Unfortunately, no one paid attention to her anymore. A head covered in green mucus hung from Song Yueling's body, and her neck was still connected to the head that had just exploded. The monster staggered towards Song Chaoyun. As it moved, the ground produced a harsh noise.
"Save me, don't come over, don't come over! I am the young master of the Song family. You can't kill me, you can't…" Song Chaoyun, a big man, was so frightened by the monster that tears streamed down his face. Even a pool of unidentified liquid appeared on the ground.
The monster didn't care what he was and grabbed Song Chaoyun's shoulders with its fish-scale-covered hands. Its big mouth, full of green mucus, relentlessly approached Song Chaoyun's face. Song Chaoyun struggled incessantly, but the monster's mouth was faster. With a scream, most of the flesh on Song Chaoyun's face was bitten off, revealing a blood-red face that was quickly devoured by the monster.
Song Weizhi watched the scene unfold while considering if she could exchange for a useful weapon with the system. At this moment, she dared not exchange for a blind box, fearing it would be filled with spirit stones, leaving her with no last line of defense.
She summoned the system in her mind, "System, what can I get with my 600 points to deal with this thing?"
[Hello, host. Based on the current situation and your point balance, the system recommends exchanging for a recoilless cannon with armor-piercing shells. The cost for this item is 600 points, and the system will provide 10 armor-piercing shells for free. Any additional shells beyond 10 will require 10 points each. Does the host wish to proceed with the exchange?] The mechanical voice of the system echoed.
With gritted teeth, Song Weizhi said in her mind, "Fine, let's go ahead and exchange."
[Congratulations, host, on successfully exchanging for the recoilless cannon with the 10 complimentary armor-piercing shells. You have spent 600 points, and your remaining balance is 60 points.]
Seeing Song Weizhi looking disheartened, the system continued, [Host, do not be discouraged. Successfully overcoming this mystery will also bring corresponding point rewards. The point rewards are unknown and will be provided after the host completes the task.]
Song Weizhi thought about it and found it reasonable. Without resolving the mystery, nobody would survive.
At this moment, the remaining Song family disciples could barely run. Someone spoke up, "Run towards Senior Sister's direction; they have weapons on them. Senior Sister, help!"
With that, the seven or eight remaining disciples ran desperately towards Song Weizhi. She was infuriated at their audacity. If she had enough bullets, she wanted to take care of these disciples as well. It's not that she was heartless, but these disciples were not good people. They always thought of using others as shields when in trouble. Where would there be such a good outcome?
"Ignore them, run." Song Weizhi pulled Song Zhixia's hand and ran to the other side. Xu Wenyan and Liang Qin followed closely.
Unfortunately, Zhao Xuankun and his group hesitated. Zhao couldn't bring himself to ignore it, and in that moment of hesitation, several monsters had already surrounded them.
Zhao Xuankun and his three companions, along with the seven or eight inner disciples, had no choice but to resist. Seeing the situation from afar, Xu Wenyan and the others felt a bit uneasy. They asked Song Weizhi, "Senior Sister, should we go over and help? After all, we're from the same family."
Song Weizhi glanced at the two of them coldly and said, "Do as you like; if you want to go, go by yourselves. I won't go. I'm not some savior. I've already given weapons to Zhao Xuankun and the others for self-defense. I can't save everyone."
After hesitating for a while, Xu Wenyan still joined Liang Qin in going over to help. Song Weizhi pulled Song Zhixia and ran a bit farther before stopping. She turned to Song Zhixia and asked, "Do you think I'm heartless?"
Song Zhixia shook her head slightly, tightened her grip on Song Weizhi's hand, and said, "Senior Sister is not heartless; it's their behavior that came first. Besides, Senior Sister is right. Even if you save them, they might not necessarily be grateful. I don't want Senior Sister to take risks."
"Alright, let's wait here for a while and see what happens," Song Weizhi said, resting with Song Zhixia.
On the other side, with the addition of Xu Wenyan, Zhao Xuankun's group unexpectedly turned the tide. Several of them seized the monsters' arms, while another one was responsible for chopping off their heads. In no time, they managed to deal with all six monsters.
The exhausted group of people sat on the ground to rest. Seeing the firelight coming from Song Weizhi's direction, some disciples began to complain:
"Hey, our Song family disciples didn't come to help, and it was Senior Brother Zhao who came to our aid. Just thinking about it makes me feel ashamed."
"Exactly, Senior Sister just watched us almost die for nothing. We've called her Senior Sister for so many years."
"So heartless. We almost died just now, and Senior Brother Zhao came to our rescue out of righteousness."
Hearing these complaints, Xu Wenyan couldn't hold back any longer. "If you hadn't followed Song Chaoyun to slander Senior Sister just now, Senior Sister wouldn't have acted like this. You accused Senior Sister falsely, and now, when you're in danger, you still want Senior Sister to save you. How can you always expect good things?"
"I'm telling the truth. Protecting Junior Brothers and Sisters is what Senior Sister should do, right?"
