an instant.

From then on, whenever someone was injured, they would run to the tree for treatment, and the tree would always heal them. To show their respect for the tree, they called it the Forest God. Not long after, because they had sacrificed many beasts, the tree actually began to communicate with them and established a contract.

It could heal the village people, but it required sacrifices in return. As for how much, it depended on the severity of the injury.

It was just like a physician charging a fee, but over all these years, the Forest God hadn't collected much in the way of rewards. They didn't need many sacrifices either, but Long Chen was an exception this time. The Forest God demanded a staggering price before it would agree to save him.

"What did it ask for?" Long Chen asked.

Xiaohua looked at Long Chen, gritted her teeth, and said, "Ten Rank 1 Demonic Beasts and one Rank 2 Demonic Beast."

Long Chen's expression changed. A single Rank 1 Demonic Beast required the entire village's strength to deal with, and it carried great risk. As for a Rank 2 Demonic Beast, it would take several Blood Condensation Realm experts working together to kill it. For Xiaohua and the others, that was an impossible task. This so-called Forest God was practically forcing them to their deaths.

Seeing the anger on Long Chen's face, Xiaohua hurriedly said, "Long Chen, you must not harbor resentment toward the Forest God. It is very fair. Over these many years, no matter how injured we were, it never charged such a high price. Asking for so much this time definitely has a reason. Besides, you are better now. As long as we work together, I believe we can pay off the Forest God's debt soon. Let alone one Rank 2 Demonic Beast, even if it were ten, we would agree to it. We couldn't just watch you die, wuwu…"

By the end, Xiaohua had thrown herself into Long Chen's arms and was sobbing uncontrollably. The old man also sighed and said, "Long Chen, the Tree God is definitely fair. It has its reasons for demanding such a high price. Do not be angry."

"I want to go see the Forest God," Long Chen said. He wanted to figure out what this Forest God actually was.

As for the price it demanded, Long Chen didn't take it to heart. Now that his body had recovered, he could kill a Rank 1 Demonic Beast in seconds, and he could take down a Rank 2 Demonic Beast as long as it didn't run away. A Rank 2 Demonic Beast was only equivalent to a human Blood Condensation Realm expert, but the bodies of Demonic Beasts were too powerful; humans of the same Rank were not their match.

But who was Long Chen? Aside from Bone Tempering Realm experts, he feared no one in the Blood Condensation Realm. He didn't like owing debts. If he could confirm that this Forest God wasn't a fraud, he wanted to pay off the debt as soon as possible. Furthermore, he wanted to know what this so-called god really was.

With the permission of Xiaohua's grandfather, Long Chen followed Xiaohua out of the village and headed straight toward a mountain path. It was clear that Xiaohua was very familiar with this place. She led Long Chen forward, carrying her bow and arrows, stopping from time to time to listen to the surrounding sounds. Sometimes, she would even take Long Chen to check some of the traps set around the area to see if they had caught any beasts.

However, to their disappointment, they checked over a dozen traps along the way, and not a single one had been triggered. They had no harvest at all.

"It's really depressing. There hasn't been any meat in the village for the past few days. We urgently need meat to replenish our strength; otherwise, it's very difficult to catch prey," Xiaohua sighed. They were hunters, and meat was like a stimulant to them. Going several days without meat was a huge blow to their morale.

"It's okay. Just leave this task to me. The matter started because of me, so let me be the one to resolve it," Long Chen smiled.

Xiaohua's expression changed, and she said angrily, "What kind of talk is that? Your business is my business, and it is the village's business. How could we let you take risks alone?"

Long Chen gave a bitter smile and simply shut his mouth. However, he liked the atmosphere in the village; there was no selfishness, only peaceful coexistence. In a world of intrigue like the Imperial Capital, this was such a luxury. This was a wonderful place, but Long Chen couldn't stay here, and he certainly couldn't just muddle along and have children with her. His life had been saved by the entire village, and now that the village owed a debt because of him, he had to pay it off before leaving.

