This world was a calloused one

"I-I'm going to tell my Mommy!" One of them squeaked but when Zhang Wang raised his hand, they were quick to burst into tears and run off.

Yu Yanlin stepped forward, his posture was regal and calm, opposite of Zhang Wang who was still busy seething with anger. "Do you want me to kill them?" He asked, as though it was the most normal thing in the world.

Zhang Wang flinched. He whirled around and yelled at this calm and composed tiger king, "What the fuck!!? Absolutely not! Crazy bastard, who the fuck just goes around--" And then he remembered he was talking to the damned demon king of all people. "Argh. Never mind! Just. Don't do anything. Stay there."

He ignored the infuriating person that he was stuck with and knelt down at the poor beaten child's side. It looked bad but at least there was still a pulse, even if it was weak. He didn't have many restorative pills on him but Zhang Wang didn't think twice about forking one out for the child.

The matted hair was so dirty it lay in ugly clumps and when Zhang Wang pushed it aside there was an equally dark face. Zhang Wang wondered what kind of evil fucker had it in them to beat a child to this degree. Demon or not, this was simply inhumane! In his previous life, Zhang Wang wasn't the type to donate money and non-perishables to starving children and in this life, he was hardly an innocent person either. He would never claim to be a virtuous hero with spotless mortality.

But he was not a heartless bastard dammit! He scooped the poor child in his arms. When he saw Yu Yanlin's calm indifferent visage, another surge of unhappiness bubbled in his gut. Was everyone this fucking calloused? Did he not even care that a kid was being beaten to death?

Zhang Wang had no energy to be debating philosophy and instead said, "Let's bring her back to the brothel. She needs somewhere to rest."

But Yu Yanlin was hesitant, "Do you believe that they will be welcoming? Did you forget what the other children said?"

That kind of stuff wasn't important!

At least, that was what Zhang Wang wanted to say. But even he understood that reality was different than that. There was no way the brothel would allow them to stay for free and definitely not with a child that was branded a demon.

This world was a calloused one, where kindness had grown scarce. Of course, people wouldn't care about a child's life for free.

"Fine," Zhang Wang bit out. "But let's ask around and see if we can find the brat's parents.

Yu Yanlin nodded without complaint.

The villagers, who had been friendly and at most indifferent before, now turned tense and cagey at the sight of the child in Zhang Wang's arms. The majority of them refused to even entertain him with a few words.

And no matter how calmly and politely they tried to address passing strangers, the responses they got were ones of fear and disgust.

"Just get rid of that thing!"

"Get it out of my sight!"

"You'll be cursed, cursed I tell you!"

And Zhang Wang was going to lose his mind. He was about to just whisk the poor girl away from the entire damned village until an old lady, back hunched, pulled at his sleeve for attention.

"Young Master…" her creaking old voice croaked, "That girl lives with her mother. At the edge of the village…it is not far…"

A sigh of relief escaped him, there was one person left in the entire shit-eating village that had any form of sense left.

"Thank you," he gave her a genuine smile and a polite nod.

The old woman shook her head, "No…it is you who should be thanked, for showing that thing an ounce of kindness. That child's mother is equally as pitiful, ah but there is no one left in this world to show them any compassion. The war has made people cold."

With a stiff nod, they parted ways with the old woman. Meeting her was enough to elevate Zhang Wang's souring mood. It wasn't like he didn't understand how everyone turned out this way, and it wasn't like he hadn't seen similar situations before. But still…was it so difficult to still be humane?

He chanced a glare at the demon king that followed him silently, who had done everything he said, even kindly interrogating the villagers on the whereabouts of the poor girl's parents.

Yu Yanlin did not complain nor did he ask questions. He was neither flustered or angered by the situation, even when the girl was said to be one of his own kind.

Zhang Wang couldn't help but ask, "You really don't care about what happens to this girl, do you?"

The demon king was taken aback and looked almost confused, "Should…I?" His question was tentative like he wasn't sure. "I have been dethroned. I am no longer king and I have no power. Nor responsibilities or obligations to her. Her fortune is irrelevant to me, no?"

A sneer pulled at Zhang Wang's face, "So you don't care about people outside of your obligations? I guess you don't really know anything about compassion huh?"

Yu Yanlin frowned and looked down with embarrassment, "You're right, I don't know what compassion is."

But he said it so bluntly and seriously and it made Zhang Wang only feel more bitter, aggravated.

"...I'm sorry. Is it upsetting to you? I did not mean to--"

"Whatever," Zhang Wang cut him off quickly, "don't say anymore. I just want you to shut up."

And obediently, Yu Yanlin really did shut up. Zhang Wang's mood did not improve. Not during the entire way to the quaint little house that looked more like a shack than anything else that sat upon the village edge.

The vegetation had long outgrown what would be considered proper with tall grass that licked up the sides of eroded stone walls and vines that caged the place in.

"Wait," Yu Yanlin spoke abruptly. One hand held out to stop Zhang Wang in his advance and his other reached for the black whip that was no longer at his hip.

Zhang Wang grumbled, but he still had the helpless girl in his arm and decided that it didn't hurt to let this cold-hearted demon go into the unknown first.

He watched the tiger demon carefully peel open a door that was left slightly ajar. He didn't even bother knocking before cautiously stepping inside. There were no cries of protest. And Zhang Wang already had that depressed sinking feeling in his chest. He prepared for the worst.

He knew that the worst was already the most likely outcome.

It was only confirmed when Yu Yanlin carefully stepped back out with a shake of his head. "We're too late." Was all he said.

It was all he needed to say. Zhang Wang's arms held the tiny girl even tighter to his chest. She whimpered in his hold.

But what now?

A cold presence gathered behind him, and Yu Yanlin's gaze trailed past him, swooping the scene that Zhang Wang did not want to turn around to see. "Zhang Wang, there are people."

He already predicted him and pulled in a sharp breath before turning around. A crowd of villagers fenced off their path, armed with shovels, pitchforks, and even pans. Their faces were dark, unpleasant, and evil. It took all of Zhang Wang's willpower to force out a calm and collected smile.