90 - 95

Chapter 90 - Evolution Mission!

Ling Lan could only feel herself tumbling and being tugged every which way within the black vortex, and then she was swiftly sucked into a bottomless black hole. She felt as if she was travelling through the black hole — perhaps it was for only one second, or perhaps a long time had passed, like maybe an hour, or even a day.

Ling Lan's awareness became somewhat dulled and just as she was blanking out, light flashed before her eyes, and she was spat out from the black vortex.

Ling Lan felt herself falling rapidly. At this time, Ling Lan could see that she had arrived at an unknown small valley and was now hurtling down towards a small grassy hillside.

Ling Lan didn't know if this patch of grass was potentially dangerous, so she took in a deep breath, and using her developed core strength, she swept her right foot down several times, sending several strong gusts of wind flying down towards the grass. These winds thoroughly ruffled the grass below, sending the wild hares hiding within scattering in fright, with even several ground rodents among them.

The possibility of there being a hidden swamp or traps — none! The possibility of concealed venomous insects and other dangerous pests — infinitely close to zero!

In that split second, Ling Lan determined that the spot she was about to land on was safe, and so she freely allowed her body to fall. Still, she remained cautious, for Ling Lan knew that in an unknown world, there would also be unknown dangers.

After landing safely, Ling Lan carefully observed the surroundings of her landing point. Seeing that there really was no danger, only then did she take the time to take a closer look at the beautiful valley before her.

The view in the valley was breathtaking. On the distant hillsides, countless trees grew — a patch of gold here, a patch of vibrant red there, and verdant greens were everywhere. At the foot of the hills, the thick grass was interspersed with wild flowers in a variety of colours, swaying gracefully in the wind.

There was also a small brook that weaved among the flowering meadow, concealed by the surroundings in some parts while clearly displayed in others. Like this, it had a sort of bashful beauty, a somewhat elusive quality about it. But nearer to her side, the brook suddenly widened considerably, becoming a small river which was neither too deep nor too shallow, and there were even some palm-sized fish frolicking within it.

On the river bank, clusters of multi-coloured wild flowers were scattered across the ground, and as the river water flowed over cobblestones of varying hues, the beauty of the flowers entwined with the radiance of the shimmering water, the splendour of each enhancing the other. Just like that, her eyes were treated to an idyllic portrait of a fairy-tale land, giving Ling Lan the mistaken impression that she had returned to the Earth of her previous life ...

Although back then she had only seen such beautiful scenery online, she still remembered how enchanting those images were.

Now, in this current world, it was already impossible to see this sort of beautiful natural scenery. The more advanced technology was, the more damage was done to the environment. Even though the Federation now had countless inhabitable planets which resembled Earth, it was impossible to find scenery as beautiful as that which had once existed on Earth.

By the brook there was also a small footpath, meandering off into the distance in two directions. This proved that this valley was not uninhabited, otherwise there would not be such a path.

Seeing this, Ling Lan was undoubtedly glad, because this meant that she would be able to find out quickly where she was, or perhaps find out what she was supposed to do next.

Although Ling Lan's entry method this time was rather strange, she had already determined that she must have entered one of the specially designated missions of the learning space. Only when she completed the mission would she be able to return once more to the great hall of the learning space, or perhaps to one of the instructors' training spaces.

In fact, Ling Lan was very suspicious. This hint-less setup, where one had to rely solely on one's own ability in a wild goose chase, was very much like something the insane Instructor Number Five would cook up. Only he would do such an irresponsible thing — throwing her into the mission realm without any notice. If it were Number One or Number Nine, they would definitely meet up with her first to give her some guidelines.

Of course, this was all just Ling Lan's speculation and could not be confirmed. She would have to first finish this mission and return before she could find out for sure. So, the first thing Ling Lan needed to do was find out what her mission was this time, otherwise she wouldn't be able to take the next step. This was currently Ling Lan's biggest problem. It wasn't like before, when the instructors would explain the mission, or when the system would announce the parameters. This time, it was clear that she had to rely on her own investigation and judgement.

Were those murals a hint for part of the mission? For some reason, Ling Lan just could not put those murals out of her mind — there was just something about them that made her think that they were a key point, but in what way exactly, Ling Lan just could not say.

Since she couldn't glean anything from the murals right now, she would just look for some new clues in this place first.

Her mind made up, Ling Lan started moving. She first looked at the direction of the river flow, and then started walking along the footpath, heading in the direction of the source of the brook. Ling Lan really liked to start from the beginning. That way, she believed that regardless of whether she wanted to search or to solve a problem, the order would be systematic, and it wouldn't be as easy to miss anything.

Just like that, Ling Lan slowly followed the path to wind up those little slopes. She ascended step by step, and after about 30 minutes, when Ling Lan turned a corner along the footpath, she saw a large mountain in the near distance. At a glance, she could see that the path would end abruptly before that mountain.

This way should be a dead end! If she wanted to save time, Ling Lan should just turn back now, and search for clues in the other direction. Brows furrowed, Ling Lan looked towards the mountain, considering whether she should just turn back here.

"Ling Lan, you must remember, there is no such thing as 'almost' in the study of physical skills, and there are definitely no shortcuts. Through hard training, knowing means mastering everything — if not everything is mastered then it means you do not know. There are only these two categories, no other." Instructor Number Nine's clear voice suddenly rang out in Ling Lan's mind in recollection.

Back then, when she was still learning the foundational physical skills, Instructor Number Nine had asked her whether she knew them yet. Being cautious, Ling Lan had replied by saying that she 'almost' knew them.

This answer caused Instructor Number Nine to give her a good long lecture, warning her that she should make sure everything she does is really at 100% before thinking of her next step.

100% confirmation, is it? Ling Lan scratched her head and released a quiet sigh, giving up on the notion of heading back. There shouldn't be a time limit for this mission. In that case, she might as well run to the end and see. Ling Lan knew that if she didn't take the effort to make sure, she would not be at ease.

Ling Lan continued onwards towards the towering mountain, and after approximately half an hour, Ling Lan finally arrived at the base of the mountain.

This mountain had a curve to it, curving inwards and causing an oval plot of flat ground to appear before it. On the plot of land were many trees of varying heights and sizes. Some of the trees were incomparably thick, having already grown here for who knows how many centuries, perhaps even millenniums.

Meanwhile, it had only taken one glance for Ling Lan's eyes to light up, because she had noticed an almost imperceptibly small path winding into the forest. This was all thanks to Number One who had previously made her stay in a primordial deep forest for several months, leading her to learn how to find those very well-hidden yet safe paths, no matter if they were created by wild beasts or herself.

The corners of Ling Lan's lips quirked up into a smile. So it was true that 100% confirmation was needed for anything, otherwise too many chances would have easily slipped by unnoticed.

With a light heart, Ling Lan stepped into the woods. Following that concealed pathway, she walked past this short 30 metres of forested land, and what met her sight was a tiny fissure, so small that it could have been missed, right at the bottom section of the mountain.

This fissure was so thin and narrow that it would have been unnoticeable from a distance. Even at a closer distance, without going through those tall, imposing trees blocking her line of sight, it would have been impossible to see it.

A strand of sky 1 , was it?

It truly was extremely concealed — the trick with the line of sight, along with the trap of habitual thinking, would easily cause most people to overlook it. Ling Lan herself had almost given up halfway through, but luckily she had remembered Instructor Number Nine's teachings, which had made her persist in her efforts.

Ling Lan's felt a stirring of emotion; perhaps the hint she needed would be inside this place? Or perhaps the answer?

Ling Lan slowly approached the fissure. Sure enough, it was a strand of sky — the fissure would only allow a person of average build to pass through it. If someone a little plumper would like to go through, they would probably have to make some special preparations before they could do so.

