Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror-Chapter 41: The Wolf in the Mountains

Wan Tiancang had been living at Lichuan Entrance for over half a year, staying secluded every day, watching the green rice sprouts emerge from the soil one by one, feeling very happy in his heart. At night, he used the Spiritual Rain Technique on the spiritual field in the courtyard, and was meditating with crossed legs when he faintly heard a commotion outside.

He couldn’t help but open his eyes to see, noticing the flicker of firelight in the dark night outside, as if someone was running back and forth carrying torches. His heart sank immediately, and he opened the courtyard door to look outside.

Seeing a child hurriedly running towards him with a torch, Wan Tiancang quickly called out,

"Child! What has happened?"

"Sir! Old Ye at the head of the village is dead, they say a demon has come, and they are calling everyone in the village to go there."

The child hastily stopped, holding the torch and looking at Wan Tiancang nervously, seeing the Immortal who had not left his yard for half a year furrow his brows, step halfway out of the yard, and then step back.

"Just my luck that Lichuan Entrance encounters a demonic being! This Spirit Rice has been planted for just half a year; nothing must happen to it."

Wan Tiancang wanted to find Li Tongya, but he also feared that the demon had its eyes on the spiritual rice in the garden. Caught between a rock and a hard place, he crouched down and called to the child:

"Go call Chen Erniu over here."

"Yes!"

The child was just about to get up when firelight flickered in the woods, and a crowd emerged, surrounding Chen Erniu as they came out.

"Immortal Master! What should we do now?"

Chen Erniu, drenched in sweat, reported that the heads of the households had not yet arrived, but two more villagers had died in the meantime, with their brains gouged out, dying a gruesome death. Chen Erniu was both frightened and angry, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

"Has anyone witnessed this demon?"

Wan Tiancang stared at the sweating Chen Erniu and demanded with a stern face.

"Not yet, and the victims never even got to let out a cry of agony!"

Hearing this, Wan Tiancang immediately beat a retreat. He, Wan Tiancang, was just a small Cultivator at the peak of the Xuanjing Wheel. Where would he get the strength to deal with a demon that seemed to move as fast as the wind? He lamented in his heart,

"Li Tongya, oh Li Tongya, where the hell are you!"

"Brother Wan!"

Wan Tiancang paused for a few breaths, just about to speak, when a loud shout came from far and near, interrupting him.

Looking up, he saw a young man with a majestic bearing, wearing vine armor, and holding a longbow, striding towards him with a bright smile showing his white teeth.

"Clan Leader!"

Chen Erniu hurriedly bowed down, and Wan Tiancang immediately understood that this person must be Li Xiangping. He quickly put his hands together in a salute,

"I am Wan Tiancang of the Wan Family, greetings, Clan Leader."

Li Xiangping waved his hand, indicating Chen Erniu to get up, then addressed Wan Tiancang,

"Brother Wan, hold on for a moment."

He turned to Chen Erniu and said in a deep voice,

"Gather all the village’s elderly, women, and children around this courtyard. Have the village protectors sit in groups of ten on the outer side, spaced every ten feet apart, ensuring there are at least five groups within each group’s line of sight for mutual protection."

Once he finished, he went into the courtyard with Wan Tiancang, ignoring everyone else.

"Yes!"

Chen Erniu immediately found his backbone and quickly agreed before going to make arrangements.

No sooner had Li Xiangping entered the courtyard than Wan Tiancang said with a wry smile,

"Brother Li, this demon likely has a high Cultivation Level; I’m afraid I won’t be of much help."

Li Xiangping laughed heartily and replied directly, 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Brother Wan, there’s no need to beat around the bush. Your Wan Family wants to protect the Spirit Rice, and my Li Family wants to keep Lichuan safe. We are, after all, two peas in a pod!"

Wan Tiancang instantly felt a chill, internally complaining incessantly. If the demon were not in Lichuan, he, Wan Tiancang, wouldn’t have cared whether it ate people or not! He would watch the Li Family falter with delight while guarding the Spirit Rice, but now he had no choice but to help.

