Republic of China Era: Entering the Dao through Divine Strike.

Li Xin chuckled softly and took a step forward.

It landed precisely in the gap between Lester's breath and his change of tactics.

The opponent's sword rhythm was instantly disrupted.

A flash of light appeared.

The surrounding air surged.

The blade blends into the wind, like clouds rolling and unfolding.

The three dazzling sword lights shattered instantly; the crackling lightning, the sharp sword momentum, and the fleeting afterimages were all crushed by a single strike.

Lester was shocked to find his hand empty and retreated hastily.

After regaining his footing, he looked down and saw that only the hilt of his rapier remained, his wrist, shoulder, and ribs split open layer by layer.

A gash could be seen on his chest, and excruciating pain surged from his heart.

Breathing became difficult, and countless stars seemed to appear before my eyes...

Blood gushed from his throat like a fountain, and he seemed to hear a hissing sound of wind.

Lester stood frozen in place, his eyes filled with confusion, and muttered, "So fast."

As soon as he finished speaking, he fell backward to the ground with a thud.

The remaining foreign soldiers instantly lost their morale and scattered in all directions.

Some abandoned their guns and fled onto the ship, while others panicked and jumped into the sea to save themselves.

Some people immediately knelt down and raised their hands in surrender, showing no further will to fight.

Li Xin moved in a flash, killing all the foreign soldiers and guards of the Wang family he encountered.

The blood flowed like rivers...

A while later.

He stopped what he was doing, raised his hand to wipe the blood droplets off his knife, swiftly sheathed it, and bent down to pull the dragon-patterned spear from the ground.

He glanced around the room and saw that the remaining guards were all kneeling on the ground, heads bowed, trembling, none daring to look up at him.

From a psychic perspective, there was no gray or black aura on his body.

He squinted at it, then finally refrained from making another move and turned to walk deeper into the warehouse.

Faintly, the soft cries of a child could be heard from the darkness, weak yet heartbreaking.

……

Wang Jingya had already pried open the warehouse's iron gate, and a sliver of light shone through the heavy door.

More than three hundred pairs of weary eyes peered out from the darkness.

Some people burst into tears, some laughed excitedly, and some pushed their way forward, reaching out to touch the long-lost evening breeze and sunset glow, as if seeing the light of day for the first time in their lives.

Lin Si and Sun Qi stood guard by the door, shouting to reassure everyone and urge them to evacuate in an orderly manner.

Those people, who had been imprisoned for many days, were emaciated from hunger, and covered in filth, walked out of the dark warehouse step by step.

Standing in the evening breeze at dusk, I tilted my head back, closed my eyes, and let the sea breeze dry the tears on my face. The warmth of surviving a disaster spread throughout my body.

Li Xin walked through the crowd and entered the deepest cell in the warehouse.

This place was specifically for imprisoning women and children; the air was foul and stinking, and the ground was covered with a layer of moldy, damp straw.

Several broken bowls lay scattered in the corner, with stale, foul-smelling porridge residue at the bottom.

Several women huddled in a corner, and upon hearing footsteps, instinctively huddled together and retreated.

His eyes were filled with fear and timidity, like those of a startled bird.

A small, thin girl was kneeling beside a haystack in the corner.

He was about seven or eight years old, thin and frail, with a pointed chin. His gray clothes were tattered and worn, and his hair was messy and tangled.

Only his eyes were large and bright, like two cold stars in the dim light.

Her eyes still bore traces of tears, but she had already stopped crying. She just stared blankly at the woman lying on the haystack, motionless.

The woman's face was sallow and cracked, her lips were bloodless, and her chest had long since stopped rising and falling; she had long since stopped breathing.

Hearing footsteps, the little girl slowly raised her head and met Li Xin's gaze.

There was no dodging, no fear, only a calmness worn smooth by suffering.

"What's your name?" Li Xin asked softly.

"Ah Li. The 'Li' in 'leaving'." The little girl's voice was soft, but her pronunciation was clear. "My father went to sea and never came back, so my mother changed my name to this. Big brother, will my mother never come back either?"

Her eyes were clear; she already knew the answer, yet she stubbornly craved confirmation, clinging to the last sliver of hope.

Li Xin bent down and checked the woman's breath; it was ice-cold.

He was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Your mother has gone to a very far place, but she will always be watching over you."

He held out his hand: "Come with me."

Ali lowered her head and gently touched the back of her mother's cold hand, her movements extremely gentle, as if afraid of disturbing the deceased.

She then stood up, firmly grasped two of Li Xin's fingers, her small hands were icy cold, and she gripped them exceptionally tightly.

As I walked out of the warehouse, the last rays of the setting sun had completely faded from the sky.

Ah Li narrowed her eyes slightly.

She glanced back at the dark and oppressive warehouse, then at the corpses strewn across the dock, before looking up at Li Xin and asking softly, "Big brother, did you kill all these people?"

"it's me."

"They're all bad people, aren't they?"

"That's right, all of them."

Ali remained silent for a moment, then suddenly let go of her hand and knelt down with a thud.

“My mother said that one must repay kindness.” She spoke solemnly, her eyes earnest. “You saved me, so I will be your apprentice, serving you tea and water, washing clothes and cooking. I can do anything! Please don’t abandon me.”

Before she could finish speaking, she was about to kowtow.

Before that, a golden light had already leaped out from Ali's body and entered Li Xin's forehead.

Li Xin was taken aback, then gently picked up Ali, brushed the dust off her knees, and smiled, "You can be my disciple, but you don't need to serve me. Just practice your skills well, and when you grow up, kill more bad guys."

Ali nodded vigorously, a faint smile blooming on her thin face.

Like a sliver of light leaking through on a rainy day, it vanishes in an instant.

