Meanwhile, in the Western City of Ancient Gaze City.
This had once been the most prosperous commercial district, but now it had long since been reduced to shattered ruins.
"Hah... hah..."
Slightly ragged breathing came from amid the rubble.
A girl in a white dress was trying her hardest to curl into a tiny ball, hiding there with a hand over her mouth.
She looked about fourteen or fifteen, with a delicate face that still held a childish softness. A necklace with a little star pendant hung around her fair neck.
Her large eyes were misty with tears.
Si Qing.
The little girl who had once only known how to reach out and ask to be held had now grown into a graceful young maiden.
"Wah... how did this happen...?"
Si Qing covered her mouth, tears pattering down as she sobbed and hiccuped. "Everyone said Ancient Gaze City was where my brother made his name in a single battle, so why is it full of monsters that look like giant baboons...?"
"Wahhh, I want to go home. I want Dad, I want Third Uncle Granduncle, I want Brother Ming..."
Timid by nature, she had always been sheltered like a sensitive plant in the Si Household. Even watching her older male cousins slaughter a Spirit Sheep could frighten her into covering her eyes.
Just then, footsteps sounded beyond the boulder. Accompanied by a surge of black energy, several evil entities had discovered her!
"Aaaah! Monsters!!"
At the sight of those faces, Si Qing screamed in terror, backing away as she cried.
She looked so pitiful that even the Rogue Cultivators hiding behind the ruins felt their hearts twist.
They desperately wanted to rush out and play the heroes rescuing a damsel, but their strength would not allow it. All they could