Forty Millenniums of Cultivation Chapter 3514: Side Story: city of trapped beasts (Ⅱ)
I am fully aware of the crisis in Leizhe City and understand my duties as a Hunter and a Cultivator. Colonel Huo, please issue your commands. I shall defend my oath and my honor with my life!
Excellent, Captain Yang. This portable crystal processor has been fitted with a high-performance tracking chip. I have already transmitted your position to every federal soldier and Cultivator in the vicinity. Help will arrive shortly!
Huo Shan’s voice grew louder. Your sole objective is to safeguard the owner of that portable crystal processor at any cost until reinforcements reach you. Is that understood?
Yang Yi’s eyebrows shot upward.
He observed the young girl with a gaze full of intrigue.
“Understood.”
Yang Yi offered no further words.
After a brief silence, Huo Shan added, “That girl is named Ding Lingdang. She can be considered my niece, but that is secondary. What truly matters is—”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The rolling thunder crashed down from the heavens once more.
The impact caused the very earth to tremble.
Massive sections of ruined walls began to crumble.
The mountain-like piles of debris fractured, exposing mangled limbs hidden beneath the wreckage.
The thunderstorm surrounding Leizhe City intensified as the natural energy spiraled into chaos.
The mystic rays flickering from the portable crystal processor grew erratic before the communication was severed by heavy interference.
Colonel Huo Shan’s final words were swallowed by the screaming winds and the shrieks of demon beasts.
Watching the mini light beam fade away, Yang Yi tilted his head in thought. He then fastened the portable crystal processor back onto the girl’s wrist.
“Wake up, Ding Lingdang.”
He adjusted his expression, forcing a reliable smile onto his face. “You are safe now!”
The girl possessed a monstrous level of strength.
It was peculiar.
While Ding Lingdang lay there with her eyes shut in quiet slumber, she appeared chubby and round, looking like a porcelain doll crafted with innocent charm.
Yet, the moment her eyes snapped open, two sparks deep within her pupils flickered incessantly, imbuing her with a valiant and spirited presence.
“This girl is incredibly tough!”
Yang Yi felt a surge of astonishment.
This "toughness" did not merely refer to her physical build.
Rather, it was the vibrant, surging vitality hidden deep within Ding Lingdang’s bone marrow.
Any normal person who had survived such a catastrophe and remained buried under rubble for half a day would be frail and panicked, even without serious injuries.
In contrast, Ding Lingdang’s pulse and breathing stabilized within seconds. They were powerful and rhythmic.
It felt as though a rugged, high-capacity old crystal reactor was pulsing inside her chest.
Processing this, Yang Yi waved his fingers in front of Ding Lingdang’s face.
“Do not be afraid. I am Yang Yi, a Hunter police officer from Nunwu City. Given the crisis, I have temporarily joined the federal military command. I am here to save you under the orders of Colonel Huo Shan from the 338th Special Combat Brigade of the Great Desolate War Zone.”
“Can you remember your name, your parents' identities, and what occurred just now?”
At the mention of ‘Colonel Huo Shan,’ Ding Lingdang’s eyes shimmered.
It was clear she recognized and trusted that name.
The girl’s mental state exceeded Yang Yi’s expectations. Her eyes were clouded for only a moment before she began to recall, “I... I came here with my mother for the opening of the Leizhe City defensive array.”
“My father is a refiner for the federal army and part of the array production team. He is always busy; I haven't seen him in nearly six months.”
“Before the ceremony, the array needed constant maintenance and tuning. Dad was working, and Mom ran into a friend. I got bored at the hotel, so I slipped out to see if there was a martial arts hall in the city where I could play.”
“Then... hiss... then the beast tide broke out!”
Ding Lingdang’s pupils instantly contracted to the size of pinpricks.
The memories came rushing back.
Yang Yi felt a pang of worry.
He feared the girl would be paralyzed by the horrific images in her mind, perhaps breaking down in tears or losing her grip on reality.
After all, Leizhe City had just been struck by one of the most gruesome disasters in the Tian Yuan Sector: a beast tide outbreak.
A flood of demon beasts from the Blood Demon Sector had poured into this new mining hub in the heart of the Grand Desolate Plateau via wormholes, obliterating everything in their path and slaughtering the residents and workers.
It was a landscape of gore and carnage so brutal that even a battle-hardened veteran might lose their mind upon seeing it.
Let alone a child barely in her teens.
To his surprise, Ding Lingdang grabbed Yang Yi’s shoulder and leaped to her feet.
“Was it truly a beast tide?”
