Cultivating Dao Online

"He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."

...

After about five kilometres of trekking through the forest, Lin Fang caught sight of something unusual, a massive cloud of fire-coloured smoke rising into the sky.

He stopped in his tracks, frowning as he tilted his head to get a better look.

"A fire?" he muttered, narrowing his eyes.

For a moment, he considered the possibilities. Fires didn't just appear out of nowhere, especially in a place like this.

His frown turned into a small, hopeful grin.

"Wait a minute," he said, his tone brightening. "Doesn't that mean there are people over there? Natives, maybe? A random fire in the middle of nowhere is… unlikely."

"Let's check it out," 

His pace increased as he dashed towards the direction of the fire.

As Lin Fang neared the source of the fire, the grin on his face began to falter.

When the area where the fire originated from came into full view, his steps slowed, and the excitement draining from his expression was replaced by a deep frown.

His breath hitched slightly as his eyes took in the carnage before him.

The scene was nothing short of a nightmare.

Broken houses lay in charred ruins, the fire devouring what little of the house remained. The terrible smell of burning wood and flesh filled the air, making Lin Fang instinctively cover his nose and mouth with his robe sleeve.

Bodies were strewn across the ground, their lifeless forms contorted in unnatural positions.

Blood painted the earth in dark streaks, and severed heads were scattered like grotesque ornaments, their expressions frozen in fear and agony.

"What… happened here?" Lin Fang whispered, his voice barely audible as he stood frozen in place.

His stomach churned, but his eyes refused to look away. His gaze was drawn to movement in the corner of the small village.

A massive bear was hunched over one of the bodies. Its jaws worked furiously as it tore into the remains of a child, blood dripping from its maw.

A wave of disgust and anger surged through Lin Fang, pushing away the initial shock.

Before the bear could even lift its head, Lin Fang appeared in front of it, moving with such speed that the air seemed to explode.

Without a word or hesitation, he drew back his fist and struck.

The punch landed with devastating force, and the bear's head exploded like a ripe melon. The body crumpled to the ground, lifeless before it even realized what had happened.

Two shining chests instantly appeared beside the bear's remains, but Lin Fang barely spared them a glance. 

"Not now," he muttered, shaking his head. "This isn't the time."

His attention returned to the devastation. He walked through the remnants of the village, his steps slow.

Each body he passed seemed to tell him their story of terror and desperation.

Death did not differentiate; farmers clutching weapons, children huddled near toppled furniture, and mothers shielding their young children.

Unfortunately, the mothers' efforts were not successful as not a single survivor was in sight.

Lin Fang's jaw tightened, and his fists clenched at his sides.

"This wasn't just some wild beast attack," he thought grimly. "This… this was planned. It was a...human, can I even call him or her that? "

The scale of destruction, the decapitations—it spoke of the person's cruelty, of people who had come here not just to kill but to send a message.

For a moment, Lin Fang stood still in the centre of the ruined village, his eyes scanning the chaos around him.

The fire crackled in the background, its heat brushing against his skin, but he barely noticed.

"No matter which world it is?" he murmured, a bitter edge to his voice. 

"No matter which world it is," he muttered, his voice barely audible above the flames, "demons exist." A bitter edge laced his words, his disgust growing with every step he took through the devastation.

"I feel disgusted even though I don't know a single pe—" His voice cracked mid-sentence, his breath hitching sharply as his eyes landed on a familiar face.

It was her.

'Sh-She's related to these people?'

His legs moved before his mind caught up, carrying him to the corpse.

The girl lay there, still and silent, her face pale and devoid of the life he had seen just days ago.

Her eyes, once wide with fear and pleading, were now closed as though she had finally succumbed to the cruelty of this world.

Lin Fang knelt beside her, his fingers curling into fists at his sides. She was the only intact corpse he'd seen, her body spared the cruel mutilations that had befallen the others.

Yet, instead of relief, a deep sense of unease settled over him.

"Merciful or merciless?" he murmured to himself, his voice thick with emotion. "I don't even know anymore."

The girl's body was bare, her clothes stripped away, leaving her vulnerable even in death. Lin Fang's jaw tightened, his teeth grinding audibly as anger surged within him.

"She couldn't escape...her fate," he whispered, his tone unreadable.

He exhaled softly, as he forced himself to look away from her lifeless form.

The memories of their brief encounter resurfaced, unbidden. Her fear, her desperate pleas for help, and the hope that had flickered in her eyes when she believed she was safe. All of it felt like a cruel joke now, a fleeting illusion shattered by the harsh reality of this world.

Lin Fang's fingers dug into the dirt beside him, the rough earth grounding him as he wrestled with the storm of emotions building inside.

"This world…" Lin Fang murmured, his voice barely audible over the distant crackle of flames. His eyes remained fixed on the lifeless body before him.

"It doesn't even give people a chance, does it?" A bitter smile crept onto his face, one that lacked even a shred of joy.

Lin Fang tilted his head towards the sky before he said. "But… is it really just this world?"

The bitterness he felt gave way to something heavier, and much colder. "Even on the green planet, it's the same story, isn't it? Countries were destroyed, and people were oppressed. Man, no matter which world they live in, their goal is one—Conquer and Destroy."

Lin Fang shook his head slowly, his expression darkening as he began to reflect on the meaning of power and weakness.

"Is power really worth it? Destroying lives, and ending futures, all for what? A fleeting sense of control? A title?"

Though Lin Fang's words carried conviction, Lin Fang's heart wasn't as convinced as his tone suggested.

The carnage around him pressed heavily on his shoulders, but the deeper question remained unanswered—whether he could or would descend to the same level of cruelty in pursuit of immortality—remained unspoken.

Perhaps Lin Fang deliberately avoided the thought, pushing it into the farthest recesses of his mind, a place too dark to explore right now. Or perhaps, in the haze of emotion, it simply hadn't occurred to him.

Either way, the irony remained, unacknowledged but existing.

For all his disdain for man's pursuit of power and its cost, Lin Fang had already set his foot on the path toward immortality—a journey riddled with choices that would inevitably challenge the ideals he now clung to.

The fire crackled on unwavering despite the carnage around it.

Lin Fang's eyes returned to the girl. Her face was serene, frozen in the peace she had been denied in life. Yet, her death was no less cruel for it. Her fate had been sealed by forces beyond her control, and no amount of outrage could undo what had already been done.

He sighed before he began the grim task of burying her because of their short encounter. She was the first native he met in this world, and Lin Fang felt that she deserved a burial.

The grave was shallow but sufficient.

Lin Fang stood and dusted his hands off before he turned his back on the village and departed.