Qiliang Village, Miao people's altar.

  Last night's big battle seemed to have no impact on the quiet atmosphere here, and under the leadership of that young wizard, Gui Li and Xiao Bai walked silently in the altar. The little gray cat lying on Gui Li's shoulder also seemed to be much quieter at this moment, as if the solemn atmosphere around it made it behave itself.

  Through the long corridor, they came to the stone house in front of the altar deep inside. The young wizard nodded slightly and didn't say anything to them, turned around and walked away, disappearing into the darkness after a moment.

  Only the two of them were left around. Gui Li and Xiao Bai exchanged a glance, and Gui Li said calmly: "Let's go in!"

  Xiaobai nodded in agreement and they both walked inside together.

  The house was still very dim, and in the depths ahead, a fire was still burning, and in front of the fire, a hunched figure was still sitting with its back to them.

  In this familiar scene, suddenly, last night's events seemed unreal, perhaps it was just a dream...

  A faint cough sounded from the old man, and his silhouette under the firelight trembled violently, shattering the silence here and bringing people back to reality.

  "You've come," the Grand Wizard said in a voice that had become somewhat hoarse after his coughing fit, "come closer!"

  Gui Li and Xiao Bai walked to his back, sat down quietly, in front of this frail old man, for some reason, both of them felt a little unsure of what to say.

  The great wizard seemed to let out a soft sigh and said, "My clansmen were rude to you just now, please don't mind."

  The ghost's eyes gleamed with a faint light as he nodded slightly and said, "I dare not."

  The great wizard coughed twice, but fell silent and said nothing more. Gui Li and Xiao Bai had to wait patiently, but unexpectedly, this wait was half a day. The great wizard seemed to be asleep, motionless, without any reaction at all.

  Gui Lie's heart grew increasingly anxious, firstly because he didn't know what the great witch doctor was thinking in his heart, and secondly because of the sudden turmoil last night, which made him regret for life. If by any chance Bi Yao was missed because of himself, it would be unforgivable even with a hundred deaths.

  At this moment, after waiting for a long time, the great wizard seemed to still not have spoken, Xiaobai on the side was still patient and not anxious at all, but Xiao Hui had already become impatient. Mischievous and playful by nature, he couldn't stand the solemn atmosphere here anymore, scratching one side and slipping away from Gui Li's body.

  His heart burning with anxiety, he really didn't want to delay any further. He opened his mouth and said: "Senior, the thing I requested from you..."

  Before he could even get the word "thing" out of his mouth, the great wizard suddenly interrupted him and said: "Young man, let me tell you a story!"

  Gui Lie was taken aback, and glanced at Xiao Bai beside him, only to see that she had also furrowed her brow, with a look of confusion in her eyes. It was clear that she didn't know what this old fellow was thinking either. However, since they were seeking his help at the moment, Gui Lie could only sigh inwardly and suppress the anxiety that was growing inside him, patiently saying: "Senior, please speak!"

  The grand wizard's hoarse voice echoed faintly in the depths of this dark altar, as if it had traversed thousands of years and returned quietly at this moment...

  "We are located in the southern part of China's vast territory, never as prosperous as the central plains, but with our own unique origins..."

  Guilei nodded silently, the unique customs of Nanjiang were indeed different from those of Zhongtu.

  "Now the people of the world all know that in our southern border, there are five ethnic groups standing together, living on this land. But actually, a long, long time ago, the Miao, Li, Zhuang, Yao and Gaoshan five ethnic groups were originally one ancient tribe called the 'Wu Tribe'."

  Guilian and Xiaobai were both stunned. These things shouldn't be said, Guilian had never heard of them before, and even Xiaobai didn't have any impression.

  The silhouette of the great wizard, reflected in the flickering flames that cast a slightly distorted shadow on the ground, his voice accompanied by the crackling "pop" of burning wood.

  The sound, faintly, carries the vicissitudes of past times.

  "In the legend of the tribe, in ancient times, the ancient witch tribe operated on the southern border, with great power and influence. The tribe produced generation after generation of people with high and profound magical powers, among whom were the priestesses who served the witch gods, whose magic was the strongest."

