The group followed the direction of the footprints and walked for about half an hour. Bai Ruozhu, with sharp eyes, suddenly pointed at a spot and said, "Look there!"

Everyone looked over and saw a piece of white bone. Gao Zhou, a former medical student, immediately recognized it, "It’s a human thigh bone."

Bai Ruozhu nodded, "It seems to have been dismantled before death. We should be careful; there might be mechanical traps nearby."

This time, Yuan Licheng and Fo Lanying walked ahead. Yuan Licheng checked the array, while Fo Lanying used mechanical puppets to assist.

Soon, they discovered a trap. It wasn’t a sophisticated one, and there was no mechanism inside—just a large, deep pit with sharpened stakes inserted.

"There’s blood on them; it must have killed people or animals, but the bodies aren’t here," Yuan Licheng said.

The group conducted a thorough inspection around the trap but found no other traces.

At that moment, Bai Ruozhu suddenly turned and looked back, whispering, "There’s movement over there!"

Jiang Yichun protected her behind him and quickly threw a copper coin in the direction Bai Ruozhu mentioned.

A rustling sound was heard as leaves were swept away, and something fled into the distance.

"Chase!" Jiang Yichun uttered the word and immediately grabbed Bai Ruozhu’s hand to pursue.

They were skilled in light-footed kung fu and quickly closed the distance. However, they discovered that the creature was fast but didn’t seem human.

Bai Ruozhu saw white fur—it appeared to be some kind of animal.

Just as they were about to catch up, chaotic footsteps came from the distance, still accompanied by the rustling of leaves.

Suddenly, a dozen white-furred animals appeared and surrounded them, baring their teeth and growling fiercely.

"What are these?" Fo Lanying asked in surprise.

They could clearly see the appearance of these white-furred creatures, walking upright and moving quickly.

A particularly tall creature suddenly roared and pointed at them, issuing some command. Immediately, the other creatures threw their weapons at them.

They were makeshift spears, somewhat like harpoons. Some of Bai Ruozhu’s group dodged, and some used swords to block, their hands feeling numb from the impact.

"These creatures don’t have inner strength but they’re shockingly strong," Gao Zhou shouted.

The creatures charged at them, their roars like leopard-like swift attacks.

"Get into formation!" Yuan Licheng didn’t underestimate the creatures and immediately set up a defensive array. The creatures crashed into the array’s defense and fell to the ground.

Bai Ruozhu wavered slightly and quickly looked at Yuan Licheng, whose face showed anger as he cursed, "What kind of monsters have such strength?"

The creatures’ strength was so great that their crashes shook the ground.

The astrologer’s face looked troubled, "They’re not demons; they might be people!"

"Can people look like this?" Gao Zhou retorted.

"I’ve heard of remote places where wild people appear, covered in fur but possessing their own language and intelligence, although they don’t share our language," the astrologer explained, picking up a spear thrown by a creature. "Look at their ability to make weapons. Beasts can’t do this unless they become demons."

Bai Ruozhu recalled reading articles about sightings of wild people in Shenlongjia and Changbaishan. These creatures must be Fusang’s wild men, unexpectedly living on this island.

"Maybe they think we’re monsters or prey?" Bai Ruozhu suggested.

"Although we don’t share their language, wild people have intelligence. I think if we capture their leader, things will be easier," the astrologer proposed, releasing talismans toward the strongest wild man, who had fallen to the ground and was still dazed. When he regained his senses, he was surrounded by talismans with fire.

The wild man leader roared and raised his hand against the talismans, clearly unafraid of fire.

To their surprise, when his fur coated hand touched the talismans, his fur didn’t burn, showing the unique characteristics that allowed these wild men to survive.

The astrologer remained calm, changing hand gestures, and the talismans transformed into a stream of light that bound the wild man leader.

Then, the light dragged him into the array.

The wild men outside went into a frenzy, desperately crashing against the array.

Bai Ruozhu and the others rushed over and struggled to tap the acupoints of the wild man leader.

No, it shouldn’t be called tapping, because when they used their hands with inner strength to tap, it had no effect, as if striking stone.

Finally, Jiang Yichun forcefully pierced the acupoint with the tip of his sword coated with inner strength.

"Wow, his skin is so tough; it won’t be easy to kill him," Tang Feng muttered, poking the wild man’s arm.

The wild man leader angrily shouted, but the wild men outside quieted down, aware their leader was captive and unable to act rashly.

"My family has a secret method to communicate with foreign clans, but I need to be undisturbed. Can you protect me while I attempt to communicate?" the astrologer suggested.

"Okay, be careful," Ning Yu stood behind him, forming hand seals to create a magic technique’s defensive cover.

Yuan Licheng and Fo Lanying reinforced the array’s protection while Bai Ruozhu and the others moved closer to guard against unexpected changes.

Quickly, the astrologer threw out talismans, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes.

Bai Ruozhu and Fo Lanying exchanged glances; wasn’t this the use of divine sense communication?

Fo Lanying winked at Bai Ruozhu, indicating she could hear, and concentrated using divine sense to focus on the dialogue between the astrologer and the wild man leader.

"What kind of monsters are you? Why are your faces and hands bare? So ugly!" the wild man leader said.

The astrologer almost laughed, "Aren’t you covered in fur smelly? We’re all human, like the islanders who sometimes arrive here. Did you kill those islanders before?"

"What islanders? We hunt daily and catch whatever prey we find to eat. We have many people; if you release me now, I’ll let you leave."

"Now you’re the captive, so shouldn’t you ask if we’ll let you go?" the astrologer smiled, "We’re just here for herbal medicine and will soon leave. If you don’t attack us, we won’t be your enemies."

The wild man leader showed a look of confusion, "What is herbal medicine?"