That evening.
A village lay beneath the lingering glow of the setting sun. Crows circled the trees, while the village itself was strewn with withered bones and the ground ran red with blood.
A flock of swallows flew over, circling and lingering for a long while before flapping away again.
The nests they had built in the village had already been destroyed. They had nowhere to return to.
On the ground, a wild dog was dragging the mangled corpse of a child.
The child still clutched a whip woven from Willow Branches in his hand, as though he had met his misfortune while herding livestock.
Su Yi silently stopped at the entrance to the village.
The wild dog raised its head. As if sensing danger, it let out a whimpering howl and fled in panic.
In the fields, the crops were growing splendidly.
Yet in the village, there was no longer a trace of human life.
Su Yi quietly gazed at the ruined village shrouded in the sunset.
He looked for a long time.
The blood-red afterglow stretched his tall, imposing shadow long behind him.
"Those with great supernatural powers can destroy a city, a world, even sink an entire starry sky at the slightest turn of a hand. How many innocent people die because of them? Forget saving them all—even if you wished to pity them, you could never pity them all!"
The First Lifetime Heart Demon's voice rang out from the Rotten Sword Sheath.
Along the way, Su Yi occasionally spoke with the First Lifetime Heart Demon, discussing matters of cultivation as well as the shifting winds and clouds of worldly affairs.
Su Yi, silent as a clay statue, gently shook his head.
"Pity? No. I only feel that this world is wrong. It should not be like