Even hybrid monsters have their day

"You...how did you know?"

"So it really was burned. What about the monster? What did you do with it after it was burned to death?" Geng Miaowan's expression also tightened. She had been reborn after being burned. If she could find out how they disposed of the burned corpse, she could report back to the authorities.

At this moment, Da Shan's expression turned sorrowful. His eyes welled up, and he spoke in a low voice that was beyond his years.

"If our village hadn't burned that monster that day, we probably wouldn't have suffered such a terrible tragedy."

Geng Miaowan became curious, "What do you mean by that?"

Da Shan continued, "A little over a month ago, two or three hunters from the village went into the mountains and found a strange thing on the hilltop. It looked like a centipede, dark brown, more than half a meter long, covered with limbs, each with a pair of small legs. But unlike a centipede, this thing had a pair of pincer-like things on its head. At the time, it was lying on its back in the stream on the hilltop, surrounded by a ring of black mist, twitching from time to time, looking like it was in great pain."

"Wait, you said that monster looks like a centipede, covered in limbs and feet, and has a pair of pincer-like things on its head?" Geng Miaowan was startled. If she remembered correctly, her original form at that time was also a long one, but it should have been more than half a zhang long, and it had no feet or pincers, and its body was smooth.

What's going on? Could it be that Da Shan misheard? "Are you sure you didn't mishear? Shouldn't it be a long, smooth thing that looks like a snake but isn't?" she retorted.

Dashan nodded firmly and said, "I saw that monster later, and it really did look like that."

Geng Miaowan nodded in confusion, signaling him to continue.

"No one knew what had happened between them and that thing. All they knew was that the hunters had been in the mountains for three days and hadn't returned, so the village chief organized a group of people to go and search for them. When the villagers reached the mountain, all they saw was blood everywhere, with mangled limbs scattered all over the ground, and that strange thing was lying there eating a severed limb. The scene was extremely gruesome, and some of the more timid ones were so frightened that their legs went weak and they collapsed to the ground."

"The village chief led the villagers back to the village in secret. Although they were somewhat suspicious of the creature's strangeness, they were unwilling to let the hunters lose their lives in vain. So they gathered the strongest villagers, and dozens of them went to capture the creature. Perhaps they were lucky, but they captured it without much effort. After the creature was captured, some villagers saw it and said that it was a monster that needed to be burned as a sacrifice to the heavens to completely eliminate it."

"And then what happened? Was it burned?" Although this thing was different from her original form, the plot was similar. The only difference was that she hadn't harmed the hunters back then; she had simply scared them away. Who knew that after they ran back, they gathered a large group of people to go into the mountains and capture her.

"They burned it. That very night, they set up an altar in the open space at the village entrance, tied that thing to it, and set it on fire." Da Shan's eyes were fixed on the candlelight on the table, as if he were watching that fire that night. "The whole village ran out to watch. Shortly after the fire was lit, that thing suddenly rose into the air and spoke in a human voice, saying, 'You ignorant bunch, you actually dared to plot against me! I will tear you all apart and devour you!' As soon as it finished speaking, it rushed towards the village chief who was standing at the front and carried him away. Everyone shouted 'Monster! Monster!' and scattered in all directions."

Later, people learned that the monster had been wounded that day, and the hunters had taken advantage of it during their fight, so it harbored a grudge. It had deliberately allowed the village chief and his men to capture it that day, so it could find out where they came from. From that day on, the monster would come to the village every few days to take a few people away. Some villagers couldn't endure this torment and tried to escape, but the next day, their bodies would be dumped on the road in front of the village. This happened several times, and then no one dared to even consider it anymore. The villagers also became very secretive about the monster, unwilling to talk about it anymore.

"How could this be..." Geng Miaowan asked in her mind a little white cat lying on the bed for Ershan to play with. She was extremely shocked, never expecting that the information she had gathered would be like this.

Little White gave her an innocent look, indicating that it didn't know either.

Seeing that she couldn't recover from her expression for a long time, Da Shan thought she was stunned and hurriedly said, "Sister Wan'er, don't be afraid. After we brothers join the Green Mountain Sect, we will definitely devote ourselves to cultivation and learn good skills to protect you."

Geng Miaowan put aside her thoughts, smiled slightly at him, and said, "Okay, then I'll be waiting for you to protect me."

Next, she gave them some instructions on what they should do and how they should behave after arriving at the Green Mountain Sect, and then told them to rest early. She then went back to her room.

After she left, Qiu Pi walked out expressionlessly from the side of Da Shan Er Shan's room. He glanced thoughtfully at Geng Miao Wan's door, then turned and went back to his own room.

Because Qiu Pi was, after all, a demon, and in a major cultivation sect like this, there would usually be a few experts stationed there, he was afraid that it would be bad if he were seen through, so he did not go with Geng Miaowan.

Early in the morning, Geng Miaowan led her two children up Green Mountain. The Green Mountain Sect was located on Haiyu Peak at the top of Green Mountain. The higher they went, the fewer people there were. By the time they reached the halfway point, there were practically no people around.

The green mountain was indeed towering and majestic. The three of them walked until it was almost dark before they reached the entrance of the mountain sect. Looking in from the entrance, there was a row of wide and neat steps leading all the way to Haiyu Peak, stretching as far as the eye could see.

"How much longer will it take to get there?" Geng Miaowan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. She had thought that reaching the entrance of the Green Mountain Sect would mean arriving at her destination, but now it seemed that this was just the beginning.

Da Shan and Er Shan were quite tired after walking all day, but the two children were sensible enough not to say anything. Geng Miaowan was quite relieved about this; if they had made a fuss, they probably wouldn't have even reached the door by now.

Now, she didn't know what to do. If they continued walking, they wouldn't reach the Green Mountain Sect before dark. But if they didn't leave, were the three of them supposed to spend the night at the gate? She didn't care; the mountain nights were chilly, but she was worried the two children wouldn't be able to handle it.

She was struggling with this when she saw several small black dots appearing in the sky in the distance.