Walking slowly and carefully, with both my awareness and intuitive scan up, I approach the hut.

A general pulse shows some local spies are looking around, as if confused, on why I’m heading towards an alleyway.

Likely, because this alleyway is on the other side of the street, in the opposite direction from Gong’s caves.

Dang it. I’ve shown multiple times I can detect things without seeing or being near them.

That’ll likely be another line in my ‘file’.

As I get closer to the child, I can hear her tired breaths. The whimpers.

Her soft whispers of “I won’t ask for anything anymore,” and “Please, please wake-up.”

All until I find myself at the entrance of the shack. Looking inside, with my own eyes at the child and her unconscious parents.

What I can see is a black-haired child with foxlike ears. My guess is that she is no older than ten. Her scrawny body, malnourished body, is practically wrapped around her dad’s torso. Hugging his chest tight.

She has no eyes for anything but them. Walking next to her, I inspect them, both physically and with the scan.

Dang.

It appears that they were savagely beaten into a coma. They definitely suffered major injuries, but it looks like someone must have helped wrap up any wounds that were bleeding and set bones. These injuries didn’t happen today.

On both parents, I can see that they also have splints on their limbs. It makes me wonder who had helped them with this. Based on the newness of the bandages, someone had replaced them.

No matter, it still shows that these people were at least cared for after the incident. All within an area that clearly doesn’t have much and is starved for resources.

It looks like the child has been underfed for a long time, though.

A glance around the room, shows a small, stale piece of bread in the corner. Untouched.

It is at this point that the little Demi-human little girl notices me.

A raspy, pained sound struggles from her extremely chapped lips.

“N-no… Stay away. Just stay away…”

She is forcing her words out. Her voice clearly strained from the constant tears.

I try to calm her down by backing away. I also say, “I’m not here to hurt you guys… I’m here to help.”

Shaking her head slowly, but vigorously, it is clear she isn’t listening. Her voice gets louder and stronger.

“No! No! I won’t let you hurt them.”

I can sense people looking this way from the other nearby alley buildings using my scan.

Things are being muttered, like: “What’s going on? Did he come back?” or “Can’t they just leave us alone? Do they all think hurting us is like crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood?!”

A hum of activity forms. A crowd growing slowly. Building themselves up. Turning into a mob.

For a skilled cultivator, it might be simple to scare them and push them aside. For me, I actually need to escape. Or find some other way out of this.

Continuing to back away, out of the hut, I look for escape routes.

The crowd has seemed to grow larger.

A powerful, familiar, and malicious laugh causes all the Demi-humans in the growing group to freeze, though.

As I move away from the hut, mostly because of the obviously dangerous atmosphere from the crowd, I can sense that a large, powerful man is about to enter the crowd.

No. That’s wrong. He’s more than that…

The man lifts his arm up and slings one of the Demi-humans in the crowd away, flinging him into a nearby wall.

No one moves.

“Fucking vermin. Always in the way. At least they are soft to hit…” he rumbles.

Quickly after these words, the crowd scatters, forming a path in front of him. Notably, the humans seem to subtly move in front of most of the Demi-humans.

Seemingly happy with the path, he holds a cocky, satisfied smirk, as he strides towards the hut.

By this time, I moved to an adjacent alley. Peeking around the corner and around me, with the awareness on. The spies continue to observe my actions, out of sight from the crowd.

One is even scoped on the rooftop of one building directly adjacent to me.

I’ll have to watch my actions. It’s clear they are looking for more information now.

They know to be wary now.

All while I contemplate this, the man gets closer and closer to the hut. It’s clear he is a destructive influence in this area. Though, I neither move nor do anything.

I… can’t move. It’s fear. I can sense it. This guy is a cultivator. An extraordinarily weak one. But one, nonetheless. And hostile to everyone around here.

Flashing through my mind is the memory of my head going blank in pain.

The feeling of my throat being crushed in. Unable to breathe.

A shiver crawls down my back.

… Let me just wait and see what happens. There are people watching me. So, I can’t do anything rash.

He walks right up to the little girl; whose eyes look up at him in fear.

His hand slowly reaches out towards her cheek.

Almost lovingly so.

And he grasps her head. His entire palm wrapping around it like a hat.

Lifting her off the ground. Her arms and legs weakly fight and flail. I can hear her screaming, even without the scan.

A sentimental smile crosses his face.

“Mmm… ah. It’s been quite a good day, you know. To think, it was this easy to find you guys. Especially, on the day that I was told I could let loose, as much as I want.”

His smile grows wider and more twisted.

As he speaks, her flailing increases. Faster and faster. More and more desperately. The area around his fingers grows tighter. Blood begins to flow down her head.

“No more, ‘Don’t kill the vermin’ or do this, or do that.’

“Now? I can finally clean out this area for myself. And I even get to start with you. Your bitch vermin of a father and mother, was such fun to play with the other day. Such nice screams they made.”

A satisfied sigh erupts from him.

“Such a good day. It’s my lucky day!”

Sploosh.

I feel it before I see it, through the scan. Before I actually recognize what it is that I just witnessed.

A little girl just died.

A body drops to the floor.

No special occasion.

No horror tracks.

Nothing.

Just a dead little girl.

And a man with a self-satisfied smile.

With me cowering around a corner.

Her body twitches as he steps over it.

Squish.

Squelch.

And casually does the same to the parents.

I stand at the corner. No movement. Frozen in mind and body.

A Demi-human sprints past me. Running away.

The crowd dispersed far faster than it gathered.

The man casually heads out of the hut, heading to where the group was, and disappointedly sees it empty.

He heads in my direction.

Seeing me at the corner unmoving, he looks down at me.

“Huh, another human. You seem a little too well off for this area. You should get out of here. You might catch something from the vermin out here.”

He pats my shoulder, giving a deep bellied laugh. One that sounds just like the laughter the other day.

I can hear his footsteps confidently walk away behind me.