"You whore! Just do as you're told!" A middle-aged man pushed a prostitute onto the ground.
He wore a gaudy, lavender robe lavished with gold embroidery that screamed attention—not in the way he might have wanted though. The woman on the other hand, despite her flamboyant dress and heavy makeup, had a slim build and a tired face that hinted at her poverty.
Xinyu recognized her pale, ghastly complexion; she was the woman by the dock.
"No wonder your husband left you. Such a disobedient woman!" The man landed another piercing slap on her small face. Blood streamed down her nose mixed with the quiet tears that trickled down her eyes, but she said nothing. "Your husband will never come back! He never loved you! You're just another slut he used to bear his children, but in the end, he didn't even want them!"
He hit her again, and again, and again.
A crowd gathered to watch, but no one intervened. They whispered amidst the beating—some shared sympathetic looks, some laughed, and some went about their day after becoming bored.
Xinyu was not any of them; she merely watched the commotion from thirty steps away—as invisible as the evening chill. An indistinguishable emotion flashed through her hazel eyes and disappeared as soon as it came, but Xinyu just stood unmoving as the scene played before her.
"None of this would've happened if you just spread your legs!" The man kicked the prostitute one last time in the stomach before standing up to fix his garish robe.
The poor woman laid motionless on the cold floor. Her intricate hairstyle was a mess as black strands stuck to her bloodied face. Heaps of dirtied silk sprawled around her. The inkling of resolve that glimmered in her eyes at the dock now only displayed pitch-black hopelessness.
All that was left of the crowd were those who shared sympathetic looks. They knew who the woman was, but they did not dare stand up for her. After all, they were just mere mortals—and commoners at that. What could they do against that man? With such extravagant clothes, he was surely from a distinguished background!
"Even now, why do you resist?" The man asked in contempt, eyes filled with disdain as he looked at the woman on the ground.
She said nothing.
With a sigh, Xinyu finally moved from her spot and turned back to the alley.
Why was she wasting her time watching such a common scene? This kind of incident happened all the time. It was not like her to be stirred by such an event.
Xinyu shook her head in an attempt to ignore the growing weight on her chest.
She needed to go home now. The Sun was already halfway down the horizon. If she did not leave now, Xinyu would be breaking the promise she made to Aunt Yanfei, and she hated breaking promises.
As she took a step towards home, however, a feeble voice reached her ears.
"Because I love him," the woman croaked behind torn lips.
Finally, she began to sob. Her cries reminded Xinyu of someone—of the woman who always gazed at the Moon with an indescribable yearning, longing for something that was not hers and could never be hers. Xinyu could almost see her soft eyes, her frail body, and her insatiable sadness in the woman who shivered uncontrollably on the ground.
"Disgusting," the man muttered and reached for the hilt of an ornate, small sword that hung from his belt.
Before he could even unsheathe the blade, Xinyu found her fist planted in his revolting face. The unpleasant cracking of his nose and her knuckles broke into the air as bones shattered away at the force of the punch. The man screeched in pain, hands instinctively covering his injured nose as he jolted back in shock.
Despite the awful ache that throbbed from her hand, Xinyu felt a great sense of satisfaction—it was as if a lifetime's worth of worry had disappeared along with the evening breeze.
So this was why humans loved fighting so much. What a great stress reliever!
The crowd gasped upon seeing the girl suddenly jumping in between the prostitute and the man.
Who was this girl? Where did she even come from? They didn't even see her move! The man was just about to kill the prostitute when he suddenly fell back! They could clearly hear bones shattering at the impact of the punch. Just how strong was this girl? Was she an immortal?
Hope surged into their hearts. That oughta teach the man a lesson!
Although they couldn't do anything to help the poor woman, they couldn't help but feel hatred for this man who ruthlessly beat a woman in public.
Touching the protrusion of his face, the man screamed in dismay when he realized his proud nose had become flat and crooked like the small toe of a child.
"How dare you! My beautiful face!" He cried unseemingly, blood gushing from his nostrils.
Xinyu found a sudden fascination with the flower embroidery on his hideously bright clothes. Now that she was face-to-face with the ugly creature, she did not know what to do. She hadn't planned on intervening, but her body just moved on its own accord.
Feeling empty-handed, she thumbed the jade flute in her sleeve.
"Do you know who I am? I am the third son of Dou Fang, Dou Luyi! My father is the trusted right-hand man of the esteemed Immortal Liu House. Once he knows that you have offended his favorite son, you'll be good as dead!" The man got up from his shock and threatened with that nauseating voice of his.
Xinyu felt the urge to plant another punch in his face, but she just stood there unmoving, studying the golden flower that was fixed elaborately against the deep-purple silk. Now that she examined it carefully, the robe was actually quite beautiful. It was a shame that the wearer was not worthy of its beauty.
Despite her calm, the crowd was stunned into silence.
Did he just say he was the son of Dou Fang? The right-hand man of the Immortal Liu House? The family that housed over a century's worth of immortal descendants?!
It is said that the Head Immortal Liu could kill over a hundred men with just a lift of the finger! What had this girl gotten herself into? No matter how strong someone was, they would never dare to offend the Immortal Liu House!
Suddenly, they all felt pity for the girl. By offending someone from the Immortal Liu House, she had already given herself a death sentence! The hope they held in their hearts was quickly crushed.