Night Ling's morning grumpiness was actually proof that she still had some of her fierce monster nature left. She had once even wanted to bite Li Qingjun, let alone the dog-headed creatures in front of her.
A surge of black fire erupted, much stronger than before. The nearest dog-headed creature was caught off guard and was instantly engulfed in flames, rolling on the ground and howling in pain.
The flames on its body rolled onto the grass, quickly igniting it, but they didn't spread everywhere. Instead, they formed a fire snake that headed straight for the leopard-headed creature.
The leopard-headed creature, somewhat panicked, used a spell that seemed to freeze the fire snake in place, attempting to block it. The fire snake, which had been described as such, now truly resembled a snake's head, roaring fiercely as it broke through the ice wall and charged forward.
In a hurry, the leopard-headed creature took out a copper mirror that emitted a soft glow, casting it upon the fire snake. Finally, the raging black fire showed signs of being suppressed.
With a whoosh, the fire snake flew past. Almost no one could see clearly what happened, but they only saw one dog-headed creature's neck spray blood as it fell backward, lifeless.
Qin Yi was momentarily stunned, forgetting to swing his wolf-toothed club.
This timid snake was so strong... With such a powerful Night Ling, he wondered if she could hold her own against the Blood Flood Dragon back home.
No, it was better for her to be a bit timid; this version of Night Ling made him feel a little uneasy.
In the next moment, Night Ling flew back, coiling around Qin Yi's shoulder, looking a bit timid as she said, "Who are they? Did I provoke a really strong monster...?"
Qin Yi glanced at the snake on his shoulder. It looked cute, but calling it a mosquito coil was a bit harsh. Its wings had shrunk even more, flapping behind it, looking adorable.
Hearing her scared words, Qin Yi felt relieved and smiled, "No, you did great."
He pushed aside the thought of wanting to toughen Night Ling up before. If she turned into a decisive killer, would she still be Night Ling?
Meanwhile, the leopard-headed creature was struggling to control the fire with the copper mirror, but the flames on the ground were still creeping toward its feet. In a panic, it shouted, "You idiots! What are you standing there for? Lift me up! Can't you see the fire is about to burn my pants?!"
Two dog-headed creatures rushed in, one on each side, lifting its legs to help. The fire then swept beneath them.
Without saying a word, Qin Yi charged forward and swung his club at one of the leopard-headed creatures.
The creature's head was smashed to bits, its body collapsing to the ground, quickly consumed by flames, filling the air with the smell of roasted dog meat.
The fire conveniently went out.
The other dog-headed creature was so frightened that it hugged its "master's" leg and turned to run. Qin Yi chased after it, thinking that since he had started, he needed to finish it off. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if it went back to call for help.
Night Ling sensed Qin Yi's intention and stood up on his shoulder, a flash of black light appearing as she blocked the way, her snake eyes staring at the leopard-headed creature.
The leopard-headed creature was terrified; it wasn't afraid of Qin Yi, but it truly feared Night Ling.
Monsters are still primarily driven by their beastly nature, only respecting the strong. This little snake was at least a late-stage transformation monster with its own innate powers! In terms of bloodline and monster strength, it was a complete suppression!
"Y-You guys, don't come over!" The leopard-headed creature's eyes darted around and suddenly spotted Cheng Cheng hiding by the trees, watching them.
It immediately had an idea, whipping its hand back to shoot a beam of monster light straight at Cheng Cheng.
Night Ling had no idea who that was. Qin Yi shouted, "Not good!" Without thinking, he instinctively leaped forward.
He couldn't let someone die right at their doorstep!
With a thud, blood splattered as a sharp fang drove deep into Qin Yi's shoulder. He let out a painful grunt and collapsed at Cheng Cheng's feet.
"Brother!" Night Ling didn't care about the leopard-headed creature anymore and shot over like lightning, causing the leopard-headed creature to take the chance to flee.
That was the effect it wanted, perfectly achieved.
Cheng Cheng stared blankly at Qin Yi by her feet. Her lips moved a couple of times as if she wanted to say something but ultimately couldn't find the words.
Night Ling quickly reached Qin Yi's side, realizing the injury wasn't fatal. She finally let out a sigh of relief, hurriedly transforming back into her human form, pulling out the fang to stop the bleeding and then helping Qin Yi up, asking, "What kind of medicine do you need?"
As Qin Yi was about to answer, Liu Su urged, "Hurry and go!"
Soon, they heard a sound from the distance, the overwhelming aura of monsters could be felt from far away. Night Ling was about to carry Qin Yi to escape when she saw a massive eagle hovering in the sky, blocking out the sun.
So fast...
