"...My power has increased this much?"
Bai Fanxian murmured softly to herself. It seemed the cause must certainly come from her most recent elixir concoction.
Her figure drifted slowly across the sky. Her heaven sense exploded outward until she could sense a massive number of living beings gathered at one point.
"It must be a city?"
Bai Fanxian shot toward the direction she sensed. Along the way, her gaze observed the surroundings. Many things had changed from what she remembered. She saw many strange black pathways, and on those pathways were peculiar wheeled objects moving back and forth.
"How did I end up here?"
Bai Fanxian now stood atop the city's tallest building. She swept her gaze around with confusion. Everything she saw was unfamiliar. Moreover, from what she could sense, the number of cultivators in this city was disappointingly few.
Furthermore, what had happened to her Alchemy Palace?
Why was it buried so deep beneath the mountain that it couldn't even see sunlight?
And where had all her disciples and close companions gone?
That was what worried her most.
Bai Fanxian stood calmly. The gentle breeze that made her robes flutter helped make her look exceptionally graceful. But unfortunately, no one could see this sight.
She looked down at this large city. It had many tall buildings, both prosperous areas and undeveloped ones. So it wasn't strange at all that some areas had characteristics like slums.
There, Bai Fanxian saw a little girl hiding in an alley. Whenever someone came to throw trash in the garbage bin in front of her, she would show a delighted expression and frantically rummage through it. When she found a small piece of bread, it made her smile from ear to ear.
But not long after, she had to run away in panic when people in that area saw her. Various shouts of abuse rang out behind the little girl, who must have been only 7 or 8 years old, as if she were disgusting.
Once she was sure she'd come far enough, the little girl sat down to rest in an alley with no people. Because it was full of stinking, rotten garbage that smelled unpleasant.
The little girl sat down leaning against the wall. In her hand, she still held the rather unappetizing lump of bread. Those small hands tore the bread into her mouth ravenously.
Bai Fanxian merely watched the scene quietly. She had no thought of helping that child. But just as she was about to turn away, she suddenly caught the little girl's gaze.
It wasn't the despair of waiting to die.
It wasn't resentment toward a cruel fate.
Nor was it filled with the creeping evil that those who grew up on this path usually had.
But it was a spark of unfathomable determination. Though filled with exhaustion, she would still fight. It was a gaze that firmly believed she would get through this.
The little girl didn't eat all the bread she'd obtained. She kept half in the pocket of her pants, which were so old they had tears in several places, then pushed herself up and walked out of that lonely alley.
As she walked out, the little girl's gaze fell on a roadside food stall selling fragrant grilled meat. She was about to walk past, but she discovered the stall owner wasn't there.
And there wasn't anyone near that stall either.
The little girl swallowed loudly, but she shook her head to chase that thought away and hurried to stride past it more quickly.
But just then, a stray dog appeared on the other side of the food stall. It was staring at the grilled meat already done on the stall, and was about to leap up without caring about anything.
The little girl startled in shock. She quickly ran toward the dog and waved her hands to shoo it away.
"N-no!"
That small voice made the stall owner, who was talking on the phone nearby, notice. When he saw a street child near his stall, he became extremely angry and ran over to grab a small stick from the area.
Smack!
Though it was a small stick, the little girl was not only young but also lacked proper nutrition. Being hit with the stick in the middle of her back sent that small body flying immediately.
"You little street rat!"
The stall owner was so angry he could burst. While he wasn't paying attention, the stray dog that had been waiting for an opportunity leaped at his stall, scattering everything. It grabbed a large piece of grilled meat in its mouth and quickly ran away.
"Both dog and child!"
The stall owner who saw the mess of his stall was so angry steam came from his ears. Since he couldn't catch that stray dog, he thought to vent at the remaining little girl instead.
Though the little girl still hurt all over, her consciousness still commanded her to quickly get up and run away. Finally, she returned to the same alley from earlier. She fell down to lie against the wall. Her small hands reached to touch the wound—a long red mark in the middle of her back. The longer it was left, the more severe it seemed to become. Some wounds began bleeding, and some parts began swelling purple-black.
She bit down in pain. In her eyes appeared a confused look.
She was confused about what she'd done wrong.
Even though she was a street child, she had never stolen from anyone even once.
All the food she found came from rummaging through garbage bins or leftovers that people didn't eat anymore.
And what she did was right, wasn't it?
Didn't her mother teach her that doing good would bring rewards?
She had dreamed that at least her going to help chase away that dog would make the uncle stall owner thank her a little, and give her a small stick of grilled meat as a reward.
Just that would have made her so happy.
Why?
The spark that had been determined now looked dimmed. The little girl closed her eyes as small tears began to flow out, whether from sadness or pain.
Her small body trembled. She lay still against the wall in a pitiful state.
"...Why didn't you just steal it?"
A voice that was clear but full of authority rang out in this alley filled with rotten stench. Bai Fanxian stood before the lying little girl, asking with interest.
Whether the little girl thought she was dreaming or not, though she wondered who was asking her, her consciousness that was fading from pain made her answer Bai Fanxian's question readily.
"...Mommy taught me not to steal from others."
"Then where is your mother?"
"...Mommy said she's in the sky. She'll watch me from up there. I promised Mommy I'd only do good things." The little girl answered in a hoarse voice. It seemed she could pass out at any moment.
"...Is that so?"
Bai Fanxian stared at the small figure before her. Because of her promise to her mother, she had grown up. And because of that same promise, she was almost dying like this.
Seeing that the little girl had passed out, Bai Fanxian waved her hand lightly. Her small body floated up with invisible power, then floated to the side before rising into the sky together with her. Their destination was the mountain she had just left.