Chapter 303: Being Wilful for Once (3.5k)
Hearing Su Jiu’s question, Hu Ling’s face once again held a solemn expression. Her gaze swept over the civilians, pausing briefly on their still sorrowful faces. After a sigh, she shook her head and said in a muffled voice, “I don’t know either. We just brought along the residents affected by the fighting along the way. Perhaps there are still many common people living there. After we discovered that Black-clad Bishop from the Ancient God Sect was in the group, we directly broke through the encirclement of those people from the Cherry Blossom Country.”
“The encirclement of the Cherry Blossom Country?” Su Jiu was slightly taken aback. She first stepped forward and used a black storage bag to collect the old man’s corpse, then turned and asked, “As expected, Xiangzi can’t change her bad habits. Are there many participating forces involved now?”
“The forces from the Cherry Blossom Country make up the bulk of it. Lord Jiu of the Flower Language is also present. It was he who engaged in a fight with that Intermediate Battle King from the Cherry Blossom Country, buying us time. Besides him, other Battle King experts, two lone Initial Stage Battle Kings, are fighting against a mentor from Imperial Capital University,” Lin Yun interjected, speaking quite seriously.
“Besides these Battle King experts, there are also Ancient God Sect Bishops hidden within the crowd. I don’t know how many people they have. What I can be sure of is that she already knows we’ve discovered her identity, which is why she sent someone of this Bishop-level to pursue us.”
“So many Battle Kings, it seems we can only wait for those Dragon Hunter people to arrive.”
Su Jiu lowered her gaze, her eyes looking deeply into the faint lights erupting in the distance. Her greyish-white hair was blown into waves by the impact of the airflow. It was no longer appropriate for her to charge in alone.
While she was contemplating, several figures rushed out from the other end of the intersection. They moved in a hurry but were all running towards them with all their might, as if afraid of being a step slower. Everyone’s eyes turned towards them, seemingly puzzled.
What happened?
Seemingly noticing that Su Jiu and the others were still standing still watching them, a man at the forefront, wearing the clothes of a certain organization, slowed his steps slightly. With a panicked expression, he shouted, “Why are you still not leaving?! The Bishop of the Ancient God Sect is crazily eating people and ordering her subordinates everywhere to capture living people, even those from the Cherry Blossom Country. It seems they are going to perform a blood sacrifice directly.”
“Eating people?”
Su Jiu was slightly startled by the word. Seeing that the man was about to leave immediately, she quickly asked, “Are the forces of the Cherry Blossom Country just watching her do this? Don’t they have an Intermediate Battle King?”
“The Intermediate Battle King? He’s still focused on his own battle… Hurry and run! While that old demon is busy eating those other lower-level Battle Kings, we have enough time to escape. Hurry, let’s run!” The man quickly shook his head, offered a few warnings, and then moved away swiftly, manipulating the air.
“Let’s get ready to leave too.”
Without intervening to stop the man, Su Jiu looked at Hu Ling and the other students. Seeing their injured appearances, she immediately reached out and used Healing Arts. Bathed in the light of healing, with red flaming leaves constantly drifting in the wind, the healing light fell on everyone, stirring up faint auras.
“Priest… Priestess?”
“What’s so surprising about that? Su Jiu, junior schoolmate, is a student in the School of Medicine. Isn’t it normal for her to know some healing arts?”
Everyone watched this scene with wide eyes. Hu Ling quickly reacted, a look of relief appearing on her face. After all, Su Jiu had actually entered the School of Medicine, and having dual attributes wasn’t a mysterious matter anymore.
However, it wasn’t the time to ponder such things. It was necessary to leave here quickly.
“Hoo… Let’s hurry and leave. Reinforcements will be here soon.”
A moment later, seeing that apart from some severe cases of broken limbs, the major wounds on everyone had been mostly healed, and while everyone was marveling, Su Jiu let out a breath and then turned, waved her hand, and spoke softly.
As Su Jiu turned, a figure darted out from the crowd. With a “puff,” he directly knelt beside her, completely disregarding the sewage on the ground. He then continuously kowtowed to Su Jiu, the thudding sounds trembling as he said, “Sir… Please, save my wife. She’s sleeping in a nearby residential building and didn’t come out in time.”
Su Jiu turned to look, her gaze examining the man. He was a middle-aged man in worker’s clothes with a dusty face, looking like someone who had just finished work.
Looking at the slightly damp rain-soaked clothes on him, Su Jiu was silent for a moment and was about to say something.
“Shut up! If possible, we should leave and wait for the Dragon Hunters’ rescue. After all, there’s a Bishop there, possibly a top expert at the High-Rank Battle King level. Su Jiu, junior schoolmate, you have no vested interest in there; there’s no need for you to risk yourself.”
Hearing the man’s voice, Lin Yun glared at the man who had spoken up, demanding Su Jiu go and save people. Facing such moral coercion, they, as students, didn’t need to pay attention.
Saving them was already an act of utmost benevolence. Other matters should be left to the officials. International negotiations should be conducted, and those who needed to be killed on the spot should be killed on the spot.
“But, sir, you’re clearly so strong! We…”
“Daddy, we just came out to buy candy, where did Mommy go?”
“Tangtang wants to see Mommy…”
The middle-aged man was startled by Lin Yun’s imposing aura and froze in place. Clenching his fists tightly, a little girl rushed out from the crowd, hugged the middle-aged man, and sobbed softly, questioning him constantly.
The middle-aged man stood like a wooden effigy, staring blankly at the ground, muttering softly, “Tangtang, your mother… might have gone on a trip far away.”
