Chapter 25 — The Talisman Painter Who Guards the Village

The Night the Demon Tide Returned

The continuous tapping of the bamboo gong tore through the night, different from the usual steady rhythm of tapping the watch - intense, panicky, enough to wake up the entire sleeping village in just a split second.

Diệp Sương jumped up from the cot, her heart pounding as she immediately felt a stream of chaotic energy rushing into her chest, much stronger than the feeling she had sensed at the well of Linh Căn temple the night before. The jade pendant in her pocket was unusually warm, as if resonating with something moving violently outside, and she instinctively grasped it tightly.

"What's up?" Âu Bội Nhi jumped up in panic, her hands trembling as she searched for her luggage.

Before he could answer, the guest house door opened, Nhiêu Bá Tường stood there, his face extremely tense. "Demons are pouring from the eastern direction of the forest, approaching the village perimeter! All disciples gather immediately, the villagers evacuate to the communal house according to the discussed plan!"

*

When Diệp Sương ran out to the communal-house yard, the sight before her made the blood in her body freeze. Dozens of dark shadows moved nimbly between the trees, chaotic growls echoed through the clearing, and beyond them a strange purplish halo flared faintly on the horizon—not as bright as Vân Tiêu's night, but enough to show that this was no small attack.

"Much more crowded than last time," Đình Khôi said, his voice trembling, his hand tightening his grip on the charm pen. "This isn't just a few strays, this is a real demon tide."

Chief Lý Đoài, true to his promise, had organized a guard force in advance, and now the young men in the village were rushing to lead the elderly and children into the communal house, which had been reinforced with new protective talismans that Diệp Sương and her teammates had drawn over the past two days.

"Group one follows me and blocks the east gate!" Nhiêu Bá Tường shouted loudly, dividing his forces quickly. "Diệp Sương, Âu Bội Nhi, you hold the perimeter with the villagers, protecting the retreat to the communal house. Don't recklessly rush to the front line!"

Diệp Sương nodded, but her eyes had already scanned the panicked crowd, looking for familiar faces—Mrs. Chín Lài was being helped by a neighbor, Mr. Tám Mực walked more slowly than his age, and farther away Mộc was trying to push open a heavy wooden door to block the entrance to a house, while Cái Mận hugged several small neighborhood children tightly, her face white with fear.

*

The first demon appeared at the edge of the village perimeter only a few minutes later — a hybrid between a wolf and a reptile, skin covered with dull black scales, eyes glowing pale green in the darkness, moving at such a speed that it was difficult to react in time.

"Careful!" Diệp Sương shouted when she saw the animal rushing straight towards a group of villagers running to the communal house. Her hand had already raised a shorthand talisman prepared in advance and thrown it straight into the animal's path.

The light flared up, creating a temporary barrier, enough for the beast to pause for a moment, growling madly but unable to penetrate. Enough time for the group of villagers to rush through the communal house gate safely.

"Are you okay?" Âu Bội Nhi shouted, busy dealing with another animal that was trying to rush through the gap between the two houses.

"Fine!" Diệp Sương replied, but her hands were shaking because the spirit ink was being consumed too quickly. She knew that at this rate, the spirit ink she was carrying would not last until dawn, let alone until reinforcements from the sect arrived—they were still at least a day away.

*

The battle dragged on, each passing minute felt like an hour. Nhiêu Bá Tường and the group of disciples at the east gate were struggling with a larger group of demons. The sound of metal collision and roar mixed together to create a terrifying chaotic harmony.

Diệp Sương, while trying to draw an additional protective talisman for the area near the communal house, suddenly heard a familiar scream from behind - Cái Mận was trying to pull the two children to run towards the communal house, but a smaller, more agile monster cut across the path, blocking the three in the middle of a narrow alley.

Without thinking, Diệp Sương rushed forward and reached for the bowl of ink at her waist, with no time to mix it carefully as usual. She knelt in the middle of the alley and drew a sharp curve on the ground—not an attack talisman, but a simple one she had learned to transform quickly during Nhiêu Bá Tường's emergency training after the night at Vân Tiêu.

