Lin Chen's outstretched hand was steady and strong.
Crouched in the corner, Qing Lin's small body was still trembling violently.
Through a narrow gap between her tightly shut eyes, she stared in terror at the bodies in the alley, cut in half at the waist, their blood spread across the ground.
Then she looked at the young man before her, who seemed to have come straight from hell, yet was reaching out to her.
Fear was nearly swallowing her whole.
But... though the eyes looking at her were cold,
they held none of the disgust, contempt, or brutality she had seen in the eyes of those children and adults.
There was only... a kind of calm?
And perhaps... the faintest trace of an emotion she couldn't understand.
As if in a daze, she trembled and cautiously
placed her dirty little hand, covered in tiny wounds and pale green scales, into his warm, dry palm.
Lin Chen gave a slight tug and pulled her to her feet.
She was as light as a feather and could barely stand, relying almost entirely on him to hold her up.
"Can you walk?" Lin Chen asked.
Qing Lin timidly shook her head. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's, tinged with tears.
"My... my legs hurt..."
Lin Chen looked down at her calves.
They were covered in bruises, both old and new, along with several cuts from sharp stones.
Blood was slowly seeping from them.
He said no more and simply picked her up.
He wrapped his broad robe around her small, still-trembling body,
shutting out the alley's nauseating, blood-soaked scene as he strode away.
Back on the relatively clean street, the sunlight was blinding.
Qing Lin buried her face against Lin Chen's chest, afraid to look up at the passersby and the gazes they might cast her way.
Finding a secluded corner, Lin Chen set her down.
Then he crouched too, trying to meet her at eye level.
"Do they bully you like this often?"
Lin Chen's voice softened a little.
Qing Lin's body shuddered, and she nodded.
Tears began welling in her eyes again.
"How do they bully you? Tell me."
Lin Chen needed to know the details.
He also wanted to give this girl, who had been suppressing her feelings for far too long, a chance to let them out.
Maybe it was because Lin Chen had descended like a god to save her.
Maybe his calm voice now gave her a trace of security.
Sobbing, Qing Lin began to tell him, her words broken and halting.
The bullying had been far worse and gone on far longer than Lin Chen had imagined.
Being pelted with stones was an everyday occurrence.
The boys always made a game of hitting her, putting all their strength into it.
There was hardly an uninjured patch of skin on her body. Before one wound could heal, she would suffer another.
She rolled up her ragged sleeve, revealing her arm.
It was covered in bruises and scabbed-over wounds, some of the deeper ones still bleeding.
Even more heinous was one of the girls, named "Lily."
Trembling, Qing Lin pointed to several pink scratches on her cheek that had yet to heal completely.
Her voice was full of fear and hurt.
"She... she used a really sharp stone... to scratch my face... It hurt so much... There was so much blood..."
"Why?"
Lin Chen's voice remained calm.
But the air around them seemed to turn cold in an instant.
"She said... said I was a mongrel... and couldn't have such a pretty face..."
Big tears rolled down Qing Lin's cheeks.
"Every time... every time it was almost healed... she'd come and scratch it again... over and over..."
"She said then I'd never heal, and I'd always be an ugly freak..."
Because she carried a trace of Snake-People blood, her constitution was different from other people's.
Her wounds healed a little faster than those of ordinary human children.
But that had become the reason she was tormented again and again!
She healed, only to be hurt once more, over and over!
Lin Chen's eyes darkened completely.
An uncontrollable fury stirred in his heart.
He wasn't some saint who pitied all living things.
But the way they treated someone he had chosen to protect had crossed one of his lines.
"Did you ever try to fight back? Or tell someone?"
he asked.
"I tried to fight back..."
Qing Lin cried even harder.
Her voice was full of despair.
"One time... Lily came to scratch my face again, and it hurt so much... so I pushed her... She fell and cried..."
"And then?"
"Then... then her parents came... and the parents of two other families..."
Qing Lin curled up in terror,
as if she had remembered something truly horrifying.
"They... they dragged me into the alley... and beat me with a wooden club that thick... They beat me like they wanted to kill me..."
"They said I dared to fight back... They said I was a monster... They wanted to beat me to death..."
She lifted the tattered back of her shirt, revealing her thin back.
It was covered in crisscrossing, savage old scars!
Some even showed overlapping marks from repeated beatings!
"That time... I almost died... I lay there for days before I could move..."
She wept uncontrollably.
"After that... I didn't dare fight back again... They hit me... and cursed at me... and I just endured it..."
"At least... at least they wouldn't beat me to death... I wanted to live... I was scared..."
She wanted to live! She only wanted to live!
So she had chosen to silently endure this endless torment!
She didn't know where to go, and no one would help her.
To her, the whole world held nothing but cruelty and pain!
