Guarding the Pure Land

"Tianlong, is that kid Tianhua?!"

After Tianhua and the others left, the stone statue spoke.

"Yes! Thank you, Eagle King!" A voice echoed, and it was Tianlong's voice from inside the hut.

"You clearly called out to him just now, why didn't you talk to him?" Eagle King said.

"I wanted to talk to him, but what should I say? Tell him that the outside world is like that, and then tell him about our village?" Tianlong said.

"I turned into a stone statue and stood here, letting him see the scenes in my eyes. Isn't all this to make him understand that the outside world is not as he imagines?" Eagle King said.

"Although he saw those scenes, he may not necessarily believe they are real. I'm afraid that if I tell him, it will only make him more confused. Maybe it will make his curiosity even heavier," Tianlong said with a frown.

"So, what do you decide to do now?" Eagle King asked.

"I'm still thinking, but I really hope Tianhua can wake up from the scenes he just witnessed," Tianlong said.

Eagle King remained silent. The stone statue slowly started moving, Eagle King stood there, stretched out his arm, and then the entire stone statue began to move, looking down the mountain.

"Tianlong, if that kid really decides to leave someday, what will you do?" Eagle King suddenly asked.

Eagle King didn't hear Tianlong's answer. He only saw a bright light appearing in front of him.

"Eagle King, let's go, back to the hut!" Tianlong said.

"I can actually send him back to the village!" Eagle King said. Then he walked towards the bright light. As he approached, the brightness increased, and Eagle King was soon surrounded by light. The light disappeared, and everything returned to calm.

Night fell once again, and people had already fallen into a deep sleep. Tianhua, however, couldn't sleep.

That was war! War is like that...

Tianhua kept thinking in his heart. His mind was in chaos, and it hurt. He knew it was intentional, whether it was his father or someone else deliberately showing him those images. They wanted him to give up the idea of going outside. Tianhua still remembered what Eilan told him that night. At that time, he didn't know what war meant, nor did he know that war could be so cruel and bloody.

On that night, his thoughts remained unchanged. But today was different. He saw the real war, understood its cruelty and bloodiness. He heard the horrifying screams of pain, a sound like the fear in the depths of the night, piercing into his heart, making him unable to calm down for a long time. His heart trembled, and yes, he was afraid, he was terrified.

He couldn't face that scene directly—seeing the ferocious expressions, the falling figures, the blood-soaked land... Just thinking about it made his heart tremble. He curled up in a corner of his bed, looking at the pale night outside, where the snow seemed to slowly turn red. He closed his eyes in fear.

Time was slowly passing, but Tianhua's heart seemed to be frozen. He kept thinking about the scenes in those eyes, thinking... thinking...

"Who are you? Where are you from?" A voice echoed in Tianhua's ears.

In the dim light, Tianhua saw a blurry figure. He couldn't see the person's appearance clearly.

"Are you asking me?" Tianhua said to the person.

"Who are you? Where are you from?" The voice echoed again, but Tianhua didn't know if the person in front of him said it because he couldn't see his appearance. However, from the direction of the voice, it seemed like it came from him.

"Well... I'm from a small mountain village in my hometown. My name is Tianhua," Tianhua thought for a moment and said.

In fact, he didn't know where his mountain village was. He only knew it was a mountain village.

The person didn't know if he was satisfied with this answer. He didn't speak. Tianhua saw him slowly approaching, getting closer and closer. Tianhua stood there watching him.

As he approached, Tianhua was stunned. It was clearly the stone statue he saw today!

"Can you move?!" Tianhua exclaimed in surprise!

"Who told you that stone statues can't move!" The stone statue said.

Tianhua had nothing to say after hearing this. But he was really curious about why this stone statue came to find him!

"Why are you looking for me?" Tianhua asked.

"Hear that you want to leave your mountain village and see the outside world?" The stone statue asked.

Tianhua was stunned: How did he know?

"Who told you this? Are you a friend of my dad?" Tianhua asked.

"Don't worry about how I know. You just need to answer my question!" The stone statue said.

The words were firm, making people feel like they had to answer. Tianhua nodded involuntarily.

"Well... good!" The stone statue said.

Tianhua didn't understand what he meant. He didn't understand what was good.

Suddenly, the stone statue raised both hands and smashed towards Tianhua. Tianhua quickly dodged to the side, and a big pit was smashed into the ground. Tianhua looked at the stone statue in surprise, not understanding what was going on.

"What are you doing?" Tianhua exclaimed.

The stone statue seemed to ignore his words and continued to attack him. Tianhua had to dodge around.

"Don't come again, or I'll fight back!" Tianhua shouted.

This seemed to have no meaning for the stone statue. The attack continued, and Tianhua had to dodge everywhere.

"Dang..."

Tianhua grabbed the stone arms with both hands, feeling a great force coming. He used all his strength to support the arms, trying not to let them press down. The two of them were deadlocked. Suddenly, Tianhua yelled, grabbed the stone statue's arm, and then threw him out with force. After the stone statue landed, there seemed to be a smile on its face.

"The kid has quite some strength, not bad, not bad!" The stone statue nodded.

While praising, the attack did not stop. Tianhua watched the stone statue running towards him. When it was very close to him, the stone statue suddenly disappeared, surprising Tianhua. Tianhua looked around and found no trace of the stone statue. His heart began to tense. At this moment, the air seemed to be still, becoming quiet. Tianhua listened to his own heartbeat.

Suddenly, Tianhua felt a slight airflow behind him. Without thinking, he jumped away.

Boom...

A large pit was smashed into the ground, and Tianhua looked at the stone statue in amazement. His heart was horrified. The speed had increased. Moreover, this speed could only be sensed subtly.

The stone statue smiled and said to Tianhua, "Not bad, you can dodge such attacks. I wonder if you can dodge the next move."

Tianhua focused nervously, watching the stone statue. He didn't know what move it would make next!

Ah...

The stone statue disappeared in front of him, leaving Tianhua stunned. This time, it completely disappeared without any warning. Tianhua didn't know how it disappeared. He held his breath, hoping to perceive something, but in a moment, he felt nothing.

Ah...

Tianhua felt a great force behind him. He slightly turned his head and saw the stone arm smashing towards his back. Tianhua felt despair..