Front Line of the Beast Tide, Part 25

The restriction had opened.

Su Qing frantically searched through Ye Ruici’s storage bag.

Fortunately, he was a poor old man, and its contents were so few they were almost transparent.

She found a few scorching fire crystals and tossed them to the remaining children.

“Hold steady, don’t panic!”

The fire crystals landed at the children’s feet, instantly emitting bright light and heat in the darkness, driving back the menacing black pupae, forcing them to retreat in a circle, watching these tender, delicious humanoid flesh and blood with drooling eyes.

Su Qing continued to rummage in the storage bag.

This time, she gripped a sword hilt and pulled out a gleaming long sword.

Seeing her, as if performing a magic trick, draw such a giant object from such a tiny bag space, even in such an emergency, the children couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed in shock.

“What kind of technique is this?”

Although all her cultivation was gone, and this body was frail beyond recognition, the knowledge she had learned would not be forgotten, nor would the sword techniques she had practiced countless times.

Su Qing tried to swing the sword, performing a sword flourish.

The sword wind whistled, and the feel was barely adaptable.

She had no spiritual energy, so she couldn’t use those flashy moves.

In the end, all she could use were the eight basic sword forms she had initially learned, which was the return to simplicity of Carefree Sword Technique.

This sword might have been unearthed from a sword tomb, bathed for years in the crisp spring breeze of Sword Mountain, listening day and night to the sound of Sword School students swinging their swords.

Therefore, when Su Qing performed the familiar Carefree Sword Technique, which had permeated the Sword School for a hundred years, even without spiritual energy resonance, it couldn’t help but hum in response to her.

Stripping away all external objects, the true essence of the sword, the purity of sword intent, shone even brighter.

However, this vague understanding had long been cast aside by Su Qing.

She held the cold sword, exhaling warm white mist. Beneath her skin, constantly throbbing blood vessels were taut. She moved quickly, climbing up along the collapsed ruins of the old temple.

Most of the temple roof had collapsed like a landslide.

The bearing that supported the ridge extended diagonally upwards, like the spine of a whale piercing a fish’s belly, its tip exposed to the sky.

That was the highest point in this old temple she could reach, and also the closest place to Ye Mingshi and the evil cultivator.

She could try to fight.

Su Qing thought, ‘Her current weight is light, and she has no strength. If she doesn’t seize the high ground, there’s truly no chance of winning at all.’

Important characters always appear at critical moments.

Seeing Ye Mingshi’s increasing speed in clashing with the evil cultivator, she was clearly at a disadvantage.

The newborn cub, both in experience and physical strength, was inferior to the ruthless evil cultivator.

If it weren’t for her innate strong physique, she would probably have been cut down to the ground long ago.

Things were getting worse the longer they dragged on.

Su Qing no longer hesitated. Her toes pressed onto the wooden bearing of the rooftop ridge, and she ran upwards with a “Da da da” sound. The wooden planks beneath her wobbled a bit, but with some bonus from the Illusory Step, her body remained steady.

In the blink of an eye, she darted to the middle section of the bearing.

Fortunately, her body was small and she was thin enough to be just bones.

Even though her foot had stepped into the middle, the obliquely angled bearing only trembled slightly, after all, supporting her weight.

The children below saw this scene and all covered their mouths, trembling and not knowing how to react.

At this moment, Ye Mingshi, with sharp eyes, caught sight of a gleaming sword tip in the night sky.

She suddenly turned in mid-air, causing the evil cultivator to expose his back to Su Qing’s view.

She was covering for her.

But it was this sudden pause that revealed a flaw.

The evil cultivator, accustomed to living on the edge, wouldn’t let go of this slight oversight.

He used his Ghost Shadow Palm, striking forcefully at Ye Mingshi’s lower left abdomen with a backhand.

The force was immense. Black ghost shadows oozed from between his fingers, leaving a purplish bruise instantly.

Ye Mingshi, unable to withstand his force, was sent flying a meter back before barely steadying herself.

She grunted, spitting out a mouthful of viscous blood, but the scent of this blood made the evil cultivator even more excited.

His expression changed from confusion to shock, then finally to a burst of ecstasy.

Flushes of red surged across his pale face.

