"Yuntao, what do you think of the world as it is now?"
Su Yuntao's eyes narrowed slightly. "Dean, although Douluo Continent seems peaceful on the surface, there is absolute evil lurking beneath it."
Shui Xinhan nodded. "Actually, being born into this world is a kind of torment for commoners like us."
"If you're lucky, perhaps you can live out your life in peace. The taxes and levies may be an unbearable burden, but as long as you can be with your family and live a simple life, making do with plain tea and simple meals, that's a kind of happiness, too."
Su Yuntao nodded. "Everyone has their own happiness. I think spending a peaceful life with your family really is a great happiness."
Shui Xinhan gave a slight nod. "Yuntao, I agree with you. Unfortunately, not everyone in this world can have that."
"Many people at Skywater Academy are victims of this cruel world. Bing'er, Yue'er, and I are all among them!"
Su Yuntao's expression turned grave. Shui Xinhan's words had clearly affected him deeply.
"On the surface, the empires oppose one another and heroes contend for supremacy. It all seems filled with passion and excitement, but behind that glory lies countless sins!"
Shui Xinhan closed her eyes slightly, as if recalling something.
"One of those sins is the trafficking of people. The tragic fates of countless women at Skywater Academy began with that."
Su Yuntao said nothing. At that moment, he was a listener, hearing the stories of Shui Xinhan, Shui Bing'er, Shui Yue'er, the female Soul Masters of Skywater Academy, and the countless women of Douluo Continent.
"I was born in a small town a hundred kilometers north of Shuiyun City. My father was a small-time merchant, and my mother was a full-time housewife."
"My parents worked hard, so I never wanted for food or clothing as a child. I lived a happy, comfortable life. But when I was five, a nightmare descended upon me."
"And it was all brought upon me by this rotten, cruel world. I was especially cute when I was young, so an organized gang of child traffickers set their sights on me."
"One pitch-black night, they stormed into my home and killed my father. My mother, tears in her eyes and scissors in hand, wanted to end my life so I wouldn't have to endure a fate worse than death."
"In the end, they killed my mother, too. I was only five, weak and helpless. As I watched my parents die horribly, all I felt was fear and timidity."
Su Yuntao hurriedly said, "Dean, you don't need to blame yourself. A six-year-old child couldn't have done anything."
Shui Xinhan took a sip of tea, and a tear slid down her cheek.
"After they abducted me, they took me to their hideout. There, I saw many children just like me. Their leader looked at me as if I were a priceless treasure."
"Three days later, they bathed me and dressed me in beautiful, dazzling clothes. Then they sent me to a luxurious manor, where I met a man who looked like a pig."
Su Yuntao began to breathe faster. He had already guessed what happened, but as Shui Xinhan recounted it, he still grew tense on her behalf.
"In that lavish room, that pig tried every possible way to toy with a little girl who was only five years old."
Shui Xinhan spoke slowly. "In the midst of my terror and fear, a strange voice rose from deep within me: Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"
"Kill him! Then kill every evil person in the whole world!"
Shui Xinhan continued slowly, "Amid that overwhelming fear and fury, my Martial Soul awakened ahead of time. My dragon claw pierced that pig's chest, and I tore out his heart with my own hands!"
"But I was disappointed, because a man like him didn't have a black heart!"
Shui Xinhan said furiously, "How unjust is Heaven! A beast held high office and lived in splendor all his life, while my kind-hearted parents met such a terrible end!"
Su Yuntao said gravely, "Dean, Heaven is utterly heartless. It can't hear the cries of the people."
Only after a long while did Shui Xinhan manage to calm down. "After killing that beast, I became clearheaded, despite being only five. I knew I had to escape at once, but I was too young and had no way to deal with that pig's servants."
"His servants caught me and tortured me with the most terrifying methods until I was at death's door. As I came close to dying, I wasn't afraid anymore, because I was about to see my parents."
"But when I woke up, the people I saw weren't my parents. They were my teacher!"
Su Yuntao breathed a sigh of relief. The generations of people at Skywater Academy had truly accumulated immeasurable merit through their deeds!
"My teacher saved me and brought me to Skywater Academy. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it."
"Oh?" Su Yuntao asked, confused. "Why not?"
Shui Xinhan sneered. "Because that pig was the most distinguished beast in the vicinity of my hometown. He was an Earl of the Heaven Dou Empire."
"An Earl had died. How could those nobles of the Heaven Dou Empire possibly let it go?"
Su Yuntao frowned. He knew that morality and justice were worthless in the eyes of the powerful.
"The Heaven Dou Empire went straight to my teacher and demanded that Skywater Academy hand me over. Otherwise, they would brand the entire academy as a rebel force!"
"In desperation, my teacher sent someone to take me far away to the Star Luo Empire. I spent more than ten years in hiding before finally returning to Skywater Academy."
"Under the Heaven Dou Empire's threats, my teacher had no choice but to hand over almost all of Skywater Academy's assets to the empire and secretly bribe those nobles. Only then did Heaven Dou grudgingly let the matter drop!"
"During those more than ten years in the Star Luo Empire, I trained as hard as I could. Because my Martial Soul had awakened prematurely, my body couldn't bear the strain. Not only was the Ice Dragon Martial Soul only partially awakened, but my meridians were also badly damaged. Even though I had Innate Full Soul Power, my cultivation speed slowed considerably."
"But when I was just over twenty, I still obtained my fifth Soul Ring and became a Soul King."
Su Yuntao sighed. The effects of what happened back then could never be erased completely from Shui Xinhan's life, whether from her mind or her body.
If nothing had happened to Shui Xinhan, who had Innate Full Soul Power, her family would have lived a very happy life. Perhaps, after her Ice Dragon Martial Soul awakened fully, she might even have gained the ultimate ice attribute.
With Shui Xinhan's talent, if a Soul Master from Spirit Hall had helped her awaken her Martial Soul when she was six, she would have received treatment at least on par with the Golden Generation. Though she couldn't compare to Bibi Dong, she would still have been the foremost among the younger generation beneath Bibi Dong in Spirit Hall!
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