The Legend of Fangren

"ah!!!"

The thief screamed as his heel was cleaved off by a flying stone axe, and he fell to the ground.

Fang Shi settled the old farmer, then leaped down the hillside and landed beside him.

"Why do this of all things?" Fang Shi's face was completely unlike his usual mischievous self in the sect, and his gaze downwards was especially cold.

Having witnessed civilization in his past life, he would not be indifferent to such things, but would only feel indignation.

"This...this..."

The thief was terrified by such brute force. Unable to escape, he could only drag his leg and desperately kowtow, "Great hero, spare my life! Great hero, spare my life! I'm just an ordinary citizen; I had no choice but to do this because my village suffered!"

"You're lying! I saw you kill my father with my own eyes!" one of the children shouted, then burst into tears.

"..." The thief was speechless, feeling as if a needle was stuck in his throat, because he saw that the other party's gaze had become even colder.

Swallowing hard, he knew begging for mercy was useless. He quietly reached behind his waist and pulled out a short dagger.

"You brat, die!"

He suddenly sprang up, the dagger flashing as it aimed for his throat.

Fang Shi glanced at it, then precisely pinched the tip of the knife with two fingers of his right hand and used his strength to flick the blade back.

"Ugh!"

With the blade at his throat, the thief clutched his neck, too afraid to pull it out, and collapsed to the ground, barely alive, left only to await his death.

Fang Shi squatted down to comfort the frightened children, smiling and saying, "It's alright now."

Unfortunately, there was still a trace of blood on his face, making his smile a little frightening.

Suddenly, the eldest child knelt down, kowtowed three times, and cried out to him, "Good brother, please, go and save the people in the village! My parents are gone, but maybe the others are still alive! Oh, and Grandma Han, she's still hiding in the cellar. She's not well and won't last much longer. Brother, please, go and save them!"

"Where is the village?" Fang Shi immediately squatted down and asked them to point out the direction.

"It's right over there... If the house catches fire, Grandma Han will definitely..." The children sobbed uncontrollably.

"I'll be right there. You all take good care of that old man." Fang Shi gave the oldest child a bottle of medicine. "This medicine can be applied to the wound to prevent it from festering. Just a little bit is enough. Remember to use it carefully."

After saying that, he leaped onto a tree by the roadside and looked into the distance. Sure enough, thick smoke was rising.

Those damned bandits.

He put his finger in his mouth and whistled, then immediately ran towards the village.

After he left, a group of young men and women, dressed neatly and unlike ordinary people, landed on the spot.

The leading elder asked, "Luohe, are you sure you didn't hear wrong? This dirt path in the valley is not our route. If we are delayed, we won't be able to reach Qingye City before dark."

Luohe nodded immediately, saying with certainty, "There's no mistake. This whistle is what Fang Shi and I used to survive in the mountains since we were young. The whistle just now meant that danger was about to occur."

"Um."

The elder nodded, simply because he saw several children surrounding an old man who had fallen to the ground.

"Quickly check the situation." He ordered the accompanying junior elder to step forward and help, while also inquiring about what had happened.

Upon hearing this, the men and women in the team were immediately filled with righteous indignation.

"Those petty thieves are really unlucky to have run into me coming down the mountain. I won't let them get away with this!"

But the elder stopped the impulsive young men and said, "We will split into three groups. One group will go to Qingye City to report to the authorities, the second group will stay behind to take care of these children and the elderly, and the remaining group will come with me to apprehend the thieves."

After making the arrangements, Luo He immediately stepped forward: "Elder, my Xuanbing is a long spear, which is perfect for fighting thieves."

At this moment, He Qisheng, who had been assigned to suppress the thieves, also stepped forward: "Elder, I'd like to switch places with Luohe. It would be easier for us to report to the authorities in Qingye City."

As the young city lord, there are certain privileges he has. Moreover, this village is not far from the city, yet it has been attacked by bandits. Based on his intuition, there may have been some changes down the mountain in the past few months, and he must hurry back to ask his father.

"Alright."

The elder led the team, which immediately split into three groups.

When the people arrived in the village, they saw fierce flames and ruins everywhere. Some corpses lay in the ashes. Only a few living people were surrounded in the open space in the middle of the village, and the corpses on the ground were crying and wailing.

Fang Shi stood to the side with his head down, his stone axe covered in bloodstains.

He killed the bandit.

But the villagers also died.

He rescued the old woman the children had entrusted to him, and then he searched the cellars in other houses. Some people were still alive, but others were roasted alive by the fires that had started burning inside.

"..."

He remained silent, his face grim and terribly so.

"Prescription." Luohe stepped forward, wanting to comfort him.

But he simply gave him a reassuring look and walked up to the elder, saying, "Elder, these bandits are all refugees. They originally became village bullies in the mortal world with their limited cultivation. Later, it is said that their village was attacked by wild beasts, so they became bandits in the mountains."

"You found out all this in such a short time?"

"..." Fang Shi did not say more.

With an axe to your neck, you'll never be short of the truth.

"Alright." The elder nodded. "In that case, let's hurry into the city and report."

After saying that, apart from Luo He standing beside him, the rest of the group prepared to leave.

Fang Shi hurriedly asked, "Elder, all the houses in this village have been burned down. Shouldn't we take them with us?"

The elder replied, "The disaster victims know the way and will go to the city to settle down. We will give them some medicine."

"this……"

"What, are you going to build them a house or something? Just save them, don't be so kind and hurt yourself."

These words were spoken by someone in the team. Fang Shi recognized him immediately; it was Zhao Ba, Feng Zhonghua's lackey.

Such situations are usually the perfect opportunity to retort, but Fang Shi shifted his gaze and saw that no one else had any objections to his words.

Yes, I almost forgot, this isn't my past life.

There is no concept of comprehensive disaster relief and refugee resettlement in the disaster area; it can be described as a thankless task.

The old man he had just rescued was extremely infirm, and even with medicine, it would be very difficult for him to walk several miles to Qingye City.

Seeing his silence, the elder paused and said, "Since you have such good intentions, stay and help them... The rest of you, come with me into the city."

"Prescription."

Luo He intended to stay and help, but Fang Shi gently pushed her away and whispered to her, "Go to the city and wait for me. I won't stay too long."

"...Hmm." Fortunately, the road wasn't far, so Luohe listened to him.

After the man left, Fang Shi approached the villagers again.

The few remaining families, seeing him approach, hurriedly knelt down to express their gratitude: "Young hero, we can never repay your life-saving kindness."

He only said, "An old man led eight children and fled the village."

Upon hearing this, the group, though still grieving, found a sliver of solace: "It's the old farmer from Han..."

There were also extremely excited people, simply because they remembered that their children had gone to the old farmer's house.

"My benefactor, let's go to the city now."

Those who were anxious to see their children left, leaving behind only a few elderly people.

"Young man, you should go. Our legs aren't good, we can't walk anymore. After this fire burns out, we'll look for food in the house, and that should last us a few more days."

The elderly really can't handle any more of this.

With that in mind, Fang Shi thought for a moment, then turned and went into the woods, intending to build a wooden shed for the old folks to shelter them from the wind and rain.