Seraph’s rainbow eyes snapped open, instantly capturing the sight of the mother-daughter duo before him.

His gaze softened, and an automatic smile tried to appear on his face. However, it couldn’t even form properly.

It felt like all his facial muscles had become lead. He didn’t panic. Instead, he sat up and asked.

"Where is the place?"

The mother held her daughter’s hand tightly, then answered.

"This is Hudson Village. My husband found you at the site of the destruction and brought you home."

Seraph felt surprised, but it couldn’t show on his face, so he simply nodded.

"I see."

He said nothing else, simply falling into a daze as he stared blankly ahead. The woman pressed her lips tightly, then said.

"I’ll go help you prepare your bath."

Seraph replied in a hum, but he didn’t even turn as she left the room.

Once the woman was gone, he slowly exhaled. Instantly, blood flowed out of his mouth and poured onto his robes.

He wiped the blood, then swallowed the rest that was coming. This blood wasn’t from some internal injury or anything. Instead, it was coming directly from his bleeding heart.

As for why his heart was bleeding...

’Hehehe... hehehehehehehe... hehehehehehehehehe...’

His heart was overflowing with a mix of rage and madness. The emotions were so vivid that he could see them tearing at his heart and threatening to eat up the organ that birthed them.

Seraph was in pain. An undescribable pain that seemed to long after slaughter—mindless and endless slaughter.

"Haa..."

Exhaling, he forcefully calmed his raging heart with spiritual energy, then stood up. His white hair fell over his shoulders, and he looked like an ethereal being.

At that moment, the woman entered the room again and said to him.

"Um... your bath water is ready."

Seraph’s gaze turned to her, and only then did she notice the bloodstains on his clothes and lips.

"Are you hurt internally? We only have herbs that work for external injuries and..."

"I’m alright," Seraph interrupted, his posture calm and relaxed. "I’ll go take the bath. Thank you."

He walked past her and headed to the bathroom that was easily recognizable. Although it was quite a lowly bathroom, Seraph didn’t mind at all.

He poured the warm water over his body, washing away his sweat and other dirt while scrubbing his skin with the soapy sponge.

Suddenly, he remembered a memory of when he was a child. His mother used to bathe him, but later on, his sister took the... role.

Seraph’s thought slowed, and a single thought floated in his mind.

’Yelena, Seraph’s beloved older sister, is dead.’

It was sad, really. Sad enough to cause blood to pour from his mouth uncontrollably while his heart tightened like it was going to be crushed.

After a full minute if vomiting blood, he finally stopped.

’Haa... haa... haa...’

He took short labored breaths, then straightened. The bathroom was bloodstained, but he wasn’t bothered.

Simply waving his hand, he washed the blood away into the drainage, then healed himself using his affinity to life element.

Letting the warm water flow down his body, he groaned softly, his heart wallowing in emptiness.

After spending almost an hour in the bathroom, Seraph stepped out to the living room, clad in casual clothing.

He immediately drew the attention of the mother-daughter pair, as they observed him intensely.

Seraph asked, "Where is your husband?"

The woman paused, then answered, "He went to work, but he should be back soon."

Seraph nodded in understanding, then glanced at the little girl.

"She hadn’t started cultivating?"

The woman smiled bitterly. "Our daughter has blocked meridians, and her talent for cultivation is low, so we didn’t bother straining to send her to the public school."

Seraph wanted to frown, but once again, he couldn’t. He studied the little girl properly, then shook his head.

"She doesn’t have blocked meridians. As for her talent, I’m not sure, but it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try."

The woman’s eyes widened, "Her meridians aren’t blocked?"

"If they were, I wouldn’t say otherwise," Seraph replied her and reached into his storage ring, pulling out a basic cultivation manual.

Casually, he tossed it to the young girl who caught the book, her eyes shining.

"She can give it a try." He said, then walked towards the door. "Thank you for taking care of me while I was unconscious. I’m grateful."

