"Liu Ruyan, what on earth are you up to?" Zhong Shengwan fixed his gaze on Liu Ruyan, his face grim.
He saw clearly that Liu Ruyan could have stopped just now, but she had stubbornly pushed the excellent situation into such a dilemma!
The surrounding students were complaining as well. Although they didn't name names, their skeptical and dissatisfied looks inadvertently fell on Liu Ruyan.
"I..." Liu Ruyan stammered for a while. Suddenly, she swayed weakly a few times. Fortunately, a disciple beside her held her up, or she would have fallen.
She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly. When she looked up again, her eye - circles were red, and her eyes were brimming with tears that were about to fall. She looked like someone who had suffered a great deal of injustice but was holding it in. Her voice became choked and fragile, full of sobs.
".... I'm sorry," she sobbed, and a tear rolled down at the right moment. "I just saw how fierce it was. I was afraid that ordinary talismans couldn't suppress it. I was worried that it would hurt everyone after breaking free, so I just wanted to give it my all. I really didn't expect it to turn out like this..."
Liu Ruyan covered her face and cried, but secretly glanced at the reactions of the crowd from the corner of her eye.
Sure enough, someone immediately showed pity and spoke up in defense of Liu Ruyan.
"We can't entirely blame Ruyan for this! She meant well. She wanted to complete the task perfectly. If we have to blame someone, it should be that evil spirit for being so ferocious!"
"That's right! Although Ruyan is the reincarnation of the Mysterious Lady, it's normal for her to be nervous on her first mission. Everyone should be more understanding!"
"Zhong Shengwan, you were so scared of the ghost just now, and Ruyan didn't say anything about you! One shouldn't be so partial!"
"........"
Zhong Shengwan frowned more tightly. He just wanted to find out the reason, but after Liu Ruyan's crying, it seemed as if he was being petty?
He disliked Liu Ruyan's behavior very much. It reminded him of his father's concubines. No matter how big a mistake they made, they could cover it up with a bit of coquetry and tears.
His voice turned completely cold as he asked, "Stop talking nonsense. I only want to know, what's the deal with that lightning - attracting talisman?"
It was obvious to anyone with eyes that the talisman contained extremely high spiritual power. Not only these new students, but even the Heavenly - Rank disciples might not be able to draw it!
The talisman shop in the Myriad Phenomena Academy would never sell such a powerful and domineering talisman!
Liu Ruyan said softly, "I drew it..."
Upon hearing this, the crowd was immediately in an uproar, their faces full of shock and disbelief.
"Oh my god, it was actually drawn by Liu Ruyan herself?!"
"No wonder she's the reincarnation of the Mysterious Lady. She has such extraordinary abilities!"
"Ruyan, you're amazing!" The disciple who had held Liu Ruyan just now was full of admiration in his eyes. He said shyly, "In the future... could you draw one for me for protection?"
Liu Ruyan's movement of wiping her tears paused imperceptibly. Then she slowly shook her head, showing a proper amount of exhaustion and dejection on her face.
"Drawing this talisman cost me a great deal of mental energy and spiritual power. Otherwise, I wouldn't have..."
She bit her lip, looking guilty.
The crowd suddenly understood. So that's why Liu Ruyan couldn't control the power of the talisman, resulting in the failure of the task.
Liu Ruyan's explanation skillfully turned her recklessness into self - sacrifice for the sake of others.
The crowd already had a good impression of Liu Ruyan because of her identity. Now, after hearing her words, their original resentment turned into sympathy and admiration, and they no longer mentioned the matter.
Zhong Shengwan snorted and didn't bother to look at her pretentious appearance. He turned his face away and stopped talking.
Shen Cuiyu saw everything clearly and sneered inwardly.
That talisman could never have been drawn by Liu Ruyan herself. Her actions just now were like a child swinging a thousand - pound hammer, making a lot of noise but having no control over it, and eventually hurting herself instead.
But where did that talisman come from? Could there be a master behind her?
Who was this master, and when did he appear? In both past and present lives, why had she never detected the slightest trace of this master?
Shen Cuiyu's gaze was calm, still looking like an ordinary onlooker. Only a faint glimmer flashed deep in her eyes...
The crowd refocused their attention on the thatched cottage in front of them. This cottage had obviously been abandoned for many years. It was covered in dust everywhere, and cobwebs were woven in the corners. It seemed like a temporary residence for a forgotten forest ranger.
The disciples approached the thatched cottage. Before pushing the door, they all took a deep breath, afraid of seeing something heart - wrenching.
Five young children were huddled together, sleeping soundly. Their little faces were peaceful, their breathing was even, and there was even a sweet smile on the corners of their mouths. It was as if they were just having an ordinary overnight stay, without any trace of being scared. In the little hands of some children, there were still roughly - tied rabbit toys made of foxtail grass.
The crowd breathed a sigh of relief in unison. But Dongfang Xiao frowned and sniffed hard.
"What's that smell?"
His gaze followed the faint smell of charred food and landed on a pile of ashes and some scattered bone fragments in the corner of the room. He suddenly widened his eyes, and his voice changed a bit. "What... what kind of meat is this?"
Pei Yu stepped forward to check and comforted, "It's similar to what we saw on the mountain path. It's all the meat of wild beasts."
"In that case, that corpse isn't too stupid. It even knew to roast the meat before eating," Zhong Shengwan murmured in a low voice, full of confusion in his tone. "But it went to so much trouble to capture these children, didn't hurt them, and even 'raised' them well... What on earth is it for?"
"Could it be... practicing some evil technique that requires children?" a disciple guessed, with worry on his face.
Originally, they could have found out the truth by asking the spirit smoothly. But now that the clue was broken, the crowd was at a dead - end and didn't know what to do.
"Don't worry about that for now. It's important to send these children back to the village safely," Dongfang Xiao said. Then he stepped forward, his movements unusually gentle, and tried to pick up one of the children.
Children's sleep is always very light. Although Dongfang Xiao was careful enough, the child he picked up still opened his eyes drowsily. Seeing a group of strange big brothers and big sisters around him, he was startled at first. Then he rubbed his sleepy eyes and asked in a childish voice,
"Big brothers and big sisters, who are you?"
Maybe because he wasn't fully awake yet, the child simply pressed his warm little face against Dongfang Xiao's neck and found a comfortable position to lean on.
Dongfang Xiao's heart softened. He carefully supported the child and comforted him in his gentlest voice, "We're here to save you and take you home. Don't be afraid. That... thing that brought you here is gone."
"Save us?" A look of obvious confusion flashed across the child's face. "But Big Brother A didn't harm us. Why do we need to be saved?"
"Big Brother A?" Shen Cuiyu keenly caught this address and gently asked, "Who is 'Big Brother A'?"