A beam of light flared beneath the monster's feet, making it retreat in panic and giving Diệp Sương enough time to rush forward and pull all three people—Cái Mận and the two children—behind her.

"Run into the pavilion now!" it shouted, pushing them towards the open pavilion gate, while turning back to face the growling demon, preparing to attack again.

*

"Frost! Watch out!"

Âu Bội Nhi's scream rang out just as another monster, much larger, suddenly rushed out from a hidden corner behind it. Diệp Sương turned around, but it was too late to avoid it completely - a slap from a sharp claw grazed its shoulder, tearing off a piece of its robe, leaving a streak of hot blood that spread quickly on its skin.

The sharp pain caused him to stagger, but not fall. He gritted his teeth, still holding the pen tightly, finishing the talisman he was drawing right on the ground, just as the little monster in front of him rushed forward a second time.

The light from the newly completed talisman flared up stronger than expected, pushing the beast back a few steps, enough for one of the village men to rush forward with a spear, coordinating with it to put the animal in a corner, forcing it to retreat toward the forest.

"Are you okay?" the young man asked, panting, looking worriedly at the wound on Diệp Sương's shoulder.

"It's okay," he replied, even though the pain was still sharp, "it's just a scratch on the skin. There are many people who need help more than me right now." The young man nodded, picked up the spear, then hurriedly ran towards another scream that rang out from the other end of the neighborhood. Diệp Sương stood still for a moment, tore a piece of cloth from the torn hem of her robe, and temporarily wrapped it around the wound on her shoulder. She gritted her teeth so as not to let out a moan while there were many other people who needed help more.

She looked around, trying to re-frame the overall scene of the battle in her mind the way she had learned to observe the battlefield through Thanh Việt's stories during the nights on duty at Cảnh Linh Đài - not looking at each individual animal, but looking at the general flow of the entire battlefield, where the defense force was being stretched thin at too many points at the same time.

"Âu Bội Nhi!" she called out, running towards where Âu Bội Nhi had just repelled another demon, panting heavily. "You keep the inner circle with the villagers, don't leave the communal area. I need to go check somewhere."

"Where are you going at this time?" Âu Bội Nhi panicked and grabbed her friend's hand.

"Linh Căn Temple," Diệp Sương replied, her voice resolute. "If the weakest Linh Mạch flow is there, perhaps that is also where this demon tide is being sucked towards, like water flowing into a depression. If I can do something there, maybe it will relieve the pressure on the whole village."

"What can you do alone?" Âu Bội Nhi still did not let go, her eyes full of worry.

"I don't know," Diệp Sương admitted, "but I can't stand here and watch this battle drag on until someone dies, while there's still an untried possibility."

*

From afar, the roar of the demon tide showed no signs of abating, even when Diệp Sương raised her head to look towards the purple halo of light on the horizon, she saw that the light was gradually spreading, not shrinking as she hoped.

"This is just the first wave," she muttered to herself, a cold premonition rising in her heart as she remembered Đình Khôi's words—the Linh Mạch flow here had weakened by nearly three-tenths, and if that was true, this demon tide might not stop overnight.

She looked towards the village communal house, where Mrs. Chín Lài, Mr. Tám Mực, Mộc and Cái Mận along with hundreds of other villagers were sheltering behind the fragile talismans that she and her teammates had just reinforced, then looked at Nhiêu Bá Tường who was still fighting non-stop at the east gate, his strength clearly starting to run out.

A bold, dangerous thought began to form in Diệp Sương's mind - if the single talisman wasn't enough to hold on, perhaps she needed something bigger, something no one at the sect had ever taught her, but it was also the only thing she believed she could do right now, in the middle of the darkness that covered her homeland.

She tightened her grip on the pen in her hand that was shaking from fatigue, took a deep breath, tried to suppress the pain in her shoulder into a small corner of her mind, then turned and ran towards the trail leading to Linh Căn temple, leaving behind the roar that had not stopped and Âu Bội Nhi's worried eyes followed her until her shadow completely disappeared behind the bamboo trees.