Although he wasn’t very knowledgeable and couldn’t discern the true form of the demonic creature before him, it didn’t stop him from realizing, “Good stuff! Heaven truly hasn’t treated me poorly, sending such good stuff right to me.”

Ye Mingshi had been living among humans for only two or three years. With no guidance from elders or care from a mother, her natural instinct for self-preservation told her that this person was absolutely ill-intentioned.

She bared her teeth menacingly, “You are the ‘thing’!”

The more he saw Ye Mingshi’s hateful and disgusted expression, the more his heart itched with impatience.

He wished he could devour her completely. In his extreme ecstasy and arrogance, the evil cultivator didn’t notice that his position had been lured to a suitable spot.

In a secluded corner behind him, someone gripped a sword, holding their breath and concentrating.

Su Qing seized this hard-won opportunity. Her footwork shifted lightly, and in a blink, she brought her sword to a higher position.

Before the bearing struggled and creaked, she took a deep breath, gathered her qi, and pressed down hard with her feet.

The long wooden bearing bent into a strong arc, releasing flexible support, allowing her to leap into the air instantly.

Without even needing to think, her body memory naturally formed a beautiful posture while airborne, like a graceful white swan circling in the sky.

Where her eyes were, there her sword was.

Su Qing, using gravity, thrust her sword forward.

The green blade reflected the moonlight, its cold light entering the sword’s heart.

This strike actually made the sword seem to come alive, its blade humming, piercing towards the evil cultivator’s back!

After all, she was a mortal and couldn’t compare to a cultivator.

Although Su Qing’s sword strike injured him, it wasn’t too severe. Her strength was insufficient; the sword tip barely penetrating a small section was already impressive.

If this move were done with her true body, he would probably have been cleaved in two, with no chance to counter.

“You have a lot of guts! I’ll skin you alive!” The evil cultivator cried out in pain. His frenzied sneer froze on his face, turning into furious rage. He reached out to grab Su Qing.

Su Qing didn’t linger in battle. She loosened her grip on the sword hilt and fell downwards.

Ye Mingshi flew and tangled with the evil cultivator, blocking his capture route. But this evil cultivator was no pushover.

The more dangerous the situation became, the more his aura surged.

The evil cultivator spat out a mouthful of black blood. He activated a secret art, and his cultivation actually climbed rapidly.

When he attacked again, the force was completely different from before.

With just one strike, he knocked Ye Mingshi flying, slamming her into the wall, rendering her completely immobile.

The evil cultivator still wasn’t done. With a backhand slap, he struck towards Su Qing’s chest.

Su Qing’s pupils instantly constricted to their smallest.

Her current body would absolutely not be able to withstand the power of this palm strike.

She might be severely injured, or she might die. She just didn’t know what the cost of dying here would be, whether her spirit outside, or even her entire physical body, would also be implicated in death.

It was also at this moment that a figure clad in a Daoist robe appeared out of thin air in the center of the old temple.

This kindly-faced figure was none other than Ye Ruici.

He held Ye Rong in one hand, while with the other, he decisively made a hand seal and chanted, “Sword, come—!”

This was the opening sword art passed down through generations of the Sword School.

The precious sword Su Qing had forcibly pulled from the storage bag immediately burst forth with dazzling white light.

As if pulled by an invisible thread, it charged relentlessly towards Ye Ruici with an unstoppable force.

However, let’s not forget that at this very moment, this sword was still lodged in the evil cultivator’s back.

Therefore, this “Sword, come” move actually neatly pierced the evil cultivator right through.

At the same time, Su Qing changed her posture, rolling twice in the pile of grass without mishap, shedding the gravitational force on her body, and landing safely.

However, a few of her ribs seemed to have fractured, and her throat was choked with blood.

Su Qing coughed a few times, thinking this was indeed a rare experience.

“Ah ah ah ah!” The evil cultivator roared in pain, using all his cultivation to resist.

His entire being was strained into twisted curves, but he was only at early Foundation Establishment cultivation. How could he possibly contend with the Nascent Soul stage Ye Ruici?

With one move, he was instantly killed. The moment he died, the diligently cultivated queen insect naturally lost its chance to live.

Almost simultaneously, the swarm of insects surrounding the old temple also died en masse.

The insects twitched their limbs, convulsed, and then went silent.

The remaining children opened their eyes in terror, gasping heavily.