Of course, for Ling Lan, there was no problem at all. Ling Lan's spiritual appearance was currently that of a six year old child. At the very beginning when Ling Lan had first entered the learning space, Ling Lan's spiritual self had yet to merge completely with her current body, so her spiritual avatar had looked like her old self from the previous world for a period of time. But after that, as she grew older and the merge completed successfully, Ling Lan's spiritual avatar had slowly matched up with her outer appearance, so she now looked exactly the same inside the learning space as she did in the outside world.

Ling Lan successfully went through the strand of sky, and unexpectedly, there was another valley within the valley. The first thing she saw was a large lake — it was likely that this lake was the source of the little stream she had followed along the way here, while the water source for the lake must be the snow melt coming from the surrounding mountains reaching up to the sky.

Ling Lan skirted the edges of the lake, which was emitting wisps of cold air, and continued following the path. After walking for another two to three minutes, an expanse of glinting gold came into view, causing Ling Lan to squint involuntarily.

This was a large paddy field, which could be described as stretching as far as the eye could see. When the wind of the valley swept by, a golden wave would roll through the field. Right now was the harvest season of the valley, and Ling Lan had the sudden urge to rush into the fields and gather up all that bountiful grain ...

Erm, the commoner mentality of her previous world was acting up again, influencing her thoughts and emotions. Ling Lan couldn't help but chuckle at herself.

Just as Ling Lan was about to continue moving on, a thought flashed through her mind. She recalled the mural that had caused her to be sucked into the black hole — in the first panel of that mural, wasn't there a paddy field just like this?

Could it be that she was now within the world on that mural?

This was actually highly probable! Since she had been sucked in by that mural, then it would make complete sense for her to have entered its world. If this deduction was correct, Ling Lan would have to think — what exactly did the learning space want her to do by sending her into this world?

Thinking back on the protagonist's smile in that first panel and in the final panel, about how the two smiles appeared so similar yet conveyed such different meaning, Ling Lan felt as if she were on the edge of an epiphany. Did her mission have something to do with those smiles?

Ling Lan had just thought of this when a mechanical voice rang out from the skies of the valley above her, "Congratulations, you have identified the vital clue. Now assigning the learning space's exclusive mission — seek out your correct evolution pathway!"

1. A Chinese way of describing geographical features that are very narrow, exaggeratedly only allowing only a thin ray of light to seep through. Typically, it is not really narrow to that extent, but would be just wide enough to allow a kid or a thin person to go through, as is the case in this story.

Chapter 91 - Test or Choice?

Right after the announcement by the system, a large black vortex appeared once more before Ling Lan and sucked her in without any fanfare.

F*ck, again?! Ling Lan was speechless; couldn't the learning space be a little more gentle? However, having experienced it once, Ling Lan was no longer as flustered this time.

It was still impossible to pin down a sense of time, but when a brightness flashed before Ling Lan's eyes, she knew that she was about to be disgorged.

Sure enough, just like the first time, she was spat out into the air, but this time Ling Lan was ready for it. She landed on her feet in an absolutely elegant pose; Ling Lan decisively gave an internal cheer for her own outstanding performance.

Of course, the check before landing was still necessary, for Ling Lan had not forgotten the sly ways of the learning space ... yep, it was definitely sly to the extreme. Ling Lan, who had fallen for its traps more than once at the beginning, had by now already learned the basic instinct of maintaining her vigilance at all times.

The spot where Ling Lan had landed on was a desolate hillside. The completely exposed yellow soil no longer contained any of the flourishingly beautiful vigour of life of the mountain valley, but was all dried and yellow cracked earth, with hardly any of the greenery which represented life. At a glance, there was only bleakness and desolation, and even an almost suffocating sense of despair.

Even more frighteningly, a weathered old road weaving through the land was already stained with a sheet of red, the way littered with corpses.

Not too far from Ling Lan, some frightened people were running in desperation, while a group of frenzied men chased them from behind with swords and knives in hand.

Ling Lan could see that this was definitely the scene from the second panel. Only now, the protagonist from the image was missing, while Ling Lan herself had been added.

Was this a test? Were they looking to see what choice she would make? To become an emissary of justice, or to remain as a cold-hearted observer?

Taking joy in helping others was a good thing — Ling Lan felt that this was the basics of being a good person. However, there was a prerequisite to this. Before helping, she had to consider whether she had the ability to help, and also whether the other was someone worthy of her help.

For instance, these people before her right now, those folks running away — were they worth her help? Also, how strong were those people carrying weapons? Were they good or bad?

Ling Lan, who was standing high up at the top of the slope, looked down at the bloody scene below with a cold expression, as if she could see none of the loss of life going on.

Why? Why did those people just think of running, and did not even try to fight back? Ling Lan's emotions were a little conflicted, somewhat sympathetic and filled with hate for the attackers, yet also a little disappointed with the victims. In fact, those people running away were not much fewer in numbers than those chasing them — if they had really wanted to fight back, the situation wasn't entirely hopeless.

Ling Lan looked at the person right at the front of those escaping, and saw that the person's eyes were filled with a desire to live so intense that it had turned into a fervour which cared nothing for the costs incurred in its pursuit. And abruptly, Ling Lan felt as if she understood.

When faced with a situation where their life hangs in the balance, humans would reflexively choose the path which they feel is the safest and most dependable. Like right now, in this sort of desperate situation, as long as he could run just a little faster than the other people, the man would be able to escape from the range of the slaughter, which meant that he had the hope of surviving ...

This was basic human instinct, a deeply concealed inner ugliness. It was a demon that would be released in this sort of desperate times.

Ling Lan couldn't help but laugh, the sound laced with mockery. Wasn't this just another version of survival of the fittest?

Unfortunately ... Ling Lan's gaze turned to those killers giving chase. The contempt and cruel joy in their eyes were unmistakable. All this just proved that no matter how hard the people tried to run, it was useless. All of those people trying to escape would not be able to outrun the killers' blades. The killers were just whetting their appetite for the kill by first playing a game of cat-and-mouse, enjoying the spectacle of ants displaying the baseness of their humanity.

Ling Lan suddenly thought of the invasion of Japanese troops into China in her previous world. The Kwantung Army of a mere twenty thousand men had actually managed to conquer the entire Northeast China. This result was undoubtedly ludicrous — just the total population within those provinces was enough to flatten the Kwantung Army several times over. So why had they been able to invade and take control so easily? Was there the same baseness of humanity at play then?

Ling Lan shook her head and laughed in spite of herself, and cast off all the stray thoughts in her mind. The current Ling Lan was only the Ling Lan of this life; the previous world did not concern her anymore.

Just then, at the very back of the pack, an older man finally could not evade the swords any longer. He fell to the ground, but at the same time, he gave a strong shove to the young man who had been dragging him along all this time as they ran ...

"Xiaolong, run quickly!" Knowing that he had no hopes of survival, the old man grabbed onto one of the chasing killers as they stepped over him. He held on with a death grip, and his face was filled with a savage sort of release.

The young man who had been shoved forwards did not dare to stop, and could only keep running forwards with all his strength, tears streaming down his face. He could not let this chance gifted by his relative go to waste.

The old man was swiftly killed under the hacking of blades, and one of the killers spat on his corpse as he pulled back his sword, and said scornfully, "Thinking to survive from our blades? In his f*cking dreams."

A dream, was it? Ling Lan's right hand surreptitiously slipped a sharp dagger from the side of her calf. She held the hilt in an inverted grip, with the end of the hilt between her thumb and index finger. Meanwhile, her left hand pulled out an extremely short tri-edge trench knife. She had decided that she would help these escapees — the actions of that old man before his death proved that they were not cowards; it was just that there was no one to spark their rage and courage.