As she surveyed the burning slaughterhouse around them, she showed none of the terror expected of her age. Instead, her shining eyes burned with an increasingly fierce light.
“Those bastards!”
Ding Lingdang, who looked no older than twelve or thirteen, shook her small, chubby fists. Her soot-covered face was twisted in rage. “Leizhe City was built with the blood and sweat of my father and his colleagues. These filthy demon beasts destroyed their hard work. I won't forgive them!”
“...”
Yang Yi was stunned. He glanced down at his shoulder.
He couldn't fathom how a young girl possessed the strength of a rhinoceros. Her grip was actually painful!
“You... little friend, do you still remember your name?”
Yang Yi asked tentatively.
He wondered if she was naturally this fierce or if the trauma had caused her to lose her senses.
“Oh, I’m Ding Lingdang. You can call me Little Ling, or just use my nickname, ‘Ding Lingdang’!”
Showing no fear of the stranger, Ding Lingdang looked at Yang Yi with glowing eyes. She even stretched her limbs and twisted her body to show him she was perfectly healthy and functional.
“Ding Lingdang?”
Yang Yi was confused. “That is a very unique nickname.”
“When I was little, other girls played with dolls or wore pretty clothes. I only cared about my father’s magical equipment parts and my mother’s weapons. I’d run around with scraps of metal and broken blades on my back, making a ‘tinkling’ sound. Eventually, everyone started calling me that.”
As she spoke, she seemed to process Yang Yi’s earlier introduction. Her large eyes widened further. “Uncle Yang, are you really a Hunter police officer?”
Yang Yi understood her reaction.
The Hunter police held a prestigious and specialized role within the Cultivation world.
Compared to the average citizen, a Cultivator was far more dangerous and mobile, excelling at evasion and disguise.
Consequently, when a Cultivator turned to crime, standard law enforcement struggled to track them down.
The only solution was the Hunter police—specialists who spent years studying, tracking, and capturing or neutralizing rogue Cultivators.
Their targets were the most dangerous fugitives.
Because these criminals were so cunning, a Hunter might spend months or years on a single case.
If the target fled across the world, the Hunter followed. If they hid in the most treacherous environments, the Hunter pursued them there.
It was a constant battle of strategy and willpower played out on a hidden stage far beyond the view of ordinary people.
In truth, this life was often tedious and grim.
However, popular media tended to romanticize the profession with flashy effects and heroic narratives.
They portrayed the Hunter police as a blend of a bounty hunter and a secret agent—a symbol of justice and a lone hero.
Naturally, it was the dream job of many youths aspiring to reach Foundation Establishment and beyond.
“Why, do you want to be a Hunter police officer too?” Yang Yi asked with a smile.
“I...”
Ding Lingdang paused.
The prestige of the role clearly appealed to her.
Yet, she shook her head.
“Maybe not. I heard it takes forever to catch one person. I don’t have that kind of patience.”
“But my parents have many Hunter friends. They have the same vibe as you, Uncle Yang—like lone wolves.”
“Wait, why did Uncle Huo send you to get me? Are my parents okay?”
Ding Lingdang checked the logs on her crystal processor, looking puzzled. “Why haven't I received any messages from them?”
“The thunderstorm.”
Yang Yi gestured to the chaotic sky.
Ding Lingdang was a child of the frontiers.
Having grown up in the Grand Desolate, she knew that a massive thunderstorm could wreak havoc on the local magnetic field. It was common for spiritual crane messages to be blocked by such interference.
She nodded, accepting the explanation without much worry.
“Oh no, I snuck out without telling them. With the beast tide happening, they must be terrified.”
Ding Lingdang’s face puckered with concern as she looked at Yang Yi. “Uncle Yang... can you help me get out of here?”
“Of course!”
Yang Yi gave a firm nod. “Ding Lingdang, I can see you aren't like other kids. I won't treat you like a helpless child who needs constant protection.”
“From this moment on, you are my partner. We are teammates who will fight together and never retreat.”
“Trust me. If we work as one, we will find Colonel Huo Shan and your parents in this mess.”
“But I have one rule. Until we are clear of this city, you must trust me completely and follow every order I give. Do you understand?”
“Understood! I will obey and finish the mission!”
For a girl of her age and temperament, nothing was more empowering than being treated as an equal by a respected adult.
Ignoring her bruises, she stood straight and delivered a crisp federal military salute, just as she had seen her father do.
“Very well, here is your first order!”
Yang Yi said sternly, “Stay right here and wait for the reinforcements. Get some rest!”
“Huh?”
Ding Lingdang, who had expected to charge into battle alongside the Hunter, immediately let her face fall in disappointment.