Chapter 26: A Variety of Protectors
The evil cultivator’s head rolled to Xie Bailu’s feet, facing up, its eyes wide open, staring at her.
The entire place was silent.
No one had ever seen someone give a female cultivator a human head as a gift! They had originally thought that the legends about Ling Song might have been exaggerated, and that he might just be a little bellicose, not that crazy.
But today, they were sure. The rumors were not even scratching the surface. He was a complete and utter madman!
A high-level cultivator was very awe-inspiring, but a crazy high-level cultivator was just frightening.
Everyone, including Hall Master Jin, didn’t dare to make a sound. Even though Ling Song looked seriously injured at this moment, they didn’t dare to be presumptuous.
If it were anything else, Xie Bailu might have kicked it back to Ling Song, but this was a human head, and the other party was staring at her!
Seeing the blood flowing down and staining the grass, about to reach her feet, Xie Bailu quickly took a small step back.
The surrounding cultivators inexplicably felt a sense of relief. Perhaps they were worried that the female cultivator that the madman Ling Song had taken a fancy to was also a madman.
Fortunately, she was a normal person who would be disgusted and retreat at the sight of a human head.
No matter what thoughts and emotions were surging in their hearts, none of the cultivators made a sound.
At this moment, Ling Song’s appearance was disheveled, but he was smiling, a madman’s smile that was chilling. They were afraid that if they opened their mouths, they would provoke him for no reason and bring about a disaster.
But Xie Bailu, under Ling Song’s gaze, couldn’t say nothing. She said, “It’s so dirty. I don’t want it.”
A low gasp was heard from the surroundings, probably in amazement at how she dared to talk to Ling Song like that.
Ling Song’s smile did not change. He walked forward and kicked the evil cultivator’s head away. “If you don’t want it, then forget it.”
The evil cultivator’s head rolled away. The cultivators in its path quickly made way, letting the head roll a trail of blood, and finally stopped when it hit a tree, its face facing the crowd.
Ling Song raised his long arm, wrapped it around Xie Bailu’s waist, and brought her onto Shishang, flying away on his sword. From beginning to end, he didn’t even give a glance to anyone else, let alone any explanation.
It was only long after Ling Song had left that the cultivators slowly began to talk and move.
Hall Master Jin thought of her cowardice when facing Ling Song just now and couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. She forced herself to order her disciples to return to their sects, while she went to discuss the matter of the secret realm with the elders of the three families. At the very least, they had to go in and check to make sure there were no hidden dangers.
Someone asked Jing Ruoyue in a low voice, “I saw you coming out with that female cultivator just now. Do you know each other?”
Jing Ruoyue apologized to Xiao Lu in her heart and shook her head. “No, I don’t even know her name. I just saw that she was injured and thought she was a fellow disciple from the Jinyuan Sect, so I brought her out with me.”
She always felt that the two of them were not in the situation that the fellow disciples were whispering about. At least she didn’t feel that Xiao Lu was deeply in love with that madman. But she was just a small Foundation Establishment cultivator and was powerless in everything. She couldn’t even gather fifty spirit stones. She could only secretly wish Xiao Lu all the best and that she would turn misfortune into blessings.
Meanwhile, Xie Bailu was leaning against Ling Song’s arms, motionless.
When Ling Song had wrapped his arm around her waist to hold her, she hadn’t resisted at all. When he had taken her away on his sword, she had also been silent. Anyway, it didn’t matter where they went, as long as he didn’t kill her.
She just felt a little strange. Ling Song seemed a little too “quiet.”
And there was also Hall Master Jin, a Golden Core cultivator. With so many people around, why didn’t he provoke them at all?
It was only after Ling Song had flown for dozens of li and suddenly stopped, throwing her to the side and sitting down to heal himself, that Xie Bailu understood that his “quietness” came from the fact that he was seriously injured. He probably would have collapsed on the spot if he had provoked them any further.