Perhaps Ling Lan's killing intent was too strong, for one of the killers who was in the midst of enjoying his slaughter suddenly turned to look in Ling Lan's direction. Of course, Ling Lan wasn't planning to hide. Just like that, she stood high above and watched them, waiting for them to move.

Those people saw that it was a just a child, and their faces filled with glee. After killing so many adults, they had gotten a little sick of it ... perhaps this pitiful little rabbit would bring them more satisfaction. The first killer pointed Ling Lan out to the men beside him and indicated for them to bring the child over.

One of the men leapt out from the crowd and headed towards Ling Lan. Seeing this, Ling Lan suddenly turned and ran. This reaction was just too normal — when a child saw something or someone that frightened them, this was what they would do.

This movement of Ling Lan's also drew the attention of the runners, and Ling Lan could then clearly hear several shocked cries, as well as several shrill voices urging her to run faster!

So, even as their humanity was on the brink of crumbling, these people still retained a smidgen of care for the young? Humans, as expected, were extremely complicated. Even though it was obvious that they couldn't even help themselves in this scenario, seeing an even weaker being in peril, they couldn't help but be concerned.

However, the moment did not allow Ling Lan to ponder this any further. The killer who had split off from the group was already close, having run up the slope.

"Little baby rabbit, stop running. Come quietly and follow your gramps back, so we can play together ..." The man's face was filled with excitement, and his tongue actually slipped out to lick at his lower lip. He was thinking of the ways he would torment this poor little wretch that seemed so pitiable, and was truly very pitiable.

Originally, Ling Lan had decided to just kill the other here, because she had already drawn the opponent to a blind spot out of view of the other people, but when she heard this, she changed her mind. She decided not to do anything, and let the other capture her.

Ling Lan wasn't going to let any of them go. She wanted to keep all of them right here. To do this, it wouldn't be easy. Ling Lan didn't know if the opponent had something that could transmit messages instantly. If she made a move, and the person had reflexes quick enough to send out information on her to the rest of his group, it wouldn't be good.

It was true that Ling Lan wanted to help these people, but she also didn't want to bring trouble on herself. To avoid this, she would have to kill all the enemies here instantly. If these people were unprepared, she was confident that she could get them all in one go. But how could she make them lower their guard to let her draw close ... ? That had been Ling Lan's only problem, and now, with this, the problem was no longer a problem.

Ling Lan screamed as she was grabbed by the other. She struggled desperately, but how could her tiny body escape the powerful grip of an adult man? The man cheerfully dragged Ling Lan back to his group. Behind him, the tri-edge knife in Ling Lan's left hand was already positioned over the other's heart — at any strange movement, her knife would be thrust without mercy into the other.

"Chief, here's a cute little mouse." The beast holding onto Ling Lan threw her directly before his leader, where Ling Lan cowered and peered at them fearfully.

Meanwhile, those people running away had also been surrounded by some of the other killers, who were herding them towards Ling Lan's direction. Sure enough, the killers had just been playing around with these poor people, giving them the false impression that they had any chance of survival.

From the corner of her eyes, Ling Lan saw the despair on the ash-pale faces of the people being herded back at sword point. The opponents' sudden burst of speed let them know once and for all that they had never had any hope to begin with, and so, they gave up on themselves.

Why did they have to give up? Were they not willing to even try? Failure and giving up were what Ling Lan hated the most. Your life was your own — even if it had to end, shouldn't it be of your own choice?

"Doesn't look like someone from their village. He really looks so fresh and lovely." The leader immediately noticed how different Ling Lan was compared to the others. His brows drew in slightly, and there was some doubt and suspicion in his eyes.

Ling Lan's expression stayed unchanging — other than fright, there was just more fright — it perfectly encapsulated how a six year old child would react when faced with strangers, when faced with danger ... Yup, thank you very much to Instructor Number Five, for teaching her all these random useless things ... now they were actually useful.

"Perhaps it's a child from a merchant group. Didn't we just rob and kill a merchant group yesterday on the old road?" One of the men didn't think it was a problem. It was quite normal after all for some people to slip through while they were busy robbing.

His subordinate's words cleared up the leader's concerns, though he really wasn't all that concerned to begin with, and had only been a little puzzled. After all, what harm could a five or six year old child do? Even if the child had a kitchen knife, it was a bigger worry whether the child would cut themselves.

"True, true, then let us have some fun." The leader's words made the men around him burst out into raucous laughter. Some of them were even itching to get started, eager to personally torment this pitiable little mouse. Wouldn't extreme terror look interesting on a child's face?

Meanwhile, the other people who had been chased over to observe didn't dare to make a sound, afraid that if they made any noise, they would be the one to be tortured and killed instead.

Of course, some of them even had the guilty thought that perhaps if this child could satisfy the perverse appetites of these demons, maybe they wouldn't be killed ...

Ling Lan had not pinned any hopes on these people to begin with, but unexpectedly, someone within the group actually tried to beg for mercy on her behalf. "I beg you, please let him go. He's just a child ..."

From the corner of her eyes, Ling Lan saw that the one who spoke was the young man who had been pushed by the old man. His face was full of entreaty, though of course, more despair — perhaps he too knew that speaking out was useless, but he had still chosen to open his mouth at a bid for that almost non-existent chance of hope.

Chapter 92 - Massacre In Progress!

"Haha, punk, such pretty words ... then, would you like to die first in his place?" The head stared at the young man in amusement. He was truly interested to see if there really was someone who would be willing to trade their life to save a completely unrelated stranger.

How could that be possible! Ling Lan knew very well that she herself would never do such a thing. She also didn't believe that there would be someone so saintly that they would willingly give their life for a stranger. However, the youth's reply stunned Ling Lan. For a moment, she even thought that she was experiencing an auditory hallucination.

That young man had actually stated that he was willing to trade his life.

F*ck! Darn learning space, couldn't it present a slightly more normal scenario? Ling Lan scorned it mentally, but it couldn't be denied that her heart had sped up for a beat at the moment she had heard this answer. Perhaps her heart also couldn't understand how an imbecile like this could exist in this dimension?

"Haha, little mouse, looks like you have pretty great luck! Someone's actually willing to die in your place." The head patted Ling Lan's face, and lifted his head to chortle, "Shouldn't you properly thank that big brother?" The young man's unexpected response had thoroughly amused the head, giving him a taste of something new. Of course, he was even gladder to destroy and push these two people before him into the depths of despair.

"Come, as thanks, you'll have to smile and watch as my subordinates slowly peel his skin off ..." The head savagely twisted Ling Lan's head to face the young man. Meanwhile, the young man had already been propped up by two large men, while another, licking the polished knife in his hand, looked as if he was considering which part of the young man he should start cutting from.

When the people being forced to kneel saw this scene, their faces filled with terror. Some of them were even filled with disbelief, unable to comprehend why the young man would try to save a strange child, and even be willing to be subjected to such inhumane torture for the child's sake before his death.

On the side of the killers, all of their attention were now on the young man. They had revelled in this sort of scenario all along — seeing the pain and despair of a person and listening to their wails before they died excited them. Even the head's attention was on the young man, completely forgetting about Ling Lan within his grasp.

This was a chance! With everyone's attention on the young man, Ling Lan knew that the best moment for her to strike had arrived.

Ling Lan's head remained still, but her arms twisted and bent to an extremely bizarre degree, breaking past the physical limits of the human body. The dagger in her hand then swung down mercilessly at the head still holding onto her face.

