22: The disaster five years ago, the beautiful figure in my dream
Under the dark clouds, nearly half of the small town was destroyed, leaving ruins everywhere.
Yao Beasts that breached the city walls roared, people being chased screamed, and occasionally limbs twitched beneath the rubble.
Men, women, children, pregnant women... at this moment, they were just lumps of red flesh, torn apart and devoured by Yao Beasts.
The screams of humans echoed everywhere.
Fear and despair enveloped the entire small town.
The surviving people fled in confusion everywhere, only to turn into corpses.
The boy buried under the ruins survived thanks to the support of a corner wall, seeing the bloody, hellish scene through a gap in the rubble.
He clutched a small mantis the size of his palm, his eyes filled with terror.
Through the gap, he could see a man and a woman clad in armor and holding weapons, leading their Demon Tamers Beasts to resist the Beast Tide, but they could not hold back the surging swarm of Yao Beasts.
That was Dad and Mom, they were fighting.
Higher up in the sky, a Black-Robed Person hovered, looking down upon this hellish scene; even the most frenzied Yao Beasts had to obey his command.
Who exactly is he, and why does he want to kill us?
The boy endured his fear and watched intently.
An eye bloodshot with veins suddenly appeared, blocking the gap in the ruins, its eyeball turning over, filled with bloodlust and madness.
Bad! I've been seen!
The boy recoiled in fright, leaning against the wall, listening to his heart pound like a drum.
After a while, the Yao Beast did not attack.
Rumble!
The ruins were broken open, and the ferocious Yao Beast had arrived! Its terrifying head poked in, and viscous, foul-smelling saliva dripped onto the boy's foot, causing him to tremble.
In the next second, the Yao Beast revealed a ferocious expression and lunged forward to bite.
Just as the boy thought he was about to die, a sharp shout rang out, and bright red blood splattered onto the boy's face, covering one eye with blood spray.
The Yao Beast's head rolled to his feet with a thud, startling the boy into kicking it away frantically.
"Child, are you alright?"
A beautiful figure appeared before the boy.
Just then, a strong wind blew away the dark clouds, and sunlight shone down upon the woman, making her look cold and stunning, like the morning sun melting snow.
Unable to bear the scarlet bloodlight in his vision dirtying this scene, the little boy raised his hand to cover his blood-stained eye, opening the other one, staring blankly at the woman... "Mistress?"
"Mistress, wake up quickly!"
"Mistress, Mistress!"
Anxious and worried voices sounded next to his ear, growing clearer and clearer.
Xie Ning slowly opened his eyes, his gaze somewhat vacant. It took him a full ten minutes before he finally let out a breath.
"Master, are you having nightmares again?" The Supersonic Mantis stood by the bed, its worried voice sounding from within his mind.
"...Yes," Xie Ning's face looked somewhat exhausted as he sat up, propped on the bed, "I dreamt of what happened five years ago again, Mom and Dad's death, and her appearance..."
Five years ago, Qingyun Town experienced an unprecedented Gold Rank Beast Tide. Xie Ning's parents, in order to protect Qingyun Town, led the members of their Hunter Group to fight, but they remained there forever.
Xie Ning was supposed to die there too, but at the critical moment, reinforcements arrived. The beautiful woman saved him; her figure bathed in sunlight saved him and was firmly imprinted in his heart.
He didn't know who the woman was; he only knew that the combat suit he saw at the time had the words "Lingnan Academy Instructor" written on it.
"Master, Mom and Dad can't come back, but I will always stay by your side..." The Supersonic Mantis had witnessed that scene as well. It didn't know how to comfort Xie Ning, so it could only respond clumsily.
"Yes, you're right." Hearing this, Xie Ning smiled, a warmth rising in his heart. He patted the Supersonic Mantis's head, then bent down to smooth the White Wolf's fur, saying, "Let's work hard together. This time, for the Demon Tamer College Entrance Exam, I must get into Lingnan Academy!"
"She saved my life, I really want to see her again!"
The Supersonic Mantis nodded: "We definitely will!"
"But she was so amazing, she could actually fight a Yao Beast with just her physical strength!"
Taking advantage of the time to wash up, Xie Ning adjusted his mood, put away his two beasts, and headed to school.
Although the White Wolf was a very good mount, it hadn't fully grown yet—only one and a half meters long and less than a meter high—so he couldn't ride it... On the sports field of Huacheng No. 1 Middle School.
It was flag-raising ceremony day, and many students had already gathered there, standing in their respective class positions, chatting in twos and threes about their weekend experiences while eating breakfast like fried dough sticks and soy milk.
When Xie Ning arrived at the field, many people noticed him. Those who participated in the Hope Forest activity greeted him enthusiastically, while those who didn't go looked at him with either disdain or malice, whispering amongst themselves, mostly saying unpleasant things.
Xie Ning was used to this.
Finding his class location, several classmates had already arrived. He greeted the familiar few, and then everyone went back to their own activities.
Just then, Li Zhi also arrived.
Li Zhi was unusually early today; he urgently wanted to see if Xie Ning was missing an arm or a leg, or if he at least had a bruised and swollen face.
But as soon as he arrived, he saw Xie Ning standing there, completely unharmed.
Not injured, and certainly not dead.
"Y-you, how are you okay?"
Xie Ning glanced at him lightly and asked back, "Why would I be anything but okay?"
"Bing Yun's Demon Tamer Beast simply couldn't heal it. I clearly heard the Demon Tamer Beast scream, so why are you fine?" Li Zhi said unwillingly.
Xie Ning countered, "Who said a Demon Tamer Beast screaming means it definitely has to die?"
"Hmph!" Li Zhi knew that since Xie Ning was standing here safe and sound, Lu Bingyun's Demon Tamer Beast probably wasn't hurt either. Annoyed that he came early only to miss the good show, he said, "I'm not talking about that with you. You better be on time for the duel at noon."
Xie Ning shrugged and ignored him.
At that moment, a group of seven or eight people walked up to Xie Ning. The leader was a boy with slicked-back hair held in place by a thick layer of hair gel; this hairstyle looked incredibly comical with the school uniform.
"Hey kid, I heard you're quite arrogant, daring to confess to Lu Bingyun." The boy looked at Xie Ning with contempt.
Xie Ning smiled, "Do you have any advice?"
"I wouldn't dare give advice, I'm just reminding you," the boy said dismissively, "Lu Bingyun is the daughter of a Garrison Commander, and her future achievements will certainly not be low. You are just an ordinary person, relying on a Black Iron Rank mantis; at best, you'll be a Black Iron Demon Tamer in this life. You are not worthy of her."
Xie Ning looked at the people in front of him, finding them both amusing and childish. He looked calmly at the boy and asked, "Well, is there anything else?"
The boy frowned, took out fifty thousand yuan from his backpack, waved it in his hand, and said, "I'll give you this fifty thousand. From now on, stay away from Lu Bingyun. You better take it, because others won't be as reasonable as me; plenty of people want to teach you a lesson."
"Fifty thousand yuan right off the bat, truly rich..." Xie Ning narrowed his eyes and smiled.
Just as the boy thought he was about to take the money, Xie Ning's expression turned serious. He stared at the boy until the latter felt uneasy, then said:
"I don't lack fifty thousand yuan. You keep it for yourself. If anyone is unhappy with me, feel free to come find me; I'm available anytime. Of course, anyone below Bronze Rank, don't bother me!"
This is all Evolution Points!
Please, let the storm rage even harder!
How to attract more hatred value?
Waiting online, urgent!