She remembered reading in books that Spirit Cores generally existed within human cultivators, and also in demonic creatures.
The types of demonic creatures were vast, specifically referring to bloodthirsty, demonized beings. Back in the first era, they were already enemies of the human race, locked in a relentless, unending conflict. Many said the disappearance of Spiritual Energy in the first era was related to these demonic creatures.
The essence of demonic creatures devouring flesh and blood was also their craving for Spiritual Energy. Living beings had a high absorption and conversion rate for Spiritual Energy, especially humans. Demonic creatures ate humans to covet the Spiritual Energy within their flesh and blood. Conversely, if they sensed an exposed Spirit Core within one of their own kind, they would absolutely swarm towards it, like crocodiles in a lake fighting over a carcass.
Giving it up could save her life.
But the penniless A’Diao clutched it tighter instead, and without a word, ran towards a corner of the cellar.
The air circulation in this cellar was very good. It used to be living quarters for the elderly, and the cellar was also for their use. Considering the constitution of old people, the ventilation opening must not be small, just like the cellar ventilation opening at the old Daoist temple, which faced the backyard.
This place should be similar.
Sure enough, A’Diao quickly found the stone slab locking the ventilation opening. It was at the upper part of the wall, likely flush with the outer wall.
A’Diao forcefully pushed a bookshelf over, and just as she was about to climb up, she suddenly saw a fat head appear at the cellar entrance.
It’s here, it’s here!
Damn, that was fast!
And it was even bigger than the one she had bludgeoned to death. It looked like it could swallow her in one bite.
Thanks to her years of experience and skill climbing trees to pick fruit for money, A’Diao climbed faster than a monkey. She quickly reached the edge of the ventilation opening and immediately undid the inner latch. The monster spotted her too and instantly clung to the wall, scrambling over in a few swift movements.
How fortunate! The ventilation opening was just big enough for her small, thin frame. A’Diao frantically squeezed inside.
The monster opened its huge mouth and lunged for A’Diao’s exposed calf… Swoosh! A’Diao sharply pulled her leg back. One shoe got scraped off and fell with a thud, but the monster’s mouth was only about two centimeters from the sole of her foot. It was stuck.
Too fat to get in? Unlikely, its body could change shape. It couldn’t transform now because the flesh and blood it had just eaten hadn’t digested yet, causing it to get stuck.
Moreover, if her living standards had been a bit higher, if she hadn’t been so poor and so skinny, she might have died here.
A’Diao had just started to feel relieved when a sharp pain shot through the sole of her foot. It turned out the monster had extended a proboscis from its mouth and pierced her sole. The proboscis could suck brains, so naturally, it could also suck blood…
A’Diao screamed in pain and forcefully climbed forward to pull her foot free, escaping the range of its sucking proboscis. But the monster was furious and let out a cry like a wailing infant.
“You damn mutt! If it were my Master, he’d let his stinky feet poison you to death!”
Cursing, A’Diao desperately climbed on. She finally reached the exit at the other end. After undoing the inner latch of the stone slab, she forcefully pried it open.
Bang!
The stone slab detached from the outside. Only when A’Diao crawled out did she realize…
Huh, isn’t this the alleyway outside the east courtyard of the courtyard residence? The neighbor’s house is right beside it.
This area originally had a row of three residences, separated by a two-meter-wide path. Next to the courtyard residence side, there was also a tall banyan tree with a lush canopy and intertwined branches.
At this moment, A’Diao had just crawled out of the stone-slabbed ventilation opening beside the banyan tree.
With injured arms and legs, she didn’t even want to move a finger after crawling out. Just when she thought she was safe, she suddenly heard a dripping sound.
There were streetlights outside. She saw a puddle of liquid on the ground ahead.
Blood-red.
Just then, a commotion erupted from the nearby courtyard residence. It sounded like the landlady’s shouting, startling many people.
The disturbance here also startled something in the tree. Only the rustling of leaves could be heard… A’Diao narrowed her eyes, then suddenly sprang up from the ground and ran.
Just as she sprang up, a fat monster that had been resting on a branch of the large banyan tree above her head climbed down the wall on the other side. Because it climbed and ran quickly, its numerous suckers on its underside made a dense, pattering sound—da da da—on the cold wall as it madly pursued the fleeing A’Diao.
Judging by its size, this wasn’t the second one that had appeared in the cellar; it was a third one.
Had she poked a monster’s nest? Where on earth did they crawl out from?
A’Diao dragged her injured leg, running with difficulty. But she wasn’t some overpowered character. She didn’t know what that proboscis was made of; perhaps it was poisonous. It caused her pierced left leg to throb with a heart-stabbing pain, even more intense than the pain from her more severely injured arm.
Thump! Unable to bear the pain any longer, A’Diao tripped on a stone on the ground. After falling, she wretchedly turned to look. The large bug pounced from two meters behind her, all the attack orifices on its body open.
It could swallow her whole in one go.
It’s over.
Just as A’Diao was out of options and despairing, she suddenly saw a halo of laser light.
A beam of light came, and the large bug exploded.
The light was brilliant, and the explosion was equally spectacular.
A’Diao’s eyes lit up. The Government Office’s aircraft laser gun!
The monster’s corpse fell to the ground, its large head blown to bits. A’Diao saw the Spirit Core that had fallen to the ground.