The head was guffawing as his subordinate slowly neared the young man, staring delightedly at the young man's desperate struggles. He was anticipating the scene when the young man would finally crumble, when he would scream and cry about how much he regretted his choice ... then suddenly, he felt a cold flash at his throat, and then the scene in front of him was spinning.

He saw his subordinates, as they busied themselves making preparations to kill and maim those pitiful ants. He even saw the pitiable little mouse in his hands, who was strangely standing beside a very familiar body. But of course, most surprisingly, that body did not have a head ...

Head? Familiar? Wasn't that his body? He was falling apart in his shock — what the hell had just happened?

Ling Lan had succeeded in one move, and without any hesitation, she broke the grip of the palm still holding onto her, and leapt at the few killers nearest to her. They still hadn't noticed that their head had been killed, and was currently happily watching as their companion threatened and tormented that self-sacrificing young man.

In order not to attract the attention of those at the front, Ling Lan kept a tight control on her speed. She didn't move as fast as she could, but made sure to watch her shadow, and moved with a stealthy silence. Several times she flickered, and another few people had their throats callously slashed by Ling Lan's dagger.

As blood gushed violently from their gaping throats, their mouths were muffled tightly by Ling Lan as they died. They did not have any chance to sound a warning, to tell their companions that a death god was approaching from their backs.

Frankly, Ling Lan's throat-slashing technique was a learning space exclusive method — when she had cut the lifeline in their throats, she had also cut off their ability to speak. However, just to make sure there were no mistakes, Ling Lan still decided to cover their mouths.

The young man who was facing Ling Lan was the only one who could see all this clearly. His eyes bulged, and his expression turned to one of stunned disbelief, and even his initially struggling body abruptly stilled.

This strange reaction caused all the observing killers to pause in astonishment. Subconsciously, they prepared to turn and look, to see what exactly was going on behind them to elicit such a reaction from the young man, to the point that he would forget about his own imminent death ...

What a dumb pig of a teammate!

Ling Lan decisively labelled the young man as 'dumb'. Luckily, he hadn't revealed any joy or excitement on his face, otherwise these killers would certainly have their guards up in a flash. Right now, they were just curious about what the young man had seen.

Ling Lan knew there was no more time. She needed to eliminate all these killers before they figured out what was going on, or else they might become an even bigger problem.

This time, Ling Lan no longer controlled herself; she unleashed every bit of her strength and speed. Like an ephemeral shadow, Ling Lan swept across the scene, the tri-edge trench knife and the dagger in her hands swiping interchangeably in a deadly dance. Everywhere she went, the unprepared killers found a weapon piercing one of their vital spots unerringly, sending countless blossoms of blood blooming into the air.

Ling Lan's path was a straight line — while this wasn't a good path for killing enemies, it was the best path for the rescue. Although the enemies at the fringes of both sides may be able to escape, this would prevent the young man from being used as a hostage.

As predicted, Ling Lan managed to stay one step ahead, killing the two men immobilising the young man before they could react. At the same time, she sent the young man behind her with a kick. There wasn't a single killer left there, so it was the safest place.

By this time, quite a few of the killers had finally gotten a hold of themselves. Ling Lan had originally been afraid that they would scatter and run, depriving her of the chance of killing them all, but unexpectedly, the men just raised up their weapons and charged at her with dreadful bellows.

How nice! So the opponents were also dumb as pigs — this made both sides even then.

Ling Lan did not give these people any chances. Within several blinks of an eye, all of the men had been eliminated. Meanwhile, there wasn't a single speck of blood on Ling Lan's body, other than the dust which had been thrown up into the air during the fight.

On this desolate plain, countless corpses had been added once more, but this time, the bodies were those of the merciless killers.

Ling Lan stood up straight and coolly stowed away her weapons. She looked down at the head's head on the floor, whose frozen features still held that crazed smile with a trace of fear, unimaginably creepy. Ling Lan nodded to herself, and mumbled under her breath, "As expected, after a head leaves the body, it doesn't die straight away. There's a delay of one to two seconds, or perhaps even longer ..."

Ling Lan did not spare a look for those unsettled survivors, but prepared to leave.

Ling Lan had just taken several steps forward when that young man shouted, "Wait!"

Because the young man had been silly enough to try and trade his life for hers, Ling Lan decided to give him a chance. "Hm?"

"Are you alone? If you have nowhere to go, why don't you come back with me to my village?" The young man worked hard to squeeze out a smile — he had just been saved from the brink of death after all; even the calmest of people would be unable to keep their cool, not to mention that he wasn't a calm person to begin with.

Was this the next hint of the mission? Ling Lan thought it over, and decided that she should go take a look at the village. After all, right now, she was completely clueless about this so-called evolution pathway and had no idea what she was supposed to do next anyway.

Seeing Ling Lan nod, the young man was thrilled. And just like that, Ling Lan prepared to follow the young man back to his village.

Before they left, the people recovered some of the possessions they had had to discard while running, so everyone had a large bundle on their back as they prepared to set out. However, a majority of their companions were to remain here forever, never able to return. The survivors were unsure how they were supposed to face the relatives of those people who were eagerly awaiting their return.

On the road, Ling Lan found out that these people were all from the same village. Their excursion this time was to procure some necessities at a small town about 30 li 1 away. They had never expected such a terrible thing to happen.

Ling Lan followed them as they made their way around a small hillside, and the desolation was noticeably clearing up as they progressed, with more and more greenery becoming visible. The young man told Ling Lan that their village was built around a natural heaven-blessed spring, which was the site of the green lung of this wasteland, allowing all the people in their village to survive in this arid land.

After traversing another distance of road, a green abundance of grass came into view. But when the young man turned excitedly to tell Ling Lan that they were about to arrive at the village, Ling Lan's expression changed dramatically.

She signalled for everyone to hide, while she quietly crept ahead. Luckily, this wasn't a boundless expanse of flat grassland, but was a hilly area with plenty of erratic ups and downs.

Soon, Ling Lan had followed the curve of the mountain to arrive at the mouth of the village. However, one look at the scene before her eyes and Ling Lan understood that the young man's village was also facing the tragic outcome of being massacred.

On several large trees by the village gates, a significant number of strapping young men were already bound and hung on the branches, some still alive. Meanwhile, around them, the elderly, the women, and the children were all tied together. They were kneeling on the ground and struggling desperately, crying and screaming as they tried to crawl closer to their loved ones. Laughing uproariously, the killers watching over them used their weapons to knock down anyone who tried to resist, and made them watch on helplessly as their sons, husbands, and fathers had their bowels cut open and their hearts torn out, dying before their very eyes.

"Scumbags!" The rage in Ling Lan's heart flared into a furious flame. This scene had thoroughly crossed over the line of Ling Lan's 'forbidden territory'. If at the start Ling Lan could be said to be hesitant to intervene because she hated troublesome matters, right now, Ling Lan just really wanted to kill every single one of these scumbags that definitely could not be considered human anymore.

However, Ling Lan wasn't someone who would let rage get to her head. She wasn't going to allow a moment of recklessness to cause her to fail to rescue these people and lose her life instead.

Ling Lan still remembered that phrasal hint given by the system. An exclusive mission ... it was likely that she wasn't permitted to die in this mission. The moment she died, the mission would end, never to repeat.

After dealing with the learning space for almost a full six years, Ling Lan was very familiar with the learning space's mission reward mechanism. The stranger and more unique the mission was, the more generous the reward. With regards to the exclusive mission, just based off the word 'exclusive' alone, Ling Lan could confirm that the mission reward would definitely be generous to the point where she would regret it if she didn't manage to get it.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Ling Lan had never even considered giving up. No matter how great the difficulty, she must complete this mission.

