The cries of battle behind her gradually faded away.
The sensation of loss was definitely uncomfortable, and it was all due to her memory.
She knew who she was, knew what she was going through, and knew what she had to do next.
The landscape captured by her eyes rapidly retreated from the person in question, along with the distinctive symphony of the battlefield.
Since a certain moment, the girl, who regained consciousness and felt perplexed, opened her eyes wide, and a thread of silver struggled to flow out from her tear ducts.
Why shed tears?
The girl named Cai meticulously calculated all the familiar family members.
From the giant with a body like a mountain to the mini demons in the shape of insects, they all appeared in her mind;
Whenever she thought of a face, Cai would speak up and ask the large dog carrying her.
"Is he safe?"
"Not only is he safe, but he also found shelter ahead of us!"
Cai asked the same question countless times, and the large dog answered with the same response, confirming the safety multiple times.
"Is big sister safe too?"
There was no response from the large dog to this final question, just a heavy nod.
There couldn't be a better answer than this, and Cai believed she could be at ease...
She should have been at ease in the first place!
For some reason, she felt a faint pain in her heart, as if forgetting someone.
While asking about all her family members, it seemed like she had deliberately cast aside the most important face to be buried in her memory.
The person represented by that face didn't leave a good impression on Cai.
That person was not gentle and, on the contrary, acted like a mischievous child, enjoying teasing others.
If someone were to be described as "wicked," that person would undoubtedly qualify.
People like that were not worth lamenting over, even if they faded from memory.
However, the pain in Cai's chest never ceased.
If her heart could crack open, the deep fissures that covered her mind would definitely be increasing.
She couldn't bear it any longer and wanted to change the current situation.
But how could she change it?
Moving forward meant life, going back meant death.
At this moment, the most important thing Cai needed to consider was leaving this place as soon as possible instead of wasting time staying put.
And even if she could change, who would she change for?
She tried to hold onto the lingering face in her mind, but she always failed.
Since memory had already declared that the so-called "forgotten person" didn't exist in this world, what was she clinging to at this moment?
The more reasons she thought of for denial, the more Cai decided not to think about it anymore.
She didn't give up on pursuing the "illusion" in her mind; she simply stopped thinking and let out a voice:
"Stop!"
The four paws that traversed thousands of meters of distance instinctively slowed down upon hearing the unexpected command;
The large dog was most afraid of Cai asking to stop. Although it obediently did so afterward, its rationality was still working, attempting to prevent Cai's inexplicable behavior.
"Don't do this. If I make one more effort, I can take you to a safe place and join everyone..."
"I don't want to join everyone. I want to return to the battlefield!"
"What are you saying?"
In an instant, the large dog doubted its keen hearing.
It turned its head unbelievably and looked at the girl sitting behind it. From her tear-stained face, there was no sign of joking.
The bad premonition came true.
The large dog couldn't ignore the request, so after a long silence, it had to listen to the sincere plea of the girl once again:
"I have a strong intuition that goes beyond memory. It keeps echoing in my heart, urging me to find someone."
"Who is that person?"
"The person I want to find is named 'Cai'."
The large dog couldn't understand and couldn't help but be sarcastic towards the girl:
"Are you trying to find yourself?"
"No! The little dog is referring to the kind-hearted nun from the past who is already dead. On the same day, a girl named Cai was born and gained a new life."
"Yeah, aren't you the girl who gained a new life?"
Cai shook her head. After her head stopped moving, there was a resoluteness and determination in her projecting eyes:
"I am not Cai. I am just the remnant spirit left by that nun. The real Cai is not here."
"Forgive me, I don't understand. Can you simplify it?"
"I am following the little dog and experiencing the process of 'going from being a human to a spirit'. Only by returning to that battlefield can I 'return' to the identity of Cai."
The nun and Cai, representing two different roles, can also be understood as two completely different people. The kind-hearted nun is submissive, biased against demons, and dislikes fighting. The one who knows how to resist, gets along with demons, and is willing to fight for her beliefs, is the Cai born through someone's salvation. Her will is extremely firm, showing an unwavering determination.
The large dog knows its limits and knows that it cannot shake Cai's determination, even if Hawky were here. However, it still needs to stop her, not because of disloyalty, but out of loyalty to its leader.
Imagine this:
When many demons reluctantly retreat and ask the leader to "promise to come back", what did the large dog do?
It did nothing.