Having gathered his thoughts, Wan Tiancang took a few moments to mull over, then fetched paper and brush from inside the house. As he sat down to write something, he also began to explain,

"The safest plan now is for me to write a letter and call upon the head of my family to come to our aid. It would be best if we could resolve this matter before dawn!"

"Exactly!"

Li Xiangping nodded and continued,

"Write three letters by hand, and I will send people out of the village in three different directions, to prevent accidents on the way and ensure at least one reaches Wan Family territory."

Wan Tiancang nodded repeatedly, and after writing for about fifteen minutes, screams and cries for help rose and fell outside the courtyard in a chaotic din.

Li Xiangping, with a grave expression, went out to see. In front of the courtyard, the old, the weak, women, and children were all sitting around. They had started fires, and each one was looking up in terror into the distance, quietly crying or exclaiming with fear.

Not far away, the village guards had already gathered near the edge-most group, holding long sticks and door panels, timidly staring at the nearby woods.

"It’s wolves from the mountains."

Wan Tiancang, holding his brush, stood beside Li Xiangping, gazing into the forest at the pair of luminescent green eyes, and said in a deep voice.

A giant wolf, as large as an ox and cloaked in silver-gray fur, its green pupils glowing eerily, stepped out from the woods. Its narrow silvery-gray wolf snout was elongated, the corners of its mouth broad, ears upright, tail hanging, causing the guards to retreat again and again.

Lifting its head to look past the people, those cold eyes fixated on Li Xiangping, standing on the stone steps of the courtyard gate, the corners of the wolf’s snout tilted up slightly, as if it was lightly laughing.

"This beast..."

Wan Tiancang, for a moment sweaty as a pulp, silently wiped off the cold sweat, and then said,

"Seeing its nimble demeanor, it has at least swallowed the Essence of the Sun and Moon, and condensed a Yujing Wheel."

Li Xiangping faced this monstrous creature and also felt a chill down his spine. While looking at the wolf’s slight smile and dark green pupils, he somehow sensed a hint of scorn.

"If the head of my family cannot defeat this beast..."

Suddenly lifting his head, Wan Tiancang quietly looked at Li Xiangping, lips buzzing, he started speaking with some difficulty.

"A Lingchu Wheel monster?"

Li Xiangping narrowed his eyes, and said in a deep voice,

"Always prepare for the worst. If this beast has a Cultivation Level beyond the Yujing Wheel, then lead it towards the southeast, circumventing Lijing Village and head up to Lijing Mountain. My Li Family has a Formation there. With the advantage of the terrain, the head of your family can kill that beast."

"Forget it, forget it, forget it!"

Wan Tiancang made some careful corrections to the three letters, handed them to Chen Erniu, and watched as he commanded someone to send out the message. Wan Tiancang shook his head with a wry smile and said,

"That creature has cultivated a Yujing Wheel and opened its spiritual intelligence; it must have already consumed quite a few humans, and it has set its sights on us. Cultivators are coveted nourishment, and we have no way out now."

"There’s no need to panic."

Li Xiangping waved his hand, staring intently at the creature’s eyes, his mouth corners also turning up in a slight smile like the malicious wolf, and softly said,

"In my youth, I saw my father hunt wolves. This beast is extremely cautious. Now that it has cultivated a Yujing Wheel, it will be even more afraid of dying. It’s a good thing it has targeted us. Just follow my command."

"Chen Erniu!"

"Here, sir!"

Chen Erniu quickly stepped forward, listening intently.

"The village guards will steadily retreat, surrounding us as we step back slowly towards the south. The old, the weak, women, and children should stay put; the beast will surely chase after us."

"The outer guards should throw away their door panels, hold their torches outwards. If the beast approaches, whether to shout or yell, to scoff or curse, do not show even a hint of fear! If the beast charges, use long sticks tied to knives to sweep and hit the ground. Wolves have slender legs; this monster will surely cherish them."

Taking out a polished arrow from the quiver, Li Xiangping formed a spell with his hands, and a faint golden light began to appear on the arrowhead.

Resting the arrow’s nock on the bowstring, Li Xiangping coldly said,

"Go!"