The bald man stood in the middle of the broken house with a crooked grin. His shirt hung open, soaked in sweat and city grime. His belly poked out, swaying slightly with each breath. His eyes roamed across the small, broken room until they landed on the girl lying quietly on the mat.
"But I guess," he said, licking his lips, "alternative payment could also do."
He stepped inside, gulping as he stared at her.
It had been too long since he'd had a woman. His gang made do with whatever they could find—slaves, runaways, sometimes worse. Most nights, they just turned on each other. It was filth, day after day. Even he was sick of it.
But now…
Now there was a girl here. Young. Still untainted. Fragile-looking. A clean thing in a filthy place.
How could he bear it?
How could he hold back?
The little boy's heart pounded in his chest.
'He didn't come for the fee… He followed me. He came for her.'
The bald man caught a glimpse of the two when he was patrolling the slums with his gang mates. During that time, his sister wanted some fresh air, so they took a step outside for a moment.
However, he regretted it so much. It was due to that incident that the bald man caught his tracks and threatened him with protection fees when he came back last time from robbing.
Now, he actually followed them up to their safe house.
The boy backed off, body trembling.
"Sister," he said, voice thin, "hide behind me."
He opened his arms wide.
"I swear," he said, louder now, "we'll get out of this together."
"I swear… we'll get out of this together."
His sister didn't flinch. She didn't cry. She didn't even blink.
Her eyes just stared ahead. Dull. Empty. Like she'd already accepted it. Like she didn't expect anything better from the world.
The bald man laughed.
"Oh, how noble. Protecting your big sister."
He stepped closer. The floor creaked.
"But come on, kid. You think you can stop me? You think I care about your little promises?"
He took another step.
From the shadows outside, Wang Jie watched in silence. His arms were crossed. His breath was steady.
'This world doesn't care about the weak,' he thought. 'Power rules everything. This… this is just another reminder.'
In his mind, this was normal. The strong bullied the weak. The world turned a blind eye. It was the law of the jungle.
And it wasn't going to change.
'That's why I need to keep climbing. Keep growing. If I can't stop things like this… then what's the point of rebuilding the sect?'
At that moment, Jin Hao sat back in his chair, watching the comm-tab screen with a strange expression.
Jin Hao whispered to no one, "Yeah… this world's really like that, huh?"
His tone was quieter than usual.
Inside the room, the bald man chuckled as he got closer.
"You're lucky, you know," he said. "My boys haven't seen a real girl in months. But this one? Heh. I think I'll keep her for myself."
The boy moved again—fast. He threw himself in front of the man's path.
Fast.
The bald man's face twisted with irritation.
He raised a fist and smashed it into the kid's cheek.
The boy flew back, hit the wall, and slid to the floor with a thud.
But he got back up.
The bald man grunted. "Still standing?"
He stepped forward again, toward the girl.
But the boy lunged again and grabbed his leg.
"You little pest."
The bald man yanked him off, slammed him to the ground, and began punching. Hard.
One to the ribs. Another to the jaw. Then the stomach.
"You think that's brave?" he spat. "I'll break every bone in your body. Then make you watch your sister as I take my time with her."
Dust rose in the tiny room.
But Wang Jie didn't move.
He was watching the girl.
She hadn't moved since the beating started.
But something changed.
Her eyes flickered.
Red.
A faint shimmer rose in the air, like heat waves off stone. Her fingers twitched.
Then Wang Jie felt it.
His eyes narrowed.
The air pressed down on him like a mountain. His breath slowed.
"This pressure…"
It was like standing in front of death.
Every muscle in his body tensed by instinct.
He hadn't felt something like this since—
"Bloodline… ancient… no, not normal."
He couldn't explain why he knew.
He just did.
This girl wasn't ordinary.
She wasn't even a cultivator. But somehow, something deep inside her had stirred.
Jin Hao stiffened in his chair. His skin prickled. A low hum filled his ears.
"Why does it feel like I'm about to die just watching this?!"
Then, just as suddenly, it stopped.
The girl collapsed.
