Can You Do It?

To put it simply, because the children of the Ming family came from a cultivation clan, they possessed higher talent and better potential. They couldn't just be casually used as experimental fodder and thrown away.

The evil cultivators had to wait until their refinement techniques matured before using them.

This indicated that their current puppet-refining methods were not yet fully developed.

Or perhaps they didn't have complete control over Wen Tang yet, making them afraid to refine puppets that were too powerful, lest they all lose control.

In the end, it was merely speculation. Song Yao cast the thought aside.

Ming Ji suddenly hid the food in the middle behind his back, pushing the youngest child in his arms behind a rock. He hissed in a low voice, “Stop eating! Someone's coming!”

Two respectful cries of “Sect Leader” rang out from outside, followed immediately by the appearance of a black-robed figure.

A gruff voice echoed. “Pisses me off! A useless waste of space, only daring to act all high and mighty in front of me!”

“Undo the restriction! I'm in a foul mood right now, and today I'm going to teach these reckless things who dared to run away a proper lesson!”

The children instantly paled with fear, scrambling to hide in the corners, trembling one and all.

As the restriction was undone, a tall figure stormed inside aggressively.

The light in the cave instantly dimmed by several degrees, and even the air seemed to grow much thinner.

Song Yao's eyes darkened slightly as she recognized the newcomer at a glance.

Mo Xu.

The Young Master of Black Cloud Mountain.

She had been here twice before, and each time she had teased this Mo Xu half to death, leaving him furious yet utterly helpless.

He must hate her to the core.

But now he had actually succeeded to the position of Sect Leader?

Had the old sect leader died?

Mo Xu's gloomy gaze swept over the children. When his eyes landed on Song Yao, he froze, an undisguised look of amazement flashing in his eyes. “Yo, since when did the Ming family prisoners hide such a little beauty? How come I didn't see her when I inspected the dungeon earlier?”

He had been speaking normally just a second ago, but in the next instant, his face suddenly contorted. He grabbed Ming Ji by the collar, lifting him into the air with sheer hostility. “You sure hid her well! Keeping such a stunner to yourself without introducing her to me?! What, is she your sweetheart?!”

Ming Ji's breath caught as he was choked. He glared back coldly, his eyes sharp and fierce.

Like a little wolf pup.

Mo Xu was actually startled for a moment by his imposing gaze. In the next instant, shame turned to rage. He raised a heavy fist and smashed it hard into Ming Ji's face.

Unable to withstand the force, Ming Ji stumbled and crashed into the pile of children, his mouth instantly filling with blood.

The children scrambled to surround him, frantically helping him up as they cried out in fear, “Third Brother!”

The infant wrapped in swaddling clothes in the corner was even more frightened, wailing loudly.

Irritated further by the noise, Mo Xu noticed the crumbs of food on the ground. He casually grabbed a thin child next to him. “Who allowed you to hoard food! I'll rip out your tongues one by one today! Let's see if you dare do it again!”

The child's face turned deathly pale, his chin gripped tightly in Mo Xu's hand.

Just as he reached out to pull, he thought of something and turned to look at Song Yao. A wretched, wicked grin appeared on his face, full of insolence. “Don't worry, this Sect Leader will make sure to preserve your tongue well. I'll need it to serve me...”

His vulgar words cut off abruptly the moment a jade hairpin flew from Song Yao's hand.

A cold light flashed, and the sharp tip of the hairpin pierced through Mo Xu's cheek, pinning itself firmly into the stone wall along with a spray of fresh blood.

Bright red drops of blood slowly dripped down the jade hairpin.

Mo Xu froze in place, his face a bloody mess. The piercing pain dazed him for a second before he clutched his face and collapsed to the ground, screaming and wailing in agony. “Aaaah!!!”

“My face! My face!!”

“It hurts like hell!!”

“Aaaah, someone come quickly!”

“It hurts!!”

The surrounding children were all stunned by this sudden turn of events.

Only Song Yao stood up, looking down with a silent sigh.

She had originally planned to use her wits instead of resorting to violence.

But who would have thought this Mo Xu would be so shameless as to rip out people's tongues?

How would they eat without their tongues?

She walked over unhurriedly, squatted in front of Ming Ji, and tilted her head. “Are you alright? Does it hurt?”

The bones in Ming Ji's face were likely dislocated by that punch. He struggled to raise his eyes to meet her warm, calm gaze, stammering slightly for some reason. “No, I'm fine. I'm okay.”

Song Yao handed him a small vial of medicinal powder. “If you're fine, apply some medicine and stand up. If there's an opportunity later, take your younger brothers and sisters out of here. Can you do it?”

Ming Ji reached out to take it subconsciously. “I—I can.”

Only then did Song Yao smile at him. “Good. I'm going out to fight now. I probably won't die, but if I do, you'll have to find a way to escape on your own.”

A chaotic clamor erupted outside as two evil cultivators rushed in, wielding long sabers.

The children shrieked in terror, only to see a flash of green light behind Song Yao. With a single slash of her sword, the evil cultivators shrieked miserably and were sent flying backward.

The Bishui Sword returned to her hand.

Her eyes curved into crescents. She tapped her finger lightly against his forehead to clear his mind. “The Mist Realm isn't hard to navigate. Don't look with your eyes, and don't listen to the voices in your ears. Just walk in a straight line and you'll get out. The closer you get to the outskirts, the younger the trees will be. If you get lost, find a place to hide. If you manage to escape, go straight to the Nine Saints Hall for help. Don't mention that I'm here; just tell them about the situation.”

With that, she withdrew her hand, turned around, and dragged the still-howling Mo Xu leisurely out of the cave.

The cave fell silent for a moment.

Ming Ji and the older children beside him looked at each other in bewilderment.

What did she just say?

She probably won't die?!

What kind of reassurance was that!

Their cousin had said that her master was very unique. They hadn't understood what made her so unique before, but now they seemed to get it...

Snapping back to his senses, Ming Ji poured out some medicinal powder and rubbed it onto his face. He pulled the infant out from behind the rock, handed the baby to one of the children to look after, and hastily crawled to the edge of the cave to peer outside.

A large crowd of evil cultivators poured in from all directions, instantly surrounding the cave entrance so tightly that not even a drop of water could trickle through.

When they saw Mo Xu lying on the ground in a bloody mess, their faces turned livid, and their eyes grew vicious.

A black-robed elder spoke in a sinister, shrill voice, barely suppressing his rage. “To dare injure our Sect Leader on Black Cloud Mountain's territory—just who are you??”

Song Yao held two fingers before her chest, letting the Bishui Sword float in the air as she smiled. “Come on, then. Win against me, and I'll tell you.”

“How utterly arrogant!”

Greed flickered in the black-robed elder's eyes as he sneered coldly. “So young, yet with such excellent spiritual root talent. You're prime material to be refined into a high-grade puppet! Once you're a puppet, you'll naturally tell us everything obediently! Move! I want her captured alive! Hall Master Ye will surely reward us for a puppet with such qualifications!”

As soon as his voice fell, dozens of dark figures pounced from all directions.

Black mist instantly flooded the area, accompanied by a gust of foul wind, swallowing the light at the cave entrance until only a thin line of pale gray remained.

Song Yao leaped gracefully into the air, hovering several yards above the ground. With a light flick of her finger, the Bishui Sword vibrated violently and unsheathed itself, its emerald-green sword light suddenly splitting into dozens of sword shadows.