  "The so-called maiden of the witch tribe is a virgin with extremely high spiritual power selected from each generation of the ancient witch tribe, who serves the witch god at the altar, studies witchcraft, and leads all members of the witch tribe. This kind of day has been going on for many years, many years..."

  Guile and Xiao Bai both slightly raised their heads, they were both intelligent figures, at this moment they knew the key point that the great witch doctor had said was about to come out. And at this moment, Little Gray didn't know where he had quietly slipped away into the darkness.

  However, in the third year after the 11th generation witch girl of the ancient witch tribe took office, a strange phenomenon suddenly occurred in the Xiwang Mountains on the southern border. The voice of the great witch doctor was still hoarse, but his tone had quietly risen, as if the excitement hidden in his heart was slowly revealing itself.

  "In the midst of the treacherous and ferocious Ten Thousand Great Mountains, a monster that claimed to be the 'Beast God' suddenly appeared. No one knew where this monster came from, as if it had simply materialized out of thin air in the perilous Ten Thousand Great Mountains."

  "At first, no one noticed the existence of that monster, but gradually, the ancestors of the witch tribe felt a strange change. The mountains of Wan Dada, although treacherous, were lush with forests and teeming with animals, and the skilled hunters of the witch tribe could always enter to hunt. But from that time on, in the midst of Wan Dada, a sudden and deadly miasma was born, which would cause anyone who breathed it in to rot and die instantly. Even more bizarrely, the originally normal wild beasts also underwent strange transformations, some turning into beast-headed humanoids, extremely ferocious, killing anyone they saw, tearing them apart and devouring them, making people's hair stand on end. The witch tribe was thrown into a state of panic."

  Gui Li and Xiao Bai couldn't help but exchange another glance. The great witch doctor's words were indeed strange and unheard of.

  The great shaman paused for a moment, as if also immersed in the past events that had been lost in ancient history. After a while, he continued slowly: "At that time, the Shaman Maiden gathered the leaders of the tribe's shamans to discuss and finally dispatched a team led by three shamans with a group of elite warriors to investigate what strange things had happened in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, causing the sudden appearance of poisonous miasma and the mutation of animals.

  But just ten days after the team entered the mountain, only one of the strongest shamans, who was leading the way, escaped and returned. His whole body was festering with sores, and despite the full efforts of the shamaness to save him, he died in vain. In his final moments, he uttered two words: "Beast Demon", and then passed away!

  "Shòu yāo......" Ji Li and Xiao Bai both whispered this name in their hearts.

  "From that time on, the ancestors of the Wu tribe finally knew that a monster had emerged from the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. After inquiring extensively and sacrificing many brave warriors' lives, they gradually came to know that this monster was suddenly appearing in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, possessing unfathomable and bizarre abilities. Under his demonic powers, the originally lush forest mountains became barren, the clear rivers were filled with toxic liquids, and everywhere was filled with deadly miasma. The various animals in the forest were also transformed by him into monsters using his demonic powers, becoming all sorts of terrifying creatures such as bear-men, tiger-men, leopard-men, wolf-men, and so on, ferocious and cannibalistic, extremely frightening..."

  The ghost's mouth corner suddenly twitched and he cut in: "Could there be a fish person among them?"

  The great wizard's back shook, silent for a moment, as if recalling something, then nodded slowly and said: "Not bad, the legend of our tribe says that in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, those ferocious barbarians indeed have a branch of fish people. How, could it be that you..."

  The demon sank into thought for a moment before finally saying: "That's right, I once saw such a monster with the head of a fish and the body of a human in the great western swamp."

  The great wizard's body shook violently, and he finally couldn't bear it anymore. He suddenly turned his head around, with the firelight shining on his wrinkles, as if the years had carved deep marks on him. And his voice, at this moment, was hoarse: "You...you actually really saw these monsters?"

  The ghost nodded solemnly and silently.

  The Grand Wizard's face turned white, and he muttered: "It has appeared, it has finally appeared, the will of heaven! The will of heaven... But why did they appear in the West? Isn't the entrance to the Ten Thousand Great Mountains guarded by the Xiangxi Valley of Cultivation?"

  His aged face was sometimes fearful and sometimes bewildered, with expressions changing constantly, as if he had lost his soul.

  The ghost stretched out his hand and gently patted the old man's shoulder.

