How come I'm the one being conquered?

Bai Jun rubbed his thumb against the corner of his lips. After a moment of serious thought, he said, "I'll go catch up. Lord Bailu, you just need to find the nearest Cloud Cavalry, explain the situation, and go home with Dan He. Leave the rest to us adults."

"B-but!"

Bai Jun could feel her nervousness and worry. He flipped his hand and held her small hand, then crouched down and pulled her into his arms. He gently comforted her trembling, petite body, saying, "It's okay. Lord Bailu, just head north of Jiren Alley. Don't worry, I'm actually very strong, you know?"

With that, he smiled and ruffled Bailu's small head. He looked like a mischievous child. Then he stood up and quickly strode into the alley, chasing after the direction the young boy had disappeared.

He kept moving forward, gradually distancing himself from the main road of Jiren Alley.

After turning a few corners along the lingering scent of Soul-Returning Vitality Powder, the alley began to emanate a faint foulness, a slight stench of garbage. Bai Jun stopped and looked around thoughtfully.

The clue was gone...

As expected, the young boy wasn't running randomly. He was deliberately using the scent here to shake off his pursuer.

However, being so familiar with and clear about the street layout of Jiren Alley at that age, and even being able to lead him through such a complex network of streets and alleys, gave Bai Jun a good reminder. He was likely a local living in Jiren Alley. No, many local children probably weren't as familiar with these streets as he was. Therefore, there was a high probability that the area where he lived was near this location.

Narrowing down the scope to this area, Bai Jun's thoughts gradually became clearer. Suddenly, inspiration struck, and he thought of a rather well-informed fellow. If he wanted to inquire about things nearby, finding him would be the best option.

With that thought, Bai Jun turned and entered a more hidden back alley. The narrow alley was flanked by tall, uninhabited buildings that blocked the light, making it difficult to move. But for Bai Jun, it was no problem. He moved as silently as if he had merged with the night, quickly turning in another direction.

Third Brother Huo tilted his head slightly to look at the sky. It was almost time to get off work, so he packed his backpack, stuffing all the goods he had been selling into it. He zipped it up and then tied it with a rope, just in case some goods might get lost if he had to make a quick escape.

"Time to go home. So tired. This outfit today is really constricting."

He took off his large hood and mask, stretched out with a long yawn in the setting sun, and tugged at the stiff, rough collar of his clothes. These rough clothes weren't suitable for casual wear, but they were indispensable for his daily work.

This was because their sole purpose was to prevent him from being stabbed by some commoners who called him a profiteer. Although his work location wasn't fixed, for the sake of safety, even if the clothes were uncomfortable and stuffy, they were a necessary item.

As for his work, it mostly involved selling rare items, secret intelligence, or some ancestral recipes. His work location and hours were not fixed, making him a mysterious merchant wandering through Jiren Alley.

Some people called him a timely rain, while others called him a profiteer. Some irrational people even threw eggs at him. None of these things mattered to Third Brother Huo himself; as long as he could make money, that was all that mattered.

According to popular rumors, Third Brother Huo of Jiren Alley had some very dangerous sources for his goods. No one knew if the rumors were true, but he did have many good items that couldn't be bought elsewhere.

Just like now, he took out a few golden, intricately carved branches from his pocket, a smile playing on his lips, looking quite pleased.

"Hmm~ branches grown from a Mara-struck Body, selling for 200,000 credit points per stalk. Sold three stalks today, netting a profit of 600,000 credit points after deducting costs."

Fortunately, the surroundings were a secluded corner that ordinary people couldn't find. If anyone had overheard him, they would have been shocked. Could this really be used as medicine? Was this appropriate? This wicked black merchant was doing such a heinous thing! They would report him to the authorities and have this profiteer arrested and executed!

However, Third Brother Huo naturally had his own methods and wasn't afraid of such things. If you were to debate with him according to the laws and moral standards of Xianzhou, even the duty officers of the Department of Earthly Rulings would be no match for him.

Legal regulations always had loopholes, and moral standards always had fish that slipped through the net. He made money from this. Did they really think he would risk his life to pick branches from a Mara-struck Body? What a dream! These were branches he picked up from the Everwinter Plains. The reason they looked like that was because he had deliberately soaked them in cochineal. By the time those Outworlders seeking immortality realized what was happening, he would have long since disappeared.

As for worrying about them getting desperate and reporting him, there was even less to worry about. No, even if they did get desperate and report him, the worst charge Third Brother Huo would face would be price gouging, a fine of 5,000 credit points, and perhaps a few days in the lockup.

But those Outworlders who tried to buy the branches from the Mara-struck Body wouldn't be so lucky. "Indulging in immortality" or "coveting eternal life" were both serious crimes. The lightest sentence would be hundreds of years in prison. So, even if those Outworlders had a thousand times the courage, they wouldn't dare to expose such a matter and would have to suffer the loss in silence.

