Chapter 1010 - Substitute

Countless black tentacles reached up into the sky from the ruined palace.

Those who still lingered in this area were caught by the tentacles and sucked completely dry.

Every breath’s worth of time, over a hundred Demis were mercilessly caught and consumed.

Even more tentacles continued to sprout from below and swept across the ground.

Nothing managed to stop these black tentacles as more and more structures were being struck down one after another.

A battle broke out.

A soldier with intense power radiating from his body charged to the sky.

“It’s our General of Defense!” someone shouted.

Everyone looked up.

The soldier clasped his hands together and shouted in fury: 「 Die! 」

Intense heat swept across the ground, swiftly igniting any dry objects and causing them to burst into flames.

His entire body turned into a giant made of flames as he shot towards the numerous black tentacles like an asteroid.

This was most likely his Divine Skill that he had trained to its limits.

Under everyone’s watchful gazes, 7-8 tentacles black tentacles moved over and swung towards the giant of flames.

Immediately the flames broke apart and scattered downwards from the air.

The scattered flames fell on the ground and lit many areas ablaze, turning them into a sea of fire.

In a single strike, the General of Defense lost his life!

What kind of terrifying power is that!?

The military personnel who were preparing to move forward halted their advance.

Even the strongest among them was killed with a single hit, the rest of them wouldn’t be doing anything except heading towards their deaths if they went forth.

The countless Combatants of this country fell into despair.

The stronger they were, the more they were able to feel the terror of this monster.

And this was only its tentacles.

Their true source of fear was the monster’s main body.

And its main body still hadn’t appeared!

Everyone ran away in fear.

Chaos ensued.

It was as if the end of the world had arrived.

All of a sudden, a dignified voice resounded in the sky:

「 The four Pillar Gods are coming to engage in combat with this monster. To prevent yourselves from getting caught in the struggle, leave the King’s District immediately! 」

Far in the sky, four flickering points of light were approaching.

“Our Deities are coming!”

The crowd cheered.

The shocked troops regained their senses and began to help the civilians with evacuation.

Quite a few people stopped their feet, wanting to watch the battle.

But since their Deity had issued an order for everyone to leave this area, how could they allow anyone to violate that?

The troops began to chase the people away.

At the same time, the four Pillar Gods appeared in four different corners of the sky and each unleashed a jet-black seal towards the palace.

The entire area of tentacles was thoroughly isolated.

No one could observe the situation inside any longer, only the sounds of overwhelming attacks and explosions could be heard.

A few kilometers away from the King’s District.

Zhang Ying Hao and Boss were standing on the roof of a building sensing the faint fluctuations of battle in the air.

“Quite the excellent hidden orchestration ability” Zhang Ying Hao commented.

“Indeed, by sealing the area off, no one would ever find out that the monster inside was actually on the same side as they are” Boss crossed his arms and nodded in agreement.

They leapt down from the roof and landed in a small alley.

Using the power of the Forgetting River Soul Flaying hook, Ye Fei Li temporarily granted the maid’s soul the ability to interact and communicate with mortals.

A faint glow appeared on the maid’s body.

This was a unique glow that signified a wandering soul accepting the power of a Huang Quan divine armament.

Just like how Ye Fei Li granted the wandering souls power in order for them to enact their vengeance against the carriers of [Chaos] from before.

“There”

Ye Fei Li told her.

The maid sensed herself and found that she was now able to touch tangible objects and speak.

She turned to the group and explained:

“His Majesty had me wait for you in that secret passage”

“As soon as I rendezvoused with you, I would have immediately taken you from that place and headed towards His Majesty’s location”

“At least, that was my mission. Unfortunately, after waiting for a while, I suddenly fell unconscious. In hindsight, I was probably killed without knowing it”

Gu Qing Shan silently listened and waited until she finished until he asked: “Why did the King make you responsible for such a dangerous job?”

“Because I have a certain Divine Skill called [Fearless Transmission]”

“By choosing a location, regardless of what happened, I would be able to directly return to that location with a single thought”

“Regretfully, I did not manage to wait until the point where I was able to use that Divine Skill”

The maid sighed.