1. Li: Also known as a Chinese mile. It's an old Chinese unit of distance, roughly equivalent to half a kilometre, i.e. 500 metres. 30 li = 15 kilometres.

Chapter 93 - The Resurrected Demon in the Heart!

Ling Lan closely observed the situation, and found that there were only 17 men watching over the villagers. However, Ling Lan suspected that there were more men around than this group of killers, otherwise the hundred or so strong young men of the village would not have been rounded up so easily. There were probably more killers within the village proper.

Killing off these 17 men was actually not that difficult, but the true difficulty lay in how she could kill all of them before they could sound the alert and regroup. And like before, she needed to prevent a hostage situation from happening.

After considering it for a moment, Ling Lan snuck back to where the young man and the others were hiding, and relayed what was happening at the village entrance to them.

Just as everyone was panicking, with some even suggesting that they should just abandon the village and run, the young man once again offered a differing opinion. He felt that they should go back and save their relatives, otherwise their lives would be meaningless.

The young man's tenacity and passion moved the others, so everyone ultimately decided to go to the village entrance to try and rescue people. Of course, they were also well aware that everything was moot without Ling Lan's help — involuntarily, all of their gazes fell on Ling Lan, but only the young man's gaze was filled with apology. He had only invited the solitary Ling Lan to follow them out of good intentions, hoping that he could put down roots in their village and stop having to wander. Never had he expected that he would cause Ling Lan to be dragged into danger once again.

Ling Lan's original plan was to coordinate with these people anyway, to draw away some of the guards from the village entrance. So, she did not rebuff them, but instead presented them with a straightforward account of her plan.

Perhaps everyone had things they wanted to protect at all costs, for although Ling Lan's plan could very well cost them their lives, at that moment, not a single person backed down, or voiced any objection. With faces filled with determination, the villagers agreed to execute Ling Lan's plan.

Seeing these people whose mental states were completely different from how they were initially, Ling Lan realised that humans, despite having countless faults, when placed in a situation where they had to protect something they just couldn't live without, their decisions may very likely astound. Take the situation right now for example, these people no longer displayed any of the selfishness they had at the start.

Ling Lan led them to a hidden col 1 by the village entrance, and then she sneakily dashed closer to the village entrance to lie flat on the ground. Luckily, Ling Lan was now a child with a small body, so even though there wasn't much cover near the village entrance, a slightly larger rock still managed to conceal most of Ling Lan's body.

Once in position, Ling Lan turned to the col and gave the others the hand signal to begin.

Those people abruptly stood up, lifted the wooden staffs and rocks they had found lying about, and rushed out of the col.

"Bastards! I'm gonna kill you all!" All of them shouted in unison.

The commotion startled those men at the village entrance, but when they saw the ragtag group with their makeshift weapons, they burst into wild laughter. In fact, there even was some element of pleasant surprise in their reactions, gleeful that more prey had decided to serve themselves up for their amusement.

In contrast, some of the women and elders tied up there started yelling in shock and terror, "Run away! Don't come!" At this point, they considered their lives forfeit, so those who were still free should just stay away. Every saved life counted.

Among the 17 people, there was a small head. He signalled for ten men from the group to go capture those suicidal people.

Ling Lan calmly watched as the ten men passed by her side and rushed towards the col. Meanwhile, the group led by the young men faltered and started to pull back amidst the cries of their relatives, actually turning tail to run. These actions naturally made the ten men chasing after them laugh even harder.

As this was happening, the remaining seven men did not stop their killing games. The head let his subordinate pull out one of the women who had yelled for the others to run, but their chosen target was not the woman herself, but was the little girl child of three to four years of age clinging to her.

Another two subordinates came out and savagely ripped the little girl away from her mother. They paid no heed to the little girl's terrified wails, tying her hands together securely, preparing to hang her on one of the large trees of the village entrance. The tree that they chose was already filled with countless other murdered villagers.

Seeing this, the woman went berserk. Without any hesitation, she lunged at the man holding her daughter — although her hands were tied behind her back, she still sunk her teeth into his wrist, trying to make him let go of her daughter. In order for her own daughter to have a chance of survival, she didn't care if she had to give up her life. The woman portrayed the selflessness of maternal love to the max, causing Ling Lan's heart to clench, aching in sympathy.

This detestable learning space, why did it have to show her such a scene? Ling Lan almost lost her cool, almost wanting to just rush out and kill every single one of those scumbags right then and there.

But Number Five's crazy torments had not been in vain — Ling Lan's spirit wouldn't waver just because of this scene. Still, even so, both of Ling Lan's hands were clenched tightly over the weapons in her hands, almost as if she were going to crush them with her grip.

The woman actually knew that what she was doing was useless — her daughter still wouldn't be able to escape death in the end. Still, she refused to give up, desperately holding onto her bite on the killer's wrist.

Even though her head was being pummelled fiercely by the man, even though blood had already coated her entire face, even though she was likely to die in the very next second ... she did not let up from start till end. Because she knew that the moment she loosened her teeth, her daughter's life would really be lost. And she absolutely did not want to see her own daughter die right before her eyes.

Seeing her mother being hit till her whole head was drenched with blood, the small little girl could only wail in shock and terror, "Mama, mama ..."

That killer's awkward situation caused all the other men to laugh at him. There wasn't much comradery among them, so no one even thought of coming over to help him escape from the woman's savage bite. Even the head himself was guffawing. Seeing a companion make a fool of themselves was also part of their entertainment.

Meanwhile, Ling Lan took the chance to slip behind them, finally baring her eager fangs.

"I've gotten sick of killing women, perhaps this little brat can excite me a little more." The head indicated for another subordinate to tie up the little girl.

Just then, Ling Lan pounced, leaping towards the thug still beating on the little girl's mother. At the same time, she sent a pebble flying with a kick, aimed straight for the killer who was just about to hang the little girl up.

A muffled whump, and the head of the killer who was tying up the little girl burst open. A reddish white liquid sprayed out, some of it staining the little girl's body.

Meanwhile, on Ling Lan's end, there was just a cold flash, and the thug's throat had been slashed open. A stream of warm blood spurted out to splash on the mother's head, mingling with her own blood on her face.

The thug's expression was a stunned one; till the very end, he had no idea why liquid would be spouting from his throat ... he slowly fell over, slumping to the ground alongside the mother.

After dispatching the thug, Ling Lan did not stop. Before the other killers could understand what was going on, she unleashed her greatest speed and strength.

The remaining few killers didn't even see anything, or if they had sharp eyes, all they saw was a passing shadow — in the blink of an eye, Ling Lan had efficiently finished off the four small fry, and then she immediately leapt at the head.

The small head was undoubtedly the strongest of the bunch. Seeing what had happened, he instantly knew they had hit a steel plate 1 ; he knew he should shout, so the master killers inside the village could come quickly ...

The head instinctively defended his neck — his above average eyesight had allowed him to see that all his subordinates had died from a slash of the throat.

He thought that as long as he could hold out for a while, he would be able to yell and inform his boss inside the village that an enemy had come ... perhaps then he'd still have a chance of surviving.

Well, dreams were beautiful, but reality was cruel. How could Ling Lan give him such a chance? Otherwise she wouldn't have used bait to lure away a large portion of his subordinates; she had done that specifically to avoid giving them the chance to notify their compatriots in the village.

Just as the head was about to yell, he suddenly felt as if his palm had been pierced by something, and then the same sensation was at his throat. Due to the unimaginable speed, he actually didn't feel any pain. He had thought that it would hurt, but he felt nothing till the moment he died.

