An Dies

That little fatty was the city lord's son, Shen Yuan. Though he was considered part of the city's upper class, his reputation was truly abysmal.

So abysmal that even wandering children like Bai Xiao knew he was a born cripple in cultivation. At fourteen, his Soul Power was only level eight, and that was after his father had fed him who knew how many heavenly treasures. His Innate Soul Power must have been horrendous!

This boy had received no shortage of mockery and cold looks since childhood. He had a fiery temper, and relying on the fact that he was his father's eldest son and that his mother's family had some influence, his family had always indulged him.

Ever since he was young, he had run rampant and acted like a tyrant. His younger brothers and sisters at home had all been bullied by him, let alone people outside.

Bai Xiao had once seen an old storyteller with a stall. Just because the old man had said two or three things about him, somehow word reached Shen Yuan's ears.

The next day, the old storyteller's corpse lay sprawled on the street. It could only vaguely be recognized as having once been human; only his clothes still identified him.

After that, the fatty seemed to have gotten a taste for blood. At the slightest provocation, he would attack ordinary people. After killing someone, he never received even the slightest punishment; his father always buried the matter.

The fatty was not stupid, either. He only targeted ordinary people. As for those with even slightly higher Soul Power, he generally kept his distance. Even if he formed a grudge with them, he would only use petty tricks to cause minor trouble.

The fatty was truly a shrewd little bastard, displaying his habit of bullying the weak and fearing the strong to the fullest. His petty schemes were even more disgusting.

Logically, wandering children like Bai Xiao should never have crossed paths with a young master like the little fatty. Bai Xiao did not understand why he had come to the slum where the orphans gathered that day.

Bai Xiao still remembered that day—the sight of the fatty wielding an iron bar and unleashing a massacre in the slum.

The fatty had led soldiers carrying standard-issue blades straight into the narrow alleys of the slum.

Most of the slum's inhabitants were skin-and-bones children, along with a few crippled old people. How could they possibly stand against a youth with Soul Power?

The lame beggar at the alley entrance was hacked to the ground after only a few slashes. After finishing off the beggar, the fatty hefted his blade and charged toward the remaining vagrants in the alley.

He was like a wolf charging into a flock of sheep. With every casual rise and fall of his blade, he cut down anyone he saw. In an instant, several more people lay on the ground, and blood stained the earth red.

Bai Xiao had stood there blankly at the time. Then, in an instant, a tremendous force seized his hand and dragged him away. He looked over in panic and discovered that An was desperately pulling him.

A thousand words could not describe what Bai Xiao felt then. He only knew two things: survive! Survive with this girl!

There was only one exit from the alley, and the fatty was blocking it. To get out, they had to pass him!

Seeing the fatty still hacking people down, neither of them hesitated. Their hearts seemed to understand each other's without a word. They clasped hands tightly and accelerated toward the gap beside the fatty.

Bai Xiao and An understood that they were gambling. But they also knew that neither of them was the sort to place their life in someone else's hands.

Watching the blade shadows draw closer and closer, Bai Xiao shut his eyes, lowered his head, and charged forward. He felt a cold edge sweep past his body. Then he realized he had run through, and the road ahead was clear.

Bai Xiao felt the little hand in his own still gripping him tightly. Hearing the small footsteps behind him, he knew she had escaped safely too.

Bai Xiao fled with her at full speed. Halfway through their escape, he felt An's little hand loosen and slip from his palm.

He did not understand. An had always had the best stamina—how could she have fallen?

Bai Xiao had no time to think. He bent down, scooped An up, and ran.

Only when Bai Xiao picked An up did he understand just how light she was. He could feel the bones beneath her tiny body. An was far too thin.

Bai Xiao thought of how An usually took care of him, giving him the things that were still relatively intact, and how she often stroked his head.

Bai Xiao's eyes stung. An's clothes had usually been rather loose, so he had never realized she was this frail.

An in his arms was far too light, as light as a cloud.

Bai Xiao ran toward the city gates as though his life depended on it. He knew that as long as they got out of the city, they would be safe.

Bai Xiao's arms grew more and more sore, and his legs grew heavier and heavier.

Yet Bai Xiao never put An down. He ran with every last ounce of strength in his body.

He could feel the strength inside him beginning to dry up, nearly exhausted.

Bai Xiao kept running, more desperately than before.

If he had no strength, then he would keep running. He would forge strength from flesh and blood.

After Bai Xiao used up the final trace of strength in his body, a strange power began surging from the depths of his flesh and blood.

Bai Xiao felt that he had lost something.

Blood?

Flesh?

Talent?

Bai Xiao could not say. He only knew that he could take An away from this hell.

When Bai Xiao stumbled, dazed, into the forest outside the city, he finally could no longer hold on and dropped to his knees in the dirt.

He gasped for breath, then looked down at the girl in his arms.

In an instant, Bai Xiao's pupils constricted sharply!

An, in his arms, was deathly pale. All color had long since drained from her face.

Trembling, Bai Xiao reached out and touched An's somewhat dirty face.

Feeling her slightly icy body temperature, Bai Xiao's heart stopped for an instant.

He already knew the worst possibility, yet he still clung to hope.

An overwhelming drowsiness washed over him, the side effect of his frenzied exhaustion.

At the very end, he held An's corpse tightly in his arms...

In his dream, he and An wandered along the seashore...

In his dream, he and An flew through the sky...

In another world, he and An lost their way in a forest...

When Bai Xiao woke again, he found himself still clutching An's corpse tightly. He could feel her somewhat protruding bones, and the gentleness she had once possessed...

Bai Xiao gently stroked the girl. He saw the hideous wound on her back, as well as An's torn clothes, already dyed red.

Bai Xiao understood. All his desperate efforts yesterday had been in vain. An had already been struck by a blade before then. She had died from excessive blood loss...

Bai Xiao was so calm, as though he had no feelings at all.

He set An's corpse down, turned around, and began frantically digging into the earth with his fingers.

He could not let An's body lie exposed in the wilderness. He did not want wild beasts to gnaw on her corpse. Burying An deeper was the last tenderness Bai Xiao could offer her.

Bai Xiao did not know how long he dug. He only knew that he buried An deep, deep underground, so that those wild beasts could not gnaw on her...