I Am Immortal in Great Yu

Chapter 102: Chapter 48: Fate’s Mockery

A jade-white moon hung high in the sky, its bright, clear light flowing like mercury. Beneath such a night sky, countless sins festered like rotting sludge.

Shadowy figures moved in the darkness. The metallic-sweet scent of blood and a hint of rot lingered in the air. The sounds of intermittent screams and faint whimpers drifted on the wind...

Everything told the same story: this was a night of chaos.

On both sides of the road, Fang Rui could feel that behind each bolted door, pairs of terrified, helpless eyes were nervously staring outside.

The first part of their journey from Sweet Water Well Alley to Willow Alley passed without incident.

Until—

As they passed down a street, two disheveled men stumbled out of a house, its door hanging wide open, while hitching up their pants.

”Hey, you lot! Stop right there!”

”Are you deaf? I’m talking to you! I said stop!”

Perhaps it was aggression gone to their heads, or perhaps the choppers in their hands gave them courage. The two hot-headed thugs moved to block the path, and Fang Rui killed them in a few swift, brutal strikes.

He used his Power on one of them in particular. A single palm strike to the man’s chest sent him flying five or six meters. He slammed hard against a wall and hung there for the space of several breaths, just like a painting, before finally dropping to the ground with a THUD.

In the shadows, the many people who witnessed this simultaneously sucked in a sharp breath... Then, the prying eyes quickly receded.

Down a distant street, a patrol of governmental officers was approaching.

”Chief, over there... Look... GULP!”

The governmental officer swallowed hard. ”A dangerous man...”

”Where? Where? Xiaoyu, your eyesight must be failing you! Hu the Eighth, did you see anything?”

”Didn’t see a thing... Haha, anyone there? Let’s get going. We’ll patrol over that way!”

A moment later, after the governmental officers had moved a safe distance away, their faint voices could be heard.

”Young Yu, you need to learn... In times like these, you have to turn a blind eye if you want to live a long life...”

”That’s right! It’s not that I, Xu the Sixth, don’t pull my weight. It’s just... this salary isn’t enough for me to risk my life for it!”

...

”Brother Rui, that man... UGH!”

Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family clutched her chest and bent over, dry-heaving. The man’s body, caved in and deformed from the immense impact, reminded her of a meat patty—a human meat patty... Her stomach churned uncontrollably.

”Auntie!”

Third Lady let go of Nannan’s hand and stepped forward to pat Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family on the back.

It wasn’t that she had a strong stomach; she felt just as sickened. Her reaction was simply less severe than that of Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family, and she managed to suppress it with immense willpower, not letting it show on her face.

In years past, Third Lady had run the household by herself. She had seen much of the world and knew how hard life was for a man, so she always tried her best not to be a burden and to help Fang Rui shoulder his load.

Of course, this wasn’t to say that Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family was weaker than Third Lady. Strictly speaking, she cared for Fang Rui just as much. She had simply never witnessed such a bloody scene before, and nausea was a perfectly normal reaction to being confronted with it so suddenly. People’s individual constitutions also played a part.

A moment later, the two little girls, their hands now free, had very different reactions.

”Brother, uh~”

Fang Ling, who knew him better, was doing alright. Her eyes were just wide and her small mouth hung slightly open like a goldfish’s. She looked like she had frozen, seemingly shocked that her own brother had become so powerful.

”Brother Ah Rui...”

Nannan looked at Fang Rui, her gaze timid. When Fang Rui looked back at her, the little girl instinctively shrank away and took two steps back.

In truth, her reaction was muted only because she was familiar with Fang Rui. Had anyone else killed a man right in front of her like that, the little girl would have likely screamed in terror.

”Ling’Er, Nannan...”

Fang Rui smiled wryly.

He had actually been holding back quite a bit.

Using brutal force had been a necessary deterrent. And considering what Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family, Third Lady, Fang Ling, and Nannan could handle, he had already done his best to avoid splattering any blood. Otherwise... Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family certainly wouldn’t have been the only one throwing up.

”Nannan, don’t be afraid!”

Just then, Third Lady stood up. She pulled Nannan over with one hand and took Fang Rui’s hand with the other, completely disregarding the warm bloodstains on it.

Yes, she took his bloodstained hand. In her gaze, Fang Rui saw only understanding and admiration, not a hint of disgust.

”Nannan, it’s okay to be afraid when you see bad men. But you can’t be afraid of your Brother Ah Rui because he killed those bad men... That would make him very sad...”

Third Lady looked at Nannan and said earnestly, ”Your Brother Ah Rui is protecting us. He’s our hero, a hero who fights bad guys. We can’t let the hero who guards us feel hurt. He’s already shed blood for us; we can’t make him shed tears, too, right?”

Nannan tilted her head, thought for a moment, and then nodded firmly. ”You’re right, Mother. I understand.”

”Brother Ah Rui, you’re a hero who fights bad guys... Nannan’s not afraid!”

She tilted her head back, her large, clear eyes looking up at Fang Rui in the moonlight. She took a step forward, reached out with her other small, fair hand—the one not held by her mother—and took Fang Rui’s hand as well.

The three of them formed a circle.

Under the bright, clear moonlight, carried on a night breeze mixed with sounds of sobbing and cursing, they looked, for that one moment, like a family of three.

”Third Sister, you really are...”

At that moment, Fang Rui was deeply moved by Third Lady’s philosophy on raising a child: she didn’t shy away from the subject just because Nannan was young or the scene was bloody. Instead, she explained it to her with reason...

’Perhaps that’s precisely why Nannan is so sensible for her age,’ he thought.