Lian walked a few more miles, but before he could reach the city, he came across a small village.
The place was decimated.
Buildings stood half-collapsed, barely holding together, their frames twisted and blackened.
"Has the demonic cult already passed through here?" He wondered as he moved slowly through the ravaged settlement.
Dark patches of blood stained the ground, long since they turned black. Drag marks cut across the dirt, clear signs of struggle.
The air was stiff and foul, carrying the lingering stench of death.
"How brutal… they didn't even spare the dogs," Lian thought as he passed the carcasses of old, dead hounds scattered along the road, mountains of flies buzzed around the carcasses and worms gushed out.
"Yeah… we should get away from here. This feels like the kind of place where you get ambushed," he muttered, stepping forward.
Then he heard it.
A whisper.
"Mmmpht… huu… hu… mommy…"
The voice was weak and shaky.
Lian froze.
"There's someone here?" His senses sharpened instantly as he spread his martial sense outward. Through a narrow crevice between ruined structures, his perception brushed against something—faint, fragile.
"Is that… a child?"
His brows furrowed.
"How has he survived until now?"
Turning a corner, he followed the sound. In front of him lay a collapsed building, its remains piled haphazardly together. From the cracks between the rubble, the quiet sobs leaked out, trembling and desperate.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Lian called out as he lifted a large slab of collapsed concrete and tossed it aside.
At first, only a tuft of hair came into view.
He removed another layer of rubble, and finally, the boy was exposed. The child lay curled on his side, clothes torn and soaked dark with blood. A large, mangled wound split the flesh along his back.
"Hey, kid… can you move?" Lian asked quietly, looking down at him.
"It hurts… it hurts… please help me," the boy whimpered, still curled in on himself.
"Alright," Lian said, lowering his guard. "I'll help you up."
As he reached down,
The boy leapt from the ground.
He charged straight at Lian, movements violent and unnatural. His eyes were pitch black, his mouth stretched wide to reveal sharp, rigid teeth. A chunk of flesh was missing from the side of his neck, the wound raw and unmoving.
"What the hell!" Lian stumbled backwards, narrowly evading the lunge.
The boy halted mid-attack.
"Help me… please help me," he said again, arms spreading wide.
Up close, he looked no older than five.
Cold realisation crawled up Lian's spine.
"What the hell is going on with him?" Lian swatted down, trying to neutralise the kid. The attack should have knocked the boy down, but the boy still stood, eyes wide and from his mouth, saliva dripping as he looked forward with hunger.
"Damn it…" he thought, Qi snapping sharply along his fingers.
"He's already dead, isn't he? I can't even sense any of his life energy. These demons won't even let the dead stay dead."
"I'm sorry, little one," Lian said softly. "Though I can't help you… I can at least let you rest."
When the boy pounced again, Lian's fingers moved.
A clean arc of Qi flashed, and his hand sliced through the child's neck. The body fell to the ground with a soft, hollow thud.
"May you have a better life in the next one," Lian murmured, bowing his head.
He turned and walked back through the ruined village until he found a house that was still standing. Its walls were cracked and scorched, but it remained intact enough to serve its purpose.
"This will do for now," Lian thought as he stepped inside, shoving broken furniture aside. "If the outskirts are already like this, the capital will be far worse. Wang Gu needs time to recover before we move on."
Reaching into his spirit book, he activated the arrays he had prepared earlier.
Five barriers flared to life around the house, each pulsing with a distinct aura. One was purely defensive, another for detection; anyone who crossed its boundary would be sensed long before they could act.
Lian placed the final formation.
"Qi gathering Array," he whispered. "I hope this speeds your recovery."
The array took Qi from the environment and slowly fed it to the unconscious Wang Gu.
Leaving Wang Gu within the protected house, Lian stepped back outside. He returned to where the boy had fallen and gently lifted the body, wrapping it in a length of silk cloth.
"The least I can do… is give you a proper burial."
At the edge of the village, Lian began to dig.
After digging, he went to fetch a large rock. Dragging it across the ground, he placed it at the head of the grave. Then, carefully, he lowered the wrapped boy into the hole and covered the body with earth.
Lian brought his hands together and bowed once more.
Without another word, he turned and began walking back toward Wang Gu.
Though he couldn't see it, a golden wisp of energy floated up from the grave.