Ruyi thought she had misheard: “What?”

“There’s no doctor in this village, and we didn’t bring medicinal materials in our carriage. Moreover—” He flipped to the last page of the registry and shook his head lightly, “She’s not a war orphan.”

Only the orphaned children of border guards could receive relief from the court. This child wasn’t registered in the records, so she must have just lost her parents by accident.

Ruyi looked at Shen Qiyuan in disbelief: “You won’t save her just because she’s not a war orphan? Lord Shen, Shen Qiyuan, aren’t you supposed to have the world at heart?”

“Everyone in this world has their fate.”

“Fate my ass, I’ve never believed that nonsense.” She was so angry she stamped her feet, “Meeting me means her life shouldn’t end. I don’t care whether she’s a war orphan or not.”

After speaking, she carried the child back to the carriage and shut both the windows and doors tightly.

Shen Qiyuan stood with his hands behind his back, looking toward the carriage with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Ruyi couldn’t see it, and if she had, she would have been even angrier. Immortals stood by watching while demons practiced medicine to save lives—was there any justice left in this world?

Even more unjust was that this person was still standing outside the carriage, asking leisurely: “If this child has also done bad things, won’t you regret saving her?”

Ruyi was stunned.

Yellow and black old scenes fluttered toward her like papers blown by autumn wind.

…

“There’s an immortal in this world called Qing Shen, compassionate and magnanimous. He listens to everyone’s wishes and protects all living beings.”

“Please, please save them…”

“As long as you pray sincerely, Qing Shen will always hear your voice.”

“Don’t die, don’t die… I’m willing to trade my life for theirs. Please, don’t let them die.”

The city collapsed, beloved friends and relatives were crushed to mud, a long spear pierced through her chest, and she was lifted and hung on the blazing city gate.

—Ruyi’s chest suddenly began to throb with pain.

Autumn wind howled past outside the carriage, and she came back to her senses.

“So I couldn’t wait for Qing Shen because I had done bad things.”

Shen Qiyuan didn’t quite understand: “What?”

Opening the carriage window, she looked at him with bright red eyes, saying mockingly: “So the Qing Shen worshipped by mortals for generations doesn’t save all living beings after all.”

Sensing her emotions weren’t right, Shen Qiyuan braced himself against the carriage shaft and jumped up, opening the carriage door.

Ruyi attacked him without warning.

Shen Qiyuan reacted quickly to block her move, turned to close the carriage door, and instructed those outside: “Go distribute the supplies.”

The people outside were busy dealing with that large group of children and didn’t notice the abnormality inside the carriage, all responding in agreement.

Shen Qiyuan pressed his lips together as he deflected her hand blade, his movements swift and decisive. But she launched more than ten consecutive attacks, each more vicious than the last.

He frowned and slowed his movements for a moment.

Ruyi immediately struck his shoulder with her palm, the force so great that they could hear bones creaking.

Shen Qiyuan crashed into the carriage door and slid down with his back against it.

The dying child in the carriage whimpered fearfully. Ruyi calmed down somewhat, her crimson eyes slowly returning to black and white.

She pressed her lips together, stiffly tucked her hair behind her ear, and lowered her eyes to press against the little girl’s forehead.

Shen Qiyuan moved his shoulder and hissed from the pain.

Ruyi heard this and lowered her head even more: “I mistook you for someone else momentarily. Please bear with me, Lord.”

Qing Shen changed every hundred years—it was no longer the same one from back then. She shouldn’t have taken her anger out on him.

Shen Qiyuan laughed bitterly: “After injuring me like this, you think saying ‘bear with me’ settles it?”

“With your abilities, you can heal yourself in a moment. Don’t tell me you want to extort me?” she muttered.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead from the pain as he said hoarsely, “You think everyone is like you, not bound by rules.”

The little girl in her arms gradually regained color in her face, though she had fallen asleep.

Ruyi set her down and guiltily moved closer to Shen Qiyuan, reaching out to heal his injury.

Shen Qiyuan dodged her, annoyed: “You and I are incompatible like fire and water. If you use your power, it will only make things worse.”

That was true.

She scratched her head: “Then what should we do? There’s no doctor here either.”

“What can we do? Just endure it.” He groaned, “It doesn’t hurt that much.”

Though he said this, his lips had turned white.

Feeling somewhat guilty at the sight, Ruyi volunteered: “You rest. I’ll go watch them distribute the supplies for you.”

Shen Qiyuan shook his head and stubbornly got off the carriage.

“Hey.” She followed after him, hovering around him: “Doesn’t walking make it hurt more? I can watch them. It’s just a few carts of supplies—won’t take long to distribute.”

He ignored her and walked to the shelter where the purple-hatted officials were piling supplies. Perhaps because it hurt too much, his shoulder blade was trembling slightly.

She quickly stepped forward, wanting to scold him for being stubborn but feeling too guilty to speak, so she could only support him like a little maid.

The orphans receiving supplies had already lined up, with Zhou Tingchuan checking records one by one before distributing items.

Ruyi looked up and discovered that many in line were the same children who had just been bullying others.

She frowned, about to speak, but her gaze swept to the child at the very front of the line.

Seven or eight years old, shirtless, with dark skin, so thin that each rib was visible. He received a bag of millet, and as soon as he held it in his arms, he saw pairs of greedy hands reaching from behind.

The child immediately jumped to the side, hunched his back, and bared his teeth like a dog with a fierce expression as if ready to devour people. Seeing that others were scared away, he carefully clutched his supplies and ran desperately forward, looking back every three steps.

Running too hastily, he stumbled and fell, but seeming to feel no pain, he got up and continued running.

Ruyi watched in silence.

“This village has three hundred and fifty households, with sixty-seven households of war orphans. Less than five young orphans can survive to adulthood.” Shen Qiyuan spoke softly, “They can’t sleep peacefully because people always climb over walls to steal their things. They fight every day, sometimes over a mouthful of grain, sometimes over a piece of clothing.”

It wasn’t that they wanted to do evil—if they didn’t beat others to death, they would be beaten to death themselves.

Ruyi was dazed: “If it’s like this even with court relief, what about orphans who aren’t war orphans?”

Shen Qiyuan turned to look at her and asked seriously: “What do you think?”

There was one non-war orphan right in the carriage.

Ruyi paused and frowned: “Others aside, can you also stand by and watch such situations without helping?”

“I’ve said before, everyone in this world has their fate.”

“Then why be an immortal at all?” She scoffed.

Shen Qiyuan didn’t explain, only groaned in pain.

Hearing this, she quickly steadied him, no longer bothering to argue about other things: “We should go back and find a doctor first. If it’s seriously injured, your hand…”

He shook his head and tried to walk toward the carriage with unsteady steps.

Ruyi gripped his arm tightly: “Lean on me a bit.”

“It’s improper.”

“Stop talking nonsense.” She simply half-embraced him.

Warm breath passed from her body, seeping into the skin on his arm.