Chapter 35 Pasfia (Part Two) Xu Lingzhao's Past (Part Two)...
Early the next morning.
Warm sunlight streamed through the window onto Xu Lingzhao's face. Matriarch, dressed in clothes that allowed for easy movement, sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook her shoulders. Finding no sign of her waking up, Matriarch smiled and pinched Xu Lingzhao's nose between her thumb and forefinger.
A moment later, Xu Lingzhao's long eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes in a daze, breathing heavily as she looked at Matriarch.
He put his hand on her nose, and she cried out, "Mommy, I'm awake!"
Matriarch smiled and gently patted her soft hair: "Get up now that you're awake, don't be late or the priestess will be angry. Mom will braid your hair."
Xu Lingzhao sat sleepily in the chair eating honey pastries, letting Matriarch mess with her hair until she said, "Okay, you lazybones."
Just as she was about to jump off the chair and leave, Matriarch pressed her shoulder, his tone slightly serious: "Basilissa, you can't run around like that anymore. It's dangerous now, you know?"
Sensing the seriousness in Matriarch's tone, Xu Lingzhao nodded earnestly to indicate that she understood, then pushed open the door and went out. As soon as she stepped out, she saw that Luna was already waiting for her in the corridor.
Xu Lingzhao jogged over: "Luna, why are you here so early today? I'm usually the one who comes to find you."
Luna pouted, her tone earnest, "I'm sorry, Basilissa, I'm the one who dragged you down. Otherwise, yesterday..." Before she could finish, Xu Lingzhao covered her mouth with her small hand, shaking her head seriously, "Don't put all the blame on yourself. I wanted to go too." She then changed the subject with a sweet smile, "Let's not think about that! Let's go to school!"
"Okay!" Luna was infected by Xu Lingzhao's smile. The two little girls held hands and headed to the school. Along the way, Xu Lingzhao saw that Mrs. Ella, who usually liked to sit under the pergola and knit, picked up a hoe and walked past her. She was puzzled. When she looked elsewhere, the crowd that usually gathered to chat was gone. Instead, people were walking out with their tools.
"Why do adults look so busy? Is it because of the Zerg?" Xu Lingzhao frowned and asked the person next to him. Luna nodded: "Mom said that in the future, the place where we live will have walls and mental barriers." She lowered her voice: "Because of the Zerg invasion."
Xu Lingzhao felt a little disappointed after hearing this, as it meant that her range of movement would be greatly reduced and many beautiful flower fields would be destroyed. She stopped and looked up at the sky. The sky was the same as usual, but Passfia was quietly changing.
As the pastor entered the classroom and sat down, her usual gentle demeanor vanished, replaced by an unprecedented seriousness. "My dear children," she said, "it is with great sorrow that we announce that our Passia has been invaded by alien races. From today onward, our curriculum will no longer consist solely of theoretical knowledge. We will incorporate physical training and martial arts, training in self-defense and protecting others. All children aged 15 and over have joined the patrol to protect Passia and to protect you." The pastor paused, her eyes slightly reddening. "Let us pray together that one day we can return to the Passia we knew before today."
"Pray that one day we can return to Pasfia as it was before today." Xu Lingzhao stood up, clenched his left fist and placed it on his right shoulder, reciting this sentence with the others.
The childish voices echoed in the school, silently influencing every Passfia.
Then, the pastor invited in several very strong-looking ladies and introduced them one by one: "These are instructors who specialize in strength and skill training."
Xu Lingzhao, carrying the weights on her back, ran alongside the group. Miss Anfra told them to fold their wings, and she, too, ran at the front of the group, carrying the weights, but her face was relaxed. Her powerful voice echoed through the mountains: "Everyone, if we don't reach our destination before dark, we are not allowed to go home! We are not allowed to eat!"
No one uttered a groan; every small face was filled with determination. Everyone ran as fast as they could, sweat streaming down their faces. The entire team reached the finish line before nightfall.
Xu Lingzhao let out a breath and put down the weight on her back. She felt a burning pain in her shoulders. Luna walked to her side and handed her a handkerchief, her eyes shining brightly: "Mission accomplished! Let's go home!"
On his way home, Xu Lingzhao noticed that in less than a day, there were many more patrol teams in uniform on the streets. The team leader was older, while the teammates all had youthful faces, around 15 years old. The relaxed atmosphere of the past was completely gone.
"Make way! Make way!" The urgent sound of a carriage rang out. Xu Lingzhao pulled Luna's arm and took a few steps back. A group of horses with guard insignia flashed past Xu Lingzhao.
Xu Lingzhao saw the bloodstains on their faces and the wailing soldiers on the carriage. Her sleeves were empty, her legs were gone, and her face was covered with a large black mass—a wound left by the insectoids' corrosion. Xu Lingzhao blinked. Perhaps the situation was already extremely critical? The little girl couldn't glean any more information from it.
When Xu Lingzhao returned home, she walked around the kitchen and bedroom several times but couldn't find Matriarch. Then she saw a note on the dining table: "Dear Basilissa: Mom will be home late tonight. Remember to eat and go to bed early."