If Bai Zhi were still here, she would definitely recognize this as the little girl who had given her a piece of candy. The world is such a small place; reality is always more magical than fiction.
After Lin Yun’s reprimand, the civilians who had initially hoped Su Jiu would go and save people no longer dared to say anything more. They could only look at the middle-aged man with timid eyes, secretly lowering their heads and sighing. They also had relatives inside, but they knew they couldn’t force these important figures to risk their lives for them.
In the crowd, there was no atmosphere of surviving a disaster; only a sorrowful atmosphere slowly lingered around.
“Sigh, I’ll escort you out first.”
With a sigh, Su Jiu shifted her gaze from the middle-aged man to her phone. Seeing that the reinforcements were still about five or six kilometers away, she closed her eyes slightly and said softly.
With only this distance, it shouldn’t take long for reinforcements to arrive. It was best to wait for them to arrive and deal with it together.
One must know that there wasn’t just the Ancient God Sect inside. Before the Dragon Hunters’ Battle Kings arrived, her strength was still somewhat insufficient.
If she forced herself, she might turn a near-death experience into a real death…
“Those who are seriously injured, get in the car. I’ll give you a ride first.”
Thinking this, Su Jiu waved her hand at everyone, instructing the more severely injured, then directly opened the car door, ready to start the engine.
“Sister!”
As a timid female voice rang out, she felt her thigh being hugged. She instinctively frowned and looked down, finding it was the worker’s daughter from earlier. She patiently bent down slightly and asked with a smile, “What’s wrong, little one? Do you want to get in the car too?”
Her body trembling slightly, the little girl buried her face in Su Jiu’s long skirt and said in a voice with a hint of crying, “Save my mommy, okay? I know you’re a good person, Sister. That day, I saw you defeat the big bad guy at the city gate, and we were all saved.”
After speaking, the little girl slowly raised her head and looked at Su Jiu with expectant eyes.
Stroking the girl’s wet hair again, Su Jiu was silent for a moment. She then looked up at the flickering skill lights in the distance and smiled wryly, “It’s not that Sister doesn’t want to help you, but right now, Sister is willing but unable… Enemies of that level are not who Sister can deal with.”
“But, Sister, you’re clearly so strong. Enemies that everyone else can’t defeat are defeated by you in just two moves.” As if understanding Su Jiu’s meaning, the little girl’s face became anxious, speaking with flattery, hoping to change Su Jiu’s mind.
“Alas, if Sister goes there, she will pay a great price. You should go back to your father first.” Her gaze fell on the middle-aged man still kneeling on the ground, Su Jiu felt somewhat helpless and sighed again.
The little girl bit her lip, her face set in stubbornness. She walked towards her father in the rain, then started to run.
With Su Jiu’s strength, if she were to confront a High-Rank Battle King, she would be injured within ten moves. Not to mention that High-Rank Battle Kings had already begun to touch upon rules; just the domain they exuded would be enough to make her struggle.
“This student, when we leave later, please take this father and daughter pair with you.”
Seeing the little girl return to her father’s side and finding him searching for something in her father’s pocket, Su Jiu sighed and waved to a student, giving instructions.
Then, her gaze returned to the crowds with numb expressions. She clenched her fists, then helplessly loosened them, inwardly smiling wryly and shaking her head. If the founder of that medical book were here, they would surely help them, right?
But she was just a successor many generations removed. Not everyone had the courage to challenge plague demons and the secular world with a humble body—
She just wanted to survive in the nascent stages of this chaotic world.
She could save people, and she could save the world, but the prerequisite was survival. If she died, she wouldn’t even be able to see their faces again.
“Tangtang, don’t go…” The middle-aged man’s voice rang out again, sounding somewhat flustered.
“Didn’t I tell you? That price… Sister can’t afford it.”
Soon, her thigh was hugged again. Her body stiffened slightly. Just as she was about to explain helplessly, the little girl cut her off. Seemingly afraid that Su Jiu would leave, she hurriedly took out a box of candy from her pocket and said pleadingly, “Sister, is this candy enough for that price?”
Su Jiu was stunned. Was this a joke? The price she had to pay could be crippling or even death…
Without waiting for Su Jiu to reply, Hu Ling, seemingly noticing her predicament, stepped forward with a hint of amusement, pulled the little girl away, and tilted her head towards Su Jiu, saying, “Just refuse her directly. We are still students. If the sky falls, taller people will hold it up.”
“Students…”
Su Jiu looked at the Magic University Students, who bore various injuries. A strange tightness gripped her heart. These students could shed blood and sweat for the common people, yet she, a Night Watcher, dared not even take a quick look ten minutes in advance…
As long as she waited, reinforcements would come, and everything would probably be fine.
Just then, the booming sound from ahead suddenly erupted, and a massive crimson beam shot straight into the sky. The grey sky seemed to be pierced, looking particularly clear and distinct. Su Jiu’s eyes narrowed, and she murmured, “This is… the blood sacrifice is commencing. Is the Bishop sacrificing living people directly inside?”
Hu Ling also looked up, her expression somewhat solemn. She quickly turned to Su Jiu and said, “We need to leave here quickly. The important figures will handle the rest.”
Hearing this, Su Jiu fell silent again. Important figures? Was she considered one now? Taller people? She was the taller person now…
If she didn’t go, those civilians would be no different from lambs to the slaughter.
Then…
Seeing that most of the civilians had been evacuated, Hu Ling noticed Su Jiu was still standing there, her expression somewhat dazed, and was about to call out to her.
But unexpectedly, Su Jiu sighed, then suddenly looked up, revealing a helpless smile, and said softly to the little girl, “Can you give me a piece of candy?”
Just be wilful one more time.
