There was a young man who appeared quite frail.
No one knew where he had obtained his sword - perhaps he had picked it up from a deceased Soul Reaper's body, just like Lingqing had done. Such incidents weren't as frequent in these forward districts as they were in the Fifth District, but they still occurred occasionally.
However, what truly mattered wasn't whether he possessed a sword, but whether he could avoid getting injured when facing such a massive opponent.
Looking at his delicate appearance, Lingqing found it difficult to imagine that he possessed the power to fight against a Hollow, let alone defeat one.
Most likely, he had simply found a Soul Reaper's sword and carried it for protection, only to accidentally encounter this Hollow here and be forced into battle.
With this thought, Lingqing quickened his pace.
The Sephiroth technique that Lingqing used wasn't merely a skill - it was a complete sword fighting system. It was extremely unique, appearing to be a single sword strike yet capable of producing slashing attacks that bloomed like silver flowers with brilliant light.
Beyond this, apart from using the slashing attacks in battle to pull himself toward enemies like a rubber band snapping back, there was also a method of rapid movement using powerful spiritual energy.
He could even achieve brief flight, not just rapid movement.
However, such abilities were beyond what Lingqing could accomplish at his current level.
Even though Lingqing couldn't fly yet, for such a short distance, acceleration alone would suffice.
Not to mention—
"Stay away from him!!"
His voice arrived before he did!
Before the Hollow and the young man, who had been maintaining their strange standoff, could hear Lingqing's voice and instinctively look in his direction—
What they heard first was the sound of air being torn apart!
Like a massive laser beam cutting between the two of them, creating a chasm that separated the human and the Hollow like a divine gorge!
Unlike the young man, the Hollow could sense an intense and terrifying threat of death approaching. This threat was so overwhelming that it could barely breathe.
Survival instincts made it immediately try to evade, but even so, a small tuft of its black hair and a small piece of its mask were sliced away at an angle in that instant - the moment when the light swept past its eyes!!!
Amid the roar of torn air and the slight tremor of the ground being split open, a perfectly straight trench opened between the human and Hollow, cut as cleanly as if through cream.
If it had been even slightly slower, it would already be dead.
Never before had the Hollow felt death so close to it. The threat of death sent chills down its spine.
And there, right in front of the young man who had been facing it in that strange standoff - the youth who mysteriously emanated a subtle sense of danger that didn't match his appearance - a silver-haired man holding a sword in his left hand gracefully descended.
Without question, this was the man who had nearly killed it with a single strike!
However, unlike what it had heard about beings dressed in black robes and bearing the title of "God," this man showed no such distinctive features. Apart from the sword in his hand, he was no different from ordinary souls of the Soul Society - the kind it had devoured many times before.
"You—what exactly are you!"
Fear and confusion compelled the Hollow to ask this question.
But the response it received was another slashing attack right before its eyes!
"Someone who's going to kill you."
This time, the Hollow had no luck in dodging. Even though it had tried its utmost to evade, the unstoppable slashing attack still cut through both its body and the grove of trees behind it!
With a cry of unwillingness, the Hollow's massive body split apart, then quickly lost all color and scattered into the air like coal ash.
Another piece of "trash," as expected. By now, Lingqing didn't even feel frustrated anymore.
After habitually flicking the blood off his sword and sheathing his katana, Lingqing turned to look behind him.
The young man he had protected was also sheathing his katana. For someone who appeared to be only twelve or thirteen years old, the katana seemed a bit too long, making his sheathing posture slightly awkward.
"Are you alright?"
With a gentle smile on his face, Lingqing crouched down in front of the boy and spoke kindly.
"Being brave enough to face a Hollow is quite admirable. However, it would be better not to come alone to places where Hollows appear. Stay with others, and if you hear about Hollows in any area, try to stay away from those places."
Unlike the friendly Lingqing, the frail young man seemed rather cold.
However, after hearing Lingqing's words, his expression did change slightly - perhaps he hadn't expected Lingqing to be so kind.
He looked at Lingqing's face and narrowed his eyes slightly.
He didn't respond to Lingqing's words, and it was unclear whether he had taken Lingqing's advice to heart. Rather than Lingqing's instructions or even the massive monster that Lingqing had defeated, he seemed more concerned about something else.
"Are you... a Soul Reaper?"
Just as this question left his lips, he suddenly did something strange.
An expression of impatience suddenly appeared on his delicate face. He frowned, turned his head slightly to the side, and seemed to quietly scold something invisible beside him.
"Shut up!!"
Lingqing looked curiously in the direction the boy had turned his head several times, but there was nothing beside him.
"...Well, I'm not a Soul Reaper."
Although he was somewhat concerned about the young man's strange behavior, it would be inappropriate to pry into matters when they barely knew each other. Lingqing filed this observation away in his mind while pretending not to have noticed, and answered the boy's question.
He vaguely remembered that about a month ago, Weitang Liu had acted similarly - rather than answering questions, he had boldly voiced his own doubts. Were all the children in the Soul Society this individualistic?
Lingqing patted the katana at his waist and said with some helplessness.
"However, because of this, I'm often mistaken for a Soul Reaper."
"You should become a Soul Reaper."
His gaze falling on the sword at Lingqing's waist, the young man spoke these words.
His tone wasn't so much advisory or wistful as it was a matter-of-fact statement about something that hadn't yet occurred, delivered in remarkably calm tones.
"If you became a Soul Reaper, you could certainly make a much greater impact than you do now."
After saying this, he seemed to lose interest in Lingqing completely, not even thinking to give his name.
After politely nodding slightly to Lingqing, he turned and walked away.
Lingqing, still crouching there, watched the young man's confident departing figure with some bewilderment. After a long moment, he shook his head with a somewhat helpless bitter smile.
"Kids these days... they're getting more and more individualistic."
Although he was a nameless and rather strange child, Lingqing didn't take it to heart. Such brief encounters were probably just how things went.
By comparison, after dusting himself off and standing up, Lingqing was more concerned about another matter.
He drew his sword again and made several practice swings in the air.
Finally, he frowned as he looked at the sharp blade in his hand.
It was just a feeling, not necessarily accurate. For some reason, lately he had been feeling that this sword was becoming increasingly unwieldy. It felt like...
Was it perhaps a bit too short?
The moment this thought formed in Lingqing's mind, a soft laugh suddenly sounded from behind him.
Lingqing instinctively swung his sword backward!
However, there was nothing behind him.