BLEACH: Blade of Purification

Parting the bushes, the first thing that met Ling Qing's eyes was orange hair, but what immediately followed was a small spirit particle arrow, carrying a tiny whistling sound as it flew towards his face!

Because the distance was too close, by the time he saw the faint blue light, the spirit arrow was already right before his eyes! It was as if whoever was hiding in the bushes had been waiting for this final strike!

But!

The spirit particle arrow stopped one centimeter in front of Ling Qing's forehead. The arrow, only slightly longer than his palm, was caught by Ling Qing in one hand. With a slight squeeze, the arrow he held disintegrated into fragments of light-blue spirit particles.

He casually flicked the remaining fragments from his palm, and the light-blue particles gradually disappeared into the air. Only then could Ling Qing clearly see the person who had attacked him.

It was not an adult with a resolute and determined gaze, but a young girl, only eleven or twelve years old. The orange-haired girl was dressed in white clothes with a strong Quincy style. On her wrist hung a five-pointed star pendant. The Quincy used this object to manifest their unique power, gathering spirit particles in their hands to form a weapon similar to an energy bow.

What the girl held in her hand was less of a bow and more of a crossbow, which was why the spirit arrow she fired was so short.

The orange-haired girl looked at Ling Qing with a terrified expression. Not only were her hands holding the spirit crossbow trembling, but her legs were also shaking. Even so, she didn't think of turning to run. The reason was simple: behind her was an even smaller boy, probably only four or five years old, who also had orange hair. From their similar facial features, they were likely a pair of siblings.

Quincy siblings... Ling Qing mulled over the words in his mind, slightly narrowing his eyes.

They were hiding here, perhaps hidden by the Quincy adults before the battle began, or perhaps because they were smart enough to realize this was not a battle they could participate in, so they tried to hide in the hopes of escaping with their lives. If it had been Squad 11 fighting here, they would have succeeded. If it had been the Onmitsukidō, who hadn't conducted a thorough search of the entire battlefield, they would have succeeded.

This was because the warriors of Squad 11 were not skilled at finely sensing spiritual pressure signatures. They couldn't even be bothered to sense spiritual pressure outside of battle. And although the Shinigami of the Onmitsukidō were more skilled in this area, the spiritual pressure fluctuations of this pair of siblings were indeed too weak, and could very well have been mistaken for the lingering spiritual pressure of a dead Quincy.

Only Ling Qing.

Even though no one had taught him in this area, after learning a method of detecting spiritual pressure from Shihouin Souichirou, Ling Qing had quickly adapted it into a method that best suited him. Of course, this was also related to the abilities he used. From this perspective, this pair of siblings was just unlucky.

Ling Qing stood up and met the gaze of the girl who, despite her body trembling uncontrollably, still resolutely aimed her crossbow at him. The girl didn't try to attack again. Her most likely successful strike had been effortlessly blocked by Ling Qing. Unless there was something wrong with her head, she should understand that Ling Qing was not an enemy she could fight.

But even so, what could she do? Whether she fled or fought, only death awaited. In the end, it was as if she had given up on reality, only able to maintain this posture.

Ling Qing's gaze shifted from her to the boy behind her. He could still feel a little spiritual pressure fluctuation from the girl, but only a little. From the boy, he could feel nothing at all. In terms of Quincy power, this girl was probably not a talented type, and the boy hadn't even started practicing the Quincy's abilities yet.

"Am I scary?"

"Ugh..."

The moment Ling Qing spoke, the girl, probably without even hearing what he said, let out an unconscious whimper. She squeezed her eyes shut and shrank back, as if imagining herself already being cut down.

This girl was both timid and brave. Timid in that if Ling Qing really did swing his sword, she could only wait for death, not even thinking to protect the boy behind her. But even so, she still stood in front of the boy.

"Am I scary?"

Ling Qing asked the question again, but this time he was asking the boy behind her, who, on the contrary, was stubbornly raising his head to look at him. The boy seemed not to know how terrifying Ling Qing was, glaring at him. When asked this, he ran to his trembling sister's side, hugged her tightly, and said to Ling Qing through gritted teeth, "Bad guy! I won't let you bully my sister! I... I'll beat you up!!"

"Oh? Is that so?"

A slight fluctuation appeared in Ling Qing's voice. He raised the long blade, and the cold moonlight reflected off it with a chilling gleam.

A cold light suddenly cut through the night—!

"Don't!" the girl screamed, turning to shield her brother who was hugging her, using her own body as a shield. Even though she had witnessed Ling Qing's battles with the adults and knew her body couldn't possibly serve as a shield...

But, there was no spray of blood, only the five-pointed star pendant falling to the ground, and the spirit crossbow gradually dissipating... The blade had come down from above and completely shattered the pendant into pieces.

The belatedly realizing girl stared blankly at Ling Qing, not knowing what expression to make.

"Go."

"Wh... what...?"

"I said, you can go. I don't kill children."

Ling Qing put away his sword. The overly long tachi couldn't be sheathed, not to mention the scabbard had disappeared when it transformed. Ling Qing could only hold it with the tip pointing upwards.

Seeing the girl just staring at him blankly without moving, Ling Qing frowned slightly. "Or do you insist that I kill you here?"

"Oh, oh, oh. Th-thank you, my lord, thank you, my lord."

Was it because she had escaped death? Tears unconsciously flowed down the girl's cheeks. Perhaps before the war between the Shinigami and the Quincy, she had never experienced a similar situation, had never aimed her bow at another person. This might even have been her first battle.

"Don't call me 'my lord.' I am the enemy. The enemy of you Quincy." Ling Qing let out a faint sigh, his gaze falling on the shattered pendant. After hesitating for a few seconds, he still said what he hadn't planned to say. Because this girl was not as smart as he had imagined; one could even say she was a bit slow and foolish. Her survival could probably only be explained by good luck.

"But for you... your power is too weak. Even if you want revenge, there's no possibility in this lifetime. Let go of everything related to the Quincy. Forget you were ever a Quincy. This way, you might still be able to live."

After saying these words he shouldn't have said, Ling Qing left without another glance at the siblings.

However, Ling Qing also knew that this was just a form of hypocrisy on his part. Even if he let the siblings go here, it would be very difficult for them to escape the hands of the Onmitsukidō Shinigami responsible for cleaning up and eradicating the roots. The reason the Shinigami of Squad 2 were here was for this very purpose.

What Ling Qing didn't know was that this pair of siblings did indeed escape. The brother had not practiced the Quincy's powers at all, and the sister's power as a Quincy was extremely weak. The equipment she used for her abilities had been destroyed by Ling Qing, and the spiritual pressure fluctuations from her body were almost undetectable.

After Ling Qing left, the sister seemed to have finally figured it out. She took off her own and her brother's Quincy-related clothes, burned them, and changed into the clothes of ordinary people. Then, under the cover of night, they fled in a hurry.

After a night of heart-pounding escape, when dawn finally arrived, the sister saw the sunrise and knew that she and her brother had survived. She knew that the terrifying, hellish nightmare of a night was finally over. She collapsed on the side of the road, facing the rising sun, and wept loudly.

The orange-red light of the rising sun fell on their orange hair.

They were one of the very few Quincy bloodlines that had survived the night of their clan's extermination.

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