"Wait a moment." As the two were walking, Xiaohua suddenly stopped. She looked at a footprint on the ground, and her expression became incredibly serious.

"A bear was just here. Looking at the size and depth of this footprint, it should be an adult Violent Bear, and its body length definitely exceeds one zhang. Looking at the color of the soil, it just passed by here an hour ago."

Xiaohua was truly an experienced hunter to be able to tell so much from a single footprint. The Violent Bear was a Rank 1 Demonic Beast, extremely ferocious and very difficult to deal with. Even if they gathered the entire village's strength, they might not dare to challenge a Violent Bear. The reason they dared to target the Rock Leopard was that although the Rock Leopard was extremely fast, its attack power and defense were not particularly strong. As long as they were careful about its movements, with enough people, they had a great chance of killing it.

But the Violent Bear was different. It was not a speed-type Demonic Beast, but its defense and strength were too terrifying. No matter how many people they had, they had no chance of winning.

"It looks like we have to take a detour," Xiaohua said cautiously. "Why?" Long Chen asked, puzzled. "Idiot, does that even need asking? We are simply no match for the Violent Bear. Even if all the warriors in the village gathered, there wouldn't be much of a chance," Xiaohua said crossly.

"Who says?" "You… you're really going to be the death of me." Seeing Long Chen's blank expression, Xiaohua was both angry and anxious. However, she suddenly widened her eyes and looked at Long Chen, "You aren't thinking of killing the Violent Bear, are you?" "That's right," Long Chen said, looking at Xiaohua.

Xiaohua was stunned for a moment. She suddenly recalled the scene where Long Chen fought the Rock Leopard. At that time, Long Chen was simply like a God of War, unstoppable. Afterward, her grandfather said that Long Chen had suffered very serious injuries before encountering the Rock Leopard; otherwise, he might have had the strength to kill it. Now, seeing Long Chen's expression, she finally realized that Long Chen might truly have the strength to take down a Demonic Beast.

"Have you ever killed a Rank 1 Demonic Beast before?" Xiaohua asked tentatively. "No." Long Chen shook his head. This was his first time out; he had eaten Demonic Beast meat several times, but that was all thanks to A-Man. However, Long Chen muttered to himself, 'I haven't killed a Rank 1 Demonic Beast, but I've slaughtered quite a few Blood Condensation Realm experts.'

Xiaohua shook her head and said, "Then let's forget it. Killing a Demonic Beast isn't about how high your cultivation is or how much strength you have; it's about seizing the right moment, mastering techniques, and experience is very important. Since you don't have experience killing Demonic Beasts, let's not take the risk. Hunters never do things they aren't sure of, otherwise, they become the prey."

"Never do things you aren't sure of? Then when you acted to save me, did that count?" Long Chen laughed. "Annoying! You aren't allowed to bring that up again!" Xiaohua's pretty face turned red, and she raised her little fist in a threat.

"Alright, I won't joke with you anymore. Rest assured, I won't gamble with both of our lives," Long Chen said seriously. Seeing Long Chen suddenly become so earnest, completely devoid of his earlier playfulness, he gave off a very safe feeling. For some reason, seeing this look on Long Chen's face made Xiaohua suddenly relax, and even the terrifying impression of the Violent Bear faded quite a bit.

With Xiaohua, an experienced hunter, the two only traveled for a little over an hour before they saw a huge natural cave ahead. Inside that cave, the Violent Bear, which had been sleeping on the ground, suddenly opened its huge eyes. It saw two people invading the territory it had just occupied.

"Roar!" The Violent Bear stood up abruptly. Its huge body, over a zhang tall, suddenly lunged out and charged straight toward the two of them. Watching the Violent Bear rushing toward them, Xiaohua's pretty face turned pale with fear. It was her first time being exposed to a Demonic Beast like this, which violated all the rules of a hunter. However, Xiaohua noticed that Long Chen had been calm and steady from beginning to end, his eyes as still as water. As he watched the Violent Bear pounce, he swung his left fist out.