Ling Lan's tri-edge trench knife stabbed mercilessly into the opponent's throat, sealing his intended alert within his throat. She could even hear the faint clicking coming from deep within the opponent's throat as he tried to speak.

"You all have no more chances," said Ling Lan coldly as she pulled out the trench knife. The head's eyes were wide as he fell face first to the ground. In fact, even before Ling Lan had removed the trench knife, the other was already fully dead.

Ling Lan did not hesitate, but immediately rushed towards the col outside the village entrance. She still remembered that there were other people waiting for her rescue, and ten more killers for her to dispatch.

Ling Lan hadn't moved far from the village entrance when she caught sight of the group of killers chasing after the young man's company. The time Ling Lan had used to kill the seven men at the village entrance had really been very short, so these people hadn't had time to get very far.

At this time, Ling Lan had no more concerns, so these ten killers were summarily dispatched by her. Meanwhile, the villagers who had played bait were all fine, with only one person spraining their ankle while running, but it wasn't serious and wouldn't affect his mobility.

The young man and the others followed Ling Lan back to the village entrance, and helped to untie and release the bound villagers there. Upon questioning, they found out that the village had been set upon by bandits and that this group was just the first batch of captured villagers. There were more villagers within the village whose fates were uncertain, though the odds weren't in their favour.

Once again, Ling Lan became the focus of attention. Ling Lan simply instructed the young man to find a place to hide with all of the villagers, while she herself went deeper into the village to scout.

Under the grateful stares of all the villagers, Ling Lan slipped into the village. She wasn't doing this for the villagers, but rather to vent the righteous aggression she had bottled up inside. She just wanted to kill all those inhumane beasts, but of course saving some of the villagers along the way was a welcome plus.

Ling Lan did not have a so-called hero-complex; she just didn't want this sort of inhumane beasts to exist in this world. Perhaps the history of the invasion of China, so hated by the Chinese people, in her past world had left a deeply embedded wound within the hearts of all the impassioned descendants of China. Thus, when faced with such a similar scene, this banked rage was triggered.

"I am me. I only live to follow my heart." Ling Lan had temporarily forgotten the mission, only wanting to go wild without reservations for once, and let out that demon imprisoned within her heart.

Indeed, under Number Five's insane torments, Ling Lan, who had once lost control of herself, was just like a demon who would cut people down like grass. And right now, facing this group of beasts wearing human skins, was the best time for the demon within her heart to resurrect.

A trace of madness bloomed in Ling Lan's eyes, but this madness was very restrained, so honed and focused in its intensity that it presented as calm.

1. the lowest point of a ridge or saddle between two peaks. (This is a legit word, though uncommon. I learned it from translating this. :p)

2. Met an opponent that was beyond their capabilities. Kinda like hitting a wall or dead end, unable to move any further.

Chapter 94 - The Test of Dao

Ling Lan secretly snuck into the village. By now, the inside of the village was a sea of blood, a true hell on earth. Quite a number of the villagers had died on the roads or in their doorways, every one of them with their eyes wide open, staring sightlessly at their ruined village, unable to be at peace. Their facial expressions differed — there was fear, despair, and even some with a sort of speechless grief and indignation ... perhaps they were filled with bitter hate, wondering why this catastrophe would befall them when they had just been peacefully living out their lives ...

Along her way, Ling Lan crouched down, silently closing the eyes of one of the villagers who had died a traumatic death. Right then, there was not a speck of emotion in Ling Lan's gaze. It was as calm as water, and a rush of terrifyingly cold air was emanating from her body.

As she walked, whenever she saw any killers alone or in small groups, Ling Lan would decisively dispose of them before silently leaving. If she saw a large group of thugs together, she would go around them. Perhaps these killers were too engrossed in their killing frenzy, for they did not notice at all that their companions were being slowly picked off little by little.

Then, at one point, when Ling Lan had once again gotten rid of another batch of thugs, she accidentally missed one who had been relieving himself in a hidden corner, out of sight.

Ling Lan noticed her mistake swiftly and sent a dagger flying through the air to pierce through the other's throat, but it was still a step too late. A sharp whistle rent the blood-stenched air of the village.

Ling Lan couldn't help but make a soft sound of regret. Just as she had feared, the thugs really had a way to pass on a message instantly. Without a doubt, the other thugs would now be wary and on the defensive, which would make Ling Lan's hunt a little more difficult.

Still, it was just a little more difficult ... a cold smile appeared on Ling Lan's lips. The hunting game would not end just because of this.

Ling Lan's figure slowly disappeared from her present location. By the time the other killers rushed to the scene, all they could see was their companions' corpses lying on the ground, without any sign of the one who killed them.

This incident was quickly reported to the main leader of this particular massacre, who immediately gave the order for his subordinates to gather, naturally not forgetting to ask them to bring hostages along with them. He highly suspected that this master killer may have ties with the village people.

As they gathered, Ling Lan managed to kill off yet a few more groups of thugs, saving a significant number of villagers in the process. But Ling Lan did not stop to talk to any of them, only continuing on her hurried way after killing the thugs.

The villagers had no idea where Ling Lan came from, but this did not prevent them from being grateful for her help. Moreover, Ling Lan did not know that, some of the rescued villagers didn't just leave — some of the strapping young men found some weapons and made their own rescue teams, silently making their way in different directions, hoping to save even more of their loved ones and other village folk.

Meanwhile, outside the village entrance, the young man — after finding a relatively safe location for the younger kids, the weak and infirm old folk, and the fragile women, as well as some injured men who could not fight — led the remaining villagers who could still put up a fight to pick up the weapons of the killers Ling Lan had killed, and rushed over too.

Along the way, many bloody battles broke out. The villagers went head to head with small groups of killers, and paid a bloody price to overwhelm these killers stained with the blood of their relatives, saving their own relatives who were still alive.

********

Only when all of the killers had gathered before the main leader did the leader discover that this place which, in his eyes, was a place where they could kill and indulge in their perverse interests, had actually cost him around two-thirds of his men, leaving behind only about a hundred men.

"D*mn it! Who is it? Show yourself!" The main leader was enraged by this drastic loss of men. He signalled for one of his men to bring out one of the hostages, and then bellowed, "If you don't show yourself, I'll kill him."

Since the hidden attacker had come for the sake of this village, then they must certainly care about the lives of these ants. As long as the other showed themselves, the leader believed that he and his men would definitely be able to hack the attacker into a thousand pieces.

After waiting for a minute, the surroundings still remained silent as a tomb. With vehemence, the leader shouted, "Kill him."

The villager was summarily executed by his subordinate, and blood coated the ground, drawing the terrified screams of the other villagers.

"I'm not a saintly matron, or a benevolent hero, all I know is, only keeping calm will give me the chance to accomplish my goals." Ling Lan held on tightly to the weapons in her hands, her eyes coolly observing the bloody scene before her.

Indeed, her goal was to kill every one of these beastly scumbags and save as many villagers as she could. As such, she could not give in to irrational ardour.

The leader saw that his first threat was ineffective, and signalled for a subordinate to bring out three more villagers. This time, one of the villagers was a tiny baby still in its swaddling clothes.

Ling Lan's irises contracted, and she shut her eyes in anguish. Did she have to continue tolerating this? Do I really have to wait until they become tired of killing and become distracted, and a chance presents itself, for me to make a move? Goddammit! My heart tells me — no, I don't want it to be like this.

Instructor Number Five, your so-called insane-level training didn't work after all, otherwise, why can't I become truly cold-blooded? Why can't I turn a blind eye to an innocent child dying before me? Could this be my forbidden ground? Does this count as a human weakness?

According to my instructor's words, I should restrain this tendency towards mercy to become stronger, and not yield to my soft heart and compassion. I should restrain it, but ...

