The shouting outside the door sounded familiar.
"Someone from the Mysterious Underworld Sect? What's he here for this time?"
Mother Jiang set Jiang Nannan down in confusion and walked slowly toward the door.
But while the people in the courtyard were still watching in puzzlement, the man outside had come with murderous intent.
Bang!
A deafening crash rang out, accompanied by flying splinters.
His rough hands became claws. The two wooden doors, meant to keep out anything but honest guests, splintered to pieces as he wrenched them apart.
"You bitch! Die!"
There was no useless scolding, no demand for an explanation. No one could have foreseen what happened next.
Not even the so-called Beast God Di Tian.
It all happened far too suddenly.
With bloodshot eyes, Mi Long smashed through the courtyard gate. As his Soul Rings flashed, he struck Mother Jiang with a palm, the nearest person to him.
"Mom!"
"Auntie Jiang!"
"Uncle Long, save her!"
Amid everyone's cries, Mother Jiang was sent flying into the courtyard wall behind her.
But the mad dog didn't stop attacking after taking its first bite.
The Ferocious Crocodile immediately turned on Fang Le behind her.
"Pay with your life for my brother's!"
His attack came with a furious roar. The five Soul Rings around Mi Long blazed brightly. He was clearly going all out.
This was Mi Long's plan for revenge.
Anger could cloud a person's judgment and keep them from thinking clearly.
But hatred born of anger could also make a person utterly lucid.
He had made up his mind as soon as he heard those two lackeys speculating about Di Tian and the others' strength.
He had made up his mind while leading his half-dead brother here to take revenge.
He had made up his mind countless years ago, when he had first imagined this day.
Mi Hu wouldn't survive. The powerful men he'd provoked had been crippled, their cultivation ruined, one leg and one arm cut off.
They might not even have the rest of their lives—no, they might not even see the dawn.
The powerful men they'd provoked would either be handed over to their enemies to appease their anger, or dealt with by the sect to sever all ties.
And he, a Soul King, was no more than a dog in their eyes. He, too, would be eliminated.
Once he'd thought all this through, Mi Long made his choice.
Death was already closing in. Why not use the time he had left to take a few others down with him?
Was his opponent strong?
Even so, there would always be a moment when they let their guard down.
He would strike quickly and avenge both himself and his brother.
(Xuan Zi: ...
Di Tian: ...)
One could only say that the Soul Kings of Douluo II were far too impressive.
But Di Tian wasn't Xuan Zi, and Mi Long wasn't the Death Messenger.
Just as Mi Long's claws were about to touch Fang Le, a terrifying dragon claw—radiating draconic might and a hundred times sharper than his own—landed on him first.
The immense force slammed down, Soul Power surging with it.
The frenzied beast's bones and meridians shattered. His Soul Power dispersed as he collapsed to the ground in a sorry heap.
"Still not enough?"
His fragile eyes couldn't withstand the overwhelming force. Both burst.
Mi Long couldn't even manage one last look at his enemy. All he could do was cling to his final breath.
He gazed in the direction where Fang Le had been and murmured to himself.
He wanted to curse the injustice of the world. But... ha! The world was unjust.
"Uncle Long, hurry! Auntie Jiang's dying!"
"Sir, please save my mom!"
The courtyard was in chaos.
Fang Le and the others had gathered around Mother Jiang while Di Tian poured Soul Power into her to keep her alive.
Meanwhile, Mi Hu, who had been carried in and then abandoned, struggled to roll off the stretcher. With the few limbs he had left, he dragged himself toward his brother.
"Senior, how is my mom? She'll be all right, won't she?"
Inside the house, Mother Jiang had been laid on a bed.
Jiang Nannan clutched her mother's frail, battered hand and asked through her tears.
"She's been brought back from the brink, but I'm no healer. Your mother was already in poor health, and now she's suffered severe injuries. I'm afraid she doesn't have long."
Di Tian looked at the girl's grief-stricken face and sighed before telling her the cruel truth.
Di Tian had healed Mother Jiang's injuries with his Soul Power and some spirit medicines, but they had left even deeper scars on her already broken life force.
She was at the end of her strength. Even if he returned to the Star Dou Forest and called Bi Ji here, there would be no saving her.
The room was steeped in sorrow.
Yet, for some reason, one person and one beast were missing.
"Fang Le, what are you doing? Auntie Jiang's in that state, and even if you don't go see her, how can you still be out here destroying Nannan and the others' home?!"
Rui'er looked at the enormous pit that had appeared in the courtyard, then at Fang Le, who was still working inside it, and demanded furiously.
"This all started because of me. Auntie Jiang was hurt because of me, so no matter what, I'll find a way to save her!
"Just wait. Once I've gathered all the materials, Auntie Jiang will definitely get better."
Fang Le wasn't heartless. In his eyes, all of this had started because of him. If he hadn't left trouble behind, Mother Jiang wouldn't have been hurt.
So now, he was going to make up for his mistake.
He didn't have the power to bring the dead back to life.
But the power his Martial Soul gave him could turn the impossible into possible.
Milk, a Golden Apple, a healing potion, a regeneration potion, a Totem of Undying.
He couldn't get the last three right now, but he could make milk and a Golden Apple as soon as he gathered the ingredients.
That was why Fang Le was tearing up the courtyard. He needed to gather cobblestone and make a furnace first.
Milk could remove all foreign influences from the body.
A Golden Apple could grant powerful healing.
He wasn't sure whether they would work, but he had to try.
"Can you save my mom? Brother Fang, please let me come with you! I can help, too."
Her soft voice was hoarse, but filled with unwavering determination.
Jiang Nannan came out of the house. When she happened to hear Fang Le's plan, the hope that had been extinguished in her heart began to glow again.
She should have hated him—hated Fang Le for bringing danger and hurting her mother. But she didn't.
Or rather, Fang Le wasn't the one she hated.
She hated Mi Hu for oppressing the common people. She hated Mi Long for injuring her mother without bothering to find out who was right or wrong.
Even more, she hated this world where the strong preyed on the weak, and hated herself for being powerless in it.
So Jiang Nannan didn't hate Fang Le.
On the contrary, she wanted to go with him to save her mother. She wanted to go with him and gain the strength to protect her.
She wanted to change this world where the strong preyed on the weak.
"Sure. Nannan, go find a cow and buy some apples."
Fang Le wasn't one to dither. Seeing Jiang Nannan volunteer, he assigned her a task.
Then he put down his pickaxe and looked at Di Tian.
"Uncle Long, take me to a rocky mountain. I need to gather some cobblestone. This city's all paved with stone slabs or dirt. I can't make a furnace without it."
"Mm!"
Di Tian nodded his agreement.
"What about me? What can I do to help, Fang Le?"
Seeing that everyone else had a task, Rui'er hurried over to ask.
"You... stay with Auntie Jiang and make sure no one disturbs her while she rests."
Fang Le studied the guileless Rui'er and thought for a moment before answering.
"Don't worry! With me here, not even a fly will disturb Auntie Jiang's rest!"
Rui'er gave a solemn promise in response to the task Fang Le had given her.
Just as everyone was preparing to head out and attend to their duties, they heard voices outside.
"It's this way. The person we saw just now came this way."
"He saw us from Shrek and didn't even stop to say hello. He was in such a hurry..."
"Maybe something happened. Let's go take a look too. We might be able to help."
"Who knows? But I bet there'll be something fun to see."
A few boys and girls in dark green uniforms chatted and laughed as they walked toward the courtyard.
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