Chapter 295: Chapter 295: Monster
Hearing this, Song Wanning rapped her knuckles on Li Rao’s head.
"You’re still in the mood to joke around at a time like this? Your injuries don’t look right."
It was mainly the aura clinging to the wounds that felt wrong.
She had taken Elixir Pills, yet the wounds showed no signs of improving. Such a situation was rare.
However, while her external injuries weren’t healing, her internal ones were recovering with incredible speed...
The more Song Wanning observed, the more peculiar it seemed, and the more interested she became in the monster.
Li Rao cupped her head and blinked. She had almost forgotten she was injured.
It seemed that as long as her Master was here, she felt completely grounded and at ease.
Looking down at the wounds on her body, she frowned. "I got these when the monster was dragging me. It’s so small, it struggled to get a good grip on me the whole way."
You could say the monster had hauled and dragged her all the way back.
She then recalled what had happened.
"I’ve been practicing a new Cultivation Technique recently, so I was planning to look around for a chance to test it out. Who would’ve thought I’d spot that monster right as I reached the city gates?"
"I immediately sent you a message, Master. Just as I was about to follow it, I saw it trying to grab a small child..."
Li Rao’s expression turned grim. "If I hadn’t intervened, something terrible would have happened to that child. He was just a mortal."
Even a Cultivator might not be a match for that monster, let alone a mortal.
The child probably wouldn’t have survived being dragged away like that.
So, even knowing the danger, she had charged forward. She just never expected to cause trouble for her Master.
Li Rao lowered her head, her heart filled with guilt.
"Master, I’m sorry. You taught me not to be blindly compassionate and to protect myself first. I remember all of it... It’s just, when I saw that child, my mind went blank and I couldn’t think..."
"I’m sorry, I’ve caused trouble for you, Master..."
She didn’t have the strength to protect herself, yet she had nearly gotten herself killed trying to save someone, forcing her Master to come to the rescue in the end.
’What if Master hadn’t been a match for the monster either? Wouldn’t I have doomed her as well?’
The more Li Rao thought about it, the more terrified she became.
Hearing this, Song Wanning looked down at Li Rao. After a long silence, she suddenly sighed.
’Everyone has their own nature, their own choices.’
’I can’t force others to make the same choices I would just because of my own experiences.’
’Besides, wasn’t it precisely because of Li Rao’s kindness and help that I had the chance to escape back then?’
At this thought, Song Wanning smiled and patted her head.
"You understand the principle, so just focus on your training. As long as your Cultivation is high enough, you can avoid any danger."
She didn’t lecture or blame her, but instead encouraged Li Rao to train harder.
Li Rao looked up, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at Song Wanning. After a moment, a sweet smile bloomed on her face, and she nodded emphatically.
Song Wanning knew she had taken it to heart, so she didn’t dwell on the matter any longer.
Her gaze swept across the cave, her eyes not missing a single detail, especially the wall that Li Rao had been pinned to.
Her eyes darkened abruptly. She swung her Longsword, sending it straight into the wall.
The immense impact caused the wall to collapse with a thunderous crash.
As the rocks crumbled away, they revealed a spacious cavern behind them.
"BLECH—"
The moment the wall came down, Li Rao started to dry heave.
An indescribably foul stench poured out from behind the wall, like the smell of something rotten.
Song Wanning’s expression, however, simply darkened. She flew up swiftly, and when she saw the situation inside the cavern, her heart tightened.
The cavern was filled with all kinds of hearts.
There were animal hearts, and even more chilling, human hearts.
Countless hearts were piled on top of each other. The blood had long since dried, leaving behind vast patches of dark red.
These hearts had been here for a long time; many had already rotted.
And beneath them, many more had weathered away to dust...
"Hiss... Sister, how many people and demon beasts must have been killed for this?"
The Golden Small Sword was utterly stunned. It had assumed this was just an ordinary monster, but now it looked more like a creature of pure evil!
"But why didn’t the monster eat the hearts? Why just dump them here?"
It was full of confusion, finding the monster’s actions contradictory.
Song Wanning was just as puzzled. She flew down, sealed off her sense of smell, and began to search carefully.
She didn’t touch anything directly, instead using her Spiritual Power to sift through the pile from a distance. After clearing all the hearts aside, she used a Fiery Flame Talisman to incinerate them completely.
Just burning everything took nearly half an hour before the area was finally clean.
Once the space was clear, she searched carefully again, turning the entire cavern upside down, but found nothing out of the ordinary.
"Maybe the monster is just some weirdo with a hoarding problem?"
The Golden Small Sword grumbled. ’This monster sure has some heavy tastes.’
"I’ll take another look around."
Song Wanning was still uneasy. She felt it couldn’t be this simple.
But she had practically torn the entire mine apart and still hadn’t found anything unusual.
The monster from before had also vanished. She released her Divine Sense, searching a thousand-li radius, but still found nothing.
Helpless, she had no choice but to leave with Li Rao.
After returning to the Song Family estate, Song Wanning still felt uneasy. She informed Song Qingyun about the matter and asked him to have his people keep an eye out for any sign of the monster.
After all, it was an evil creature that specialized in tearing out human hearts, making it extremely dangerous.
If spotted, it had to be reported immediately.
After settling the matter, Song Wanning took Li Rao back to her courtyard.
Her clone had already withdrawn and did not appear before Li Rao.
Song Wanning led Li Rao into the training room, wanting to study the wounds on her body again.
The aura on the wounds couldn’t be removed, and she didn’t know if it would cause any harm.
Li Rao followed obediently behind her Master, her eyes glancing around the training room.
The training room was very simple. Aside from a small tea table, there was only a single meditation cushion, sitting forlornly in the very center.
’Master is diligent in her Cultivation, not one for indulging in luxury.’
Song Wanning took out a stool and gestured for Li Rao to come and sit.
Li Rao nodded, but as she passed the tea table, a book on it caught her attention.
Her curious gaze fell upon the classic text, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.
"What is it?"
Song Wanning noticed her reaction and asked with a smile.
Li Rao pointed at the text and said, "I saw a book in the Book Collection Pavilion with a page that looked very similar to this one..."
"I thought it was strange at the time, wondering why completely unrelated pages would be in the same book."
"Where is that book?"
Song Wanning appeared in front of Li Rao in an instant, her tone becoming incredibly serious.
Her sudden reaction startled Li Rao.
"It’s in the new Book Collection Pavilion. I saw it in a book on the first floor."
Li Rao also grew serious. It seemed her Master was very concerned about that book.
"Master, I’ll take you to find it right now. The book should still be there!"
It was a travelogue, one that few in the family ever read.
’It must still be there.’
Hearing this, Song Wanning’s eyes flashed. She grabbed Li Rao’s arm and rushed out of the training room.
"Let’s go!"
