The improved female villains regained their memories.

Qing Xuelan said, "Young Master, you only blame me for betraying my people with my strength, but those people were even more ruthless than me when they betrayed their own kind with corrupt rules. Young Master, since you can allow those people to betray with the rules, why can't you allow me to betray with my strength?"

Fallacy.

Utterly absurd logic.

Xiao Qitian could tell that Qing Xuelan had become possessed by a demon.

She had no tragic past, nor had she encountered any setbacks; she became possessed simply because she liked or disliked something.

"You're a madman."

“Young master is right, I am indeed a madwoman.”

Qing Xuelan smiled calmly and said, "Compared to the Central Plains where everything is set up, the chaotic borderlands are more suitable for me."

Water that stops flowing will eventually rot and stink.

What Qing Xuelan yearns for is chaos that can be changed.

Xiao Qitian looked at Qing Xuelan, his interest piqued.

"I also want to go to Bailin City to take a look. I'll guarantee your goods."

"Thank you for your kindness, young master."

The deal was thus completed.

-----

--------

The streets are lined with shops selling a dazzling array of goods, from local handicrafts to exotic treasures. The merchants are enthusiastic, communicating with customers in various languages, creating a unique market atmosphere.

Bailin City is located on the border between the righteous and the demonic realms. It is a place where all sorts of people mingle, and even in cultivation centers, many things are often overlooked.

After dropping Qing Xuelan off, Xiao Qitian declined her offer to be his tour guide. He wanted to explore the town on his own and see if everything was as Qing Xuelan had described.

He rarely used the method of knowing fate again, but he did so to observe the fate of everyone in the town.

"That's really strange."

He muttered to himself, "The fate of most people here is far worse than that of the people of Yunxi City."

Ordinary families in Bailin City are actually worse off than poor families in Yunxi City.

This is indeed a very peculiar phenomenon.

"Is it the terrain? No, perhaps there's a deeper reason."

The blood that had been stagnant began to flow again, and Xiao Qitian was determined to find the answer in Bailin City.

To ensure his observation, he selected a household.

This is a very ordinary family.

Father, mother, son, and daughter—a typical family of four—yet their fate is worse than that of a beggar in Yunxi City. The fundamental reason is that they will all die.

Xiao Qitian began his observation.

On an ordinary day, the man of the house, carrying a bag, stood at the door and led the boy out by the hand.

He stood at the corner, let go, turned around, squatted down, looked at the boy, and said, "Dad's gone."

The boy, on the verge of tears, asked, "Dad, will you come back?"

The man didn't speak, but wiped the boy's wet eyes and said, "After I leave, you'll be the only man in the house. You'll protect Mom and my sister, right?"

"I will!" the boy nodded vigorously.

The man smiled, patted the boy's head, and put a small knife in his hand.

"Haven't you always wanted this? Here you go," the man said.

The boy watched with delight, no longer sad, and fiddled with the knife as if it were a toy.

The man stood up and said one last time, "Father is gone."

The boy waved his hand vigorously: "Dad, you must come back."

Unfortunately, he won't come back.

Xiao Qitian could see clearly that the man had a very serious illness, and that he was leaving to find a quiet place to die.

Fate, that's fate. Fate makes you die, and you have no choice but to die.

There is a strange rule in Bailin City: if someone dies, the Cultivation Bureau must be notified, and a sum of money must be paid to have the body buried with the help of the Cultivation Bureau. This money is mandatory. If someone conceals the death and fails to pay this money, the Cultivation Bureau will fabricate charges against them.

This strange rule has led many families to be afraid to let anyone die. Some who know in advance that they are going to die will, like the father in this family, find a secluded place to die on their own.

The tragic deaths of the family of four began with the father.

Knowing all this beforehand, Xiao Qitian was not surprised by the man's death.

What puzzled him was the deaths of the other three, so he waited patiently, wanting to see just how powerful fate truly was.

-------------

"Mother, I don't want to get married."

"You have no choice but to marry him. He's from the cultivation academy, and with him holding your father in his hands, there's nothing your mother can do. Besides, our family needs a man to lead, and your brother..."

In the dim candlelight, the conversation between the mother and sister echoed in the quiet night. The boy lay in bed, wanting to cry but unable to.

He huddled in the corner of the bed, clutching the dagger his father had given him tightly.

The man from the Cultivation Hall had been bothering his sister for a long time. The boy had heard a lot about him. The adults said he was a gambler, a womanizer, and a drinker. Despite his reputation as a member of the Cultivation Hall, he was actually just a menial worker there. However, even such a person was someone their family couldn't afford to offend.

Immortals, immortals, immortals! Anyone who has been associated with an immortal is someone you can't afford to offend.

The candle went out, which meant that the conversation between the older sister and the mother had ended.

Upon hearing this, the boy noticed that his sister didn't immediately go to bed. Instead, she sat in the corner, hugging her knees and sighing.

So he couldn't sleep anymore, so he got up, ran to his sister's side, and said, "Sister, I will protect you."

The girl looked at the boy, who was barely up to her chest even when he stood up, smiled helplessly, and patted his head: "Okay, fine."

Knowing his older sister didn't take it seriously, the boy emphasized again, "Sister, I will definitely protect you."

This time, my sister didn't say anything.

In the quiet night, he heard only a sigh.

-------------

Only three months after her marriage, my sister committed suicide.

For the sake of her family, she tolerated her husband's gambling, womanizing, and drinking habits. But when he suggested that she go out and use her body to earn money to continue his gambling, she couldn't take it anymore.

She took a meat cleaver and slit her own throat.

Someone died; under that strange rule, even men from the cultivation academy were not exempt.

Their family inexplicably incurred a large debt again, and coupled with the man's ever-increasing gambling debts, the boy's mother eventually fell ill.

Half of it was guilt towards her daughter, and the other half was the pressure of life.

With her downfall, the pressure on the family fell on the boy.

He was too young to do anything but small chores, and he also had to take care of his mother every day.

The woman lay on the bed, holding the boy's hand, and said, "My child, I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry for your sister."

"Mother, don't say that. My sister's death was not your fault."

"It's my fault, my child, it's all my fault. I failed to protect you."

not like this.

He was the one who promised his father to protect his mother and older sister, and he failed to do so.

It's all his fault.

The boy felt like crying again, but he didn't. Instead, he forced a smile and said:

"Mother, I will protect you this time."

-------------

Protect?

In Xiao Qitian's view, these two words were far too heavy for a boy.

One night, the boy returned home and was stopped by a drunken man as soon as he entered the yard.

"Have you been helping Aunt Chun with odd jobs lately?"

The boy became wary: "What are you going to do?"

"Where's the money for the odd jobs? Give it to me."

“That’s for my mother’s medical treatment, I won’t give it to her.”

The man roared, "You little brat, you've gone too far!"

He beat the boy mercilessly, punching and kicking him, the blood staining the silvery moonlight.

The boy collapsed to the ground, panting, and said, "That old woman is about to die, what's the point of seeing a doctor? It's a waste of money!"

He cursed as he searched the boy thoroughly, and after confirming that he had no coins, he left cursing. Only after the man had gone far away did the boy spit out the money, which was mixed with blood, into his hand.

Not much, just a few copper coins.

But these few copper coins represented all of the boy's hopes.

"I failed to protect my elder sister, I broke my promise, but I still have to protect my mother."

"I'm the only man left in the family. I promised my father I would..."

Its tiny body stubbornly writhed in the moonlight.

Even the moon can be cruel.

-------------

The woman was lying in bed.

The boy brought the medicine to the woman and fed it to her little by little.