“Martial Uncle, since you were heading here anyway, why did Second Junior Brother and Junior Sister come along?”
Chu Mingyao voiced the same doubt Chu Mingxi had been harboring. In an instant, the room fell silent as everyone turned to Perfected Zizhu. Even Chu Mingbei and the others, who had just stepped inside, looked at him.
“That matter?” Perfected Zizhu seemed blissfully unaware of the tension simmering among the younger disciples. He answered cheerfully, “When Guan Jingjing sent the transmission warning about a Nascent Soul-level monster, I was actually in the middle of trying to talk these two out of taking the Danming Village task. I told them that with you on the case, there wouldn’t be any contribution points left for anyone else! But they insisted on seeing for themselves, so I brought them along.”
Chu Mingnan’s smile remained as effortless and gentle as ever. “That’s right. Yun’er and I simply wanted to see the situation firsthand. It’s a good thing we did; otherwise, we wouldn’t have known so quickly that a member of the Celestial Fox Clan had appeared. Martial Uncle, the sect should probably send a higher-level guardian to secure this area, shouldn’t they?”
He had a point. Although the Nascent Soul tiger monster’s goal had been to steal the girl’s hidden bloodline for itself, the situation now involved the royal lineage of the Monster Realm. Caution was the only logical path.
“Of course.” Perfected Zizhu nodded. “As for who is chosen, that rests with the sect master and the grand elder. Until then, we will remain here to ensure the Celestial Fox Clan doesn’t send reinforcements.”
The half-monster girl stood nearby, appearing dazed and small. She couldn’t grasp the complexities of their conversation, but she understood that she had done something wrong, and she shouldn’t move. Yet, the more they spoke, the more her fear intensified. Instinctively, she began to edge closer to Chu Mingyao.
If she stayed close to this big sister, nothing bad will happen.
The other sister further away had called her precious and spoke of guiding her, but this sister beside her was the only one who had acted. When everyone else looked at her with coldness or suspicion, this sister had wiped the blood from her face.
That blood haunted her. It had sprayed across her skin when she lost control, her nails lengthening into razor-sharp talons that tore into the flesh of the village elders— people who had once been kind to her. As long as those stains remained, she was trapped in the horror of her own transformation. Now that the blood was gone, the nightmare persisted, but it felt a little more distant.
Chu Mingyao paused, noticing the child pressing against her. After a moment’s hesitation, she crouched down to the girl’s level.
“Little one, what is your name?” She asked, gently patting the girl’s head. “Don’t be afraid. Big Sister won’t hurt you.”
According to Perfected Zizhu, they would be staying in Danming Village for some time. How long that would last depended entirely on the Sword Sect’s bureaucracy. If a permanent guardian was appointed quickly, they could return to the mountain. If not, they were settled in for a long wait.
Experience told Chu Mingyao that things would not move quickly. Even at a brisk pace, the sect’s bureaucracy would likely take three to five days to finalize a guardian for the area. After all, with the immediate threat neutralized, the matter was no longer considered a dire emergency.
Since they were staying, it was time to clarify the essentials— starting with the girl’s name. Even if they were leaving immediately, Chu Mingyao would have sought these details. This was, after all, part of the official monster-extermination task. Every detail recorded meant more contribution points.
At her temples, the Heavenly Water Screen remained active, recording everything. Maintaining the artifact was an effortless drain on her vast reserves of spiritual power. If it pertained to the mission, she saw no reason not to keep a permanent record.
The little girl stared blankly at Chu Mingyao. Fear still clung to her like a shroud, but this was the big sister who had cleaned her face and struck off her bonds. Finally, she spoke, her voice a fragile, hoarse tremble.
“My name is Su Ke’er.”
“Su Ke’er? May I call you Ke’er?”
“……Okay.” The girl whispered, her response halting and timid.
Chu Mingyao did not rush her. With a quick, meaningful glance at Perfected Zizhu, she led the girl to a quieter corner to talk. She knew that with the others looming nearby, the child’s fear would only cloud her memory and lead to inaccuracies. By leaning into the fragile trust she had built and speaking one-on-one, Chu Mingyao could better ensure the integrity of the information.
Xiang Qingyun watched the two of them with a look of thinly veiled envy. When Su Ke’er sensed her gaze, she reflexively pressed herself closer to Chu Mingyao’s side.
