NOVEL NEXT Chapter 55: Growth
After dumping the trash far away, Wu Lan made his way back toward the village where Xiao Wu and the others were staying.
Meanwhile, Qian Renxue remained in the village, torn between her responsibilities and a growing curiosity.
Ever since her interactions with Wu Lan, she had found herself wanting to understand more about him. His actions over the past few days had sparked something inside her. But duty pulled her in the opposite direction, she was supposed to return to the capital and resume her obligations.
As she wrestled with these conflicting emotions, Wu Lan finally arrived in the village.
The moment she spotted him, Xiao Wu rushed forward and hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms around his waist. As she turned, she cast a smug, victorious grin at Zhu Zhuqing.
Zhu Zhuqing saw this and gave a soft pout before quietly stepping aside.
Not far away, Qian Renxue furrowed her brows. For some reason, seeing Xiao Wu's smug expression made her feel… irritated.
Wu Lan laughed lightly at Xiao Wu's antics before his eyes landed on Qian Renxue.
"Qian Renxue," he said with a faint smile, "we'll be leaving this place soon, heading to another village. What about you? What's your plan?"
Qian Renxue was slightly startled at the sound of her name. but hearing his words, She paused, and after a few moments of silence, made her decision.
For the first time, she wanted to be selfish, just for a little while.
"I have nothing urgent to do," she said, her lips curling into a relaxed smile. "So I'll come with you."
Wu Lan raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. He had assumed she would return to the capital immediately. After all, a mere decoy couldn't maintain the delicate balance of Spirit Hall operations for long.
But Xiao Wu instantly tensed.
She narrowed her eyes and subtly stepped between Qian Renxue and Wu Lan, watching her warily.
This vixen is definitely trying to seduce my brother. I need to be extra careful. Zhuqing is her best friend, so I allowed her to stay close to my brother, but Qian Renxue is a different matter entirely.
Zhu Zhuqing, saying nothing, stepped closer to Wu Lan as well.
Qian Renxue noticed Xiao Wu's hostility and looked puzzled by the sudden change in her gaze.
Wu Lan noticed the tightening grip Xiao Wu had on his arm and understood the meaning behind her body language. He chuckled softly and gently patted her head.
Only then did Xiao Wu relax.
Turning back to Qian Renxue, he smiled and said, "It's fine. You're welcome to come with us."
One month later.
They had journeyed through village after village.
Each village came with its own set of problems.
In some, villagers were terrorized by bandits, Wu Lan's group eliminated the bandits and returned the stolen goods.
In others, food shortages plagued the people. Wu Lan gave them temporary supplies and used his new understanding of Earth Law, gained from the Silver Dragon King's bloodline, to manipulate the soil and make it more fertile. This would help them grow crops more easily in the future.
In villages with no nearby water sources, Wu Lan used his understanding of Water Law to locate underground water. He then used Earth Law to dig wells, providing a long-term solution.
In places haunted by wolf attacks, Wu Lan taught the villagers how to set traps in strategic locations. He wanted to provide weapons as well, but feared that if such tools were discovered by greedy outsiders, those same villagers might be killed for them.
During this time, Wu Lan focused heavily on developing his mastery over the Laws. As his control over all seven Laws grew, it became easier to solve the villagers' problems. His understanding deepened with each passing day.
Every village revealed another layer of suffering.
The world, he realized, did not care about the weak.
Throughout the journey, Wu Lan witnessed firsthand the powerlessness of ordinary people. His mentality began to shift. Until now, he had thought of this world as nothing more than an anime. But the genuine emotions of these people… they felt real.
He had started this journey with the goal of collecting faith, earning the gratitude of villagers in order to strengthen himself.
But he gained something far more profound than faith.
He came from a world where the strong protected the weak, where laws restrained violence, where people fought for justice and stood up for those without power.
But here… the strong preyed on the weak. They did not care.
Only Spirit Hall and a handful of individuals showed even a sliver of concern for ordinary people, and even they were a minority.
He reflected on Tang San's actions: poisoning and destroying an entire city, releasing countless evil soul masters who, in turn, slaughtered innocent lives, all for his own selfish reasons, under the pretense of righteousness. Tang San had claimed that such an evil place shouldn't exist, but the consequences were devastating.
Even more outrageous was his destruction of Spirit Hall. Without Spirit Hall, the common people lost a reliable institution to awaken their martial spirits. Now, they had to rely entirely on clans or empires for protection, entities that cared little for their safety.
Tang San was a bastard, through and through.
He never cared about the people, only his own gains.
But Wu Lan was different.
He wanted to do something for these people.
He knew war was on the horizon. Bibi Dong would soon mobilize all resources and manpower toward it.
The empires, too, would grow tense with preparations. And in the shadows of that conflict, the lives of common people would only grow more difficult.
They would be forgotten.
Thinking about this, Wu Lan sighed.
He was still too weak.
He needed to grow faster if he wanted to protect anything.
To protect… he needed strength.