"Qian Renyue, if you use sword energy again, I'll seal your soul power," Chen Xin's stern voice rang out.
Qian Renyue lowered her head, withdrew her Dragon's Roar Divine Sword soul skill, and, feeling somewhat dejected, picked up her soul-guided weapon, the Dragon's Roar, once more.
"I'm sorry, Master. I lost control," Qian Renyue said softly.
"I've noticed that ever since you added a soul ring to the Dragon Roar Divine Sword, you've become increasingly reliant on sword energy." " Chen Xin said sharply. Seeing Qian Renyue's dejected, downcast expression, he couldn't help but soften his tone. "You've noticed it yourself—sword energy isn't invincible. It's not that hard to counter it, and you've certainly suffered losses because of it before, haven't you?"
"I know, Master," Qian Renyue replied hastily.
"Let's go back," Chen Xin said, withdrawing his hand and taking the lead.
"Coming, coming," Qian Renyue hurried to catch up.
Back in the village, Qian Renyue deftly took the fish out of her backpack and headed to the kitchen to cook. It had been two months since Chen Xin and Qian Renyue had arrived in this small village. They lived like an ordinary grandfather and granddaughter, rising with the sun and resting at sunset.
The two lived in a simple little courtyard, where life was warm and pleasant.
Chen Xin had even cut off all correspondence between Qian Renyue and the Soul Hall. During the day, he took Qian Renyue out to forage for food, training her in swordsmanship along the way. At night, they would sit together with the other villagers, chatting and exchanging recipes for delicious dishes.
Here, Qian Renyue forgot about the Divine Exam, forgot about Tang San, and forgot about all the trivial matters of the Soul Hall. Her sole focus was on practicing swordsmanship, and her mind gradually grew calm.
Just as Qian Renyue was bringing out the cooked fish to share a meal with Chen Xin, an older woman rushed into the small courtyard.
"Yuebao, hurry up and go to the back mountain with Uncle Fang and the others." As soon as she entered the door, Aunt Wang grabbed Qian Renyue's hand, trying to lead her away.
"Aunt Wang, what's going on? Why don't you sit down and have some dinner first? I caught this fish myself today—it's delicious." " Qianren Yue patted Aunt Wang's hand, gesturing for her to calm down.
"Oh dear, there's no time for that," Aunt Wang said hurriedly.
"What's going on? I'm the child's grandfather—you really ought to tell me," Chen Xin stood up and said to Aunt Wang.
"Look at me—I'm so flustered I've lost my mind," Aunt Wang said, patting her head. "The Duke of Hillerbach's men have come to take children away again. At first, everyone thought going there would lead to a good job, but later we found out that the children who went to the Duke's mansion never came back."
"Has no one ever gone to look for them? " Qian Renyue asked in disbelief.
"Of course they have—how could they not!" At this point, Aunt Wang wiped the corners of her eyes with her sleeve, her voice choked with emotion. "My husband went with the villagers to the Duke's mansion to look for our daughter. Thirteen people went in total, and not a single one of them came back alive."
"Didn't anyone do anything about it?" Qian Renyue asked angrily.
"How could they? Who could do anything? That beast of a Duke is the maternal uncle of the Snow Star Prince of the Tian Dou Empire. A few years ago, one of Hillerbach's men captured a cat-woman whose martial soul had mutated, trapping her in her martial soul form. He presented her to the Prince, who immediately rewarded him with the title of Duke. Since then, he's become even more brazen. Over the years, countless beautiful young men and women within his domain have been abducted."
"Haven't you ever thought of running away?" " Qian Renyue asked.
"Escape? How could we possibly escape? Our village no longer dares to have children. For those who are born, we can only pray that when their Martial Souls awaken, they'll possess Soul Power. As long as their Martial Soul isn't useless and they can become Soul Masters, the Martial Soul Hall will protect them—and only then can they survive," Aunt Wang said helplessly.
"Then hasn't the Hall of Soul Spirits intervened? Or what about the children who've already become Soul Masters?" Qian Renyue asked again.
"It's not that the Soul Hall didn't try to intervene back then, but in the end, they could only protect those two children who possessed soul power. After all, this is an internal matter of the Tian Dou Kingdom. The children who've become Soul Masters aren't particularly gifted; the most talented among them is currently no higher than a Soul Venerable. Going to seek revenge would be nothing more than a suicide mission," Aunt Wang said helplessly.
"Silly child, I've told you so much already. It's getting late. You'd better hurry and follow Uncle Fang and the others to the back mountain. There's a secret passage we dug there. Wait until the search party has left, then come back." With that, Aunt Wang hurriedly reached out to take Qian Renyue's hand.
"Master," Qian Renyue turned to look at Chen Xin.
Chen Xin shook his head at her and whispered, "Go to the back mountain first to see what's going on. Protect the children and the villagers. I've got this here."
Qian Renyue nodded and, led by Aunt Wang, made her way toward the back mountain.
Upon reaching the back mountain, Qian Renyue discovered several children hiding there—some she had seen in the village before, others she had never met. The children she recognized were fine, but those she had never seen before were in poor condition.
Most of them were gaunt and sallow, their hair dry and brittle like weeds that hadn't seen rain in ages. Their hands and feet were caked with thick mud. Some looked at Qian Renyue with curiosity and scrutiny, while others gazed at her with envy and jealousy. A few, however, showed no emotion at all—they were completely numb.
Qian Renyue looked at these suffering children and felt a pang of sorrow in her heart.
In her previous life, she had grown up under the red flag, nurtured by the gentle spring breeze. Even as an orphan, she had been able to live happily, attend school, and have enough to eat and warm clothes to wear. Yet for the children before her, simply staying alive was such a struggle.
Qian Renyue felt she ought to do something, yet she also felt powerless to act. Unable to speak up, she could only offer a feeble comfort: "Don't be afraid, everyone. We'll definitely be all right this time."
Qian Renyue didn't understand—could they really be more terrifying than the Evil Soul Masters? They were nothing more than a bunch of incompetent nobles.
Just as Qian Renyue was still observing the situation closely, a tall but very thin man stepped forward and said to everyone, "Those beasts at the Duke's mansion seem to know we're hiding people on the back mountain. They've already brought men to search the area. Everyone, hurry up and head deeper into the mountains."
The few children who had been sitting on the ground quickly stood up, extinguished the campfire, and restored the area where they'd been sitting to its original, unoccupied state. They also pulled a large leaf—resembling a banana-leaf fan—from behind a tree and swept away everyone's footprints. Everyone retreated in an orderly fashion; it was clear this wasn't the first time they'd experienced something like this.
Qian Renyue kept her head down. She was confident she could protect this group, so she was eager to see just how far this rotten, filthy aristocracy would go.
After walking for quite some time, Qian Renyue took the initiative to hoist a little boy—who had taken several tumbles—onto her back. The boy's weight caused Qian Renyue to pause for a moment, as he weighed less than the loads she had carried during her weight-bearing training at age six. Tears welled up in her eyes. What on earth had these children been through?
After walking for yet another long stretch, more and more children began to falter, but not a single one asked to stop and rest. Perhaps they, too, knew that stopping might mean being caught by the demons—and likely losing their lives as a result.
"Our hiding place is just up ahead. Hang in there, everyone—we'll be able to rest soon," the leader encouraged them.
Thanks to everyone's perseverance, they finally reached a place where they could rest.
A little girl asked timidly, "Uncle, are we safe now?"
"Of course! I've been waiting for you here for quite some time," came the reply—not from an uncle, but from a teasing male voice not far away.
In an instant, the previously dim forest was lit up by numerous torches.
........
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