"Xiao Houzi, Xiao Houzi, please don’t let anything happen to you..."
In the darkness, a middle-aged man over fifty years old leaned against a rock, panting heavily, muttering to himself. His body was covered in blood, with a large gash on his chest, exposing bone fragments, seemingly pierced by sharp claws, just inches from his heart.
Beside him lay the corpse of a massive desolate beast, resembling a bat. Its wingspan stretched four to five meters, with long bone blades at the tips, incredibly sharp and reflecting a cold gleam under the moonlight.
This was a Mad Bat, possessing mid-stage Meridian Opening strength, active at night with remarkable combat abilities. It could swiftly hunt prey under the cover of darkness, and ordinary desolate beasts would lose their heads before realizing its approach.
The man was Jiang Shan, tirelessly searching the forest for his son, having narrowly escaped death at the hands of this Mad Bat. Thankfully, in the village, he was considered one of the top fighters, and despite his severe injuries, his formidable physical strength allowed him to kill the Mad Bat.
Jiang Shan was gravely injured, barely able to stand, yet driven by determination to find his son and bring him home alive.
He grasped a branch to pull himself up, walking forward step by step. He had instructed his son, if lost in the wild, to seek a hunting cave.
During hunts, villagers set up caves nearby as temporary shelters from danger, called hunting caves. These caves contained food supplies, medicinal herbs, and repellents for venomous creatures and desolate beasts, reserved for villagers lost during hunts.
Jiang Shan, an experienced hunter, knew the area’s hunting caves well, searching through twenty-three of them without finding his son, but believed he would find him in the next one.
"I can’t fall... I can’t fall! Xiao Houzi is still waiting for me..."
He deeply regretted that he only had a child at forty-two, pampering him like a treasure, but discovered as he grew that he disliked training, hunting, lacking survival skills.
In a tribe where men must learn to fight and hunt, as his son neared adulthood, Jiang Shan forced him to learn. For the first four hunts, Jiang Shan accompanied him, teaching him, but this time, let his son join others, hoping he would become independent.
But unexpectedly, Jiang Shan did not accompany him, and Xiao Houzi did not return, prompting Jiang Shan’s frantic search.
Jiang Shan painstakingly broke a branch to use as a crutch, moving toward the next hunting cave. Along the way, he tripped numerous times over tree roots in the dark but climbed up again, driven by the belief his son awaited rescue.
However, the woods suddenly sounded with rustling, as if countless shadows were rushing through the air, accompanied by silent sound waves invading his mind. Alarmed, he realized another group of Mad Bats was approaching.
The shadows moved too quickly for him to evade, knocking him to the ground. Despair enveloped him as he feared there was no escape, but his son’s safety remained his only concern.
"Xiao Houzi, forgive your father."
Darkness overwhelmed his consciousness, as if he was plunging into an abyss.
Yet in the remnants of his consciousness, he vaguely saw a figure standing before him, effortlessly slashing through the approaching Mad Bats.
That silhouette, though not revealing much aura, stood like a mountain, blocking all danger from outside.
Jiang Shan awoke with a start, his forehead moist with sweat. He wiped it away, hastily sitting up, realizing he was somehow back home, lying in his own bed.
Xiang Beifei sat beside the table, resting his chin on his hand, looking at Jiang Shan.
Seeing Xiang Beifei stunned Jiang Shan, his eyes reddening as he hurried out of bed, confirming it was his son. He wanted to reach out but restrained himself.
"As long as you’re alright."
He sat down wearily, the tension finally releasing inside him.
Not a father skilled in expressing emotions, seeing his son alive was his greatest comfort.
Jiang Shan glanced around, puzzled: "How did we get back?"
"It was the Clan Leader, he found us," Xiang Beifei replied.
In truth, he found Jiang Shan, brought him along Jiang Feng’s path, then lay down pretending to sleep until the Clan Leader Jiang Feng arrived.
"The Clan Leader, so it was the Clan Leader."
Jiang Shan nodded slightly, then asked solemnly: "What happened yesterday? Hunting with them, I always told you not to panic in danger, to stay with the group. How did you get lost?"
"I don’t know," Xiang Beifei said.
Seeing Xiang Beifei’s expression, Jiang Shan’s heart softened, his stern demeanor easing as he clenched his fists: "It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have been so strict, forcing you to train and fight desolate beasts."