Xu Lingzhao put down the note and couldn't help but think that the reason her mother was coming home late was related to the guard team she saw on the street today. Minors who are 15 to 18 years old usually join the patrol team, while those who are over 18 years old and have awakened their spiritual power join the guard team. But today, she looked at those young faces.
A slight soreness welled up in her nose. As she protected the child, her hatred for the insectoids deepened. It was all because of their invasion that Passfia had become like this.
After washing up, Xu Lingzhao lay in bed and looked out the window at the moon, wondering what her mother was doing at that moment.
Matriarch was in the hospital, her face grave as she peered through the glass door. The four members of her guard team who had been injured earlier that day had been rushed to the hospital, but their condition had not improved after treatment. Instead, their golden pupils had disappeared, replaced by completely white eyes with a faint green glow.
Its skin hardened and turned into black scales in less than half a day. Its fingers turned into sharp claws, and tentacles covered in black mucus grew from its mouth, which was quite terrifying.
Now, they were bound to the bed with heavy iron chains, unable to move, and making hissing noises. Matriarch lowered her eyes; in half an hour, she would kill them with her physical mental power.
The half hour was reserved for their families to say their final goodbyes. Matriarch felt she had to make plans early; perhaps she should launch Operation Hive for the sake of the tribe's survival. However, she couldn't bear to look at these living people.
The Zerg are now advancing aggressively, and there is a risk of mutation if they are injured. Her mental strength is very strong, and... her trump card is her primal power. Matriarch plans to leave a small group of people on the surface to bewitch the Zerg during Operation Hive, while the others will condense into cocoons and go underground to sleep.
She used her primal power to alter the coordinates of the entire planet Passfia in the universe, hiding it in the vast expanse of space. But slumber is not the solution; she will also send Basilissa to other planes, erasing her memories until she grows up and awakens them from their slumber.
For countless years, Matriarch's true form has been dormant. She will protect Basilissa in the form of a soul and help her awaken her own primal power, but Basilissa is still so young....
Matriarch exhaled; the half-hour farewell was over. She entered the room, her fingers conjuring a physical spiritual force that instantly severed their heads. This was the first time she had killed one of her own kind. Her eyes gradually hardened; this was Basilissa's duty as the queen bee.
She stepped out of the room, leaned against the railing, and looked up at the moon.
After she fell into a deep sleep, she used her essence to conceal her coordinates, and her spiritual power covered the entire planet to prevent other races from accidentally settling there. Her trusted confidante, Serena, stepped forward, her eyes filled with respect: "My lord, the remains have been buried."
Matriarch nodded slightly and informed Serena of the Hive Project, urging everyone to prepare as soon as possible. The Zerg were extremely domineering, and if they didn't prepare early, they might... Fortunately, they had a final trump card.
Xu Lingzhao was staring blankly at the moon, her eyes almost closing, when she noticed that the soft moonlight that should have been filtering in was blocked. She raised her eyes slightly and saw a serpent outside the window, staring intently at her.
She suddenly regained consciousness, her body reacting even faster than her mind. Just as the hydra broke through the window, she rolled off the bed, the hydra missing its target with a piercing howl.
Xu Lingzhao felt that the surroundings were so quiet that she could hear the sound of leaves falling to the ground, and she could even hear her own heart pounding. She quickly got up from the ground and picked up the dagger on the bedside table, but this serpent seemed to be bigger than the one she had encountered in the sea of flowers.
Its thick tail barb swiftly pierced Xu Lingzhao's heart. At that critical moment, Xu Lingzhao felt a heat rising between his eyebrows, and it burst forth with intense golden light. Xu Lingzhao felt as if his consciousness had been emptied in that instant, and something seemed to have appeared in his mind, like a warm sea.
A golden barrier rose around her, isolating her from the hydralisk's attack. Xu Lingzhao's first thought was that her mother had returned. She instinctively looked towards the door, but there was no one there.
Seeing that it couldn't attack her, the hydra went berserk, hacking at the golden barrier with its forelimbs. Xu Lingzhao calmed down from her initial fear, holding her breath and focusing her eyes on the hydra's glowing red eyes.
Gradually, the hydra's movements became sluggish, and the black mucus dripping from its mouthparts sizzled on the wooden board. Xu Lingzhao heard the rustling of leaves outside the window as the wind blew through them; the world was no longer silent.
Her strong sixth sense told her that she had awakened her psychic powers at the age of six, and she focused even more intently on the hydra in front of her.
The sound of bones breaking rang out, and the Hydralisk's head exploded instantly, black fluid dripping down its body onto the ground before its massive body collapsed with a crash.
She succeeded! Xu Lingzhao finally took a deep breath, her rapid breathing echoing in the room. She touched her cheeks; they were burning hot. She felt the joy of surviving a disaster, and even more so, the happiness of awakening her spiritual power at such a young age.
This means that she is now capable of protecting her mother!
The door creaked open, and a dark figure appeared in the doorway.
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Author's Note: [Sprinkling flowers] After thinking about it, I think daily updates are better, hahaha. I will stick to daily updates. If I can't update on a given day, I will post a leave notice. [Sprinkling flowers][Sprinkling flowers]
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