Outside the dock, the rescued people spontaneously gathered by the roadside.

Several elderly fishermen slowly knelt down, followed by women, children, and men. More than three hundred people knelt in a dense mass, some sobbing and weeping, others expressing their gratitude to their benefactors.

Someone took out the last half of a piece of dry ration from his pocket, held it high, and insisted on giving it to Li Xin.

Ali, perched on Li Xin's shoulder, looked at the kneeling crowd with a bewildered expression and whispered, "Big brother, can I kneel down too?"

“No need, you already knelt down.” Li Xin shook his head.

He didn't stop these people from kowtowing. He knew that sometimes, if you don't let others kneel, they won't feel at ease.

As he knelt in worship, countless pale red specks of light, like fireflies on a summer night, silently drifted into Li Xin's body.

It was warm and cozy.

Li Xin clearly sensed this warm and gentle feeling, which amounted to about 210 points of light red spiritual energy.

With the addition of the golden spiritual power given by the obedient little maid on his shoulder, it was far better than killing corrupt officials, Wang Donghai, Yulong Daoren, and Smith in the government office.

In that battle, even more people were killed, yet only a dozen or so pale red points were obtained.

It's likely that the people have become numb to it.

This also shows that killing only instills fear, while saving lives evokes gratitude.

He reached out and ruffled Ali's messy hair: "Let's go, I'll take you home."

Wang Jingya hurried over from behind and was slightly taken aback when she saw Li Xin's back as he held the child.

In just a few hours, this man was still killing enemies with a flick of his finger in the government office and taking on dozens of experts alone at the dock, displaying ruthless and merciless killing prowess.

Holding the child in her arms, she moved with light and gentle steps, afraid of jostling the person in her embrace.

She strode forward, met Ali's clear gaze, and smiled, "What a bright and intelligent little girl."

"My newly accepted disciple."

Li Xin introduced, "Ali, this is Senior Sister Wang."

Ah Li spoke timidly, her voice soft and sweet: "Hello, Senior Sister."

Wang Jingya, who remained unfazed even with a knife to her neck, paused slightly when she was called "Senior Sister" in such a soft voice. She nodded stiffly in response, but then, fearing her tone might be too cold, she added, "I'll teach you swordsmanship later."

He realized as soon as he finished speaking that it would be presumptuous of him to presume to teach swordsmanship to a young girl who had become Li Xin's disciple.

Ali nodded vigorously and smiled sweetly, "Thank you, Senior Sister. I will study hard."

“Ah Li, you should call her Master Uncle.” Li Xin rubbed his forehead.

Wang Jingya gently patted Li Xin's arm, smiled softly at Ali, and said earnestly, "Call her Senior Sister."

Just then, a deep whistle sounded from the sea, breaking the silence of the twilight.

Wang Jingya's smile vanished instantly, and she looked up at the nearby sea.

In the deepening twilight, the sails of the foreign merchant ship on the distant sea were already fully raised.

The bow slowly turned and headed out to sea. The deck was bustling with people; some were taking in anchor, some were hoisting sails, and some were leaning over the gunwale looking back at the shore.

Clearly, they have discovered the changes at the dock warehouse and have already taken action.

The foreign gunboats next to them also weighed anchor, their smokestacks billowing out thick black smoke, which was blown into long trails by the sea breeze.

"They're trying to escape." Wang Jingya gripped the hilt of her knife tightly, her expression grave. "Xin-ge'er, should we chase them?"

"I'll go." Li Xin raised his hand and gently handed Ali to Wang Jingya's arms.

Ali obediently wrapped her arms around Wang Jingya's neck, her eyes fixed on Li Xin, her voice trembling slightly: "Big brother, where are you going?"

"Let's go catch a loach in the sea." Li Xin rubbed her head. "Stay with your senior sister and don't wander off. I'll be back soon."

Ali nodded vigorously.

Li Xin smiled slightly, said nothing more, and turned to walk towards the dock.

He casually grabbed a dilapidated fishing boat from the shore.

He pushed the small boat into the sea and jumped onto the bow.

With a light touch of the oars on the water, the fishing boat sped off like an arrow towards the merchant ship on the open sea.

Wang Jingya stood on the dock, holding Ali in her arms, watching the small boat gradually sail away and disappear into the twilight.

Before long, several points of light appeared on the distant sea, and the gunboats' cannons had already adjusted their angles.

Immediately afterwards, several muffled cannon shots rolled across the sea, and cannonballs fell into the water one after another. Several towering waves exploded around the fishing boat, and a white spray of water instantly enveloped the small boat.

Ali gripped Wang Jingya's clothes tightly, her lips pursed until they turned white.

After the swirling mist subsided, the dilapidated fishing boat emerged from the fog and continued its steady journey.

Li Xin stood at the stern, holding an oar in one hand, letting the sea breeze tousle his clothes. He was covered in water but remained as steady as a rock.

The small fishing boat bobbed and tossed in the towering waves, but never capsized, and sped toward the merchant ship.

The ship's heavy machine guns suddenly opened fire, bullets raining down, densely hitting the sea surface around the fishing boat, splashing up a fine spray of water, like rain falling on the sea.

Several holes were punched in the hull instantly, and seawater gushed in.

Li Xin glanced down, casually tossed aside the wooden paddle, and lightly tapped the ground with his foot.

The entire fishing boat shattered with a crash, but he stood firmly on a floating plank, facing the sea, and continued to speed forward with the help of the waves.

The gunfire from the gunboat suddenly stopped.

The soldiers on deck froze, staring in terror at the figure breaking through the waves.

Some people frantically made the sign of the cross to pray for blessings, some knelt down to pray, and some completely broke down, grabbing a wooden bucket and jumping into the sea to escape for their lives.