Realm of Myths and Legends

...

Fang Qiu parked the car outside the gate of an old rundown building.

At a glance, the building appeared to be deserted due to its tattered state.

"This is the address." Fang Qiu noted.

'I can't say I expected much, but... Does she really live here with others?'

The building itself was a decent size; however, there were poorly patched-up holes on the roof, broken windows covered by tattered cloth, and the grass in the yard out front, while it was clear of trash and looked as best kept as it could be, was on its last breath.

If someone drove by, they would think that it was an abandoned or condemned building! It did not seem like a suitable place for anyone to live.

'Hm? That's...'

Jin noticed something strange taking place out of the corner of his eye.

Near the west side of the building was a group of ten children with two men who looked like they clearly did not belong.

Furthermore, from the frightened expressions on the children's faces, one would have to be blind not to see that they were terrified of the two men.

"What's going on over there? There was no mention of men their age who lives here." Fang Qiu frowned when she caught sight of the men.

"Stay here," Jin said as he jumped out of the car and began to walk towards the opened gate that led into the yard.

"Wait a second! Where are you going? Those men are surely nothing but trouble! This is no time to try and play hero! Hey, listen to me! We should call the proper authorities to handle the situation!" Fang Qiu warned with haste; however, Jin's steps remained unwavering no matter what she said.

"This guy...! No, I don't have any time to waste. I have to hurry." Fang Qiu hurriedly grabbed her phone.

Fang Qiu immediately regretted bringing Jin to the orphanage. How could he be so reckless?! If anything happened to him, how could she face the second and fourth young misses of the Zi family?!

Nevertheless, now that things had gotten to this point, there was no turning back!

...

In the front yard of the building, two men stood before a small crowd of children.

These two were the unlucky members of the Mad Dogs posted outside by Bloodhound to watch the children and make sure none of them ran off to alert anyone.

"Damn, why did we have to get stuck babysittin' some brats? Hey, are you even listening to me, Boulder?" One of the men, Skullz, said in an annoyed tone.

"Shut up already. It's annoyin' enough havin' to watch these brats. Ain't like I wanna be here either, but the boss' words are law. So just keep yer yap shut and deal with it." The larger male next to him, Boulder, growled.

"Come on, man. Aren't you bored? Listen, I have an idea. How about we play a game just like the boss with these kids? It's not like anyone will miss some orphan brats even if something went wrong. Heh, I'll even let you go first." Skullz said as he reached out to grab one of the nearest children.

"Idiot. Do whatever ya want. Just don't go draggin' me into it with ya." Boulder scoffed as he turned his gaze to the sky and ignored Skullz's actions.

"N-no! Don't! Big sis, help...!" The child's ear-piercing scream of terror flooded the front yard.

"This damned brat...! Keep your mouth shut!" Skullz said angrily.

If the kid's screaming disturbed Bloodhound's fun, then he would be the one to pay the price for it!

Skullz balled his hand into a fist and swung full force at the screaming child.

But, almost instantly after he did so, Skullz's entire arm suddenly turned stiff.

"Huh?" At first, Skullz was confused. However, he scowled when he saw the hand around his wrist.

"You bastard, who do you think you a-" Skullz turned his head to see who the hand belonged to, but before his eyes could meet the hand's owner, a sharp pain entered his wrist and shot up his arm.

"AH-!" An outcry of pain left Skullz's mouth; however, he abruptly fell silent as his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground.

Although the shriek was brief, it was enough to catch Boulder's attention.

When Boulder looked over, to his surprise, the first thing he saw was an unconscious Skullz sprawled out on the ground.

"Skullz! What did you brats do?!" Boulder yelled as he stomped towards the group of children.

But, Boulder had only taken one step before he came to a grinding halt as a great force crashed into the back of his neck.

Boulder's large body fell over from the blow as a person emerged at his back.

Thump!

Boulder promptly joined Skullz on the ground with a loud thud as, he too, was knocked unconscious.

The children were in shock. It all happened so fast!

To them, Boulder was like a terrifying giant! But now, that same giant that was so intimidating and towering just a few seconds ago was lying motionless on the ground along with his friend!

None of them were aware of the details surrounding Skullz and Boulder's sudden collapse. However, needless to say, the children had no qualms about the fate of the two Mad Dogs.

'You should be fortunate that there are children around.'

The one who responsible for Skullz and Boulder's current state was, of course, Jin.

After listening to Skullz's words and witnessing his behavior, what more proof did he need to act?

Jin's gaze turned cold when it fell upon the two Mad Dogs.

'If I had arrived just a few minutes later, who knows what would have happened here?'

Jin believed that there was no place for people like them in any world. However, when he saw the traumatized looks on the children's faces, Jin stayed his hand.

They had already gone through enough for one day, and killing people right in front of their eyes would only make things worse in the long run. He decided to let the two Mad Dogs keep their lives--for now.

Jin shifted his attention to the children, causing some of them to retreat back in fear.

When he saw this, Jin decided to smile, and in a calm tone, said, "It's okay. I am a friend of Qiao Xiaoqing."

Friend? At first, when the children heard that word, a few of them looked skeptical. But, after seeing that Jin was not dressed like the Mad Dogs and did not behave the same way as the people who broke in and threatened them, they felt that maybe he was not like those bad men.

"U-um...!" One of the children uttered as she stepped forward.

The young girl was shaking uncontrollably and could not hide the fear in her eyes. But, despite all this, she still took a step forward and spoke up.

"...A-Are you really a friend of Big Sis Xiaoqing...?" The young girl asked as she stared nervously at the ground to avoid eye contact.

"That's right," Jin answered calmly.

"Then..! Please... Please help Big Sis Xiaoqing, Big Brother! Please..." The young child could no longer hold back her tears as she started to bawl her eyes out.

Soon after, a chain reaction started as the other children began crying as well and asking Jin to help Qiao Xiaoqing.

All of them promised Qiao Xiaoqing that they wouldn't cry. After all, Qiao Xiaoqing understood how easily irritated and provoked individuals like the Mad Dogs were. So, to increase the children's chances of being unharmed, Qiao Xiaoqing had them promise to hold back their tears. And, they kept that promise--at least, up until now.

Jin smiled as he placed his hand on top of the young child's head and replied, "That's what I've always planned on doing. Those who would dare to lay a hand on someone I call a friend will have to answer to me. Today, I'll make sure bad men like that never bother you or your big sis again. You have my word."

"All of you stay here," Jin said as he removed his hand from the young child's head and faced the orphanage.

The moment Jin turned around, the smile on his face vanished and was replaced by a cold and distant expression.

'This brings back a lot of unwanted memories. I just hope whoever awakened these memories of mine... can bear the consequences.'