Don't Be Afraid, I'm Here

Kangning City is close to Jinlin City, making it the nearest city to the Demon Tribe territory at Dongting Lake.

Because of this, sounding an Orange Alert is a very ordinary occurrence for Kangning City.

With a large military force stationed in Kangning City, an Orange Alert poses little real danger to the city's safety.

Instead, it has a much greater impact on Hunter Mages who frequently operate in the wild.

Although the Orange Alert is the lowest level of warning, it still means at least a hundred demons have gathered near the city.

A hundred demons can still be held off by military forces, but for a Hunter Mage, it's practically a natural disaster.

That's why there are very few Hunter Mages in Kangning City.

Even Hunter Mages from other places are unwilling to come to Kangning City for missions.

Lingling had considered the alert issue before coming to Kangning City.

But the frequency of Orange Alerts in Kangning City isn't actually as high as outsiders imagine.

An Orange Alert is only sounded about once every one or two months.

What Lingling didn't expect was to be this unlucky.

It had only been three days since the last Orange Alert in Kangning City, yet today the alarm was sounded again.

Although Lingling is young, as a Hunter Master, she has long developed a calm demeanor in the face of danger.

But in essence, she is still just a little girl, and being alone in this kind of environment makes her feel very insecure.

"It's too late to go back to the city now. I hope these demons don't head in my direction."

Thinking this, Lingling looked towards the magical tools and equipment she carried, as well as the bottle of Dragon Power Pills that Dongfang Chen had given her last.

Seeing these things, she finally felt a bit more secure.

Unfortunately, the more a person fears trouble, the closer trouble draws near.

A few minutes later, Lingling felt low-frequency vibrations coming from the ground, and as time passed, the vibration frequency grew higher and higher.

"No way, are those demons really heading my way?"

Lingling poked her little head out of the tent and scanned the surroundings with binoculars for a while.

Sure enough, a group of cave demon slaves, holding bone clubs and resembling goblins, were surging in her direction.

Her heart sank.

If she had to pick the most hated demons, Lingling thought cave demon slaves would definitely be among them.

Because these demons not only love to eat humans, but they also usually torment their prey as much as possible before feeding.

Their methods of torment either involve skinning the victim alive or using their bone clubs to beat the prey into a bloody pulp!

At the thought of this, Lingling's face instantly turned pale.

She absolutely could not be discovered!

While these cave demon slaves were still some distance away, she had to prepare two contingency plans!

Three minutes later.

"Baaa!!!"

Sounds like sheep bleating came from afar, one after another.

Clearly, these cave demon slaves had discovered Lingling's tent!

Upon seeing traces of humans, the cave demon slaves let out excited cries.

They charged at the tent one after another, swinging their bone clubs.

The moment the first cave demon slave rushed toward the tent, a surge of magic energy erupted.

The barrier that Dongfang Chen had set up around the tent with magical tools activated instantly, and the surging magic energy sent the cave demon slave flying back.

This barrier was Lingling's trump card, capable of withstanding attacks from Commander Level demons for a short time.

But facing the sheer number of cave demon slaves, the barrier's magic energy reserves were rapidly depleting.

After holding out for a few minutes, with a bang!

The barrier vanished!

"Baaa!"

The many cave demon slaves immediately swung their bone clubs and smashed the tent to pieces.

But the next second, they froze.

There was no trace of any human inside the tent at all!

Because the clever Lingling had long since abandoned her tent and hidden alone in a swamp far away from it.

She knew very well that her tent would become the target of the demons' attack.

So she made a bold decision: to give up the tent and even the barrier around it!

As it turned out, Lingling's judgment was correct.

If she were still in the tent right now, she would have already been reduced to a bloody pulp.

To mask her human scent, Lingling abandoned all pretense of dignity. She gritted her teeth against the discomfort and hid in this not-too-deep spot, minimizing her breathing as much as possible.

Cave demon slaves had long lived in dark, damp environments—their hearing was exceptionally sharp.

Although the cave demon slave had missed its target, Lingling's crisis was far from over.

She had two plans left: either hide herself as best she could and wait for the cave demon slaves to leave, or fight these cave demon slaves head-on.

As for the idea of being rescued, Lingling had long since given up on that.

Dongfang Chen was too far away from her now; there was no way he could make it in time.

Or the Military Mages of Kangning City?

That was even less worth considering.

As long as these cave demon slaves showed no intention of attacking the city, the Military Department of Kangning City wouldn't intervene.

After all, there were so many demons in the surrounding area—if the Military Department acted every time a random Demon Tribe group drew near, they simply couldn't afford it.

Without any sense of security, Lingling silently prayed over and over for the cave demon slaves to leave quickly.

But just her luck—a lone cave demon slave actually walked toward the swamp she was hiding in!

This swamp wasn't too big, but it wasn't too small either.

To avoid exposing herself, Lingling took a deep breath and submerged her entire body into the swamp.

But as luck would have it, because cave demon slaves had hearing far beyond that of ordinary humans, the sound of Lingling's deep breath was picked up by it!

This lone cave demon slave walked to the edge of the swamp with a puzzled look on its face.

It had clearly heard an unusual noise just now, but after getting closer, it found nothing at all.

So it had no choice but to stick the bone club in its hand into the swamp and stir it around.

Beneath the swamp, Lingling had reached the limit of holding her breath.

Even though she knew she couldn't make a single sound right now, her body's physiological instinct from holding her breath so long made her involuntarily struggle.

And that one struggle was enough—the cave demon slave spotted its target.

!!!

Lingling knew she had been found.

Her exceptional composure drove her to burst out of the swamp in an instant, then swallow the Dragon Power Pill she had on her. She was going to fight this cave demon slave to the death!

As the pill went down, Lingling felt a scorching Medicinal Power flow through her muscles and Meridians.

At the same time, she felt as though her body had become much lighter.

Facing the cave demon slave, Lingling charged forward and swung her tiny fist. With just one punch, she knocked it flat to the ground!

Such immense power made Lingling's big, adorable eyes light up instantly.

With strength like this, she should be able to escape, right?

But the next second, the commotion from this spot caught the attention of the other cave demon slaves nearby. Those ugly creatures all let out strange howls and came rushing over.

Although the Dragon Power Pill had given Lingling tremendous strength, it couldn't let her defeat over a hundred of these cave demon slaves.

If she got surrounded, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Run—she had to run!

Without a moment's hesitation, Lingling bolted.

Her enhanced physical strength also gave her a decent speed.

But her body was still just an immature Little Girl's; she couldn't fully unleash the Dragon Power Pill's effects.

Her speed was noticeably faster than the cave demon slaves', but not by a huge margin.

At least in the short term, she couldn't shake off these demons.

On the contrary, as time passed, the Dragon Power Pill's effects were wearing off. Lingling's stamina began to dwindle, and a feeling of exhaustion and weakness crept into every muscle in her body.

With a "thud,"

her legs gave out from weakness, and Lingling crashed hard to the ground.

Her little nose was scraped raw, and her big, adorable eyes were now brimming with tears.

"Boo-hoo... am I... going to die..."

No matter how strong-willed Lingling was, she was still just a Little Girl. When the tightly wound string of her mind snapped, she was no different from any ordinary little girl.

Seeing the cave demon slave's bone club about to come down, Lingling instinctively closed her eyes and curled her body into a ball.

Just then, a gentle voice sounded in Lingling's ear.

"Don't be afraid. I'm here."

In an instant, a milky white flame ignited on the cave demon slave's body.

This cave demon slave didn't even have time to let out a scream before it turned into nothingness, not even a trace of ash left behind!