As Four Eyes placed the huge cat mask in the space ring Ling Li had given him, he marveled at its vastness. The ring contained separate rooms and partitions, resembling an oversized mansion. He smiled, warmed by his wife's thoughtfulness.

The rest of the soldiers gathered around Jack and the roasted beast, their hunger evident. Some were practically drooling, while others struggled to overcome their initial revulsion at the thought of eating the demonic creature.

Knowing that his comrades couldn't hear him, Jack tested a portion of the cooked meat, ensuring it was safe to handle. The aroma intensified as he cut a small piece and took a tentative bite.

To his surprise, the meat was not only edible but also surprisingly delicious. He gave a thumbs-up to his comrades, who, despite their initial reluctance, gathered around. They began to cut and share pieces of the cooked beast, their earlier disgust slowly fading away with each bite.

Jack, ever mindful of his injured soldiers, quickly penned a note, instructing that the poisoned comrades should avoid eating for now. He feared that they might unknowingly exacerbate their condition.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, Jack directed the soldiers to gather more meat to store in their space rings. Fatty took extra care to ensure Chatty's space ring was well-stocked, his concern for his friend evident. Chatty, recovering from heart surgery and now poisoned, needed all the support he could get.

As the hours passed, most of the soldiers' hearing gradually returned to normal. However, a few still experienced difficulty, and three soldiers seemed to have suffered permanent hearing loss.

Despite these challenges, Jack, seeing his team's morale lift, couldn't help but laugh. Their first encounter with a mystical creature had turned into an unexpected feast. The soldiers, now sated and more at ease, knew they had to remain vigilant.

With Jack's meticulous planning and their newfound camaraderie, they felt ready to face whatever else Mystic Mountain had in store for them. Jack, using pen and paper, laid out their next steps, ensuring everyone understood the plan.

After almost another two weeks, in the heart of the mystical mountain, the air was thick with an eerie tension, and the constant encounters with demonic beasts were taking a toll on the group. The once cohesive team was now fraying at the edges, their morale slowly eroding with each battle. The days had grown longer, the nights more dangerous, and the faces around the campfire fewer.

The loss of four members weighed heavily on them, like a shadow that refused to dissipate. Each night, as the weary survivors huddled around their makeshift campfires, memories of the fallen haunted their dreams. The continuous onslaught of beasts—deer with piercing red eyes, frogs that exhaled toxic fumes, beavers with razor-sharp teeth, pigs that could charge like bulls, serpents that slithered with unnerving speed—left them constantly on edge. The brutality of the mountain seemed unending, a relentless nightmare they couldn't wake from.

Four Eyes, the enigmatic figure whose true powers remained a mystery even to his comrades, had become their linchpin. His ability to hypnotize the beasts was the only thing keeping them from complete destruction. Around the campfire, the men would often cast furtive glances at him, a mix of awe and fear in their eyes. What was this power he wielded? And at what cost?

As they rested one evening, the night's silence was broken only by the crackle of the fire. Shun, his young face lined with worry, approached Four Eyes.

"Uncle, you have been using your magic too often. Will it have a harmful effect on you?" Shun's voice was soft, almost pleading.

Four Eyes looked at his Shun with a weariness that spoke of untold burdens. "From what your Aunt told me, as long as I do not kill the beast directly with my black magic, it won't cause any negative effect on me," he replied, though doubt lingered in his eyes.

"The demonic beasts are getting stronger," Four Eyes added, recalling their last encounter, which had pushed him to his limits. His magic was potent but not infallible. The thought that one day it might not be enough gnawed at him.

Shun nodded, his grip tightening around the hilt of the sword Shi Min had given him. Over the past weeks, he had learned to channel his internal energy through the blade, producing deadly strikes without visible flames. Yet, even he could see that their abilities might soon be outmatched.

The memory of the 'wolpertinger' still sent shivers down his spine. This beast, a grotesque amalgamation of creatures with the head of a rabbit, the body of a squirrel, deer antlers, and jay wings, was unlike anything they had faced before. Agile and cunning, it had toyed with them, its leaps and bounds mocking their every effort. When it unleashed a blast of electricity from its antlers, it caught them off guard, resulting in the tragic loss of one of their comrades.

Everyone was stunned and moved back to rethink their strategy.

'Wolpertinger' is known for its fur's ability to store electricity and discharge it when attacked through its antler.

Jack has divided the team into three: the first team is the swordsmen for close combats, the second team is the archers for range support, and the third is the lookouts to see the overall situation from afar and give them warnings about uncertainties.

Jack's commanding and resolute voice cut through the chaos, "Spread out and find your positions!" Everyone knew what to do and ready themselves with their assigned weapons.

The wolpertinger, sensing the shift in their strategy, took to the air, its wings carrying it high above. But the archers were ready, their arrows piercing the night sky. The beast screeched as the arrows found their mark, its flight faltering. With a crash, it landed back on the forest floor and retreated into the shadows.

"It's injured! Let's follow; we must get its crystal core!" Jack commanded, his voice firm and unwavering. The urgency in his tone galvanized the group, who quickly fell into formation and followed the bloodied trail of the rabbit-like beast.

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