"The son of the Bai family, sigh..."
"He really left. Will he ever come back?"
"He won't. He won't. Old Bai lost his daughter first, and now today he's lost his son, too."
Voices rose one after another, but none made him stop walking.
Behind him, his parents cried out until their voices were hoarse, but he never once looked back.
He knew he was destined never to return.
At that moment, Chen Yan's soul entered this body. He felt the man's every movement, felt his emotions.
As he walked, tears streamed from his eyes.
Wrapped in a threadbare old robe, he crossed grasslands through their seasons of decay and renewal, climbed mountains and steep peaks, his face covered in dust. By day he chased the slanting sun; by night he rested beneath cold stars, his heavy steps ever carrying him onward.
Along the way, he saw a village under attack by an Ancient God Beast. Villagers from several villages banded together to kill it.
Naturally, he joined them.
But...
When a sharp, mocking shriek rang out, when murky Malice spread through the air...
Countless screams. Uncountable chunks of flesh. Blood that seemed to flow without end.
They had failed.
He fled, covered in blood. Hundreds of villagers had banded together to kill one Ancient God Beast, only to face utter despair.
He and the others ran for their lives, finally making it back to the village.
In an instant, the wives, children, and husbands waiting outside their homes let out despairing wails.
"Oh, heavens!"
"Dear..."
Some fainted dead away; others lost all hope of carrying on.
The villagers who had fled back were filled with an unbearable despair and pain that would not fade.
Only he stood up.
"We can beat it!"
He was covered in blood, his fists