The scene before Lin Fang was a painful reminder of the world he'd stepped into.
A world where strength was everything, and morality seemed to vanish as soon as someone gained a shred of power.
Behind the bushes, hidden by the dense trees, Lin Fang's eyes flickered with a mix of disgust and grim understanding.
"So this is what passes for 'strength' here?" he muttered under his breath. "Throw away your humanity and trample on anyone weaker than you. Pathetic."
His gaze returned to the girl, her wide eyes brimming with fear as she stood frozen, too terrified to fight back. Lin Fang watched with a calm expression.
The young master stood arrogantly, his smug expression and entitled demeanour a testament to the kind of person who thought power gave them the right to do anything.
"Stop moving, you filth!" the young master snapped, his tone dripping with entitlement. "Just let this young master enjoy himself for a while. I'll even pay you enough spirit stones to save your pathetic family. That's more kindness than you deserve!"
The girl's defiance wavered, but her voice remained steady.
"Leave me alone, you scum! Don't you have any shred of humanity left in your heart?"
The young master sneered, his eyes narrowing.
"Humanity? Heh, in this world, people like you are nothing but cannon fodder. Useless! You can't even cultivate! The only thing you've got going for you is that body, so why not use it to earn a living?"
Lin Fang's lips curled in disgust as he watched the exchange.
"Arrogant. Entitled trash,"
The girl's eyes, desperate and pleading, darted toward the old man standing nearby. Surely, Lin Fang thought, someone older and presumably wiser would intervene.
"Old man, help me, please!" the girl begged, her voice trembling. "Imagine if I were your daughter—or your granddaughter!"
For a moment, Lin Fang allowed himself to hope that someone might do the right thing. But the old man's response was a slap in the face to both logic and decency.
The old man turned toward her, his expression twisted with disgust and anger.
"Shut up," he barked. "Don't you dare compare yourself to my daughter or granddaughter! You should be grateful the young master even looks at you. Just follow him for a while and stop complaining."
Lin Fang took a deep breath, his emotions churning. It wasn't anger alone that welled up in him—it was the sheer pettiness of it all. This wasn't some grand battle or life-or-death struggle. This was an abuse of power so small, so pathetic, that it disgusted him on a fundamental level.
"I expected ruthlessness," Lin Fang thought, his gaze lingering on the old man. "But to throw away all sense of decency over something like this? How weak do you have to be to stoop this low?"
His eyes shifted back to the girl. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, her fear practically radiating off her in waves.
"She doesn't deserve this," Lin Fang muttered.
"No one does."
Lin Fang assessed the situation carefully. The young master was at the fifth level of Qi-Refining—a joke compared to Lin Fang's strength. The old man, however, was at the eighth level.
He was a more challenging opponent if he had a variety of magical skills, but Lin Fang was confident that he could dispatch him easily.
"They're both weaker than me," Lin Fang thought, his mind calculating the odds of winning the fight. "I could deal with them easily."
But then came the question that always gnawed at the back of his mind.
'Should I?'
This wasn't his fight. The world was full of injustices, and if he tried to right every wrong, he'd never have time to focus on his own path.
Yet the girl's terror was hard to ignore. Her trembling hands, her pleading eyes—they reminded him that strength wasn't just about power. It was about choice.
Lin Fang took a deep breath.
His mind was made up. Not because he wanted to play the hero, but because he was a human before being a cultivator.
Lin Fang stepped out from the bushes.
"Hey," Lin Fang called out, his voice cutting through like a blade. The young master and the old man turned to face him, their expressions that of surprise.
The young master and the old man turned to face him, their initial surprise quickly giving way to irritation. Both men assessed him, their expressions that of caution and slight arrogance.
Near them, the girl's eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope. She took a hesitant step back, her voice trembling as she whispered, "Help me, please."
Unfortunately, her retreat was clumsy. Her ankle caught on a rock, sending her stumbling backwards.
"Ah!" she exclaimed softly as she landed on the ground.
thud.
Lin Fang winced at the sight, but the young master and the old man didn't spare her a glance. Their focus was entirely on him.
"May I know which family this cultivator hails from?" the old man asked, his tone that of caution. Despite his outward composure, Lin Fang could see the uncertainty in his eyes.
The old man's qi sense seemed to falter, unable to gauge Lin Fang's cultivation level. It left him grasping at possibilities.
Either this young man is a genius hiding his power, or… just an ordinary human playing hero.
Lin Fang tilted his head slightly, a polite yet dismissive smile on his face.
"I'm not from any notable family," he replied casually. "Just a normal family from a small town."
The old man's eyes narrowed, but he didn't press further. Lin Fang's demeanour was too calm, too self-assured. Either this young man was acting humble or… he was bluffing them.
Ignoring the old man's scrutiny, Lin Fang walked past him, his focus entirely on the girl. He crouched down beside her, his movements unhurried, and offered a reassuring smile.
"Sister," he said gently, "are you alright?"
She shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks as she clutched her scraped knee.
Lin Fang nodded solemnly as if her honesty deserved respect. "I see," he said, patting her head lightly, his tone warm and calm.
"It's okay," he said, his voice steady. "Don't worry. You're safe now."