Xiang Qingyun was left speechless, her face momentarily tight. Chu Mingnan quickly sent a comforting voice transmission to soothe her before coaxing her away. They headed off to deal with the grim task of clearing the rat monster corpses from beneath the village. A swarm of burrowing minor monsters had previously tunneled under Danming Village to gnaw at Chu Mingxi’s formation. Now, they had to be painstakingly removed via divine sense before earth-element spells could be used to seal the tunnels. It was tedious, unglamorous work.
……
Back with Chu Mingyao, Su Ke’er’s story began to emerge in fragments.
She had been a foundling, discovered as an infant by a local family. She had been found drifting down the river in a wooden basin, wrapped in swaddling clothes and so starved she no longer had the strength to cry. Had that household not happened to have a nursing sow that could provide pig’s milk, Su Ke’er would never have survived.
Her ordeal had begun in earnest a few days ago, when the monster harassment first started. A strange, agonizing ache had permeated her body— a sensation like something burrowing through her flesh and marrow, trying to leach something out from deep within her.
At the time, she hadn’t thought her pain was unique. The dense monstrous aura had made many villagers fall ill, and she assumed her suffering was simply another symptom of the blight. It was only when Chu Mingxi established his formation that the pressure eased, and she felt her strength begin to return.
Because the other villagers had also felt revitalized once the monstrous aura was suppressed, Su Ke’er hadn’t realized how different she truly was. She simply thought everyone was recovering together.
Until tonight.
In the middle of her sleep, Su Ke’er had suddenly bolted upright, her fingers elongating into wicked talons. Driven by a feral instinct, she had lunged at the people closest to her— the very couple who had saved her as an infant and raised her as their own.
Fortunately, the Sword Sect’s outer disciples were nothing if not vigilant. Even with the minor monsters cleared, they had maintained their watch. Sensing the sudden eruption of monstrous energy, they intervened instantly, restraining Su Ke’er before she could do more than wound her adopted father’s shoulder.
After being bound and watched for hours, the monstrous aura within her eventually receded, and her claws shrank back to normal.
After recounting the harrowing ordeal to Chu Mingyao, Su Ke’er broke down once more. Her spirit was spent, and deep fatigue etched her young face. Sensing her collapse, Chu Mingyao found a bedroom and tucked her in.
As the blanket settled, Su Ke’er’s small hand darted out, clutching desperately at the corner of Chu Mingyao’s robe.
“Big Sister Yao, can you stay? Just a little longer?” She pleaded, her voice thick with tears. “I’m scared. I’m afraid that if I close my eyes, I’ll wake up and hurt someone again. I’m so glad my parents are alive and that the big brothers healed them with spells. But I don’t know what to do now. I don’t know what’s happening to me……”
Chu Mingyao sighed, the sound heavy with a rare softness. She sat by the bedside and used her handkerchief to dry the girl’s face. “I’m not going anywhere. Sleep, Ke’er. I’ll be right here.”
Exhausted by grief and terror, the girl finally succumbed to a deep sleep.
Chu Mingyao remained motionless by the bed, but her mind was far from idle. Within her sea of consciousness, she focused on her sword intent— a solidified, radiant longsword that began to spin with increasing velocity, honing her focus to a razor’s edge.
────ρя
This translation is by Pocketrobbin at S h a n g h a i f a n t a s y . c o m
Two days passed in a blur of routine.
Life in Danming Village began to stabilize, but the emotional scars remained raw. Su Ke’er’s adoptive parents came to visit, but Su Ke’er couldn’t bring herself to face them. She hid in her room, peeking through the cracks of the door and weeping silently as the couple stood in the courtyard.
Chu Mingyao found herself at a loss. She knew this was likely the last time they would ever be in the same place. As a half-monster whose bloodline had been exposed, Su Ke’er would be taken back to the Sword Sect for permanent confinement. Part of her wanted to force a final meeting, but seeing the girl’s paralyzing fear of hurting the couple again, she chose not to intervene. The parents, sensing their daughter’s shame, could only watch her from a distance with heartbroken eyes.
That night, just as Su Ke’er drifted off and Chu Mingyao prepared to resume her meditation, a panicked shout shattered the silence.
“Martial Uncle! Eldest Senior Sister! Come out, quickly! What are these things?”
It was Chu Mingbei.
Chu Mingyao’s heart jolted. Her intuition, sharpened by her path as a sword cultivator, screamed that the peace was over. Outside the window, the courtyard erupted into chaos. Perfected Zizhu, Chu Mingnan, and the others were already rushing out.
She stood up, casting one final look at the sleeping girl. Su Ke’er’s tiny white fox ears twitched in her sleep— a sight that was heart-wrenchingly adorable, and a stark reminder of the target now painted on her back.