As for whether he felt any guilt about making such ill-gotten gains, that was also not within his scope of consideration.

"This is considered averting disaster with money. It's meaningless to feel heartache over money. If they give up their desire for immortality, isn't that a good thing?" Third Brother Huo chuckled coldly to himself, sending a shiver down one's spine.

"What immortality?"

A clear, cold voice came from his side. Third Brother Huo was startled, immediately putting the branches back into his pocket. At the same time, the muscles in his thighs tensed, ready to abandon his bag and flee. It was clear that he had experienced such situations many times.

But when he saw the face of the person who had arrived, his tense nerves immediately relaxed.

"Oh my, it's Lord Bai Jun. You really scared me to death."

Third Brother Huo clutched his chest, his face pale, looking terrified. Bai Jun, facing him, gave him a look of utter disdain. "If you weren't doing anything wrong, why would you be so afraid of being seen?"

Third Brother Huo chuckled, speaking without any pretense. "How could that be? You speak as if I'd deceive anyone but you. After all, besides you in all of Luofu, no one else gives me pig's trotters rice."

"Then do less shady things. Conveniently, I'm out of money this month, and you can save me a few bowls of pig's trotters rice." Bai Jun, too lazy to chat with this frequent visitor of the Department of Earthly Rulings' detention center, got straight to the point. "I need to ask about something, regarding Jiren Alley."

Bai Jun's expression was not one of joking. Third Brother Huo also gradually became serious. After all, this was one of the few people he admired and was grateful for, so he naturally had to show respect. "Go ahead. Although I'm not an all-knowing person, I will never withhold any information I have from you."

"Is there a young boy around my chest height nearby?" Bai Jun gestured with his hand to indicate the approximate height, then added, "He's very thin and looks like he has stunted growth."

Even the well-informed Third Brother Huo gasped and scratched his head, finding it difficult. "This range might be a bit... too broad. Do you remember any other distinguishing features?"

"Other features..." Bai Jun rubbed the corner of his lips and thought for a moment, recalling, "His hair color is a rare dark blue, and it looks like it hasn't been taken care of for a long time, messy like seaweed."

Upon hearing the keyword "seaweed," Third Brother Huo slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing something. "Oh, I know. It must be the Qiu Family kid. He's the only one around here with blue hair, and he's also slovenly and reclusive."

Bai Jun's eyes lit up, and he leaned closer.

Third Brother Huo could read Bai Jun's eyes, which meant something like, "Stop the nonsense, hurry up and tell me!" So, without further ado, he said what he knew:

"That kid's name is Qiu Zhou. His father, Qiu Kui, was a Cloud Cavalryman back then and seemed to have participated in many battles. Only Qiu Zhou and his parents were left at home. His grandfather was a notorious gambler, and Qiu Zhou was entirely supported by his mother. However, his grandfather later fell into a Mara-struck Body, and his mother's soul was captured by some Outworlders. She eloped, leaving Qiu Zhou all alone. Fortunately, the neighbors helped him out, otherwise, his father wouldn't have returned from retirement."

"And then what happened after his father returned?" Bai Jun frowned and said gravely.

"Alas, that's why Qiu Zhou is such an unfortunate child. His father was seriously injured on the battlefield. Upon returning home, he suffered such a blow that he became delirious from anger and grief, unable to even take the easy post assigned to him by the army. Now, the father and son can only live on the monthly subsidies. I don't know any more details."

Humans are not plants; how can they be heartless? Even Third Brother Huo couldn't help but sigh and shake his head at such a tragedy.

"That should be him," Bai Jun murmured, nodding. Then he suddenly asked, "Where does his family live?"

"Uh, it seems to be... on the street to the left at the end of that alley?" Third Brother Huo craned his neck and looked around, pointing unconfidently towards an alley to the south. Honestly, he wasn't sure himself, so he changed the subject.

"By the way, did that kid steal your wallet? But don't worry, let me treat you to a meal tonight. Tomorrow, I'll help you get it back—"

His voice abruptly stopped. In the blink of an eye, Third Brother Huo looked again and Bai Jun was gone, vanishing like a wisp of breeze. He couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration. "Lord Bai Jun is truly extraordinary..."

"Well, since everyone's gone, there's nothing we can do. I'll treat you next time! Speaking of which, I should go do business at the Crafting Department tomorrow. I just happen to have some pirate gear I salvaged from outer space that I need to deal with."

Third Brother Huo tidied his backpack and muttered to himself as he left.

Chapter 21: Entering the Mara-struck Body

He hurried through the crisscrossing alleys, his heart pounding as if it would leap out of his chest.

He clutched his collar tightly, the paper wrapping his medicine growing faintly warm against his chest. After running for who knows how long, he stopped, gasping for breath. The hot air escaping his nostrils met the cool evening air of the alley, creating wisps of faint white mist.