Night Ling realized they couldn't run anymore and slowly set Qin Yi back down. Cheng Cheng reached out to support him, letting him lean against her while tearing a piece of fabric from her skirt to bandage his wound.
Qin Yi was momentarily taken aback as Cheng Cheng bent down to wrap his shoulder, her expression unreadable.
"Thanks," he said, not in the mood for small talk, gripping his wolf-toothed club and looking up at the sky.
This was truly troublesome; the pressure and threat from the eagle were overwhelming, definitely a foe they couldn't resist. He wondered if they could escape with Night Ling's rapid progress...
Surprisingly, the eagle didn't make any moves, just quietly hovering in the sky, watching them.
Night Ling stood protectively in front of Qin Yi, looking up at the eagle with fierce eyes.
"Bloodline of the Teng Snake..." The eagle finally spoke, its tone unexpectedly gentle. "The Monster City has never seen you before. Where do you come from?"
Night Ling was taken aback, her fierceness diminishing significantly as she weakly replied, "From outside."
"From outside..." The eagle pondered for a moment and then said, "How about joining my White Nation? Your cultivation and bloodline qualify you to be a monster general."
Night Ling had no idea what the White Nation or a monster general was, shaking her head, "I want to follow my brother."
"This human?" The eagle hesitated but still said, "He can enter the city with you. As a monster general, you have the right to keep a human."
For some reason, Night Ling felt a strong attraction to the latter part of the sentence, almost wanting to agree, but in the end, she weakly said, "I’ll listen to my brother."
The eagle asked Qin Yi, "What do you think?"
After hearing a few sentences, Qin Yi felt the danger lessen somewhat, as this situation made logical sense. If the various monster kings in the Monster City each controlled their territories, then a transformation monster like Night Ling, who had no ties and decent bloodline and strength, would clearly be a target for all.
Thinking this, he softened his tone significantly, "Thank you, Monster King, for taking an interest in my sister, but we have other matters to attend to..."
"I am not a monster king," the eagle seemed startled, "Don’t call me that."
"Oh... oh." The eagle, who seemed to show no strength, wasn't even a monster king. The power in this Monster City was stronger than he had imagined.
"I don’t know what matters you have," the eagle continued, "but I can see that this Teng Snake has no systematic training methods and hasn't properly developed her innate abilities. Running around with you, this human, will only hinder her."
Qin Yi fell silent; he couldn't refute that point. In fact, one of the temptations he had used to persuade Night Ling to come with him to the Broken Valley was the chance to find a bloodline or training methods. If she really joined this nation, it would be beneficial for her to receive proper training.
But... at what cost?
With Night Ling's personality, could she really adapt to this cruel monster world?
Which of the monster kings was generous enough to train you for free? What if they sent her on extremely dangerous missions?
He turned to Night Ling and asked, "What do you think?"
Night Ling stared blankly at the sky, her eyes unfocused. After a long while, she said, "I want to follow my brother, but I also want to learn things..."
Qin Yi felt just as torn. He didn't want to delay Night Ling, but he also worried she wouldn't be able to handle the harshness of the monster world and might end up in a dire situation.
After struggling with his thoughts for a while, he finally bowed his hands to the sky, "Can we take some time to think about it?"
He initially thought such a "clueless" request wouldn't be accepted and might even anger the eagle, but to his surprise, the eagle was surprisingly accommodating, "Sure."
As it spoke, a feather floated down. "Whether human or monster, opportunities are hard to come by. I believe this Teng Snake wouldn't want to miss such a good chance. Once you've made up your mind, bring this feather to enter the city, and someone will guide you to see me."
Qin Yi caught the feather and sighed in relief. It was unexpected how easy it was to communicate with this monster. He took the opportunity to point at Cheng Cheng, "This young lady Cheng is a citizen of your nation. I wonder..."
The eagle replied casually, "She is our citizen, so we will protect her. No need for you to worry."
Our citizen... Qin Yi instantly thought of Li Qingjun.
Cheng Cheng nodded at Qin Yi, indicating she could be trusted. At that moment, Qin Yi's mind was elsewhere, and he absentmindedly bid farewell to Cheng Cheng.
Cheng Cheng stared at him for a while, focusing on his chest as if trying to see the bloodstains on his back. After a long moment, she suddenly bent down and carved four words into the ground: "Thank you, take care."
After carving the words, she finally stood up, bowed, and turned to leave.
Watching Cheng Cheng walk away, Qin Yi felt little joy in completing a heroic deed; his thoughts had already flown to the stormy South Li.
The Broken Valley seemed to have forgotten the passage of time; he didn't know how long he had been away or how Qingjun was doing now...
(End of Chapter)