She fell forward with a soft thud, her body going limp.
The boy's eyes widened in panic.
"Sister!"
He crawled to her, ignoring the bruises on his arms and the blood on his chin. His hands shook as he pulled her into his lap.
The bald man blinked once.
Then he grinned.
"Ohhh. Is she sick?" he said, chuckling low. "That's too bad. Really. I feel bad for the boys. Looks like I'll be the only one who gets to taste her before she dies."
The boy froze.
Then, he turned his head slowly.
His eyes were wild now. Bloodshot. He glared up at the bald man like he wanted to tear his throat out.
"You—filthy dog. I hope you rot."
The bald man laughed and cracked his knuckles.
"You got spirit, kid. I'll give you that."
He took a step closer. His foot hit the floor hard. Solid. Confident.
He wasn't normal. His strength showed in how easily he moved, and how casually he shrugged off the kid's hits.
[Quasi Body Refining – Stage I]
Jin Hao saw the tag and winced.
"Seriously? That kid's maybe twelve. And that guy's halfway to cracking bricks with his forehead."
Wang Jie didn't move.
He stared at the girl in the boy's arms.
"The red glow," he muttered. "That wasn't qi."
He looked again. Her face was pale. Too pale. She hadn't woken up.
"An ancient bloodline," he said quietly.
Jin Hao raised a brow. "Wait, really?"
"But no cultivation," Wang Jie continued. "Her body isn't ready. She probably triggered it by instinct. Even that was too much."
He looked at the bald man again. His fists were clenched now. He was walking toward them.
But Wang Jie didn't stop him.
Not yet.
He turned his gaze to the boy.
Still crouched over his sister. Still shielding her with his thin body.
"They'll remember this," Wang Jie said.
Jin Hao said in front of his comm-tab. "You're still not gonna step in?"
The bald man took another step forward again.
But this time, he didn't make it.
A shadow moved.
And then—thud.
Wang Jie stepped in from the side and drove his fist into the man's gut.
No glow. No sound. Just a direct, heavy strike.
The bald man's eyes bulged. His feet left the ground.
He flew backward and slammed into the wall. The wood cracked, and he dropped to the floor, limp.
Not dead. But close.
The boy froze. His mouth opened slightly.
Even Jin Hao blinked.
"...That was overkill," he muttered. "And I loved it."
"You're the guy I robbed earlier…"
Wang Jie didn't reply.
The boy hesitated, then his eyes widened in fear.
"That guy… he was one of the core members of the Blood Jackal Gang. If you hurt him, they'll come for you. All of them!"
But Wang Jie stayed calm.
The kid didn't understand.
[Quasi Body Refining Stage I]—stronger than most mortals. Muscles hardened. Punches like bricks.
But Wang Jie was already in the [Qi Tempering Stage].
And he wasn't using any normal cultivation manual.
His Chaos-grade technique refined every bit of qi in his body to an extreme. His strength didn't just outmatch most cultivators in his realm—it crushed them.
The difference between them was like paper against steel.
'Anyways, it's impossible that their gang leader is a Foundation Establishment. With my current strength, I can destroy their gang. Not to mention, I have the artifacts that the Ancestor gave me.'
Still, the boy didn't know that.
He just bowed low and said:
"Please… save my sister."
His hands trembled. But his voice didn't crack this time.
"That pouch I stole… it had medicine. Pills. So maybe… maybe you have more. I don't care what you are, or what you want. Just… save her."
Wang Jie crouched next to the girl.
She was still breathing. But faintly.
'She used the power she wasn't ready for,' he thought. 'She risked burning herself out.'
He placed two fingers on her wrist.
The qi in her meridians was barely flowing. But it was there.
He took a pill from his storage ring and placed it on her tongue. Then helped her swallow it slowly with water from his gourd.
Wang Jie stood slowly.
'They'll never forget this. Loyalty, when earned young, never breaks.'
And in this world, loyalty was worth more than spirit stones.
He looked back at the crumpled man in the corner.
Then toward the door.
'Let them come.'