Ye Shuhua sat beside her, gently held her daughter's cold hand, and pushed a cup of soothing hot tea in front of her. Her eyes were full of heartache and worry, but she said nothing. She knew that any words of comfort at this moment seemed pale, and her daughter needed to digest this cruel information by herself and make a decision.
"Alas," a sigh with a bit of exaggeration that was incompatible with the heavy atmosphere sounded from the other end of the long table. Yo-Yo was also sitting there at some point, and his huge body made the special chair look a bit pitiful.
He was holding a piece of roasted animal leg meat that he didn't know where he had come from, and was biting into it while shaking his head and mumbling vaguely. "Hey, dear, how long has it been before a 'big guy' has died? Or is it a sacrifice? I remember that Iron-Back Gray Wolf was quite down-to-earth, willing to fight hard, and not picky about food... What a pity, what a pity."
He smacked his lips, swallowed the last piece of meat, and wiped his greasy hands casually on the equally shiny trouser legs. Then he looked at Ye Qingning, and there seemed to be a hint of depth in his eyes that was inconsistent with his honest appearance. "But, Saintess Hall, don't take it too seriously.
Soul Beast Well, living in the deep mountains, old forests, and the abyss of the sea, when would you not put your head in your belt? Fighting, death, sacrifice... For many of them, it may be a kind of destination. At least, it is He died to protect the 'thing' he was supposed to protect, and he died like a wolf. Moreover, in the end, he was able to get a Soul Douluo backing him up, and he also awakened a bunch of 'brothers' to help with revenge. He won't lose anything, but he'll make a profit!"
What he said was straightforward and even a little vulgar, but it carried a cruel and realistic logic that belonged to the Soul Beast world. Ye Qingning glanced at him and did not refute, but the heaviness in his eyes did not diminish. She knew Yo-Yo's attitude towards Soul Beast, but she cannot regard death as just "no loss" or "blood gain" like them. Every life lost due to her decision-making, whether it is human or Soul Beast, is a heavy responsibility.
"How is the situation of the kid who was sacrificed, Su Rentong?" Ye Qingning turned to a deacon in charge of intelligence gathering.
The deacon quickly looked through the supplementary record attached to the emergency report, "Returning to Saintess, according to Heishan Town's latest summons, Su Rentong was promoted to level thirty-three due to the power of the sacrifice, Soul Power and received a piece of his right leg. Soul Bone is currently in stable condition, but due to the excessive impact, slightly in a trance, is recuperating and observing at the local stronghold. The incident of the third ring of Ten-Thousand-Year... has been strictly ordered not to be reported to the public for the time being. In addition, the parties Soul Beast who gathered yesterday, after confirming the death of the strong Shrek, dispersed one after another before dawn and returned to their respective stations. There is no abnormal behavior for the time being."
Ye Qingning nodded slightly, this may be a blessing in disguise. Su Rentong was a blessing in disguise, and Soul Beast restrained further acts of revenge. "Has Xuan Ye's identity been confirmed?"
"It has been preliminarily confirmed that it is indeed Shrek Academy, the retired elder of the inner court, Soul Douluo. Xuan Ye. I am afraid that news of his death will be sent back to Shrek soon. Do we... need to take the initiative to explain?"
Ye Qingning was silent for a moment and shook his head. "Explanation? How to explain? That our Soul Beast guardian killed him? Because he wanted to kill our liaison officer and Soul Beast, but was surrounded by other Soul Beast? Will Shrek believe it? Even if he believes it, will they accept it?"
She could almost predict how angry and hostile Shrek Academy would be when he learned that a Soul Douluo elder died in the "Soul Beast riot" and "Holy Sword" territory. The already fragile relationship might be made worse.
"This matter... is suppressed for the time being, but we need to be prepared. Send additional forces and secretly pay attention to the movements in the direction of Shrek." She finally gave the order.
"Yes."
The discussion came to an end for the time being, but Ye Qingning knew that the real storm might not come yet. She forced herself to withdraw from the tragedy of Heishan Town and turned her attention to another pile of files that had just been presented by several deacons responsible for statistical analysis. It was a detailed summary and analysis report of all recent attacks on "Soul Beast Guardians".
She picked up the summary at the top, and lines of cold numbers and conclusions came into view:
"Since the implementation of 'Soul Beast Border Protection Plan', there have been a total of 147 attacks on Soul Beast."
"Among them, there were 139 cases where the attackers were Evil Soul Master, and eight cases where the attackers were ordinary bandits or bandits."
