Tales of Demons and Gods : The Legend of Xiao Ning'Er

They were under attack by some unknown demon beasts and it sounded like there were quite a number of them!

It was a sleuth of Fox Bears that had been hibernating through the long and cold winter in their cave. Now that spring had passed, it was coincidentally the time they would awaken and make their way to their summer home, which was this exact clearing that Chen Linjian's group had set up camp in! An adult Fox Bear was only around one to two meters tall but was a silver ranked demon beast. Fox Bears were fiercely territorial and had been enraged to find smelly humans violating their summer abode.

As Chen Linjian had insisted that the girls stay closer to the middle of the clearing for safety, Xiao Ning'Er had a bit of time to settle her initial panic and collect her thoughts. "Ziyun, hurry put on the cloak I gave you, we're going to escape!"

The Fox Bears were all coming from one general direction, so when Xiao Ning'Er saw Chen Linjian gather his elite silver ranked experts and head in a direction where there were the least demon beasts, she held Ziyun's hand and silently went in the opposite direction. When the rest of the group saw Chen Linjian decisively break through the encirclement of Fox Bears, they streamed after him, fending off attacks from the sides and back while trying their best to keep up with his group.

The Fox Bears, in their enraged state, didn't even notice the two girls sneaking away. They were too excited about attacking the more obvious targets to see two blurry objects fading away in the distance, and although they had a good sense of smell, the air was currently filled with the thick scent of blood pouring out from the clashes.

After leaving the vicinity of the domain of the Fox Bears, Xiao Ning'Er led Ziyun to double back so they could regroup with Chen Linjian. 'I hope nothing injured his handsome face...stop it, this is not the right time.' she thought. She didn't remember having these juvenile thoughts in her past life but maybe she had just forgotten what it felt like to be in the body of a 13-year-old again.

"Ning'Er," Ziyun whispered. "Shouldn't we have tried to help the rest just now? I saw people getting very hurt, maybe we could have done something..."

"Oh, I see..." Ziyun said with downcast eyes. They stayed quiet throughout the time that they looked for signs of the larger group. After over two hours, they finally managed to track down the rest. As they walked up, they could see many individuals sitting and even lying down with bloody bandages wrapped around their bodies. There seemed to be some missing from their original number...

They saw Chen Linjian and Shen Yue, standing together with the silver ranked elites, discussing something with somber expressions on their faces. Chen Linjian looked up when they approached but his eyes didn't light up, "Ziyun...it's good that you managed to escape. I was worried for you..."

"Where were you guys?" Shen Yue suddenly demanded. "The rest of us fought off those crazy demon beasts, while you guys used us as cover to sneak away???" In actual fact, Shen Yue had not done anything. Due to his weak strength, Chen Linjian had placed him in the middle of the silver ranked experts for safety as they ran away from the Fox Bears.

Ziyun's lower lip quivered with guilt as tears threatened to spill out, "I'm really sorry..."

Xiao Ning'Er cut in, "When the attack first started, we panicked and jumped behind some bushes, not knowing what to do. By the time we looked looked up, the group had already ran off in one direction, and the Fox Bears had started chasing, cutting us of from you...I'm sorry Chen Linjian, we didn't intend to escape by ourselves."

Chen Linjian shot Shen Yue a hard look, "Shut up, Shen Yue. You know it was complete chaos back there and you're not helping the situation by pointing fingers." He turned to the two girls with a faint smile, "Don't worry, I don't blame you guys for anything. I'm just glad you're unhurt."

Out of the 37 of them, there were 15 in the bronze rank who were injured, seven of them quite seriously. 1 silver ranked expert had his arm wrapped in a sling and bloody bandage around his head. And there were three deaths, all from the bronze rank. How was Chen Linjian going to explain this when he got back to the city? This seemingly fun and exciting adventure had turned bad very quickly.

After thinking silently for a long time, he decided to bring along a few silver ranked elites with him to proceed with his original goal. Maybe if he made an amazing discovery, it would help to take away some of the heat from the disastrous expedition. The rest would head back to Glory City to tend to their wounded and be far away from the dangers of the forest.