  The great wizard's body shook slightly, as if suddenly awakened, looked at the ghostly face, and his expression gradually calmed down. He then turned his head again to face the flames.

  "I'll just keep talking then! After all, if it's fate, we mortals are powerless anyway."

  His voice seemed to have an additional hint of desolation: "After learning about the beast demon, the people of the witch tribe never had a peaceful day again. As time passed, the various monsters under the beast demon's command began to gradually emerge from the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. As a result, news of tribal members being harmed continued to spread, with the number of victims increasing daily. The situation had reached a point where people were panicking, and eventually, even ordinary witch tribe civilians began to abandon their homes, recklessly migrating northward without regard for anything. If this continued, the entire witch tribe would be destroyed."

  "That generation of witches, originally wanted to gather more information about this monster, and then discuss how to get rid of it. But at that time, the witch clan was in a state of extreme anger and urgency, she finally decided to summon all the witches and warriors in the entire witch clan, to go together to defeat this monstrous creature, and engage in a battle to the death, to save the witch clan."

  "It so happened that on the very evening when the witch maiden made this decision, the beast demon led his countless demonic minions to suddenly emerge from the Ten Thousand Great Mountains and head straight for the ancient witch tribe's altar. The witch tribe's altar was a place where the witch tribe people worshipped their gods, and it had always been the lifeblood of the tribe, sacred and inviolable. That evening, it can be said that all the people in the witch tribe, regardless of whether they were men or women, even children who were a bit older, all rushed onto the battlefield to fight to the death with those ferocious demons!"

  The grand wizard's voice paused lightly at this point, while Gui Li and Xiao Bai held their breath. The bloody massacre of ancient times seemed to reappear in the darkness around them, in the grand wizard's desolate and precipitous words.

  "That brutal war was far beyond our imagination, and the stories passed down by my Miao ancestors were only a glimpse of that war. To sum it up, after the land was stained with blood, after countless Wu warriors fought to the death with the demons, the beast demon finally broke through into the last defense line of the Wu girl's shrine, bringing some demons with her. And outside the shrine, the fierce battle continued..."

  "Just then, the great shaman finally began to protect his people, and that generation's shaman maiden was recognized as the strongest in the history of shamans. After a shocking battle, the beast demon and its several powerful subordinate demons were trapped by the shaman maiden using the "Eight Cruel Mystic Fire Formation" passed down from the ancient shaman gods on the altar..."

  "What?" Qi Li and Xiao Bai suddenly exclaimed in unison.

  The Grand Wizard turned around and looked at them strangely, saying: "What's wrong with the 'Eight Trigrams Mysterious Fire Formation'?"

  Gui Li and Xiao Bai exchanged a glance, remained silent for a moment, then said: "This name is quite strange."

  The great shaman sighed and said, "This magic array is a legacy of the ancient shaman gods, activated by the mysterious treasure 'Xuanhuo Mirror' which contains the essence of ten thousand fires. Its power is extremely strong, and even the beast demons who mastered the dark arts were trapped in it back then. The morale of the shaman tribe's soldiers was greatly boosted, while those demon creatures were thrown into chaos and eventually repelled."

  "It was just that although the 'Eight Trigrams Mysterious Fire Formation' had boundless power, the demonic beast's powers were not to be underestimated. It managed to survive under the scorching flames of the Eight Desolate Fire Dragon for day and night, despite being heavily injured. The beast then confronted the Shaman Maiden without rest. At that time, due to the formation's immense power, other shamans from various tribes could not approach to offer assistance. Only the Shaman Maiden alone supported this grand formation with her own powers. After three days and nights, when almost all the people of the Shaman Tribe were about to go mad, the demonic beast suddenly broke through the formation."

  However, the beast demon managed to escape, but it was already on its last breath after being burned by the spell array. It didn't dare to stay for another moment and flew back to its old nest in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. When everyone rushed to the altar, the witch girl was also exhausted, tired to the point of collapse. But that witch girl was indeed a admirable figure, she decided to enter the Ten Thousand Great Mountains alone after resting for a day, determined to eliminate the beast demon. Because if they waited for the beast demon to recover, it's likely that the end of the witch tribe would truly arrive.

  Xiaobai let out a soft sigh and said, "This priestess is truly a heroine among women, with the heart of a Bodhisattva, willing to sacrifice herself for others!"

