Chapter 311 - The Duties of a Guardian

Wish…? Liu Xiaodan turned to Guangru, and the child was only holding onto the black horse. The father then got up from the seat and placed his drink down on the bench. He attracted Chuan Nayi's gaze, but he still stood meters away from the edge of the purification array. His dark eyes stared at the struggling lion dog who kept on howling and screaming in pain and grievance.

'Here it goes… somewhat…' Liu Xiaodan closed his eyes and began to map his surroundings after sensing the black lion dog in front of him. With a surge of energy, the black lion dog turned her attention to the transcendent. When she tried to lunge in the direction of Liu Xiaodan, she suddenly felt the flick of the dive.

Even if her power kept on going haywire, but her consciousness had receded to the depths of her mind.

…

Crying… a little girl continued to cry in the dark…

When Liu Xiaodan came to, he was standing in the middle of the lawn. He looked around and only saw the temple in front of him. He could feel the presence of the demon from the deepest level of the temple, and he could see the battered state of the two Fu dogs guarding the entrance of the temple. Both dogs had broken limbs and cracked faces, and they were being kicked by a group of high schoolers.

"Stupid statues!" The hot-blooded leader continued to kick the statue. "Things like you are useless! Very, very useless! I keep on bombing my tests even if you're supposed to help me!"

"Geez, that's not even their job." One of the smoking youngsters laughed out, but the leader glared at him so he pursed his lips closed.

"If that's not what their job, then what is?" The leader huffed before turning to the closed temple doors. "Are they supposed to be guarding treasures here? Tch, take a look. If a treasure remained, then the robbers must be too stupid to drop a piece." 

The leader then seemed to notice something before grinning widely.

He then grabbed the metal bat next to one of them. "How about I practice here? They wouldn't be offended since I'm asking for their help, yeah? Ahahaha, at least they have some kind of use to anyone." He swung the bat against the stone body of the Fu dog before him. Bang! The neck was crushed, and the head fell off. It even broke some more after meeting the ground.

"What kind of youth do we have in this place?" Liu Xiaodan took a few steps closer. However, he noticed that the remaining Fu dog started to emit a dangerous level of resentment. What made matters worse was that the demon was resonating with the anger of the Fu dog.

"You… how dare you…!" The voice sounded like the one coming from Lanlu, and the growling of the Fu dog began to resound in the environment. It was easy to tell that even the high schoolers heard the noise.

The leader then gripped his bat tightly. "Shit, are there dogs around? Where is that coming from?" He turned to the other Fu dog statue and glared at it as well. His guts were telling him that the noise was coming from it, but his brain couldn't explain how it could be possible.

Kaboom! There was a muffled explosion inside the temple. The high schoolers didn't know what happened, but Liu Xiaodan could see how a black smoke broke off of the seal. Lanlu gasped at the scene and started yelling warnings at the high schoolers. However, none of them could hear him, and the black thing attacked them mercilessly. Liu Xiaodan didn't look away at all.

As if accompanying Lanlu in his horrifying experience of watching a newly-escaped thing devour five high schoolers, Liu Xiaodan only stood there. He was so sure that this was a memory, and nothing he did would change anything at all. However, he couldn't say the same for Shanhu whose memory was playing.

"Ahhh!" The screams of the high schoolers continued to echo, and Lanlu was screaming on his own. He couldn't do anything as he was powerless—he was nothing but a sentient statue at this point. He could only watch and hide in the folds of his eyes.

"Lanlu! Get help!" Shanhu's voice echoed, and Lanlu twitched. The broken head of the other Fu dog statue glowed, and something shot from it towards the other statue. They needed to move both, and so Shanhu was forced to share what little was left of her power. "Lanlu, take my power and find help! I can only keep this demon locked in these plains for a few hours! Lanlu, we have to save the people from this monster!"

Shanhu came out of her statue and jumped at the thing. As the Fu dog of Yin energy, it was her duty to protect the humans. However, she could only watch them die. That's why she did her best in wrestling with the black smoke until they continued tumbling around. In the end, the smoke enveloped the other Fu dog spirit before assuming its form. Afterward, it had run into the distance.

Behind it was Lanlu screaming, "Shanhu!"

When Liu Xiaodan turned around to chase the smoke creature, the whole place grew dark. However, as if there was light coming from his body, he could still see himself. Sensing the presence behind him, Liu Xiaodan turned around again. He was now standing before a black lion dog that had a shoulder height of five meters. It was growling at him, and its eyes were raging red.

"How dare you dive into my mind, mortal!" The distorted voice of Shanhu fluttered all over as if it was not coming from the black dog.

"I came to help you get cleansed. I figured I would be able to convince you if I came here at least..." Liu Xiaodan smiled at her as if seemingly unaware of the murderous intent in its eyes. "Shanhu, there's no need for you to continued being dejected. I know you have a sworn duty, but no matter what you do, you can't undo what happened. It's not worth hurting yourself over."

"What do you know of the duties of a guardian?! You are only a mere mortal!" Shanhu growled and sensed the strangeness in Liu Xiaodan's body. However, she ignored it as she stomped her front paw forward. "We, guardians, are the epitome of protection and loyalty. It is our duty to guard the…" She paused…

Liu Xiaodan only smiled as he waited for the dog to continue. However, Shanhu didn't seem to be talking again. Her eyes only quivered. "It's our duty to guard… the… humans..."

Her teeth started to b.a.r.e as if she was on her way to vent her anger on Liu Xiaodan. She didn't know what was happening. The oath that she had memorized all her life was slipping her mind. There was nothing that she knew more than the sacred oath of guardians, and yet… and yet she couldn't even get past the first line. "You… what have you done to me?!"

"I didn't do anything to you. This is your doing."