"Hiss... That hurts." Qiu Zhou leaned against the wall, gasping in pain as he clutched his chest.

The young man he had bumped into earlier was vividly etched in his mind. Honestly, he was one of the most handsome people Qiu Zhou had ever seen.

He had seemed tall and slender, but the collision felt like hitting a massive steel structure. His chest and backside still ached terribly.

Fortunately, he had managed to shake that person off. Qiu Zhou felt a sense of relief and continued to drag his tired body down the narrow alley.

As long as that Cultivator hadn't lied, his father would surely be cured after taking this medicine.

"Dad, just hold on a little longer. I'll be home soon."

Clutching the medicine in his arms, Qiu Zhou quickened his pace, moving silently through the darkness.

Before long, a heavy iron door appeared about fifteen meters ahead. A sliver of light leaked from the gap beneath it.

He walked up to it, fumbled for a key in his pocket, and slowly pushed the iron door open with a creaking sound. After confirming no one was following him, he gathered all his strength and slowly closed the heavy iron door with a thud. He then secured it with the latch.

Blood-stained bandages and cotton balls were scattered carelessly in the courtyard, and the air was thick with the pungent smell of medicinal herbs mixed with the scent of blood. The shattered window panes were a shocking sight.

Qiu Zhou didn't have time to pay attention to these things. He quickly entered the house, his eyes rapidly searching for his father.

The smell of blood inside the room was even more intense, mixed with a strange medicinal aroma that made him feel nauseous. Sticky bloodstains covered the floor and ceiling. Discarded bandages and dried, brownish-yellow grease clung to the floor. White teeth were scattered everywhere, along with clumps of black hair rolled into balls.

In the corners, fleshy tendrils writhed incessantly. Countless teeth, limbs, hairs, and fat... proliferated and shed madly, making it impossible to imagine that all this flesh and blood came from a single human body.

"Hoo... Haa..."

"Dad!" Qiu Zhou immediately followed the sound and found his father hunched beneath the sofa.

But when he leaned down and saw his father's face, Qiu Zhou's expression changed drastically, his pupils dilating instantly. He stumbled backward.

He retreated all the way to the wall, his back pressed against the cold surface. Cold sweat trickled down his forehead, and his hands flailed unconsciously, trying to find an escape route. In his haste, he accidentally knocked over a mirror hanging on the wall.

With a shattering sound, his father's attention, previously focused beneath the sofa, was completely drawn to the noise. The shattered mirror reflected his father's terrifying and grotesque face.

Half of his face looked like hemorrhoid flesh that had been sliced off. As it grew, dense branches erupted outwards. The thick blood vessels in his throat exposed a limp section through the piercing branches. The openings of the blood vessels, along with their interiors, expanded and contracted with each breath, emitting a thick, heavy breathing sound, as if swallowing large amounts of phlegm.

This was no longer like his family; it was clearly... a monstrosity!

In that moment, Qiu Zhou even considered running out to find the Cloud Cavalry. But when he saw those familiar pale yellow eyes and remembered that this was his own father, his only family, Qiu Zhou gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down.

"Dad, Dad... Eat, eat your medicine..."

Perhaps due to fear, Qiu Zhou suddenly felt an unbearable headache, his stomach sinking heavily. A chill seeped out from somewhere, crawling up his spine. Trembling, he took out the powder from his bosom, poured it into his hand as he always did, and held his breath as he walked towards his father.

Surprisingly, his father, still hunched on the floor, made no move. His indifferent pale yellow pupils quietly watched Qiu Zhou approach, like a well-behaved pet waiting to be fed. No, that was too terrifying for a pet.

Just as Qiu Zhou brought the medicine to his father's mouth, thinking it would soon be over, the pretense of calm shattered completely. The pale yellow pupils were filled with bloodthirsty madness. He opened his monstrous mouth and, like a wild beast, bit down fiercely on Qiu Zhou's outstretched left hand, bone and all.

"Ahhh!!!"

Qiu Zhou screamed in agony, falling to the ground clutching his severed arm. The pain from the stump and the sheer terror relentlessly assaulted his mind, nearly causing him to faint.

"Roar—!"

The monster that had bitten off his arm chewed the flesh and blood in its mouth, swallowing it along with the crushed bones, and let out an excited roar. Its hands, strained to the extreme, dug deep claw marks into the floor, causing the hard wooden planks to creak and break, creating a deep pit.

The only human-shaped hands were twisted and contorted by the recoil. First the nails, then the fingers, and finally the flesh and bone beneath the skin were exposed.

However, in an instant, the mangled hands were restored to their original state, becoming even tougher with the addition of randomly growing branches.

Qiu Zhou watched all this with despair and horror. As the monster that had stood up slowly walked towards him, he no longer had any desire to survive, only wishing for it all to end quickly.

