78th District

Rukongai's 78th District, Inu Hanging District, was one of the worst streets in Soul Society in terms of public safety.

In this area, food and water were both extremely scarce resources. Thieves ran rampant, theft was exceedingly common, and living people were sold with price tags on them.

Asano Kiyoshi, dressed in the ordinary clothes commonly worn by Soul Society civilians, walked down the street. Around him, poorly clothed residents lay in the corners by the walls, their yellowed, clouded eyes staring fixedly at him.

His clean clothes stood in stark contrast to the murky filth of this place, especially his eyes, which brimmed with hope and vitality—things rarely seen in this district.

The street was filthy and chaotic, littered with feces and garbage everywhere. A woman cradled a child as she curled up in a corner by the wall, her lips purple and her body trembling incessantly. Her eyes were filled with longing; even the tears in them had long since dried up.

Asano Kiyoshi watched this scene and sighed softly. He walked over to the woman and took a white flatbread from his robes.

But just as he was about to hand the flatbread to her, an extremely faint voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Don't! Watch out!"

As the warning rang out, the woman before him, whose face had been pale just moments ago, suddenly revealed a strange smile. Then she directly threw the child in her arms to the ground, drew a dagger, and stabbed it toward Asano Kiyoshi's neck.

Seeing this, the people around them did not react at all. On the contrary, some even wore mocking, disdainful smiles as they eagerly watched the spectacle.

"Hehehe, look! Another idiot taken out by that Mad Woman! Hehehe! We get to eat meat again today!"

"Yeah! After so long, we can finally have a proper feast. This makes sixty-seven, right?"

"Mm, she's already killed sixty-seven. It's been hard to find suckers lately. We'd better find a good place to bury him and make him into Smoked Meat for easier storage. That way, we can eat for a few more days."

The voices in his ears were like venomous snakes spewing poison at the world. Asano Kiyoshi's spiritual pressure spread slightly, and the woman's entire body was forced flat against the ground. The dagger she had just drawn slipped from her hand and struck a stone with a crisp clang.

Looking at the woman pinned to the ground before him, still struggling relentlessly, a trace of chill flashed through Asano Kiyoshi's eyes. Yet he did not hurry to kill her. Instead, he walked to the side and looked at the child she had been holding.

After being thrown to the ground by the woman, the child had not made a sound, which worried Asano Kiyoshi.

When he saw what was wrapped inside the tattered cloth, Asano Kiyoshi fell silent.

It was a child's body. No one knew how long it had been dead. Though it had undergone some unknown treatment and the flesh all over its body had turned purplish-black, most of it had already rotted away. Maggots squirmed through the decaying flesh, while nameless black insects crawled out from the child's pale eye sockets, which still bore traces of blood, as though silently voicing its resentment.

When Asano Kiyoshi lifted the cloth wrapped around the child's corpse, the Mad Woman lying on the ground began struggling even more violently.

Veins bulged across the woman's head. Her mouth bit into the dirt, her bloodied nails clawed at the ground, and she twisted her body madly, strips of skin scraping away against the rough earth.

Yet the woman seemed to feel no pain at all. She only screamed at Asano Kiyoshi in madness.

"Give him back! My child! My child! Hehehe! Ahhh! My child! Mommy was useless! Mommy will bring you meat to eat right now!"

Seeing the woman's hysterical state, Asano Kiyoshi knew that she was insane...

Asano Kiyoshi examined the woman closely and discovered many old wounds on her body, wounds that had clearly been inflicted by other people...

A large patch of scalp had been torn away, her face was covered in dagger scars, her arms were filled with burn marks, and her thighs still bore bruises and bloody wounds that had not healed.

Asano Kiyoshi turned to look at the residents whose faces showed obvious excitement, then at the stray dogs all around with their tongues hanging out. He suddenly felt that these people were just like those dogs, longing to tear apart the woman's bones and flesh.

He walked over to the woman and handed her the cloth containing the child's corpse.

The moment she received the child, the woman fell quiet. In that instant, a little clarity appeared in her eyes. She looked at the child in her arms, her gaze filled with both hatred and love. In an extremely weak voice, she said to Asano Kiyoshi, "Please... kill me," though tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

Those clear tears washed two distinct trails through the grime on her face, like a form of salvation for herself.

Asano Kiyoshi looked at the woman with a complicated expression before speaking gently.

"I'm sorry..."

The instant his voice fell, a streak of white lightning shot from Asano Kiyoshi's fingertip, paralyzing the woman's entire body at tremendous speed. An almost imperceptible pain came from her heart, followed by endless darkness and silence. But at the very last moment, the woman's voice reached Asano Kiyoshi's ears.

Her voice carried relief and helplessness.

"Thank you..."

Hearing her words, Asano Kiyoshi felt something indescribable in his heart. The woman had likely suffered inhuman treatment in the past, but that was not a reason to absolve her. She had killed many people. She deserved to die... didn't she?

Why had she become like this...

It wasn't my problem, was it?

It was our problem.

After seeing the flash of lightning, the surrounding residents visibly showed fear. They knew what such methods represented...

This was one of the Bleach Lords who lived in the very center of Soul Society!

Seeing that the residents had backed away but had not left, Asano Kiyoshi knew that the words he had heard earlier were not empty threats.

The people here... really ate people!

He stood up and looked at the dead woman and child. A fireball radiating scorching heat ignited in his hand. Unlike usual, the fireball was not filled with vigor; instead, it seemed somewhat subdued. At Asano Kiyoshi's command—

The flames engulfed the woman's and child's bodies. The rising fire seemed as though it wanted to burn away that thick, clinging sin as well, but anyone knew that such sin could not be burned clean. Instead, it only became more piercing beneath the flames.

Asano Kiyoshi felt a heaviness in his chest. He shook his head, then walked in the direction from which the warning had come.

After passing through an alley, a petite, slender young woman with short black hair appeared before him—Kuchiki Rukia.