61 – Natural Disaster
The sand settled gradually.
Xue Qilin"s eyes brightened gradually, as if shimmering.
However, her pupils didn"t become vertical, and their color didn"t become gold and limpid like amber.
She didn"t activate Discerning Eyes. There is no need to do so.
Excluding her, the people present have Human Ream cultivation base at the highest.
In front of Heaven Realm, Human Realm is as insignificant as sand and gravel.
“Yo yo yo, it"s rather lively here…”
Xue Qilin"s eyes focused on the chief captor.
… “Let"s take a look at their coping skills.”
If Xia Xue hadn"t suddenly woken up and given this suggestion, Xue Qilin would have intervened the moment the captors wanted to take away Shui Yuner and them.
Of course, as she is sure that she can step in before the situation gets out of control, she adopted the wait-and-see tactic.
As for the man who received a b.l.o.o.d.y wound on the back, it was purely an accident. At that time, she was surprised by Shui Yuner"s guess regarding the captors" ident.i.ty.
“Senior Disciple Sister, why are you here?” From behind came Shui Yuner"s voice, which contained both surprise and joy.
“It"s a long story. You guys go back to the inn first. Elder Xia is waiting for you there.”
“But…”
She"s probably worried that Xue Qilin won"t be able to cope with the 10 captors alone.
“Don"t worry, they can"t do anything to me.”
“We still can fight.” Nangong Mingming said resentfully.
“I can"t look after so many of you. Now hurry up and leave.”
Impatient, Xue Qilin made a gesture of driving people away and lied. She naturally can look after them, but that would be troublesome. She turned her head slightly and glanced behind her and saw Shui Yuner"s face filled with worry.
“I said leave. Isn"t there still Xia Xue?”
Shui Yun"er hesitated, and then nodded in agreement, “Senior Disciple Sister, be careful.”
“Older Sister Shui, do we really leave Senior Disciple Sister deal with them alone?” Nangong Mingming apparently is unable to accept this.
“It"s okay. If Senior Disciple Sister can"t deal with them, then even if we stay, we won"t be of much help. Besides, there"s still Elder Xia.”
If she knew that Xia Xue is drunk and deep asleep, who knows what face she would make. That said, is she really drunk or just pretending? Just now, she was able to detect that Shui Yuner and them were being taken away, and let me wait and observe the development first. But immediately after, she lay back on the bed and fell asleep. Xue Qilin mused helplessly.
Once they were far away, Xue Qilin retracted her gaze.
“Why didn"t you sneak-attack me?”
Just now, Xue Qilin has removed her attention from the chief captor, at least on the surface.
The formidable perception ability of a Heaven Realm master isn"t limited to the five senses. As long as there is a tiny disturbance, they can detect it.
Even if a Heaven Realm master doesn"t look at you, that doesn"t mean that they can"t “see” you.
Be that as it may, the chief captor shouldn"t know that she is Heaven Realm master.
On the surface, she keeps the aura she releases between the Human Realm and the Earth Realm. Therefore, in the chief captor"s eyes, she seems to be a martial pract.i.tioner who is stepping into the Earth Realm.
However, he still didn"t sneak-attack me. Does he want to have a fair duel? Xue Qilin thought.
Looking straight at the la.s.s standing on the big sword, the chief captor didn"t answer, and instead asked, “Are you from the Merak Temple?”
“How do you know?” Xue Qilin wrinkled her nose, and then immediately felt that her question is a bit stupid.
After all, she is wearing the Merak Temple"s sect clothes. It"s difficult for others not to recognize the iconic blue and white.
“Your clothes.”
The answer isn"t unexpected.
Xue Qilin ran her eyes over the 10 captors in front of her, and finally stopped on the chief captor.
“You are soldiers?”
From the beginning, she secretly observed the whole sequence of events, and even heard the whole conversation between Shui Yuner and the captor. Naturally, she knows the ident.i.ty of the captors.
“What if we are?”
“You abandon your honor as soldiers in order to kill innocent martial pract.i.tioners?”
“Innocent?” As if he heard the most ridiculous joke in the world, the chief captor laughed involuntarily.
Then, he stared coldly at Xue Qilin, “… You said innocent? My comrades were innocent! You thankless martial pract.i.tioners tried in vain to a.s.sa.s.sinate the Emperor and interfere in state affairs. After your plan was foiled, faced with the Emperor"s wrath yet not repenting, you took the lives of many of our soldiers!”
There was a violent fluctuation in his tone, a fluctuation called resentment.
“… This is why you hurt innocent people?” Xue Qilin didn"t know whether to laugh or cry.