Within Ling Lan's heart, a dilemma occurred for the first time. Her initially steady heart started showing subtle signs of uncertainty ...

********

Within the learning space, Number Five and Number Nine barged into Number One's space unannounced.

Number One, who had been standing alone in the virtual space deep in thought, saw the uninvited guests and was rather displeased. Coldly, he said, "What did you two come here for?"

"I would like to know, what Dao Ling Lan will choose in the end." Number Nine's face was full of worry. If Ling Lan selected a Dao unsuited for her in her evolution, she may very well end up doing double the work for half the results.

In contrast, Number Five smirked evilly. "I hope she walks the path of the Heartless Dao, or maybe the Killing Dao." This was a type of shortcut — although the barriers she would face in the later stages with these Daos would be a little more difficult than other Daos, that was after all a consideration for the future. Number Five believed that there would be ways to resolve it then, and it was overall worth it since she would be able to raise herself to the level of a master within a short period of time.

For this purpose, his training in the period preceding this had intentionally been steering Ling Lan's personality and way of handling things towards the direction of these two Dao. If Ling Lan held fast to her memories of this time, it was highly possible that she would end up walking one of these two Dao.

"I disagree!" raged Number Nine. "Ling Lan may look like she has a hard heart, and she may do things with resolution, and have an extraordinarily high tolerance — but I know, Ling Lan's true self is passionate, and gentle ... she is compassionate, so the path suited for her should be the Fellowship Dao or the Benevolence Dao."

"I only know that the test she entered is for the Sovereign Dao," Number One told them about Ling Lan's current situation.

"What?!" yelled Number Five and Number Nine simultaneously in shock. They had never considered that Ling Lan would enter the test for the Sovereign Dao. Ling Lan had no sovereign-like thoughts at all — how could it be possible for her to pass this test?

Seeing the shock-pale faces of the two and their flustered appearance, Number One harrumphed coldly and said, "Entering the test for the Sovereign Dao, doesn't mean that she must definitely walk this Dao."

"But, it is typically very hard for anyone to jump out of the boundaries of the test and forge their own Dao." Number Nine had no confidence at all on this matter. Based off what she knew, there has not been a single child that had managed to make this step.

Number Nine's words caused Number One and Number Five to fall silent. They too knew that this was extremely difficult, and that Number One's words were mostly self-consolation.

"Perhaps, Ling Lan really can walk the path of the Sovereign Dao. It's not like every person who walks it has sovereign-like thoughts to begin with ... hehehe!" Number Five rambled on for a bit before he couldn't continue to lie to himself and the others anymore, and could only use fake laughter to fend off Number One and Number Nine's unimpressed cold stares.

It was true that sovereign thinking wasn't something innate, but a child would still have to have some instinctive greed on this front. For example, liking from young to be stronger by a head, taller by an inch, liking to show off, or even liking to take on leadership roles ... Ling Lan was truly lacking in this respect.

"I believe Ling Lan is not a typical person," said Number One finally after a long moment of silence. He believed that no matter if the Sovereign Dao suited Ling Lan or not, Ling Lan would definitely complete this test and find the Dao that truly belonged to her.

********

Ling Lan, who was still within the test mission, closed her eyes in silent contemplation. She heard the leader's countdown, and knew that if she didn't show herself, three lives would end right there, one of which was a babe who had not been long in this world.

"Kill them!" The leader's cry woke Ling Lan up, and she subconsciously took a step forward, revealing her silhouette.

"You finally appeared ..." Amidst the leader's wild laughter, his three subordinates who were holding onto the hostages firmly swung their sharp blades down ...

"Impulsiveness is a demon; the results are not nice." Ling Lan's gaze no longer wavered. Her split second falter had shown her the truth, making her realise that being soft-hearted was indeed a mistake. "But, holding back was an even bigger mistake. I might as well have just chosen to battle it out in blood from the start — exchanging a tooth for a tooth, and blood for blood was what I should have done."

Why did she have to control herself? Why did she have to worry so much? If she hadn't shown up, these villagers would still have died at the hands of these killers. In that case, she might as well have killed off all of these killers as soon as possible, and saved as many people as she could that way.

The choice was actually very simple. She didn't have to be a saintly matron or a benevolent hero — under the condition that her life was safe, she only needed to do whatever she could do with resolve. Hesitation would only cause her to sink deeper into more troublesome plights, just like what was happening now.

The main leader saw Ling Lan rushing forwards with an icy expression, and signalled for his subordinates to pull out five or six villagers, shouting, "Don't move, or else I'll kill them!"

"Do it. I will avenge them." Ling Lan's speed became even faster, and she lunged fiercely at the killer closest to her, blades swinging.

Seeing that the attacker wasn't fazed at all by his threats, the leader screamed in crazed anger, "Kill them! Kill them all!"

"Do it. I will also do the same and kill you all." The current Ling Lan had eyes like ice, and everywhere her hands fluttered by, a corpse was left behind amidst a spray of blood. Ling Lan did not dodge these blood splatters, and soon her sweet little face had been stained crimson with blood, which slowly fell from her face drip by drip. She looked just like a ghoul that had crawled out from hell, here to collect all the living souls from the area.

"Who the hell are you?" Finding that the villagers' lives were no deterrent to Ling Lan's slaughter, the leader was a little panicked. Ling Lan's killing method was quick and decisive, extremely efficient. Every swing of her arm took away yet another of his subordinates' lives — in short order, ten or so men had already died by her hand.

Chapter 95 - Cracking the Mission!

"A debt collector." Ling Lan's trench knife stabbed mercilessly into the heart of one of the subordinates, and blood once again stained her hair. As she leapt away to lunge at another, she didn't forget to leave this response behind.

Ling Lan's savagery caused the killers to have no time to bother with the villagers. They all lifted their weapons and charged at Ling Lan, preparing to surround her and attack her from all sides.

"I've wounded him!" shouted one of the thugs suddenly. There was still a trace of blood clinging to his weapon, but this was also his final achievement, for Ling Lan's dagger cut through his throat the next second.

"After striving for so long, I still couldn't avoid getting injured." Ling Lan looked at the cut on her shoulder area impassively. Though it was still bleeding sluggishly, Ling Lan did not retreat at all, seemingly not feeling any pain from the wound. She decisively swung her weapons around and thrust them at the next foe.

She had no wild hopes of killing all of these beastly scumbags without any injury to herself ... although she had considered at one point to complete the mission perfectly in such a way, which was why she had chosen to tolerate so much at the start. But that sort of toleration had made her feel unbearably frustrated and irritable, deeply uncomfortable. In contrast, though she had gotten injured, her current mood was extraordinarily light. She relished this sort of battle, this sensation of freedom.

This is the kind of battle I yearn for! No suppression or holding back, free to do whatever I want to do!

Yes, freedom is what I want!

Humans were resilient. As long as they were given a slim thread of survival, they would be able to unleash unimaginable power ... and the villagers who had been held captive here were no exception.

The tools the thugs had used to threaten them had finally been turned back against the thugs themselves, and Ling Lan's overwhelming strength and ferocity stoked the villagers' courage. Everyone there knew that if they didn't fight back, all that awaited them was death, and now that they had the hope of survival ...

For the sake of their husbands and wives, for the sake of their parents and relatives, and also for themselves, everyone in the village — whether male or female, young or old — took up weapons, determined to engage these criminals who had destroyed their happy homes in a battle to the death.

It was very difficult for regular people with low combat ability, like the villagers, to finish off these exceptionally strong killers. However, the villagers had already decided to risk everything, determined to die honourably even if they couldn't succeed. Just think about how many villagers there were — if one wasn't enough, then try two; if two wasn't enough, then try three.

