The girl's chest heaved violently. Her gaze swept back and forth across their faces several times, then took in the unfamiliar surroundings. Only then did the wariness in her eyes begin to ease, little by little.
But a moment later, she seemed like a string stretched taut for too long that had finally snapped. Tears flooded out, and she threw herself into the healing-type Soul Master's arms, sobbing at the top of her lungs.
Her cries were heart-wrenching, as though she meant to cry out every last bit of hurt and fear.
Caught off guard by her sudden embrace, the healing-type Soul Master floundered for a moment before understanding dawned. He gently patted her back and soothed her in a warm voice. "Go ahead and cry. You'll feel better once you let it out."
The girl cried for a long while before slowly calming under everyone's reassurance. Still sniffling, she haltingly recounted a story that chilled them to the heart.
Her name was Zhu Yuan, and she came from a small village near Suotuo City.
A few nights earlier, a group of Evil Soul Masters had stormed into her village.
Dressed in black, they were ruthless, killing everyone they saw without sparing even the elderly or children. The entire village had been swallowed by a sea of flames and screams. Her parents had risked their lives to protect her, breaking through the encirclement and leading her toward the outskirts.
But their pursuers were too close behind, and her parents had ultimately been unable to hold them off. To keep her alive, her father and mother had stepped behind her one after the other, falling beneath the Evil Soul Masters' relentless assault.
She had watched her parents fall with their backs to her, watched those black-clad figures lunge at their bodies.