Can this irrational reasoning make sense?
However, those who are blinded by hatred are unreasonable, and no one knows this better than Xue Qilin.
“You all deserve to die!” The chief captor pointed at Xue Qilin and growled wildly, “Martial pract.i.tioners are all unneeded!”
“…”
Xue Qilin lowered her gaze and remained silent.
Their hatred has spread. It is no longer aimed at the culprits themselves, but has extended and spread to the entire “martial pract.i.tioner” community.
Love me, love my dog. Hate me, hate my dog as well – this is such a simple principle.
“So, this blind revenge of yours is imperative?”
“What do you think?”
The chief captor raised his hand, and the captors took aim with the crossbows.
“So, this is your answer…” Xue Qilin sighed.
However, the corners of her mouth curved into a queer smile, “Rabbits will bite people, let alone Qilins [1].”
“Fire!”
The sound of mechanisms going off rose, and bolts shot towards Xue Qilin.
“Chuu…!” The la.s.s exhaled heavily, and then tapped her foot violently on Empyrean Universe, rotated her body around the hilt, and borrowed the resulting force to pull out the large sword.
After landing, Xue Qilin swung the big sword, and the sword pressure blew the bolts away. From this, the weight of the big sword can be imagined.
There is a look of shock in the captors" eyes.
They seem to be asking – how can the la.s.s in front of them wield such a heavy thing so easily?
However, an even more surprising thing is still to come.
Xue Qilin raised Empyrean Universe over her head.
Then, a rhythmic sound of metallic friction and collision sounded suddenly.
Empyrean Universe"s handle extended with amazing momentum and two parts, one on each side of the blade, extended from the blade and crooked into crescent moons, revealing a cross-shaped structure.
… Halberd of Moon Slash.
Under everyone"s incredulous gazes, Xue Qilin waved gently the halberd in her hands and pointed the tip of the imposing halberd at the chief captor.
“Come all at once.” Xue Qilin showed an evil smile, “It"s too troublesome to take you one at a time!”
“Don"t look down on people!” The chief captor raised his sword and pointed at the pet.i.te la.s.s, “Surround and kill!”
“Yes!” The captors responded in unison, and then quickly moved to surround Xue Qilin. The distance between them is surprisingly uniform. They have obviously underwent extremely rigorous training.
So, they are Hua Dynasty"s soldiers?
“Kill!” In response to this roar, the captors rushed out at the same time. The encirclement tightened rapidly, as if a giant hand making a fist, and squeezed towards the la.s.s.
Faced with threats coming from different directions, Xue Qilin looked left and right, bent her legs slightly, and lowering her body.
“Haaa…!”
The moment the captors stabbed their swords at her, the la.s.s tapped her foot violently on the ground.
Boom! Unable to bear the powerful force, the ground cracked, and the resulting blast nearly toppled the captors.
As if their eyes are glued to the pet.i.te figure, the captors looked up at the same time at la.s.s who has already leapt into the air.
Then, the halberd fell down.
Clang…!
Countless metal fragments shot into the air.
“What!”
The captors revealed sluggish expressions. The Hengdao in their hand has been shattered by the la.s.s"s strike.
After flipping her body in midair, Xue Qilin landed outside the encirclement.
“Eat my home run!” Along with a shout, Xue Qilin twisted her body and swung the halberd. Caught off guard, two captors were hit by the halberd, and a powerful force sent them flying along with their swords.
Taking advantage of this interval, two captors closed in from the right and the left respectively, formed eagle claws with both hands, and clawed at the la.s.s"s right and left shoulders respectively.
“Oh?”
The la.s.s let go of the halberd, which turned back into a sword and fell on the ground with a loud bang immediately. In a flash, she lowered her body, struck the captor on her left with her palm in the chest, and then kicked the other captor in the stomach.
“Uh!” “Wah!”
The two men flew backwards and left a trail of blood in the air.
As if just stepping on ants…
Every movement of the la.s.s sent a person flying, as if the area around her is a no man"s land. They can"t even touch a hair of the la.s.s.
Seeing the red before his eyes, the chief captor feels like this is a repeat of the event five years ago.
At that time, that was how the martial pract.i.tioners have claimed the lives of his comrades.
“Despicable martial pract.i.tioner!” He rushed forward, lowered his body, wound around the la.s.s, and arrived at her blind spot at the back.
When the eighth captor was sent flying, the moment he flew over his head, the chief captor mercilessly stabbed at the la.s.s"s throat.
“A sneak attack?” The la.s.s snorted and turned back suddenly.