Xie Bailu stood at the side. Seeing Ling Song sitting cross-legged, his eyes closed, and ignoring her, she felt a little uneasy.
He hadn’t said whether she could continue to run or not.
Ling Song’s appearance was very disheveled at this moment. After a fierce battle, even he couldn’t take it. Or rather, he was always in such life-and-death battles.
At this moment, he was quietly closing his eyes, his face dirty, but his features were handsome and calm, like a forgotten clay statue of a Bodhisattva in the ruins, with a special kind of beauty.
As she was looking, Ling Song suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed.
Xie Bailu was speechless. “…?!” Is this a honey trap? Is he trying to trick me into killing him?
She stood there, staring at Ling Song. Xiao Xing suddenly popped its head out and said in a very low voice, “Aren’t you going to run?”
Xie Bailu asked back, “How?”
Xiao Xing said, “…That’s right. You can’t use the Divine Movement Art now. Your Dantian is so injured, you’ll collapse after walking a few steps. And you still have his spiritual sense imprint on you.”
It paused, then its voice became even lower. “Then why don’t you kill him while he’s unconscious?”
As it spoke, its white bun-like body was trembling.
Xie Bailu pressed down on it. “Don’t make suggestions that even you are afraid of!”
Hilarious. Hadn’t she encountered a similar situation before? Last time, when she fought with that evil cultivator’s junior brother, Ling Song had also fainted. She had mustered her courage to get close, but he had suddenly opened his eyes, scaring her so much she had run away like a screaming chicken.
And this time, she couldn’t even run.
Seeing Ling Song lying there motionless for a long time, Xie Bailu didn’t go over. She endured the sharp pain and took out a healing pill, swallowing it to try and heal her own injuries.
However, the sinister spiritual energy left in her meridians by the evil cultivator was truly domineering. As soon as she started to circulate the scattered spiritual energy in her own meridians, they went berserk. She immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, scaring Xiao Xing into crying out.
Xie Bailu wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. Seeing that Ling Song was still lying there, she hid behind a tree and changed her clothes, putting on a clean set. She couldn’t be bothered to find a water source and just washed herself with the water from her waterskin.
After cleaning herself up, Xie Bailu leaned against a tree, eating dry rations and drinking water, while staring at Ling Song with boredom.
At her own level, this injury was not going to heal. If she left now, she would be in danger even if she ran into a strong mortal on the road. It was better to just wait here.
Ling Song had taken her with him when he left, which meant he didn’t want her to die. He had checked her condition and had said she was going to die. He knew her terrible physical condition. If he didn’t want her to die just like that, he would help her think of a way.
After eating, Xie Bailu just stared at Ling Song blankly. She didn’t know when he would wake up. If he didn’t wake up, maybe no one could save her, and she would have to be buried with him.
This was probably the first time Xie Bailu had so sincerely hoped that he wouldn’t die yet.
Just as Xie Bailu felt the spiritual energy surging in her body and her throat tightened, and she couldn’t help but want to vomit another mouthful of blood, a rustling sound came from the side, and a cultivator appeared in Xie Bailu’s line of sight.
The person seemed to be a rogue cultivator, alone, and didn’t see Xie Bailu at first. His gaze fell on Ling Song with wariness and a hint of surprise.
Just as the person was gradually approaching Ling Song, Xie Bailu couldn’t hold back the mouthful of blood and spat it out.
The noise startled the rogue cultivator, who instantly drew his longsword and pointed it at Xie Bailu. But she just leaned lazily against the tree, slowly wiping her mouth with a white cloth.
After drinking a mouthful of cold water to suppress the metallic taste in her mouth, Xie Bailu said under the other party’s wary gaze, “You can see it, right? That person is wearing red clothes.”
He said impatiently, “What are you trying to say?”
Xie Bailu pointed at Ling Song. “This person is Ling Song, the one from the Ling family. How dare you kill him for his treasure?”