But the matter was not yet over.

It was unknown what cultivation technique this evil cultivator had practiced. Although his body was lifeless, a black soul actually struggled out from his chest, trying to scatter into the night in a panic.

Su Qing, quick-eyed and quick-handed, grabbed a fire crystal and hurled it at the soul.

Flames shot out from within the fire crystal. The blazing light and heat imprisoned the fleeing soul, making it wail and shriek.

Ye Ruici’s face showed approval. He waved a pure spiritual energy from his hand, completely pulverizing the remnant soul.

Ye Ruici summoned the Green Edge Sword to his hand. The blood droplets on the sword had completely vanished, leaving only a lingering, fervent sword intent, as if excitedly narrating something.

Ye Ruici said in surprise, “At such a young age, you’ve already touched the nascent form of sword intent.”

The evil cultivator was dead. Only then did Su Qing feel a sense of relief.

She quickly got up and rushed to the wall. Ye Mingshi was fluttering, tightly stuck in the wall. She was badly injured.

Bloodstains bloomed on her plump face, most of her scales had fallen off, revealing bloody wounds, but overall, she seemed fine, her spirit still very agitated.

“Quick… pull me out!”

“Okay, Boss.”

Su Qing breathed a sigh of relief.

She clasped her hands tightly around Ye Mingshi’s, pressed her feet hard against the wall, took a deep breath, and exerted all her strength.

Her face turned red, and her legs straightened before she barely managed to pull her out.

But her strength was too great and couldn’t be reined in. Ye Mingshi was pulled headfirst into her arms, causing both of them to tumble several times on the ground until they hit the base of the wall and stopped.

It was also at this moment that, seeing the crisis resolved, the remaining four children finally snapped back to reality. They anxiously gathered around, chattering, “Little Treasure, are you alright? Does it hurt?”

Su Qing, her nose crooked and eyes askew, got up and adjusted her facial expression.

Ye Mingshi had already bounced up.

After all, she had been the beggar gang leader for a long time and was skilled in some minor techniques. For example, the storage bag that was originally hidden on Su Qing had somehow found its way into her hands.

She was rummaging through it with shining eyes, wanting to bury her face inside.

Before Su Qing could stop her, she saw her pull out two bottles of dazzling pills.

She boldly uncorked them and gargled the pills down her mouth directly from the bottle. She ate quickly, her cheeks bulging.

This child was starving.

Su Qing could only look apologetically at Ye Ruici.

It was only now that she had time to properly see Ye Ruici’s appearance.

He was a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, but his face was not young.

By human age, he looked sixty or seventy, but fortunately, his body was agile and his waist straight.

Therefore, although his hair and beard were all white, he did not look decrepit. Instead, he appeared kind and benevolent, with a bodhisattva’s heart, like a refined old man.

And the restless boy beside him was Ye Mingshi’s senior brother, Ye Rong. This boy had single eyelids, large dark eyes, and a very fair and delicate appearance. However, he seemed a bit shy and didn’t dare to look at people much, probably an inwardly refined child.

As expected of master and disciple, Su Qing felt that their temperaments were truly a direct inheritance.

At first glance, they seemed gentle as jade. If forced to summarize, they appeared very good-tempered and easy to provoke.

The two were so easy to provoke that they silently endured Ye Mingshi rummaging through their storage bag and frantically stuffing various spiritual pills and elixirs into her mouth, as if the storage bag belonged to someone else, showing no temper at all.

Ye Ruici even stroked his beard and said, “Slowly, slowly. Don’t eat too fast. Those are poisons; don’t choke.”

This scared Su Qing into snatching the food from the tiger’s mouth.

She grabbed Ye Mingshi’s face, about to snatch the pill bottles. Only then did Ye Ruici slowly add, “It’s fine. For a red chi, it’s all nourishment.”

Su Qing let go of her hand. She looked at the ravenously eating Ye Mingshi, then at Ye Ruici, not knowing what to say for a moment.

However, those spiritual pills and elixirs were indeed effective. Soon, Ye Mingshi’s wounds healed at a visible rate, and her pale complexion gradually became rosy.

Ye Ruici was a kind person. He proactively asked, “Is she your adopted sister?”

Su Qing shook her head and honestly said, “I am her adopted follower.”