"One hundred and thirty-nine Evil Soul Master attacks:"
"--The enemy's cultivation level is below Soul King: one hundred and twenty-one. Guardian Soul Beast successfully killed or repelled the enemy, with minor or no injuries. There were no casualties in the villagers, and the property damage was minor."
"--The enemy's cultivation level is at Soul Emperor level: fifteen. After fierce fighting, guard Soul Beast killed thirteen enemies and repelled two. Soul Beast himself suffered moderate to serious injuries in twelve cases and minor injuries in three cases. There were no direct casualties in the villagers, and the battle caused moderate property damage."
"--The enemy's cultivation level is at the Soul Saint level: three cases. One case, Soul Beast, fought to the death with the enemy; one case, Soul Beast was seriously injured and on the verge of death, and our was rushed to the scene in time. Rescued by the Soul Master team, Evil Soul Master was injured and escaped; along the way, Evil Soul Master saw that Soul Beast was powerful and did not dare to attack by force, but left after patrolling. There were no direct casualties in the villagers and serious property losses."
At the back of the report were detailed analyzes and suggestions, but Ye Qingning's eyes rested on the final conclusion boldly circled with a cinnabar pen:
"To sum up, based on the above data analysis and judgment, under the current contract framework and Soul Beast selection criteria, the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast guardians stationed have significant containment and elimination effects on Evil Soul Master harassment of Soul Saint and below levels, and can ensure the basic peace of the village."
"However, if you encounter a strong enemy of Soul Saint or above, the risk of guarding Soul Beast to respond independently is extremely high, and it is easy to suffer heavy casualties or even die together, and the aftermath of the battle will cause huge damage to the village."
"Vice versa." The last four words were listed separately, with solemn handwriting.
Vice versa.
Ye Qingning silently recited these four words. Yes, and vice versa. If the incoming enemy is so powerful that the guardian Soul Beast cannot deal with it independently, or even delay the arrival of reinforcements, then what awaits the villagers will be an unobstructed massacre.
The existence of Soul Beast, while resisting most small and medium-sized threats, may also cause the villagers and local defenses to slack off due to its aura of "powerful guardian". Once this "shield" is pierced by a more powerful "spear", the fragility behind it will be exposed.
Soul Beast Guardian is a double-edged sword. While it brings security, it also changes the shape and level of threats, and transfers part of the security responsibility to these "non-my kind" allies. The strength of allies determines the ceiling of security.
"Compile this analysis conclusion into a book and distribute it to the chiefs of each stronghold and all Soul Beast liaisons. Reaffirm the emergency plan and urge all localities not to relax their vigilance and defense construction because of the protection of Soul Beast."
Ye Qingning closed the file, and his voice returned to calmness, but with an unquestionable firmness, "At the same time, in my name, draft a new instruction: In the future, any new villages Soul Beast will protect, in addition to the original contract constraints, additional instructions must be clearly stated. Indeed, when encountering threats of Soul Saint and above, the primary responsibility of guarding Soul Beast shifts to 'early warning' and 'delay', and immediately seeking assistance from the nearest stronghold and headquarters, without forcing a life-and-death fight. The highest priority is to save the lives of the villagers."
"This..." One of the deacons hesitated, "Saintess, by stating this clearly, will it dampen the... fighting spirit of those Soul Beast? Moreover, 'there is no need to force a fight to the death', if they understand that they can retreat first if they are afraid of fighting..."
"Tell the truth." Ye Qingning interrupted him with clear eyes, "Frankness is the basis of cooperation. Tell them that we cherish every protective power and do not want unnecessary sacrifices. Their value lies not only in fighting to the death, but also in long-term existence and continuous protection. As for fighting spirit... I believe that those who can be selected as guardians have their wisdom and pride. They can understand what is a necessary sacrifice and what is a unnecessary death. Besides..."
She paused and looked out the window, where the faint shouts of the Soul Masters who were doing morning exercises could be heard.
"Besides, protecting the people is, after all, our 'Holy Sword', and I, Ye Qingning, have the most fundamental responsibility. We cannot and should not rely entirely on external forces. Soul Beast is an ally and a helper, but not a nanny, let alone a shield. We ourselves must... become stronger faster."
In the conference hall, everyone was in awe. Ye Qingning's words set the tone for this discussion based on the data. Acknowledge limitations, adjust strategies, clarify responsibilities, and strive for self-improvement.