Lin Chen fell silent.
He looked at the little girl before him, covered in wounds, who had to pay with such immense humiliation just to stay alive.
The fury in his heart slowly turned into a cold, tangible killing intent.
He cultivated the Blood Scripture and walked the path of slaughter,
plundering the essence of all living things in pursuit of transcendence.
But he was no mindless killer without principles.
His principles were simple, even somewhat cold:
If others did not offend him, he would not offend them.
If others offended him, he would wipe them out root and branch!
He would not slaughter the innocent just because he disliked someone or simply wanted to grow stronger.
His killings usually had a clear purpose:
revenge, resources, or removing an obstacle.
But once someone crossed his line,
or laid a hand on someone he had decided to protect,
then it didn't matter who they were, whether young or old, strong or weak, right or wrong.
In his eyes, they had only one fate:
death!
Clearly, every one of those families in the alley—from the little brats to their unreasonable, vicious parents—
had crossed that line completely, and repeatedly. They deserved to die a thousand deaths!
If they did not die, it would be an outrage against heaven and reason!
"I understand."
There was no telling how Lin Chen felt from his voice.
He picked Qing Lin up again.
"Don't be afraid. No one will bully you again."
Holding Qing Lin, he hurried back to the inn.
Xiao Yi Xian was sorting medicinal herbs in the room.
When she saw Lin Chen return carrying a filthy little girl covered in wounds, she was startled.
"Lin Chen, who is...?"
"Her name is Qing Lin. She'll be with us from now on."
Lin Chen kept it brief.
He set Qing Lin on the bed.
"Help her wash up and treat her wounds. Use the best medicine."
Seeing Qing Lin's pitiful condition,
especially the glaring scratches across her face, Xiao Yi Xian's maternal instincts kicked in at once.
She hurriedly nodded.
"Okay! Leave it to me!"
She brought over warm water and took out her best medicine.
With gentle movements, she began wiping Qing Lin clean and applying medicine to her wounds.
Lin Chen then stepped to Qing Lin's side and gently touched her forehead with a finger.
He slowly channeled a trace of pure life energy into her, refined again and again by the Karma Fire Red Lotus.
The energy was gentle and brimming with vitality.
It quickly nourished her frail body, speeding the healing of her wounds.
It drove the chill and fear from her body.
Qing Lin felt a warm current flow through her limbs.
Even the pain seemed to ease.
She opened her eyes in surprise and looked at Lin Chen, her gaze full of gratitude and a hint of dependence.
"Get some rest."
Lin Chen stroked her soft hair.
Then he left the room, gently closing the door behind him.
He needed to go back to the area around that alley.
Some things had to be done thoroughly.
He had only killed a few of them earlier. He wasn't done yet!
Following Qing Lin's vague description and tracking the lingering resentment of those families with his soul sense,
Lin Chen soon found their homes.
They were all poor residents of Mo City, living in shacks.
He didn't hesitate, or even knock.
In the first house, the burly man who had nearly beaten Qing Lin to death with a wooden club was drinking.
Lin Chen pierced his brow with a finger from a distance.
In the second house, the shrew who had encouraged her daughter's cruelty and joined in beating Qing Lin was cursing someone, calling them "a bastard who deserved to die."
The Yuantu Sword Shadow swept past, severing her head from her body.
In the third house, another couple who had joined in the beating and had long turned a blind eye to their child bullying Qing Lin
were still wailing and cursing over their child's brutal death when the Abi Sword Shadow devoured every last bit of their vitality.
The whole thing was swift, precise, and ruthless.
No unnecessary words, no hesitation, no mercy.
He even cleared out the other family members who might have known and condoned what happened...
After finishing all this, Lin Chen acted as though he'd done nothing more than a trivial task.
He returned to the inn with his breathing steady.
In the room, Xiao Yi Xian had already treated Qing Lin's wounds.
She had changed into a clean set of clothes.
Exhaustion and relief had sent Qing Lin into a deep sleep.
Every so often, she still shuddered in her dreams, as if she were afraid.
Xiao Yi Xian sat beside the bed, looking at Qing Lin's peaceful, scarred face as she slept.
Her gaze was complicated, filled with pity and... an unspeakable resolve.
As Lin Chen entered, he keenly sensed that something was off about Xiao Yi Xian's aura.
A faint wisp of Dou Qi, carrying an eerie, sweet fragrance and a dangerous fluctuation, was seeping from her body!
He frowned, instantly appeared before her, and grabbed her wrist.
His soul power probed into her. His expression darkened.
"You took poison? You activated the Woe Poison Body?"
Xiao Yi Xian's body trembled, and she looked up.
There was no fear in her eyes, only the resolve of someone who had burned her boats.
She nodded, her voice a little hoarse.