The biscuits she ate for a day and a night here were all brought back by Ye Mingshi, either from hunting or begging.

Although the biscuits were so hard they couldn’t possibly be considered soft food, she was indeed entirely supported by Ye Mingshi.

Sincerity was the greatest weapon. Su Qing’s words made Ye Ruici choke a bit. The old man stammered, “Oh, I was just asking. No other meaning. Also, can you make her stop eating for a bit and leave some for me? It’s not easy for me to save up this little property in my life.”

Ye Rong scratched his face helplessly, glancing at Ye Ruici, then suddenly whispered, “Master, didn’t you divine that you and she had a master-disciple? Isn’t she my junior sister?”

Ye Ruici also whispered, “You’re so young, why are you so superstitious? Divination, fortune-telling, those are all虛. Do I, your master, look like someone rich enough to raise a red chi?”

Su Qing heard this and thought, ‘Am I, this butterfly wing, going to fan away Ye Mingshi’s master-disciple?’

She was about to speak to salvage the situation when Ye Mingshi finally finished eating and drinking. She clutched the storage bag tightly and said loudly, “This is my territory!”

She looked around, then suddenly her eyes widened, becoming confused. After coming to the human world, she was picked up here and lived with the beggars in the old temple for two years.

Although it was terribly cold when it snowed every year, fortunately, the human body temperatures warmed each other, so she felt life could still be happily lived.

But looking now, the old temple had collapsed, the statue was destroyed, the offering table was shattered into pieces, the roof was damaged, the walls were broken.

Everything she saw was gone.

Those laughing, leaning figures had also disappeared. Everything was gone, leaving only the cold wind and the dark night passing through the hall.

Her territory was gone.

Ye Mingshi’s heart suddenly tightened, then released, beating rapidly.

An ineffable emotion flowed from her eyes, turning into tears that she didn’t understand.

Ye Ruici suddenly found himself speechless. He walked forward, knelt down, and gently asked the child, “You are a descendant of the demon dragon. Why do you shed tears like a human?”

“You’re wrong! Little Treasure is not a demon dragon,” a child boldly stood out. She seemed very afraid that Ye Ruici would harm her, especially since he still held a sword. “She just looks different from us. She is human.”

Ye Ruici countered, “Are you human?”

This was a question beyond the scope of their understanding.

Ye Mingshi didn’t really understand what was human and what was demon, but she subconsciously looked at the companion she trusted.

That child was very anxious, nodding vigorously, motioning her to answer yes. Ye Mingshi then looked at Su Qing, hesitating, “Am I human?”

Suddenly, Su Qing realized that the so-called turning point had silently arrived at this very moment.

Perhaps if she said “yes,” everything would be resolved. In fact, Ye Mingshi’s actions showed nothing that went against being human.

But even she wanted to ask, if a human is a demon, what exactly is the difference?

An evil cultivator, clearly human, yet possessed demonic desires, and for this, slaughtered countless beings.

Could such a person be considered truly human? And a powerful demon, yet shed warm tears because of a human heart.

Was such a demon still a demon? Where exactly was the dividing line between human and demon?

Who could judge all this? Her? Or Ye Ruici? Or some other external authority, or even the so-called Heavenly Dao?

Su Qing couldn’t give a definite answer, because everything was in Ye Mingshi’s heart.

Whether human or demon, she herself decided.

“You must ask your heart.”

Perhaps Su Qing’s calm face gave her strength. Ye Mingshi’s flickering gaze slowly firmed.

She thought for a moment and found there was no second answer. “That’s right, I am human.”

As her words fell, everything changed.

A soft white light blazed.

The dilapidated old temple, the surrounding children, the wearily contemplating Ye Mingshi, the grave-faced cultivator, the curiously observing Ye Rong—their figures all froze, until they condensed into a scroll painting.

Su Qing realized her consciousness was pulling away.

She had found Ye Mingshi’s original aspiration to be human.

In an idealistic world of cultivation, this was the beginning of everything, and also the end of everything.

As long as this original aspiration had not been polluted, everything was still salvageable.

Thus, the powerful beings guarding the Heart-Protecting Mirror before the ancient tree were astonished to discover that the mirror suddenly trembled violently.

A scorching light actually emanated from the center of the mirror!