Her hands itched to grab it, but she didn’t pick it up. After all, it was someone else’s spoils of war.
Fortunately, she hadn’t moved. The next second, she saw a dozen or so aircraft fly overhead, each maneuvering their laser guns to search and aim at various locations. At this time, a broadcast also played, ordering everyone to run out of their houses.
After receiving A’Diao’s warning earlier, the Government Office hadn’t alerted this area because the officers hadn’t arrived yet. They didn’t want these people to cause a commotion and chaos, which might provoke the Demonic Spirits into a frenzied massacre. However, they had also underestimated the number of Demonic Spirits.
A’Diao didn’t wait for the officers to reassure her and proactively reported, “There’s still one in the cellar. I don’t know about the others, but I think there are definitely more than just these few. Oh, the cellar is located at…”
The death toll reported by the toilet was decreasing too quickly.
It had just reminded her again; the number had jumped to 18.
She wasn’t sure if the toilet’s detection range extended beyond the courtyard residence, but it was always nearby, and the monsters were also nearby, and there were quite a few of them.
So, after being helped up by an officer, A’Diao quickly gave her reminder, which also saved the officers some search time.
Feng Ting glanced at A’Diao, then immediately piloted his aircraft down into the courtyard residence. With a light tap of his foot, he leaped onto the second-floor railing, graceful and swift.
At this moment, people who had run out from various rooms had already gathered in the courtyard. They had originally been startled by the landlady, and upon hearing the officers’ announcement, they all came out of their rooms, holding children and supporting the elderly.
And it was precisely because of their movement… when Feng Ting leaped to the second floor, what rushed out of a room was not a tenant, but a ferocious monster.
It was fierce and strong, but Feng Ting was no rookie like A’Diao. After leaping onto the second-floor corridor, facing the pouncing monster, he calmly sidestepped to dodge it. Simultaneously, he drew the handle from his waist, pressed the fingerprint button on it, and with a hum as it activated, a cold, silver blade shot out, about 110cm in length.
A Tang-style zhanmadao, slashing diagonally upwards from below.
The neck beneath its plump head was severed. After hitting the ground, it gurgled and spurted viscous fluid, its body also falling, trembling and twisting.
So strong!
Many men in the courtyard, amidst their panic, were doing their utmost to protect their families. Seeing Feng Ting’s impressive display, they were all filled with admiration.
Other officers had also entered. Four of them landed in the four corners of the central courtyard with a few leaps, protecting the tenants. The others leaped to the second floor and searched room by room.
Panic filled the courtyard residence, and the nearby houses were no different. The hutong alleyways were even more chaotic, like birds startled by thunder, with crowds of people bursting out.
A’Diao, in the alleyway, was helped to the alley entrance. She saw these officers leaping about, their movements swift as the wind. A monster was also lured out in the hutong alley. This monster was very dirty, covered in caked mud. Before it could attack the fleeing residents, a young officer leaped down from a nearby wall, kicked it mid-air against another wall, then landed, charged forward, and swiftly drew his saber… The blade left a sharp gash on the wall.
Head and body were cleanly separated, blood splattering several meters.
Wow.
“Big brothers, your skills are amazing! Have you all trained for this?”
The officer in charge of looking after her raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. “Little sister, do you think being an officer is that easy? Compared to those civil clerks, we not only have written exams but also martial exams. After getting in, there are regular assessments every year. Failing means dismissal.”
A’Diao had a realization. No wonder she had read online that the qualifications and difficulty for grassroots Government Office positions were much higher than for civil clerks, yet their salaries and benefits were not as good. Nowadays, the elite of the younger generation all flocked towards high-paying jobs, studying relentlessly for imperial examinations just to work in the imperial court, seeking promotion and wealth. Few were willing to go to the military or grassroots government offices.
In the long run, the nation’s strength would decline.
The former Tang Song Empire valued both literary and martial prowess. A thousand years after its founding, the morale of frontline combat personnel had instead declined. Those who pursued this path were either those without connections to become civil officials or those driven purely by passion.
However, after the revival of Spiritual Energy, the future prospects of these officers who entered service through martial skills would surely far surpass those of civil officials.
It could be considered a comeback, I suppose.
A’Diao shook off these thoughts. Anyway, the nation’s safety wasn’t her concern. She just felt a little ashamed: others could handle things in one go, while she, holding a Spiritual Vessel, had to smash it many times, almost crippling her hand, to achieve the same.
The gap is so huge.
It must be that the toilet is too crappy, not even as good as a zhanmadao.
Mhmm, that must be it.
Toilet: ???
Everyone was out, and all the lured monsters had been killed. The officers were already using thermal sensors to conduct a wide-area search of nearby houses, trying to find any hidden monsters.
Feng Ting entered A’Diao’s previous room and went down to the cellar… He saw the skeletal remains of a monster on the floor, gnawed clean. Dead?
No.
Feng Ting grabbed a pillar, did a reverse jump down, and dodged the monster hiding in the rear diagonal corner, which was launching an attack. He plunged his saber into its mouth, pierced its brain core, and killed it!
There were actually two monsters in one cellar. How did the dead one on the floor die?
Feng Ting glanced at its head and the broken wooden stick beside it. There was a small, bloody handprint on the stick.
That girl?