She solemnly bowed towards Gu Qing Shan’s group and continued: “Please allow me to return and meet my son. He’s currently sick, so I must be at his side, this way I would have no regrets even if I thoroughly disappear”

Ye Fei Li explained: “You can’t leave the range of my khopesh right now or you will be discovered by that entity right away—– its expertise with soul-related techniques should be quite considerable”

The maid insisted: “I beg you, please help me just once. I’m already dead, I don’t have any other wish, I just want to see my son one last time”

Ye Fei Li turned to Gu Qing Shan.

Gu Qing Shan fell into a bit of contemplation.

The four Deities announced that we were evil, yet the King ordered this woman to contact us.

The fact that she was issued such a heavy responsibility meant that she must be one of the King’s closest aides or a secret person that no one knows about.

In other words, she must have come into contact with a lot of secrets and have knowledge of many things.

Including information regarding Calming Soul Country that not even the populace of Calming Soul Country necessarily knew about.

Gu Qing Shan looked at the maid’s soul.

Only to see that her entire expression was full of sorrow and despair, even as a soul, her tears were still flowing without stopping.

Gu Qing Shan asked: “You’re worried about your son, but where’s the child’s father?”

“When I got pregnant, he had already left us” the maid replied.

“So you raised a child by yourself?”

“Yes”

“What a difficult thing to accomplish, may I ask how I should call you?”

“My name is Xuan Ya”

“Xuan Ya, nice to meet you, I’m Gu Qing Shan, and these are my friends”

Gu Qing Shan introduced each of them to her.

“Now, let us all come with you to your house. On one hand, it would be to help you see your child, on the other hand, we also need a place to hide”

The woman was so glad that her tears flowed every more and asked with a trembling voice: “Really? I’m nothing but a wandering soul right now, but I would like to express my gratitude”

She lowered herself, about to kneel to them.

But Gu Qing Shan hurriedly lifted her up.

“There’s no need for that. You were killed trying to accomplish a mission to save us”

Gu Qing Shan smiled: “In that case, it would be us who owed you a lot”

...

A remote corner of the city.

The woman called Xuan Ya stood in front of a small room, hesitant to go forward.

“What’s the matter?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“He’s... only three years old, I don’t know how I should face him” Xuan Ya continued to cry as she replied.

Everyone turned completely silent as they heard that.

A poor child who had no father, now also lost his mother.

How would we live from now on? And what kind of hardship would he have to face?

Can he even survive by himself?

It wasn’t clear what Laura was thinking, but she slowly lowered her eyes and a drop of tear gradually dripped down her face.

Gu Qing Shan, on the other hand, was silently thinking about something else.

——it has only been 5 days since the last time I used the Heaven sword, so there are at least 5 more days until I can use [Chaotic Flow] again.

I have no way to resurrect her right now.

Gu Qing Shan sighed and told her: “Let’s go, we’ll come with you”

The woman shook her head, then nodded.

She reached her hand up to open the door.

But her hand went through the doorknob.

Ye Fei Li said apologetically: “Ah, I’m sorry, the ability to make wandering souls tangible can only be maintained for a few short minutes”

The woman seemed to sigh, then stepped back.

Gu Qing Shan asked: “How much longer until you can use it again?”

“An hour”

“Only an hour, we can wait that long”

“But even after an hour, it will only last for a few minutes. After all, the ability to make souls tangible isn’t a specialized skill, it’s only a bonus trick that the khopesh has”

“That is a bit troublesome, if she happens to run out of time just as she’s talking to her son, wouldn’t that be terrible?”

“Hm...”

They were quickly discussing this.

Listening to their discussions, Xuan Ya slowly lowered her head.

Suddenly, a loud cry came from inside the room:

“Mama...”

Xuan Ya ignored everything else, silently opened her mouth and said something, then dashed inside.

A door was there, but how could that prevent anyone here from looking inside?

Gu Qing Shan released his inner sight to check.