"W-wait!" The woman hurriedly stopped him. "You’re leaving already? You should at least eat something, right? I already prepared something modest."

Seraph paused, and seeing that the matter was more complicated than he had thought, he decided to stay back.

The woman, whom he later knew was named Shenn, immediately went into the kitchen and brought him a plate of rice and chicken soup.

Seraph ate calmly, and in a few minutes, the meal was gone.

The young girl, Mira, smiled and said happily, "Big Uncle is a good eater like me!"

Seraph’s lips twitched in an attempt to smile, and he patted her head gently.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed, and he looked towards the main door of the house.

Knock knock knock.

Just a split second after the door was knocked, it was kicked down by a bunch of rogue cultivators who strolled into the living room like they owned it.

One of them immediately sat in the couch, directly beside Shenn who had been watching Seraph pet her daughter. She flinched hard.

"Oi, Shenn slut. Where’s your good for nothing husband? He still owes us money from the last time."

Shenn’s eyes widened. "What? No way, my husband already paid you guys in full."

Seeing her argue, the three men were displeased. Their attention was solely focused on her, so they failed to notice Seraph quietly watching the drama.

The rogue cultivator sitting beside her chuckled, leaning dangerously close to get face.

"Shenn slut, your husband owes us money. Twelve silver spirit crystals. With which money do you think he bought the food you guys are eating?"

Another one laughed scornfully, "Hahahaha. I can’t believe it. Borrowing money to eat. Sounds really distasteful."

The last one looked at Shenn and licked his lips.

"Of course, we know you can’t even source for the money. Why don’t you pay us with your body. You have enough holes to accommodate three of us at once."

Shenn’s entire body turned frigid, and she couldn’t help but look towards Seraph with a pleading gaze.

’Ah, I see. So they’re really poor. She was probably going to ask me for some money.’

Seraph sighed in his heart, then tapped the metal spoon against the ceramic plate.

Instantly, the sound caused the men to turn over and look at him. Seraph met their gazes calmly, his expression unreadable.

"Get out."

He said.

The three of them looked at him, then turned to each other in confusion.

"Who the heck is this? Hey, Shenn slut, are you cheating on your husband with this pretty boy? Wow, even married women like you have good tastes."

One of them chuckled, causing the others to laugh.

He stood up from beside Shenn, then walked over to Seraph. Mira immediately turned his behind him, scared of the thugs.

’Sigh... why does everything in this world require some energy and force?’

Raising his gaze to meet the guy, Seraph said slowly, "I told you to get out, didn’t I? You didn’t. Now, slap yourselves three times and leave before I change my mind."

The guy laughed, his gaze mocking, "Slap ourselves? Who do you—"

His words were caught in his throat when he noticed the change in his surroundings.

What was going on?

He was no longer in the living room. Instead, he was in a plane of endless red, with the thick stench of blood. The stench was so heavy that he choked on it, his throat constricting.

His vision had turned red, and he collapsed to the ground, wheezing in pain while his heart thudded in his chest.

Meanwhile, Shenn watched with wide eyes as the three men collapsed to the ground, their bodies shivering while sweating. It was a completely bizarre phenomenon that lasted several minutes. And when it finally ended, they all looked at Seraph like he was a monster.

The young man calmly raised a hand. "You, slap him. You, slap him. And you, slap him."

Without even putting up any futile resistance, the men turned to each other and began slapping each other as if they had been enemies in the past.

Pa! Po! Pa! Po! Pa! Po!

Shenn watched in shock, as if she was witnessing the earth becoming the skies.

"Faster."

Seraph said coldly, and the men increased the tempo of their slaps. After a few minutes, they all had their faces swollen with red and purple patches. They all turned to Seraph, quietly waiting for his evaluation.

"Hm, you guys did well." Seraph nodded with a smile, then said. "Alright, you all can scram. Don’t ever come here again or I might ask you to fuck yourselves."

The men paled at his words and shot out of the building as fast as lightning.