Chapter 53: Alone

Liu Liu was absolutely right; the members of the village hunting squad were villagers themselves. The team members were trapped, and Yun Qing naturally had to exhaust every means to save them. If raising their favorability could let her do five consecutive draws, that would be perfect.

Their favorability towards her had all increased, which meant they were still alive. Yet, Yun Qing found it worrisome that Ye Hai’s favorability had risen more than the others—this made her anxious about his situation.

Ye Xiaolang asked her how many people had come. Yun Qing looked around; aside from herself and Liu Liu, there was no one else. The truth might disappoint her teammates, but she couldn’t let them have false expectations. She called out, “It’s just me!”

Ye Xiaolang didn’t quite believe Yun Qing’s answer and confirmed, “No one else came, only you?”

“Yes! Just me.”

Hearing Yun Qing’s reply, joy froze on their faces. Ye Mao shouted, “Be careful! We can’t protect you. Find a place to hide and wait for someone to rescue us.”

The captain always put others first. Even surrounded by soul corpses, he was still concerned about her safety—Yun Qing would be lying if she claimed she wasn’t moved.

She hadn’t seen any blood along the way, and the favorability gains made her wonder. Yun Qing asked, “Is anyone hurt? Do you have enough food and water?”

Soul corpses: We eat the blood stains.

Ye Wenjing called out, “You must be hungry. We still have some food, but it’ll be hard to get it to you. Brother Hai is slightly injured. Are you hurt?”

As expected, Ye Hai was wounded, but a minor injury shouldn’t be a big problem.

Ye Wenjing’s storage pouch was small, typically only enough for the team’s food and water for two or three days.

“I’m fine.”

Yun Qing’s shouted exchange with the squad successfully drew the soul corpses’ attention. A few soul corpses rushed towards Yun Qing’s house, while the majority remained encircling the ancestral hall, drawn by the alluring scent of blood from the martial artists.

Four soul corpses approached her—one agile, three sluggish. Yun Qing circled between the houses, trying to separate them and defeat them one by one.

Ye Mao and the others peered through cracks in the doors and windows, watching Yun Qing and the soul corpses pursuing her.

Ye Xiaolang gripped his spear, eager to help Yun Qing, but opening the door would likely mean none of them could leave the village alive.

Ye Mao said, “Yun Qing made it here unscathed. Regardless of her martial prowess, she’s certainly clever. We shouldn’t worry too much. The priority is to defend the ancestral hall.”

Ye Wenjing furrowed her brow. “We’ve been worrying about her these two days. Now that she’s safe, I’m even more concerned.”

“Ye Xiaolang’s favorability towards you +1.”

“Ye Wenjing’s favorability towards you +1.”

“Ye Mao’s favorability towards you +1.”

Yun Qing’s flesh and blood didn’t seem to tempt the agile soul corpse much. After failing to catch her around several houses, it turned back toward the ancestral hall, drawn by the blood it preferred—its instincts told it devouring those would make it stronger.

The three sluggish soul corpses still relentlessly pursued Yun Qing. She tried several times but couldn’t split them up, worrying they might return to the ancestral hall.

Yun Qing lured them under a high wall, summoned four stacks of bricks, and successfully trapped all three soul corpses within.

Soul corpses didn’t need to breathe, so burying them wouldn’t kill them. Yun Qing could only jump down, slowly remove some bricks until their heads were visible, then leap onto the wall and crush them one by one.

After some effort, she finally killed all three soul corpses, raising her combat level to 29. She packed up the bricks and corpses and headed back to the ancestral hall.

Her silhouette had barely appeared atop the house opposite the ancestral hall when Ye Xiaolang, ever alert, spotted her.

Remembering their earlier conversation had drawn soul corpses to Yun Qing, this time Ye Xiaolang shouted first, “Little Yun Qing, don’t speak.”

Yun Qing nodded from the high wall—those agile soul corpses weren’t easy to handle.

“It’s so good to see you’re alright. Go find a safe place to hide.”

The soul corpses nearby all surrounded Ye Xiaolang and his group, so Yun Qing was quite safe—safest of all was her cave residence. Compared to her own safety, she was more concerned about the four inside.

She observed the soul corpses besieging the ancestral hall—over thirty, most sluggish, fewer than ten agile.

With a thought, a small stone appeared in her hand. She focused, aimed at a sluggish soul corpse, and threw the stone.

-6;

“Combat experience +22!”

No armor penetration—the sluggish soul corpse didn’t react at all.

Yun Qing kept throwing stones at the same target. After about ten, the soul corpse twisted its head back, then roared into the ancestral hall, but remained rooted to the spot.

Yun Qing really wanted to taunt it: “Come over here if you dare!”

She wasn’t impatient—she had plenty of stones. She continued to throw them one after another, watching the soul corpse’s health decrease bit by bit.

If she could kill it this way, so be it. Yun Qing switched tactics, drawing her bow and nocking bamboo arrows—useless, as they couldn’t pierce its defense. The bamboo arrows were only slightly stronger than stones.

While Yun Qing persisted with stones and arrows, the group inside the ancestral hall discussed.

“Yun Qing’s strength is still a bit lacking. Even if she hits the soul corpses, hurting them is difficult.”

“Perhaps she’s using all her strength, doing her utmost to rescue us.”

“How could she possibly kill a soul corpse by throwing stones for a month straight? She’d barely manage one or two.”

Despite their words, their favorability towards Yun Qing kept rising.

“Ye Xiaolang’s favorability towards you +2.”

“Ye Wenjing’s favorability towards you +2.”

“Ye Mao’s favorability towards you +2.”

“Ye Hai’s favorability towards you +2.”

Yun Qing kept throwing stones and shooting arrows, piling them up at the soul corpse’s feet, which continued to stand unmoving.

After so many stones and arrows, Yun Qing looked at her target, now nearly dead, and rubbed her arm—she was truly exhausted.

“Little Yun Qing, just leave. Don’t worry about us.”

“Yun Qing, stop. It’s useless.”

“Miss Yun Qing, see if you can leave this place. If you make it back to Ye Family Village, tell everyone we’re trapped here. Maybe the village chief can send help.”

“Yun Qing, save your strength and get out of here.”

Her teammates’ kind advice reached Yun Qing’s ears, but she pretended not to hear. Having thrown so much, she was close to landing the final blow and earning the experience—how could she leave now?

She pressed on!

A handful of stones appeared in her hand. Without any aim-assisting skill, she could still hit the stationary, foolish soul corpse.

One stone, another, and yet another—finally, Yun Qing watched its health bar empty, and it collapsed, lifeless.

-3;

“Combat experience +1802!”

She finally claimed the last-hit experience, though the only regret was being unable to retrieve the corpse.