This was no longer a game where the strong butchered the weak, but was now a horrific melee fight. Beside the body of every despicable killer, you could basically see a villager tangled up with him, almost inseparable.

This was how the villagers fought. Very simply, the elderly entrusted their hopes to the younger generation, rushing forward to pull a random killer into a death embrace — then, even if their chests were hacked into paste, they wouldn't let go. It had to be said that the latent reserves of humans were truly unfathomable — the strength of these old people before death became inexplicably horrifying, capable of rendering the killers completely immobile. Then, the second villager would rush forward, followed by the third, the fourth and so on ... until the opponent was dead.

The villagers' sudden fearlessness in the face of death shocked the killers; following the death of one killer after another, the remaining killers actually began to panic. In particular, once their greatest leader was successfully killed by Ling Lan, they could no longer control the fear in their hearts, and began fleeing like beaten dogs towards the outsides of the village.

Though Ling Lan tried her best, a few killers still managed to escape, making her feel a little disappointed. She had really wanted to end every single one of them here.

Although the killers were dead, this village was pretty much destroyed. Only 30% of the villagers had survived, with a majority being women and children, as well as a small number of young men. Almost all of the elderly had perished in that final clash.

Ling Lan didn't linger; she felt that it was inappropriate for her to remain in this village which needed to be rebuilt. The villagers were still in a stupor from their grief, and so did not notice when Ling Lan left.

"Benefactor, don't go," shouted the young man suddenly, rushing over with the rest of the villagers his team had rescued.

This shout seemed to awaken the villagers from their grief, and they all gathered around her, begging Ling Lan not to leave them.

Ling Lan did not look back, only replying coolly, "I ... am not your benefactor."

"No, you are. If you hadn't killed most of the killers, we wouldn't have been able to survive." Of course, the villagers didn't believe Ling Lan's words — if Ling Lan hadn't intervened, they wouldn't have been able to oppose the killers no matter how hard they tried.

"You've saved us. We are willing to acknowledge you as master." Perhaps the villagers were grateful, or perhaps they just needed the protection of someone strong, for the young man's suggestion was unequivocally approved — they were all willing to become Ling Lan's servants.

The villagers' words led Ling Lan to recall the image within the third panel of the mural. That protagonist had possessed countless subordinates — perhaps this was where he had started to amass power. According to the mission itinerary, she should just agree and continue to experience all the images within those six panels of the mural — perhaps then she would complete the mission.

Ling Lan fell into a contemplative silence, and then, just as she was about to speak up and agree, she abruptly remembered her mission description — to find the right evolution pathway for herself. If she just blindly followed the contents of the mural, would that be 'right'?

Ling Lan felt as if she had hit upon a key point. Back then, it was because she had noticed the difference between the protagonist's smile in the first panel and the sixth panel that she had been sucked into the mural ... in that case, could she take it as the protagonist's path of becoming a king and total domination being a mistake? So the main point of this mission was the term 'right'?

Ling Lan had the strong feeling that the answer was right before her, but there just happened to be a thin layer of paper still in the way ... the more she thought about it, the more confused she became, until she reached a point where she felt that her thoughts were a bit of a mess.

Ling Lan habitually sat down in a meditative pose and began circulating her Qi. After one circuit, the stray thoughts in her mind all disappeared, and things became clearer.

Ling Lan once again thought back to the earlier question, but this time she started chasing the thought from the beginning. It had all started because she had noticed that the smile in the first panel and the sixth panel were different ...

The smile in the first panel was sincere, innocent, and passionate, while the smile in the final panel had become fake, affected, and cold. This indicated that after the protagonist had gone through the experiences of the mural, he had changed from a pure-hearted youth into a dark and deceitful ruler. As he grew up, he had also lost his innocence ...

The right evolution pathway? A notion sparked through Ling Lan's mind. She suddenly thought — could it be that the learning space felt that the protagonist's choice to become a ruler was wrong?

No, no, no ... Ling Lan felt that there was something wrong with this assumption; perhaps there was still some deeper meaning ... Ling Lan thought back to the countless other murals she had seen in the tunnel. Although they all depicted different things, with different forms and different content, they all had one point in common — their protagonists were all strong in a particular aspect.

This fit perfectly with the learning space's reason for existing. Cultivating its host to become strong was the only calling of the learning space, so regardless of which path of strength the host decided to pursue, the learning space would not restrict its host, but was rather happy to provide support. Thus, there was absolutely nothing wrong if the protagonist in the mural decided to become a king who liked to expand his territory.

Then, the problem might be with the protagonist's mental state — could the loss of self be what the learning space really disapproved of?

At this thought, Ling Lan felt as if she had opened a door that had originally been sealed up tight, bringing in a sea of light. All the conundrums she had before had been answered.

Ling Lan thought to herself: although the protagonist managed to become a king, he lost the sincerity and passion he had in the beginning, losing his true self. The mission this time may very well be for me to understand my true self, and figure out what my true thoughts are ...

I want to possess a healthy body, I want to live freely, I want to do whatever I want to do without worry. I don't want to see any sinister plots, and I don't want to be controlled. I want to make a few close friends and bosom buddies, and raise an exceptional baby. Yes, I hate troublesome things, and I don't want to be tied down ...

Ling Lan abruptly opened her eyes, stood up to face the young man waiting patiently by her side and said firmly, "I refuse!"

"Why?" cried the young man sadly. His entire expression actually twisted, and his gaze was resentful.

"Your fates rest in your own hands. What does it have to do with me?" Ling Lan said impassively. This was truly spoken from her heart. "Why should I take care of you all? Why should I bear your responsibilities? No one can force me to do what I don't want to do, no one."

"Then why did you save us? You might as well have let us die at the hands of those people." The young man burst into tears, and all the villagers also started crying. Even the sky started to weep rain, as if unsatisfied with Ling Lan's heartlessness.

"To save or not to save is my choice, to die or not to die is yours ..." Ling Lan threw down this final statement, and then immediately turned to walk away, no hesitation at all in her demeanour.

In that moment, Ling Lan had made her decision. She wanted to be a free spirit, and do whatever she wanted to do. She didn't want to live according to the world's rules of right and wrong, and restrict her own movements that way.

Gradually, Ling Lan left that blood-stained village further and further behind, coming to a desolate hillside of yellow soil. Ling Lan didn't know if her choice was the right one, but she regretted nothing. Instead, her heart was light, because the mission this time had let her reaffirm the path she wanted to walk. So that she wouldn't be tied down, so that she could live freely, so that she could give birth to an absolutely exceptional baby — she needed to become much stronger!

Just as Ling Lan was about to unleash a scream to vent the pent up emotions in her heart, a black vortex suddenly appeared once again before her eyes, pulling her inside it in an instant.

F*ck, again?! Ling Lan only had enough time to say that before she was entirely devoured by the black vortex.

The tall slope of yellow soil once more subsided into silence, just as if Ling Lan had never been there.

********

Alone in his space, Number One was sitting cross-legged in contemplation when his mind flickered, and then he abruptly disappeared. At the same time, with joyful faces, Number Five and Number Nine also disappeared from within their own spaces, and the three of them appeared together before the gates of the test of Dao.

Very quickly, a black vortex appeared before them, and then a small figure dropped out from it.

Ling Lan calmly adjusted her posture in the air, and then landed safely on her feet.

"Ling Lan, congratulations, you have passed," said Instructor Number One coolly.

Number Five and Number Nine shared a glance, subtle knowing smiles on the corners of their lips. Number One's true emotions were not as calm as his appearance would suggest.