"Mm... I tried using that Rot Bone Flower you gave me..."
"Why?"
A trace of bewilderment crept into Lin Chen's voice.
"You should know the consequences. Without my assurance, activating it on your own could easily..."
"I know!"
Xiao Yi Xian cut him off.
She looked straight at him, eyes glistening with tears but filled with extraordinary determination.
"But I have to do this, Lin Chen!"
She glanced at Qing Lin, asleep on the bed, and choked out:
"Do you know how I felt after hearing what happened to Qing Lin? I was furious!"
"I hate how cruel those people were!"
"But I'm even more afraid! I'm afraid of being powerless!"
"If... if I were the one in danger today, or if we ever became a burden to you..."
"Would I have to suffer in silence like Qing Lin, and pray that someone would come save me?"
"I don't want to be helpless anymore!" Her voice broke with tears, yet brimmed with strength.
"I don't want to be a burden to you! Even if... even if I'm eventually devoured by the poison and die in agony..."
"I still want power! At least... at least enough to protect myself, and maybe... help you a little!"
She raised her hand. A wisp of faint gray vapor curled around her palm, carrying a corrosive aura.
"Look, I can feel it... my strength is growing... It's faint, but this is only the beginning..."
Lin Chen looked at the tears in her eyes, her stubbornness, and her readiness to risk everything. He fell silent.
He understood her fear and her choice.
In this cruel world, lacking power was a sin in itself.
Especially for people with unusual constitutions like them.
He released her hand and sighed.
"Fine. Since you've made your choice, I'll find a way to control it as soon as possible."
"Remember, don't take poison so recklessly again. Take it step by step."
Xiao Yi Xian nodded firmly, then broke into a tearful smile.
"Mm! I'll listen to you!"
Just then, Qing Lin whimpered and slowly woke up.
She opened her eyes and first saw Lin Chen and Xiao Yi Xian keeping watch beside her bed.
Her gaze was no longer as fearful as before. It held a little more comfort and trust.
"My lord... Big sister..."
She called out softly.
Lin Chen sat down beside the bed and looked at her.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Mm..."
Qing Lin nodded, hesitated, then asked quietly:
"Those... those bad people..."
"They won't come back."
Lin Chen's voice was calm, yet carried a reassuring certainty.
"Never again."
Qing Lin stared at him. Though young, she understood what he meant.
An immense sense of security, unlike anything she had ever felt, wrapped around her small heart like a warm current.
The grievances and fear she had kept buried for so long seemed to find an outlet.
She threw herself into Lin Chen's arms and burst into tears.
It was as though she wanted to cry out all her pain.
Lin Chen stiffened slightly.
In the end, he still reached out and awkwardly patted her back.
Xiao Yi Xian wiped away her tears beside them.
A relieved smile crossed her face.
After crying for a long while, Qing Lin finally began to calm down.
Embarrassed, she pulled away from Lin Chen's arms, her little face bright red.
Lin Chen looked at her and spoke seriously.
"Qing Lin, remember: you're not a monster, and you're not a half-breed."
"Your bloodline and your eyes may be unique gifts from heaven."
"From now on, stay with me. No one will bully you again."
His words were like warm sunlight, shining into Qing Lin's heart, frozen for far too long.
She nodded with all her might.
Tears glimmered in her jade-green eyes, but they were no longer tears of sadness.
Instead, they shone with something new: hope and trust.
She knew that from this moment on, her life would be different.
After reassuring the two of them, Lin Chen told them to stay at the inn and not go outside.
He left the inn, spread his dark-red Purple Cloud Wings, and shot into the sky.
"Boom!"
He flew toward the boundless Tagor Great Desert beyond the city!
Based on the several possible locations Hai Bodong had provided, he needed to confirm the exact location of the Green Lotus Core Flame as soon as possible.
The desert was harsh, with scorching heat, little water, and dangerous magical beasts lurking everywhere...
But none of that posed a problem for Lin Chen now.
He unleashed the full reach of his soul perception while carefully sensing the movements of the Karma Fire Red Lotus in his dantian.
The Karma Fire Red Lotus had a natural affinity for Heavenly Flames, like a compass.
He circled overhead like a hawk.
He swept over one enormous sand dune and rocky plain after another.
Finally, as he reached the second location Hai Bodong had marked—
a vast desert basin—
the phantom of the Karma Fire Red Lotus in his dantian suddenly stirred!
It sent out a clear, powerful yearning, pointing underground to a spot in the basin's center!
Found it!
A gleam flashed in Lin Chen's eyes. Without hesitation,
he immediately changed course and returned to Mo City at top speed!
Perhaps I can get that old geezer to lend a hand ahead of schedule...
His wings beat as his figure cut through the sky.
He headed straight for the shop called the "Ancient Map Shop"!
Before you continue