Chapter 20 — The Talisman Painter Who Guards the Village

Shaking Night Clouds

It happened at the hour of the Rat, when most of the Tông Vân Các had fallen asleep after many stressful days of preparation.

Diệp Sương was startled awake not by the sound of an alarm bell, but by a strange feeling that shot straight into her chest - exactly the same feeling she had in the open forest near Tùng Lĩnh Village years ago, but much stronger, as if the whole mountain beneath her feet was shivering slightly.

"Do you feel it too?" Âu Bội Nhi sat up, her voice trembling.

Before Diệp Sương could answer, the alarm bell rang throughout Tông Vân Các, this time much more urgent than the last time, accompanied by shouts and hurried footsteps from all the housing areas.

*

When the two ran out to the large yard, the scene before their eyes made Diệp Sương dumbfounded: from the direction of the western mountainside, where the ancient protective battlefield surrounding the foot of Vân Tiêu mountain was located, a strange purple halo of light was erupting in the middle of the night, and in the distance, the roar of not one but many creatures echoed at the same time, merging into a terrifying chaotic sound.

"All outer sect disciples immediately go to the shelter according to drill procedures!" an elder shouted loudly, trying to keep order amid the panicking crowd.

Diệp Sương kept searching the crowd with her eyes, trying to find Cố Thanh Việt's silhouette, but the crowd was too dense and chaotic for her to determine his location.

"Sương, let's go!" Âu Bội Nhi pulled her hand towards the entrance to the shelter, but Diệp Sương stopped, a fierce tug in her heart.

She remembered the night the village gate was torn apart, remembered the feeling of helplessness when Uncle Sáu was injured because she was not strong enough to protect everyone. She remembered Mrs. Chín Lài's advice: if you save people, save them well. And now, standing in the middle of a situation much bigger than what she had ever faced, that instinct once again emerged strongly.

"I can't go down to the basement," she said, her voice surprisingly final. "I have to see if I can help."

"Are you crazy?" Âu Bội Nhi was startled. "You're just an outer sect disciple, not yet qualified enough to—"

"I don't have time to explain," Diệp Sương interrupted, quickly grabbed his friend's hand and then let it go, turned around and ran against the stream of panicked people, towards the direction of the roar.

*

The ancient protective battlefield around the foot of Vân Tiêu mountain, when Diệp Sương arrived, was in a state of intense chaos. Dozens of elders and high-level inner sect disciples gathered here, using large suppression talismans to try to control a flock of demons that were pouring through a new crack that had appeared on the ancient battlefield, creatures with strange shapes, some like fire wolves, some like winged snakes, screaming and rushing at anyone who stood in their way.

"This is no place for outer sect disciples!" an elder shouted when he saw Diệp Sương appear, but he had no time to chase her away amid the chaos, only enough time to give her a warning look before returning to the fight.

Diệp Sương stood behind a large rock, her heart beating rapidly as she observed the entire battle scene. She realized immediately that the elders, although strong, had to spread their forces too thinly to seal the ever-widening rift, while the demons continued to pour out.

"Sương!"

She turned around and saw Cố Thanh Việt running towards her, holding a short sword in his hand and a few shorthand talismans tucked into his belt. His face was tense but his eyes still remained surprisingly calm.

"Aren't you going to the basement too?" she asked, although in this situation the question was somewhat redundant.

"I sense the direction the rift is spreading," he replied, not wasting any time on a meaningless question. "I think I can help the elders locate more accurately. What about you, do you have any plans?"

Diệp Sương looked towards the chaotic battlefield, an idea gradually formed in her mind - not a safe idea, but the only thing she could think of in this critical moment.

"My hybrid talisman," he said, "is not as suppressive as the standard sect talisman, but it can create a stable circle, like I did in White Stone Village, to reduce the pressure spreading from the rift. If you can pinpoint the weakest point of the rift, I will try to seal it from the inside, instead of just stopping the demons from the outside like the elders are doing."

Cố Thanh Việt looked at her for a moment, showing no signs of doubt even though the plan sounded reckless. "I trust you. Follow me."

*

The two of them wove through the chaotic battle. Cố Thanh Việt used his long sword to block the path of the small monsters rushing toward him, while Diệp Sương followed close behind, having prepared a bowl of hybrid ink from the ingredients she carried in the small cloth bag she had kept with her since Nhiêu Bá Tường's lesson.

"Here it is," Cố Thanh Việt stopped in front of a smaller crack, located slightly separate from the main hot spot where the elders were focusing on fighting. "I feel that this is the strongest pressure point, but it hasn't been noticed yet because of its small size. If we don't handle it promptly, I'm afraid it will soon become a second largest crack."