But under the immense fear, his body couldn't stop trembling, and tears streamed down his face.

Bang—!

The rotten old wooden door instantly shattered under a powerful impact. Flying wood splinters, propelled at extreme speed, embedded themselves deeply into the wall like bullets, piercing the monster's flesh.

Amidst a sharp, pained roar, Bai Jun stepped over the broken door and slowly entered the room.

"He's not your father anymore."

The calm voice reached the ears of the boy, who was trembling with fear.

The voice was like a crystal-clear, tranquil spring, completely at odds with the monstrous and terrifying father opposite him. Judging by their appearances alone, he had no advantage over his father, neither in muscle, bone, weight, nor the violent aura he exuded.

Yet, this seemingly fragile body, which looked like it could be torn apart at any moment, radiated a sense of profound reassurance.

Bai Jun glanced at the tragic scene inside the room, his brow furrowed slightly. He brushed the dust off his clothes and said in the same calm tone he had used to shoo away a fly earlier, "Move aside. Go stand in the corner."

Qiu Zhou, clutching his severed arm, stared blankly at Bai Jun. The excessive blood loss made his already malnourished face even paler. Even after hearing Bai Jun's words, he had no idea what to do.

Seeing this, Bai Jun sighed softly. He held his unsheathed long saber diagonally, his gaze calmly shifting to the monstrosity oozing fat before him. "Fat coalesces into flesh. A Mara-struck Body in this condition is truly rare."

As if on cue, a bloodline appeared on the monstrosity's body from an unknown source. It converged at the bottom, forming a blood bead that rolled off. Along with the blood bead fell a thick arm, entwined with flesh and golden branches.

"Roar—"

Instantly, the room was filled with the beast's pained howls. It hadn't even seen the trajectory of the blade, nor when the other party had drawn it. By the time it reacted, it immediately opened its gaping maw and roared, swiping at Bai Jun with its only remaining arm.

Bai Jun held his long saber casually. With just a single step, his figure completely vanished from the beast's sight.

It was as if a flame had streaked through the pitch-black room, dazzling but not blinding.

In the next moment, the beast's head slid from its neck. The clean cut didn't even bleed a drop of blood. Simultaneously, the severed edge, which should have healed rapidly, crackled and hissed. The charred flesh lost its vitality, twitched a few more times, and then lay still.

And in Qiu Zhou's vision, Bai Jun had gracefully and calmly passed by his father. He drew his blade as gently as plucking a butterfly's wing, the blade like flowing fire across his neck. Then, as if nothing had happened, he sheathed it. The fluid movements were as if he had repeated them countless times, deeply imprinted into his instincts. Immediately after, his father's head fell.

After finishing all this, Bai Jun re-sheathed his sword at his waist as casually as eating or drinking. He turned to look at the young man behind him.

He saw that the youth's eyes were filled with disbelief and a myriad of complex emotions. Compared to the first time they met in the alleys, there was only deeper fear, but no gratitude to speak of.

Bai Jun withdrew his gaze, tore off half a sleeve of his shirt, and knelt before Qiu Zhou to give emergency treatment to his left arm.

As for whether he felt grateful or not, he didn't dwell on it. Gratitude or hatred, those were other people's thoughts. They had never influenced his own code of conduct.

He quickly tightened a cloth strip around the artery of the bleeding left arm. Although his movements were a bit rough and clumsy, Bai Jun had experience with actual battlefield first aid, so he had some knowledge. He soon managed to stop the continuous bleeding. It was a shame he didn't have emergency medicine like sulfa drugs, otherwise, the effect would have been even better.

Bai Jun breathed a sigh of relief. This way, he could keep the child alive.

"Hang in there a bit longer. Doctors from the Alchemy Commission will be here to treat you soon. Their methods are much gentler than mine."

Bai Jun didn't scold Qiu Zhou harshly. Instead, he knelt beside him, constantly comforting him and even chatting humorously. "But personally, I think I'm quite gentle. If you've seen how battlefield medics treat injuries, they use glue to stop bleeding and pins to secure a wounded person's tongue. They're truly ruthless characters..."

"Why... why did you save me?" Qiu Zhou stared blankly at Bai Jun, as if searching for an answer on his face.

"Reason? Does saving someone need a reason?" Bai Jun shook his head, finding the question amusing. But after thinking for a moment, he asked, "Well, if you insist, it's for the Soul-Returning Vitality Powder you have in your hand."

"Soul-Returning... Vitality Powder?" the youth's voice was filled with confusion.

"Yes, the one you're clutching in your arms." Bai Jun nodded, his smile fading. "Tell me, who gave it to you?"

Perhaps due to excessive blood loss, Qiu Zhou's eyelids grew heavier, and his voice became weaker. "It... it was that Cultivator who gave it to me."