  The Grand Wizard said calmly: "We don't believe in Bodhisattvas here in the southern border."

  Xiaobai smiled and didn't say anything.

  The great witch continued: "At that time, no one among the witch tribe agreed with the witch girl's approach. Everyone knew that she would go and might not come back. But the witch girl was determined and finally went, accompanied by seven of the bravest warriors in the witch tribe. The eight of them entered the extremely ferocious Ten Thousand Great Mountain."

  They traveled on, cutting through thorns and brambles, unknowingly killing countless monsters, until they finally arrived at the ancient cave where the beast demons resided on the sixth day. The shaman maiden made an unexpected decision at this moment; she had the other seven people wait outside the cave, while only she entered it alone.

  The seven warriors were naturally unwilling, but the witch's determination was extremely firm, and she said bluntly that they would not be of any help even if they went in, and would instead drag her down. In the end, the seven warriors had no choice but to agree.

  The maiden priestess entered the ancient cave and there was no news of her again. The seven brave warriors waited outside the ancient cave for two whole days and nights, until two of them could not bear it anymore and wanted to rush into the ancient cave to find the maiden priestess, but the other five thought they should continue waiting and follow the maiden priestess's order.

  Seven warriors quarreled among themselves and in the end, those two warriors entered the ancient cave, and they never had any news again.

  And so, on the fifth day, just as the remaining five warriors were gradually losing hope, the shrine maiden suddenly emerged from the ancient cave, stumbling and staggering. At that time, she had lost all her blood, her face deathly pale. But the five warriors were overjoyed and didn't notice any of this. The shrine maiden summoned the five warriors to her side, gave each person a radiant object filled with eerie spiritual power, and told them that these five sacred objects were created from the body of the beast demon after she had defeated it. However, the beast demon was an extraordinary creature born from the most evil energy in the world, its body may have been destroyed but its soul still lingered.

  The five warriors were shocked and pale, the witch princess continued to say that as long as these five sacred artifacts do not return to this ancient cave, the beast demon will never be able to resurrect! After finishing speaking, her body trembled continuously, and suddenly all seven orifices flowed with blood. The five warriors were greatly shocked, the witch princess used up her last bit of energy to instruct them that from now on, the entire witch tribe must forever guard these five sacred artifacts, absolutely cannot let the beast demon resurrect, otherwise it would be the end of the world for the witch tribe and the mortal realm. And she herself would eternally stand guard outside this ancient cave, using her own soul to suppress all evil spirits, locking them within the ancient cave. After barely finishing saying these words, the witch princess could no longer hold on and passed away standing, and a moment later, her body astonishingly faced towards the depths of the ancient cave and transformed into a stone statue!

  The voice of the great wizard slowly sank down.

  In the firelight, everyone's face looked a bit strange with an inexplicable expression. After a long while, Xiaobai let out a long sigh and said: "What a wonderful queen! But, great witch, you told us this story, what was your intention?"

  The great wizard's back, as if it had been bent by an invisible weight, looked particularly desolate. He didn't answer Xiao Bai's question, but instead continued on his own: "After the five brave warriors cried and mourned, they returned to their tribe. Although the witch maiden had died unfortunately, the beast demon, the greatest enemy of the witch tribe, was finally suppressed in that ancient cave. The people of the witch tribe were sad, but also had a few parts of joy and celebration. However, at this time, the five brave warriors who had returned with high prestige after defeating the demons began to fight each other for the leadership position within the witch tribe."

  "The most regrettable thing is that in the Wu tribe, each generation of Wu Niangniang was designated by the previous generation of Wu Niangniang, but this generation's Niangniang did not leave any instructions. At that time, the five brave warriors also forgot to ask about it. As a result, the once prosperous and powerful Wu tribe gradually split under the disputes of the five brave warriors, and the people also supported one of them respectively. Finally, they gradually split into the Miao, Li, Zhuang, Tu, and Gaoshan tribes in the southern border, and the five key sacred artifacts were also controlled by each of the five tribes."

  At the time when this ancient yet thrilling story finally came to an end, Gui Li took a deep breath, gazing at the back of the Great Wizard and said slowly: "Senior, you've said so many words, could it be that you want me to help retrieve the sacred artifact of the Miao tribe?"