The rogue cultivator was startled by Xie Bailu’s words and quickly looked at Ling Song’s face, then couldn’t help but ask Xie Bailu, “How do you know he’s Ling Song… and why are you here?”
Xie Bailu said, “I’m guarding him! He’s Ling Song. If I protect him, he’ll have to give me some benefits when he wakes up, right?”
The rogue cultivator felt that what Xie Bailu said made some sense, but then he thought of something and raised his eyebrows. “He’s unconscious. Wouldn’t you get more treasures if you killed him? He’s killed so many Nascent Soul cultivators, he must have countless treasures.”
Xie Bailu said, “What if he suddenly wakes up when I go to kill him? I can earn the reward I deserve safely. Why should I take such a big risk? But I won’t stop you. You can try. I also want to know if he’s really unconscious or just pretending.”
Although Xie Bailu said this, her legs were actually tensed, ready to run at any moment.
Today, when the evil cultivator had asked why she hadn’t killed Ling Song when he was unconscious, Ling Song’s expression seemed to indicate that he didn’t remember that she was actually about to make a move. According to the tropes of those fictional stories, the red eyes she had vaguely seen probably had a big secret. It was possible that he would kill indiscriminately when his eyes were red.
So, she actually didn’t want the rogue cultivator to test Ling Song. No matter what Ling Song’s reaction was, it would be disadvantageous to her. But she couldn’t even beat a mortal now and could only bluff like this.
The rogue cultivator’s steps faltered, his face full of conflict. The potential reward was very rich, but if he lost the gamble, he would die. It was very difficult for him to make a decision.
In the end, he glanced at Xie Bailu twice and decided to learn from her, to earn the reward he could earn safely.
He sat down opposite Xie Bailu, looking at her and then at Ling Song.
A moment later, two more rogue cultivators passed by. They also noticed Ling Song first. When they were about to get close, the previous rogue cultivator stopped them and told them that it was Ling Song. Then, after a series of familiar conversations, the two rogue cultivators also sat down not far away.
Xie Bailu, who had been silent all this time because she was very weak and didn’t want to attract any attention, was speechless. “…”
Come on, friends, I was just saying it casually. Do you really believe me? Besides, aren’t you afraid that Ling Song will kill you all when he wakes up?
But Xie Bailu was very weak at this moment and could only vomit blood secretly. She had to pretend she didn’t know.
When Ling Song woke up, the sky was already a little dark.
He rubbed his head and sat up, his long legs casually bent. But in the next moment, his movements paused, and he suddenly looked up.
Around him, not including Xie Bailu, there were a total of five strangers staring at him with burning eyes.
Ling Song was speechless. “…?”
He turned to look at Xie Bailu.
She was leaning against a tree with her head bowed, her breathing almost inaudible.
He frowned and stood up, walked to Xie Bailu, held her wrist, and sent his spiritual energy in. It was indeed a mess, and she was not far from death.
The white cloth beside her was soaked in blood.
Ling Song pried open Xie Bailu’s mouth with his fingers, stuffed a pill into it, and used his own spiritual energy to help her get rid of a part of the sinister spiritual energy, so she could breathe a little.
After doing this, Ling Song’s face was even paler than before. He himself was also seriously injured. It was only because Xie Bailu’s cultivation was low and the required spiritual energy was small that he could barely keep her alive.
Xie Bailu’s eyelashes trembled, and she slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Ling Song’s pale, unwashed face.
Her mind was blank for a few breaths before she could barely remember her situation. She had thought she was going to die before she fainted.
Xie Bailu knew that it was most likely Ling Song who had kept her alive, and she also wanted him to heal her, so her attitude was very good, and she smiled sweetly. “Thank you, Young Master Ling.”
Ling Song looked at her for a long time, then pointed behind him. “What’s with these people?”
The five cultivators had all stood up after Ling Song woke up, but they didn’t dare to disturb him, so they had been silent all this time.
