Shen Yue froze amid the crowd, then pointed at herself with one finger and looked at Chen Han questioningly.
Chen Han nodded.
She stepped out from the crowd, followed by another young woman with delicate features and a petite frame. It was Chen Huaiyu.
Shen Yue said, "Senior, I'm deeply grateful for saving my life. Could you take my friend with us as well? Please, Senior."
The two of them bowed deeply, timidly. The pleading in their eyes spoke for itself.
Chen Han nodded without concern. "You may."
Only then did the rest of the Chen Family finally realize that he hadn't come to save them at all. He had come solely for this young woman.
Their feelings were tangled—envy, jealousy, and resentment all at once.
One man pleaded indignantly, "Senior, please take me too! I have a beautiful young older sister. If you don't mind..."
"Senior, my family has money—lots and lots of silver, more than you could count. If you save my life..."
Without realizing it, the poor young man who had once borrowed money everywhere with a fawning smile, humbling himself and even being turned away at the door had changed greatly with the passage of time.
Once, he had been beneath everyone else. Now, without even noticing, he could decide whether these people lived or died—and command his own fate as well.
The road he'd walked, step by step, had been truly arduous.
And after everything he'd endured, his very nature had changed. He'd grown cold and merciless, treating human lives as no more than weeds.
In the past, facing the pleas of these kin who shared his blood might have stirred some pity in him. Now, all he could manage was a blank expression. They were dead... so they were dead. What did it have