Before they knew it, the New Year had passed. In the Western Plains, outside a small third-tier city under the Corpse Soul Sect's rule, several burly men stood in a settlement of the poor called Vagabond Flat, arms folded across their chests, watching the courtyard with cold sneers.
Outside a dilapidated bamboo gate, an obese middle-aged man in a brocade robe, fully three times the size of an ordinary man, pinned a scrawny youth to the ground beneath his foot, his face vicious as he cursed him out.
"A life for a life, a debt repaid! That principle would hold even before the king of heaven himself! You, Yan Xiaoyi, borrowed money to treat your old mother. You were happy enough then, but now that she's dead, you dare tell me you can't pay?"
The scrawny youth looked miserable and pleaded, "Third Master Tu, I really can't afford it. Please give me a little more time. Just... just a few more days, and I'll definitely scrape it together for you!"
The obese middle-aged man said, "No! Day after day-how long are you going to drag this out? Besides, a pauper like you doesn't even have a proper livelihood. Does the interest not count as money? You'll pay up today, or else... or else we'll take her to settle the debt!"
He signaled the burly men beside him with a glance. Two immediately went inside, dragged out a girl who had been secretly watching from beside the fence, and hauled her by the arms before the middle-aged man.
Panic filled the girl's face as she cried, "Ah! You... what are you doing? Let me go!"
The obese middle-aged man roared with laughter. "Hahahaha! Yan Xiaoya, is it? If I'd known you had a sister like this, why waste all that breath?