Xie Bailu also remained silent.
What should she say? Tell Ling Song that these people had been staring at him like a prisoner while he was unconscious for a long time?
To be honest, even she, the instigator, felt that the scene was too absurd! Come on, she still wanted to ask, how could they have believed it! And they even spread it like a pyramid scheme, one pulling another!
Ling Song, unconscious in the middle, with six people sitting scattered around him, each staring at him with burning eyes, as if looking at some treasure. How could this scene not be strange!
Xie Bailu opened her mouth. “…They are all good people. They were spontaneously protecting you.”
Even if Ling Song were given more time, he would never have been able to figure out how this had happened. His gaze fell on the few people, and he raised an eyebrow, about to speak, when Xie Bailu gently grabbed his sleeve.
He turned to look at her.
Xie Bailu said, “Young Master Ling, thanks to them, no demonic beasts came to harm you. It’s not too much to give them a reasonable reward, is it?”
Judging by their actions, not their intentions, their presence had indeed scared away some potentially threatening demonic beasts and cultivators. Xie Bailu felt they deserved some reward.
Anyway, it wasn’t coming out of her spirit stones.
Ling Song’s gaze swept over the five people, the chilling killing intent in his eyes making their legs go weak, and they almost knelt down to beg for mercy. But in the end, he just threw out a storage bag. “You can divide it among yourselves. Now get lost.”
One of the rogue cultivators picked up the storage bag. The five of them quickly thanked him and hurried away.
Only the first rogue cultivator who had been personally fooled by Xie Bailu looked back at her, his heart full of suspicion.
He had been tricked. What protector, what reward? That female cultivator was clearly so intimate with that madman. He remembered that she had vomited a lot of blood. It seemed that both of them were seriously injured and unable to protect themselves, which was why they had tricked him into protecting them.
He couldn’t help but feel regretful. If he had been a little bolder at that time, he might have been able to take all the treasures for himself!
It was only after he had walked far away with his temporary companions that he became a little curious again. Who was that female cultivator? How did she catch the eye of that madman? She was something else.
After everyone had left, Ling Song asked Xie Bailu, “What happened?”
Xie Bailu said concisely, her expression puzzled, “You fainted. A rogue cultivator came over to kill you for your treasure. I tricked him by saying I was protecting you and would get a reward when you woke up. He believed me and waited with me. The others were all persuaded by him.”
Although Ling Song had felt strange when he had just woken up, now that he heard Xie Bailu say how she had tricked those people while she was on the verge of death, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Seeing Ling Song’s eyebrows curve in a smile, truly pleased, Xie Bailu suddenly said impulsively, “Can you let me go? We’ll go our separate ways.”
Look, they were getting along like ordinary friends. They could “help each other” and even talk and laugh.
Ling Song suppressed his smile and looked at her, then slowly curved his lips. “What do you think?”
If you ask me, you can get as far away from me as possible.
Xie Bailu forced a smile. “I was just asking. If you don’t agree, then forget it.”
Ling Song pinched her delicate wrist. “But I can heal your injuries. Do you need it?”
Xie Bailu smiled politely. “I do. Thank you.”
Ling Song stood up. “Wait here. After I’m done, it’s your turn.”
With that, he went back to his original spot and sat down to heal.
After a long time, Xiao Xing popped its head out and said in a small, pitiful voice, “…Master, are you planning to abandon me?”
Xie Bailu knew what Xiao Xing meant and comforted it, “I was just trying, you know. If he had agreed to let me go, then I would have begged him to let you go too. Wouldn’t that be a happy ending for everyone?”
She was too embarrassed to say that in her impulsive moment just now, she had only thought of herself. The atmosphere of their conversation had been so good that it had given her the illusion that they might be able to reconcile.
Alright, if he doesn’t agree, he doesn’t agree. I’ll make him regret not killing me cleanly today! Villains die from having too many tricks!