In the room, a bowl of water on the table has been overturned, a bottle of medicine fallen to the ground.

A three-year-old looking child was lying on the bed, his disease caused his small face to scrunch up in pain.

He was clearly not well, the disease plaguing him in his sleep.

But he stayed firm and silently endured his affliction, only when it got too uncomfortable to bear that he uttered a soft ‘mama’.

Xuan Ya warped her hands around her child.

But as she was just a soul, no matter what she did or said, her son couldn’t hear or feel it at all.

She was panicking.

“Let’s jump in and help him” Ye Fei Li wanted to charge in.

Zhang Ying Hao stopped him and said in a low voice:

“You’re a stranger to him, and not even a Demi, charging in that way would only scare the little child”

Ye Fei Li clenched his fists in frustration and asked: “Then what do we do now?”

Zhang Ying Hao replied: “Knock him unconscious, then cure him”

“That’s too brutal” Ye Fei Li said in dissatisfaction.

While Gu Qing Shan was observing this, he felt a small pair of hands grabbing his own.

As he looked down, he saw that it was Laura.

“Qing Shan” Laura looked up to him and muttered: “He’s an orphan now”

“Hm”

“Can we help him, just a bit?”

“...Hm”

An autumn water blue steel sword appeared from behind Gu Qing Shan and turned into Shannu.

“Gongzi, let me” Shannu volunteered.

Gu Qing Shan shook his head and replied: “You haven’t acted as a mother yet, without experience and time to learn, it would only complicate the situation”

He patted Ye Fei Li’s shoulder: “Call Xuan Ya back, and give me a strand of her hair”

“Ah, sure”

Ye Fei Li called the wandering soul back, then released her body, plucked a hair from it, and gave it to Gu Qing Shan.

Gu Qing Shan took the hair, then asked Ye Fei Li: “Now—– can you help me form a mental connection with Xuan Ya?”

“It’s a good thing that you’re a cultivator and that your spirit sense is quite powerful. We would barely be able to achieve it, but it won’t last for very long”

“How long?”

“Ten minutes”

“That’s enough”

It was now that Xuan Ya returned.

Gu Qing Shan talked to Xuan Ya a bit, asking about her normal daily life.

The two of them finished talking.

Ye Fei Li activated the Forgetting River Soul Flaying Hook again and connected their minds together.

“Say something” Gu Qing Shan said.

Xuan Ya said something.

Gu Qing Shan nodded to express that he was able to hear her.

Xuan Ya stared closely at him, then abruptly went forward and embraced him.

“Let’s begin”

Gu Qing Shan said.

Xuan Ya then turned around and stood in front of Gu Qing Shan.

Gu Qing Shan activated [Mystery of All Beings Equal] and turned into Xuan Ya.

He opened the door and went inside.

Everyone stood at the door, silently observing the situation in the room.

As the child noticed his mother coming home, he called out in surprise.

Xuan Ya wiped her tears and displayed a gentle smile.

Gu Qing Shan followed suit and also smiled.

Whatever Xuan Ya said, Gu Qing Shan repeated.

Whatever expression Xuan Ya made Gu Qing Shan would make the same expression.

As Xuan Ya made an embracing gesture, Gu Qing Shan also embraced the young child.

At first, they weren’t completely in sync, but Gu Qing Shan soon adjusted and perfectly synchronized himself to Xuan Ya’s expressions and actions.

He was becoming more and more fluent.

Xuan Ya reached her hand towards the table——-

Gu Qing Shan picked up the bowl.

Xuan Ya gently consoled her child.

Gu Qing Shan repeated her words.

Xuan Ya lowered her head.

Gu Qing Shan crouched lower and gave the young boy a kiss.

At this moment, he was Xuan Ya.

Outside the door, no one said anything.

Finally, Boss couldn’t help but ask: “How is he acting so well? In human society, he shouldn’t have the experience of being a mother, should he?”

Laura couldn’t hold back her tears and was constantly wiping her face.

She muttered: “Because he is also an orphan”