Clang! The sound of metal striking metal sounded.
The Hengdao is stuck between the la.s.s"s teeth, unable to budge.
“What…”
Overwhelmed by shock, the chief captor tried to extricate the Hengdao. But the force with which the la.s.s is biting the sword exceeds the force coming from his arm by far, and so the Hengdao stays still.
At this moment, the la.s.s turned her head sharply. Unable to bear the sudden pulling force, the chief captor let go of the Hengdao.
Then, a strong wind came, and a slender lag landed heavily on the chief captor"s waist and kicked him away. The chief captor rolled on the ground for dozens of laps and left a 10-meter-long trail.
“… Cough!” Lying on the ground, the chief captor raised his head with difficulty and coughed up blood.
A pair of embroidered shoes broke into his sight, and the chief captor suddenly looked up. The la.s.s is staring straight at him with a look of sorrow in her shimmering eyes.
Is she sympathizing with me? Something shattered in the chief captor"s mind.
“You"re pulling your punches! You"re actually pulling your punches!”
Although the strike just now carried astonishing strength, but the actual force that penetrated his body wasn"t much. If not, his internal organs would have been crashed by now.
However, the chief captor isn"t grateful. Instead, he pushed himself up and lunged at the la.s.s.
“Madman!”
Speechless, the la.s.s turned sideways.
The two pa.s.sed each other.
After his attack failed, the chief captor staggered and sat on the ground.
“Chief!” A captor who can no longer get up cried out.
The chief captor tried to get up, yet failed to do so, and fell to the ground again.
Seeing this, Xue Qilin frowned, “Are you seeking death or revenge?”
“You… cough!” A severe coughing interrupted his words, and the chief captor coughed up blood.
“It wan"t easy to survive, so why don"t you just lead a peaceful life?”
“What do you know!” The chief captor glared.
People are like this, always feeling like others don"t understand them.
But, is this really the case?
Xue Qilin doesn"t think so.
There must be people with similar experiences in the the world who understand you.
Therefore…
“Of course I understand.” Xue Qilin sighed, “Because I am the Merak Temple"s Young Ancestor.”
“‘Natural Disaster" Xue Qilin!?”
The people present inhaled and opened their eyes wide at the same time
They probably didn"t expect that they would meet here the person who is the talk of Demimonde for the past two months. In order to avenge a disciple, the person rushed straight to the Heavenly Sword Gate and killed the Heavenly Sword Gate"s Gate Master.
What the h.e.l.l? A moniker? Xue Qilin rolled her eyes.
After a long moment of silence, the chief captor spoke in a complicated tone, “Then you should understand how we feel!”
“But I haven"t harmed innocent people!” Xue Qilin shook her nose, displeased, “When settling disputes, one should not involve third parties.”
Every time Qi Qiqi mentions her father, a look of pride and desolation appears on her face.
This made Xue Qilin feel an obscure fire in the bottom of her heart.
“Five years ago, it was not only your comrades who died. What about martial pract.i.tioners?” Xue Qilin asked sternly, “Didn"t they die as well? Do you know how many people of the Five Great Sects have died at that time?”
“…” The chief captain was silent.
Is he speechless? Or does he not care to argue?
Not caring, Xue Qilin just went on to say, “Hatred is not overcome by hatred! The hatred between martial pract.i.tioners and the army should have ended with the end of the war, yet you want to let this hatred between us continue?”
Just as the hatred between the Merak temple and the Heavenly Sword Gate started with Luo Qing"s death and ended with Hua Tianji"s death, the hatred between martial artists and the Imperial Court and the army should start and end with the war.
Everything should have a beginning and an end, and should not continue indefinitely.
“…” The chief captor stared at the ground in a daze.
Some things can only be figured out by yourself, others can only be pointed out by others.
Xue Qilin sighed and said earnestly, “Think about your family… If you don"t have any, then think about the family of your comrades. Take good care of them! I"m sure that your comrades in the other world hope that their family is taken care of.”
“Will you let us go?” The chief captor finally looked up and asked blankly.
“There is nothing to let go.” Xue Qilin shrugged, and then said jokingly, “I have beaten you up. There is no point in killing you, I have no resentment towards you!”
After getting a reply, the chief captor lowered his head again.
He might need some time.
“That"s all I have to say.” Xue Qilin turned around and waved her hand, “I"ll take my leave first! If you have time, let"s have tea together.”
… “Be careful!”
Xue Qilin turned around abruptly.
Under her astonished gaze, there is a blade right in front of her eyes.
[1] – Qilin