"That's right. Don't think Senior Sister will protect you just because you follow her. Look at you two coming over to help now, so dangerous. Senior Sister never had the intention to come over."
"You…" Xu Wenyan wanted to go over and reprimand those disciples but was stopped by Liang Qin.
"Let it go. No need to argue with them. I think our presence here is unnecessary." Liang Qin pulled Xu Wenyan towards Song Weizhi.
"That Senior Brother Zhao, I wonder if you could give us a knife each for self-defense? We, eight brothers, are unarmed. Senior Brother Zhao, could you show some kindness?" one of them said, and the rest of the disciples joined in.
"Yeah, Senior Brother Zhao, with our numbers, we can protect you."
"That's right. We're from the same sect. Senior Sister ignores us, can't you help us out?"
"Exactly, exactly."
Behind, the eight people almost surrounded Zhao Xuankun. Zhao Xuankun wasn't foolish; he knew that if he didn't give them a knife, they might turn against him.
Reluctantly, he handed over his knife. The Song family disciples were overjoyed to finally have a knife. They immediately thanked Zhao Xuankun, who regretted staying back to save them. He quickly went towards Song Weizhi, and the Song family disciples followed suit.
When Xu Wenyan and the others returned to Song Weizhi, they felt awkward and didn't know what to do. Song Weizhi's voice then echoed, "I have no authority to interfere with what you want to do. Just one thing, if you want to go to your death, don't drag us into it." She didn't want to be some saint who saved everyone at any time.
Xu Wenyan and Liang Qin nodded awkwardly.
Soon, Zhao Xuankun and the others arrived, followed by the eight Song family disciples. Song Weizhi glanced at Zhao Xuankun, noticing his missing knife. Among the eight Song family disciples, one of them had a knife. Song Weizhi couldn't help but smirk.
"Oh, Brother Zhao, where did your long knife go? Did you give it to someone else? It seems like Brother Zhao has the potential to be a saint."
Zhao Xuankun felt embarrassed. Although he didn't understand what a saint was, he felt it couldn't be a good term.
Some bold Song family disciples spoke up to Song Weizhi, "Senior Sister, you gave each outsider a knife. How about giving us one too? After all, you can get one easily."
Others chimed in, "Exactly, we can protect you. After all, a woman without qi is vulnerable."
"That's right, Senior Sister, I'll protect you, ensuring nothing happens to you."
"I'll protect Junior Sister Zhixia, hehe."
The seven or eight Song family disciples burst into laughter. In their eyes, Song Weizhi was just a paper tiger now. Despite her high cultivation level, she couldn't beat so many men barehanded.
Song Weizhi coldly snorted, "Indeed, I didn't misjudge you. All are just as disgusting as Song Chaoyun."
"Hiss, Song Weizhi, who are you calling disgusting? Calling you Senior Sister is just to give you a face. Do you still think you're the genius of Linhai City now? Let's have a one-on-one match. But if I touch something inappropriate, Senior Sister, don't mind."
"That's right, let's have a match, a match."
The clamor grew louder, and Zhao Xuankun and Xu Wenyan blocked in front of Song Weizhi. Their faces were not looking good, especially Xu Wenyan, who didn't expect fellow sect members who were usually dignified to behave like this.
"Brother Zhao, are you playing the hero saving the beauty? Either Senior Sister hands over the knife, or we can have a good match."
Amidst the ongoing arguments, a deep voice suddenly echoed from the lake. A giant, entirely black dragon gradually emerged from the water. The noisy disciples immediately fell silent.
"Let me see who disturbed my rest." The colossal dragon glared at the crowd, but when it saw Song Zhixia, it became excited.
"Xuan Niao? How can you be here? Hahaha, I never expected that one day, I could see you again." The dragon looked down at Song Zhixia.
Song Zhixia frowned slightly, "What Xuan Niao? I don't understand what you're saying."
Song Weizhi called the system in her mind to check the origin of the dragon.
Soon, a piece of text appeared on the system interface: [The scanned object is an ancient dragon, sealed in the Linlang Secret Realm during the ancient war. It carries a fragment of the Nine-Tailed Profound Phoenix Soul. It was one of the pursuers of the female protagonist in the ancient era, with an evil and lascivious nature.]
As soon as she heard about the Soul Fragment, Song Weizhi's spirit lifted. But hearing that this dark thing coveted her little girl, Song Weizhi couldn't feel happy.
Seeing that Song Zhixia didn't remember him, the dragon seemed even more delighted. It transformed into a tall, thin man dressed in black. With a smile in his eyes, he walked towards Song Zhixia.
Song Weizhi raised the gun in her hand, pointing it at the man, "Stay there and don't move."
The man didn't take Song Weizhi seriously and said, "I know Xuan Niao. We were Dao Companions in the ancient era. Xuan Niao's presence is incompatible with those around her; those around her always encounter various dangers. I believe you've felt it on your way here. Staying with me is the right choice. Here, you won't be bound by those rules, and Xuan Niao won't harm you anymore. Plus, I can safely send all of you out."