Among the demons, only it accepted reality. It knows one thing best:
The leader will never come back!
It knows that the leader has chosen her final destination, but does not stop her. The reason is not because of disloyalty, but quite the opposite. The large dog does so to fulfill the last task the leader (owner) has to do. It chose to watch Wang go to the place of death.
Loyalty comes in many forms. It is common loyalty to stop someone when they are being foolish. It is rare and precious loyalty to know that someone is being foolish but not objecting, and even providing maximum convenience. It is because the large dog encountered a master whom it wanted to serve for the first time that it took Cai away from the battlefield and did the last task for the leader.
Faced with this almost dying wish, how could the large dog not do its best?
"You can't leave!"
Therefore, when Cai chose a certain fate based on her intuition, the large dog showed its stubbornness just as strongly. If Cai wanted to move forward, it would definitely use its four paws to rush ahead and block the way, panting heavily to make it clear:
"If you are determined and believe that there is no other way but to go back, then you have to step over me first!"
彩 saw it with her own eyes—the "Stone Lion" came to life right in front of her.
The ferocious appearance of the large dog, with its bared fangs and aggressive demeanor, was completely different from its usual obedient attitude. Its sharp teeth seemed to radiate a beastly aura as it moved.
It was clear that things had reached this point.
If 彩 didn't truly engage in a fight, she would not be able to return to the battlefield.
Two thoughts, both containing goodwill, inevitably clashed in the coming moments.
Immediately, the ground in front of 彩 cracked inch by inch;
The shadow of the opponent suddenly shot out from afar, moving at an imperceptible speed, and ruthlessly struck the target's location.
Boom, boom, boom, three muffled sounds rang out.
In an instinctive action, 彩 successfully evaded the incoming attack, but the large trees behind her were not so lucky.
When the momentum of the large dog's charge came to a slight pause, its previously straightened head, in the forward rush, consecutively knocked down three large trees.
Just by witnessing the damage inflicted on those plants, 彩 realized that she couldn't confront the opponent head-on.
Due to her mastery of sword techniques, 彩 excelled in skill-based fighting;
However, when it came to destructive power, she was no match for her opponent, for the large dog could be considered a "Batterfield Harvester-class" creature.
If direct confrontation didn't work, she would have to resort to tricks!
The large dog dug its paws into the ground a few times and then pounced suddenly.
Faced with the threat of defeat, 彩 abruptly raised her arm, her palm clenching the extended cross sword in her hand, and swung it forward.
Seeing that the opponent was preparing to counterattack, the large dog chose not to take any risks and quickly shifted its body, attempting to avoid the blade from the very beginning;
No matter how much advantage it had in terms of strength, it always adopted a strategy of both ferocity and caution, countering its opponent's moves.
Unfortunately, this time, it completely miscalculated!
The situation at that time was as follows:
The positions where the large dog and 彩 were standing belonged to two different directions when judged as a whole.
Therefore, when the large dog charged, 彩 also met it head-on, making a swinging motion with her sword midway.
In reality, 彩's sword swing was just a feint;
She noticed that the large dog slowed down its movements in order to avoid the sword, and took advantage of that momentary opportunity.
Seizing this chance, 彩 flipped her body and jumped onto the furry back, grabbing onto the large dog's neck with her left hand, exerting force.
This scene was much like a rider taming a warhorse, except that compared to horses with limited killing power, canine creatures with sharp teeth were evidently more difficult to provoke.
Realizing that it had been tricked, the large dog ran and jumped on level ground, several times trying to shake off the girl on its back, but with little success.
After all, 彩 was clutching onto the fur on the large dog's body, equivalent to a rider holding onto the reins of a horse—how easy could she be thrown off?
However, the large dog did come up with a solution.
Just as it had settled down for a moment, it suddenly sprinted at full speed.
In its swift gallop, 彩 watched as the large dog was about to crash into a tree ahead just like before;
Unexpectedly, at this moment, the large dog lifted its four paws and leapt over the tree.
Its sharp claws plunged deep into the tree bark, preventing its own heavy body from falling down;
The large dog exerted several efforts, rushing straight up the trunk, and before long, it reached the surface of the forked tree branches.
It had reached a height it had never reached before, and with a powerful push from its claws, it jumped up high, its body quickly rotating in mid-air, completing a 360-degree loop in the void.
Due to the strong and intense movement, Cai lost control of her balance for a moment and fell backwards towards the ground while spinning.