Diệp Sương knelt down in front of the crack, feeling the chaotic energy flowing from there, as hot as the breath of an angry animal. She closed her eyes, tried to remember the calm feeling she had practiced for many months, took a deep breath, and then began to draw.

Not a stroke of panic, pure instinct like the night the village gate tore open last year. This time, each brush stroke was purposeful, combining the standard technique learned from Nhiêu Bá Tường and the flexible intuition from Mr. Tám Mực — a harmony that had never been fully accomplished to this extent before.

Cố Thanh Việt stood in front, swinging his long sword to knock away two small monsters that rushed forward while she focused on drawing, occasionally shouting loudly to warn her of the dangerous direction he sensed and helping her adjust the drawing in time.

*

When the talisman was completed, a stream of silver-white light mixed with pale blue light burst out from the crack, not as intense as a normal talisman, but spread gently, covering the crack like a soft but sturdy protective membrane. The chaotic energy flow from the crack gradually calmed down, not completely disappearing, but enough to prevent it from spreading further.

"Success!" Cố Thanh Việt shouted, even though he was still vigilantly observing his surroundings.

But that joy only lasted for a moment. A loud roar rang out from behind, a monster larger than the others, its body a cross between a bear and a snake, suddenly appeared from a hidden corner, rushing straight towards the two of them.

Cố Thanh Việt reacted immediately, pushing Diệp Sương behind him, swinging his sword to fight, but the monster was too big, too strong for the strength of a lone outer sect disciple. A slap from a giant claw threw him far away, hitting a rock hard, causing him to collapse, a streak of blood on his forehead.

"Thanh Việt!" Diệp Sương shouted, rushing to support him, her hands trembling to check the wound.

The demon roared, preparing to charge for its next attack. Diệp Sương, with no time to think, no more ink in the bowl, acted the same way she had done once in her life — knelt down, dug her hand into the wet soil mixed with the remaining ink from the bowl she had just used, and drew, this time not to close a crack, but to create a direct protective shield for both of them.

*

Light burst out just as the demon rushed forward, narrowly blocking the attack. The beast roared in pain, took a few steps back, its bloodshot eyes staring at the light shield that had just appeared.

At that moment, a group of elders, including Tạ Vân Khê, promptly appeared, quickly controlled and pushed the large monster back towards the main crack, where most of the sect's forces were focusing their efforts on dealing with it.

"Are you two okay?" Tạ Vân Khê asked as soon as the battle around this area calmed down. Her eyes were both worried and somewhat surprised when she saw the talisman covering the small crack was still glowing steadily.

"Thanh Việt is injured," Diệp Sương replied, her voice still shaking. She continued to hold him tightly; he was awake now, but still dizzy.

"Take him to the pharmacist immediately," Tạ Vân Khê ordered a nearby disciple, then turned to look closely at the talisman Diệp Sương had just drawn, her eyes clearly showing undisguised shock.

*

When it was nearly dawn, the battle finally subsided, the demon herd was completely repelled, and the main crack was sealed by the elders with a large formation that mobilized collective strength. But when the first light of dawn shone on the protective battlefield, a worrying truth appeared clearly before everyone's eyes: most of the ancient structure of the battlefield, which had stood firm for hundreds of years, now revealed many interlaced cracks, some sections were almost completely ineffective.

“This doesn't make sense,” an elderly elder muttered, his hand trembling as he touched a cracked guard stone. "This battlefield is periodically reinforced and strictly inspected every year. It is impossible for it to weaken to this level overnight."

The elders looked at each other. In their eyes, Diệp Sương - standing not far away, hands still covered in dirt and dried ink, exhausted but still trying to stand - realized something far beyond the usual fear of a demon tide. It was a deeper confusion, as if they had just encountered a truth that none of them, no matter how experienced, were truly ready to face.

Tạ Vân Khê walked up to Diệp Sương and placed a hand on her shoulder, her eyes both proud and heavy with worry. "You have done very well tonight," she said softly, "better than many inner-sect disciples far more experienced than you. But I fear that what you have just witnessed—this unusual weakening of the field—is only the beginning of something much greater than the sect is prepared to face."

Diệp Sương looked towards the ruined battlefield, towards the elders who were speechless before an unsolved mystery, and in her heart, for the first time since setting foot on Vân Tiêu Peak, a cold question began to form, vague but persistent: if even the place considered the safest, Cửu Vân, can be weakened in such a mysterious way, then where is the truly safe place, and who is really guarding it?