Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Not long after, Yin Bing arrived at the shore to which Xue Yue got off and charged forward towards the empty camp. She looked around carefully before shouting out. 

"Hello, is anyone there?! Can you hear me?! Shout! Say something!"

But there was no response coming from anywhere in this camp. Still, she continued to search for any sign of them. 

It was empty, to say the least. The camp was large with dozens of cloth tents and a large stone building, devoid of any decor. There was a small pit with dried blood splattered all over, most likely a place for entertainment. 

"The demons are gone now! I'm here to rescue you!"

She searched and searched but found no one. 

"This place is empty... There's no one here, not even a body in sight. Where could they be?" 

Xue Yue stopped at the center of the camp and looked around, trying to think of a way to perhaps gain their trust quickly. Then Ming Yue spoke up. 

"Shen Varuna has a brother, if you say her name, he might come out", she said. 

"Unless the brother is dead but I'll give it a try."

Xue Yue took another look before shouting again. 

"I'm here because I saved a demon child, her name was Shen Varuna. She has a brother, no?! We made a promise to say you as well as everyone."

Despite that, there was no sound. 

"Switch with me, Xue Yue. Let me try."

Hearing her other half's request, Xue Yue was silent for a moment but relented. 

"Fine, but know this, as much as we both want to save them all, it might be too late." 

"Just switch with me."

A moment passed as everything turned black before Ming Yue found herself back in control. In an instant, she felt the exhaustion and weakness in her body.

"I really did a number to myself", she thought. 

"Yeah, you did. I honestly wasn't sure if we would've made it across the lake."

Xue Yue retorted with an annoyed tone to which Ming Yue shook it off. Rather, she looked around, studying the place with her own eyes, before talking. 

"I don't know your name but I made a promise with your sister. I promised her that I would save everyone here. All of the demons that captured you and even their leader, they're all dead. I made sure of that. So, please, come out. I'm not here to hurt you."

After speaking, she waited for some sort of response. At that moment, she feared the worst but it was quiet for just a few seconds. 

From the shadows and the crevices of the camp, children walked out. Little demons from various clans, all of whom had wary and fearful eyes. They were all thin, dirty, scared. Their clothes were rags, covered in holes and tears. It was a wretched thing to see all of these children lie this. 

And then one of them stepped forward, a young boy with similar markings to Shen Varuna, unlike everyone else, his eyes carried a tinge of hope. 

"Is that true?" he asked slowly and weakly, "Is my sister really alive?" 

She knelt down and smiled at him. 

"Yes", she answered, "In fact, she'll be coming in a few days."

His eyes widened as his face was blank before tears began to well up. They flowed down as his face was scrunched up, crying in front of her. 

"I- I was so scared that she was... dead."

He sniffled, trying to talk and hold back his emotions. All the other children emerged and walked closer, surrounding Ming Yue. Tears formed in their eyes as well before one of them could no longer hold back and cried, and then everyone followed, crying out loud. 

She looked at them all with a slightly dumbfounded look. 

"What do I do?"

With so many crying children, she didn't know how to soothe all of them.

"It's okay. I'm here."

"I'll keep you all safe so you don't have to cry."

And with so much noise, it would surely attract some unwanted attention. 

From the outskirts of the camp came a loud roar as the ground shuddered. 

Ming Yue stood up immediately as the children all screamed, cowering behind her. 

"Stay back!" 

She shouted to the children before unsheathing her sword. 

"I might not be in the best state but I have no choice, do I?"

From afar a shadow came before revealing itself from the trees. Stepping forward slowly with drool dripping from its mouth, a beast resembling that of a wolf, only it had two heads and was about a several time larger than her. It was comparable to a small house in fact. 

It glared at her with both heads as each pair of blood-red eyes carried a sense of hunger. Then it looked around her, noticing all of the little demon children. And then the beast grinned, revealing the fangs that were covered in drool.

There was a feast before it, how could it not ignore this?

Walking forward, this two-headed wolf casually approached Ming Yue and the children, confident that this would be over quickly. 

She stared at the beast, mustering whatever strength she had left. 

"I have enough to strengthen Drifting Sky... This might work."

Gripping her sword tightly with both hands, the young cultivator was exhausted but she was not going to fall so easily. Just as she was about to make her move, a shadow covered the sky, blotting out the sun and darkening the area.

"Wha-"

Before she could even look up, this shadow fell down as a massive tail pointed downwards and crushed the poor beast in one instant. Like a hand crushing a bug, this massive white tail squashed the beast flat, turning it to utter mush and a voice echoed out.

"Did you forget about me?" 

As the tail retreated, Yin Bing arose from the lake, looking down at everything. The sheer size of the World Serpent was already scary enough but her eyes seemed to glow with an iridescent light. 

"A small insignificant beast like that is worth nothing."

Her head lowered until her snout was only a hundred meters above them. 

"In any case, it is good to know that you asked me this favor for the sake of others. No matter how small or insignificant it is to me, it meant a great deal to you as to these children."

Ming Yue turned around and bowed. 

"Thank you, senior! This time, I owe you the favor for saving me."

The children looked at Yin Bing in both awe and shock, some even prostrated themselves to her. 

"The Cerulean Serpent! She's real!"

The serpent chuckled before retreating to the sea. 

"You should rest, I can watch over you for a few days. It's not as if I have anything else to do."

Hearing this news, Ming Yue felt relief. 

"Thank yo-"

This time, she could no longer hold on and stumbled forward before losing consciousness. She had exerted herself too much for too long. Whether or not her mind was fine, her body was in dire need of rest. 

Yin Bing looked at her before looking at the many children, whose eyes stared back in shock and awe. 

"Well then, you shouldn't leave her there, find someplace comfortable for her. She's come quite a long way for you all."

The children nodded before carrying Ming Yue away, leaving her sword on the ground. Yin Bing looked at it, studying it curiously before calling one of the children. 

"That sword... could you take it and bring it to the lakeshore?" she asked. 

The young child looked at Drifting Sky before picking it up and ran towards the lake, dropping it in.

"Thank you, child. As I thought, I can't just let her go without some decent reward."

As the serpent receded into the lake, but not before breathing out. From her breath came the World's Energy that formed into a barrier around the camp, shielding them from those who dared to harm. 

As for what she planned to do with the sword, that was a mystery.