Bai Qiu had already learned just how cruel this world was to those without the will to fight.
Even if there was a way to heal this little girl — what then, after she was healed?
Could she really survive in such a world?
He didn't know.
But in his eyes, it seemed… nearly impossible.
If that was the case, then rather than saving her just to soothe his own conscience before abandoning her again, it might be kinder to simply end the pain of this weak and pitiful child.
That was what he had originally thought.
But the girl's second plea for help made him freeze in place, completely dispelling that thought.
He couldn't understand why someone so weak, so deeply in pain, would still cling so desperately to life.
Yet Bai Qiu would never force his own beliefs upon others.
To him, that would be no different from hypocrisy — like pretending to be righteous after doing something shameful.
So now, he had only two choices left:
One, turn a blind eye and walk away.
Two, save her.
…
Clank.
His iron boots stepped on a fallen Dragonfang Soldier's tooth, producing a crisp sound.
Bai Qiu paused for a moment.
Since he had already drawn his weapon to save her — didn't that mean he'd already made his decision?
Without further hesitation, he pulled out a healing potion, gently lifting the back of the girl's head so she lay at a forty-five-degree angle, making it easier for her to drink.
He then soaked a towel with water to clean her wounds, and evenly poured the remaining potion over her body.
Bai Qiu had bought four bottles of the healing potion in the Sanctuary — one for her to drink, and the other three he poured over her many wounds.
There was no helping it — there were just too many injuries.
After finishing, he took a piece of clothing from his storage card and covered her frail body.
The girl was small and thin, clearly malnourished.
With such severe injuries, whether she survived or not would depend on her own fate.
Bai Qiu wasn't a doctor, but he knew that when dealing with someone gravely injured, it was best to minimize physical contact — otherwise, the wounds might tear open again.
He had done everything he could.
Now, all that remained… was to wait.
The wounds on the girl's body gradually began to heal as time passed.
However, she had fallen into a deep coma, showing no signs of waking — though her breathing had steadied, unlike before, when she had been on the verge of death.
Time went by, and the sky had already darkened.
The narrow alley made visibility even worse, the dimness pressing in from all sides.
But Bai Qiu wasn't particularly worried.
Wearing his full set of Dragon Slayer equipment, even elite monsters couldn't harm him now.
All he needed to do was stand guard and make sure no stragglers attacked the unconscious girl.
As night fell, Bai Qiu held a map in one hand and his long spear in the other, effortlessly striking down the charging Dragonfang Soldiers.
At his current strength, he could crush these small fry with his bare hands — he didn't even need to use the short Dragon-Piercing Dagger.
Since he could one-shot them anyway, the long spear's wider reach gave him far more advantage.
The number of Dragonfang Soldiers noticeably increased at night.
Bai Qiu stood his ground, and on average, three of them attacked him every minute — an absurd rate of assault!
That meant 180 Dragonfang Soldiers every hour — even hunting them down actively in the daytime wouldn't produce that kind of speed.
Fortunately, at night their blood-red eyes glowed faintly, giving away their positions even in the dark.
Bai Qiu didn't have to worry about any slipping past him to harm the girl.
His map showed that the nearest elite monsters were more than ten kilometers away, so there was no need to worry about an ambush.
"Ding!
You have killed 1,000 Dragonfang Soldiers!
Achievement Unlocked: [Monster Grinder]!"
[Monster Grinder] — Automatically attracts all monsters within a 10 km radius.
Defeated monsters have +10% increased drop rate and +1 extra experience point.
Bai Qiu: "…"
Sometimes, it was just ridiculous.
As if nighttime didn't already bring enough monsters, now he had somehow acquired a passive skill that taunts everything within ten kilometers.
As for the increased drop rate — that didn't really matter to him.
Guaranteed drops were still guaranteed; that tiny bonus meant little.
The fixed +1 experience per kill, though — that was actually useful.
Before long, the Dragonfang Soldiers' spawn rate skyrocketed.
After watching his map for five minutes and confirming that no elite monsters had been lured in by his new achievement, Bai Qiu put the map away and focused entirely on slaughtering the endless waves of Dragonfang Soldiers.
With both hands free, his movements became even smoother.
In the face of overwhelming power, whether it was one soldier or a hundred made no difference at all.
Before he knew it, midnight had arrived.
The loot scattered across the ground had piled up so much that it nearly reached his ankles.
The frequency of the Dragonfang Soldiers' appearances had become completely unpredictable — sometimes ten in a minute, sometimes dozens charging at him nonstop.
Even someone with Bai Qiu's physique was starting to struggle under such an overwhelming onslaught.
His usually calm mind began to show traces of irritation.
"Huff… huff…" Bai Qiu panted heavily.
With a single powerful sweep, he instantly killed five Dragonfang Soldiers, then drove his spear into the ground, using it to brace himself as he forced his body to remain standing.
Though he bore no visible wounds, his body was drenched in fine beads of sweat.
He had long lost count of how many Dragonfang Soldiers he'd slain since earning that achievement.
His level had already risen to 10, yet after gaining the achievement, he hadn't even had a moment to check what Noble Phantasm had been unlocked.
His hands felt unbearably heavy now — even the long spear, which had once felt light as a feather, seemed to weigh a ton.
His muscles were sore and trembling from exhaustion.
Leveling up restored about 25% of his stamina and energy, but as time dragged on, his rate of recovery couldn't keep up with his rate of depletion.
His experience bar still had 19% left before reaching level 11.
Another half hour passed…
Clang!!
His steel spear slipped from his grasp and hit the ground with a sharp ring.
The Dragonfang Soldiers he had knocked down moments ago struggled for a bit, then scrambled back up, rushing toward him again like a relentless tide.
"Hah!"
With a shout, Bai Qiu lashed out — his front kick crushed the lead Dragonfang Soldier instantly, the sheer force rippling through and injuring the others around it.
But the motion threw him off balance, and he fell backward.
A few Dragonfang Soldiers pounced on him immediately, gnawing and clawing at him without pause.
He turned his head toward the little girl's direction — his vision was blurry, but he could still make out her shape.
Thanks to his achievement, the Dragonfang Soldiers didn't move past him to attack her.
Seeing that, Bai Qiu let out a breath of relief.
He raised an arm to shield his face from a lunging monster — his armor could withstand the bites, but his unprotected face couldn't afford even a single hit.
Puchi!
With his other hand, he drew the Dragon-Piercing Dagger and drove it straight through the creature snapping at his head.
In an instant, the Dragonfang Soldier's body shattered into fragments of white light and vanished.
Then, repeating the motion, Bai Qiu plunged the dagger into another, and another — the beasts that tore at his armor, that bit at his limbs, all met the same fate.
Even though his stamina was completely spent, he kept gripping the dagger tightly, stabbing again and again, cutting down the endless swarm of monsters that surged toward him like waves crashing against a rock.