When he communicated this to the group, they nodded in resignation. It was only the second day since they left and they had already made such a big loss. The uninjured among them cut down some young saplings and long vines to make stretchers for those who were hurt. Chen Linjian decided to send back two of his silver ranked experts with the returning group to ensure that they were protected.

Xiao Ning'Er admired Chen Linjian's bravery and conviction to see things through to the end. Or was it just complete foolishness in order to cater to his inflated ego and not face this disaster of a mission? Whatever it was, it didn't really matter as she walked up to him looking at the deep frown on his face. 'Even when he's all serious, he looks dashing,' she thought to herself.

"Chen Linjian, is it all right if Ziyun and I come along with you to the ruins? We would like to come if that's possible..." she asked him. He looked at her and realised that he could not face losing even more of Glory City's next generation, especially the City Lord's daughter! As he was about to shake her head, she insisted, "We won't be a burden, I promise...how about this? I'll lend you my weapon, which I guarantee will raise the battle power of our group."

She made an impulsive decision at that point to take a chance on his attractive face and took out the Unity Sword from her interspatial ring. His eyes were filled with curiousity as he handled the perfectly balanced weapon in his hands. He could tell that it was an extremely high-tier weapon, the likes of which he had only ever seen in the hands of the elite of his family. As a third-year student and one of the stronger silver ranked experts of the group, using this weapon would dramatically increase their group's strength.

She whispered, "It's a gold ranked weapon, a precious heirloom from my Winged Dragon Family. Try channeling some soul force through it."

As the sword glowed with a blue radiance, Chen Linjian felt a strange resonance with the exquisite weapon, almost as if he could sense what the weapon experienced with his spirit. He closed his eyes as he gave it a few practice swings. He could feel the wind flowing around the metal of the sword as it if were his own skin, and even felt the precise instant it accidentally cut through a small leaf that had fluttered down. He could also sense that his swings were more precise and rapid than he'd ever felt before, and he suspected that the strength of strikes were many-folds stronger.

His eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Xiao Ning'Er. How did she come by such a wondrous weapon? Wouldn't this type of godly weapon only be found in the hands of the head of her family, or even the City Lord? He had never heard of this type of power in an inscribed weapon before. Unity Sword...what an appropriate name for this amazing artifact.

His heart was tempted to test out the weapon, "Very well, you two can come along but please be careful. I don't want anyone else dying..."

As the rest of the group slowly made their way back towards the direction of Glory City, their small group moved forward towards the Ancient Orchid City Ruins. There was no more joking or laughter, just a tense atmosphere of stoic resolve. This small group now consisted of only four silver ranked experts, along with Ziyun and herself, who were at bronze rank. They made sure to keep a low profile as they traveled, without even lighting any fires at night so as to not attract any unnecessary attention.

They walked through the mountains for three days, passing through a deep canyon containing a long, meandering river. A few times, they heard the distant roars of demon beasts but whether by chance or skill, they managed to avoid any other encounters until they reached some telltale signs of the ancient city they were going to explore.

The place covered a radius of a hundred miles and most of it was covered in dense woods, hiding many stretches of broken and mottled walls, here and there. They could her the sounds of demon beasts within the ruins, remembering the words of adventurers that had gone there before. The demon beasts above gold rank had already left the place and gone further to the borders of the St. Ancestral Mountain range to look for more fertile forests. What remained in the ruins were only bronze and silver ranked demon beasts.

Seeing these crumbling walls and scattered stones lying around, everyone couldn't help but feel an ominous sense of desolation. If their beloved Glory City were ever crushed by demon beasts, it would probably become the same as this ruin.

At the same time, they could feel a sense of anticipation. Glory City's collection of cultivation techniques, martial arts and inscription patterns were woefully incomplete, and if they could find anything left behind by the Age of Darkness, it could be of great benefit to their city and families.