The dog-eared demi-human suddenly tensed his muscles, his dagger remaining unsheathed. The cat-eared girl turned to look at her companion, her lips moving slightly as if to persuade him.
Bai Xuan turned his head to look at the injured person closest to him.
A middle-aged man leaned against a pile of rubble, a dirty bandage hanging loosely from his right arm. The blood soaking the bandage had long since dried, forming a dark-brown crust.
There was a large gash on his arm, and a massive patch of purplish-black bruising spread beneath his skin, looking extremely gruesome.
The man's face was deathly pale, his lips chapped and peeling. His eyelids drooped halfway, and his breathing was shallow and weak, as if it might stop at any moment.
Squatting beside him was a little girl of about eight or nine years old. Her hair was tangled and covered in dust, her cheeks were smeared with grime, and her clothes were splattered with dark-red blood—blood that belonged to her father.
Her hands pressed tightly against the man's gaping wound, using a worn handkerchief to stem the bleeding. The handkerchief was already soaked through, and dark-red blood still seeped constantly through her fingers.
The girl's fingertips and lips were trembling uncontrollably, yet she did not loosen her grip in the slightest.
From time to time, she scanned her surroundings in a panic, her eyes filled with helplessness and anxiety.
Bai Xuan stepped closer, his boots crunching softly against the gravel.
The girl immediately looked up. Upon seeing who it was, her entire body tensed up instantly. She pressed down even harder on the wound, but she did not retreat or hide.
She tilted her chin up slightly, her lips pursed so tightly they turned white. Her eyes were already brimming with tears, staring straight at Bai Xuan with a mixture of fear and stubbornness.
Bai Xuan knelt down in front of her. His gaze swept over the girl before falling onto the severely injured man. He spoke in a gentle tone, “His injuries are very severe. Let me treat him.”
The girl's lips parted slightly, but her hands still didn't move.
Bai Xuan did not rush her. He merely placed his palm gently over the back of her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. “Don't be afraid. I can heal him.”
His palm was warm, and his movements were gentle and restrained—completely different from those brutal guards who would harshly drive away passersby at the slightest provocation.
The girl's tense nerves slowly relaxed. She silently moved aside a bit, letting her hands hang down as she tightly clutched the hem of her shirt, leaving a little space between Bai Xuan and her father.
Bai Xuan reached out to retrieve a clean linen cloth and a waterskin from his storage ring. Wetting the cloth, he wiped away the dirt and dried blood scabs around the edges of the wound.
The man's wrist trembled uncontrollably from the pain, but he gritted his teeth and did not pull his arm back.
Bai Xuan raised his right hand, and a soft, pale-gold healing light glowed in his palm.
The golden light slowly enveloped the swollen right arm. Underneath the flesh, the fractured, misaligned bones automatically aligned and set themselves, making faint popping sounds like snapping twigs.
The torn muscle fibers rapidly knit back together and grew, the gruesome wound closing bit by bit as fresh, tender pink flesh slowly covered the area.
An intense pain surged up his arm and spread throughout his body. The man's entire frame suddenly stiffened, his jaw clenching tightly as veins bulged on his neck. Large beads of cold sweat constantly dripped from his chin.
To Bai Xuan's surprise, the man did not let out a single cry of pain from beginning to end. His willpower far exceeded that of an ordinary commoner.
The young injured onlookers watching nearby turned pale, instinctively taking half a step back.
The girl's eyes widened, tears still clinging to her eyelashes. She instinctively leaned forward, almost stepping in to shield the man.
The golden light faded. The man looked down and moved his right arm, repeatedly flexing and extending his fingers. The tearing, agonizing pain from before had completely vanished.
His lips trembled uncontrollably as he looked up at Bai Xuan. His eyes were filled with disbelief, and his voice was dry and hoarse. “Th-thank you for saving my life, milord.”
The girl immediately threw herself by the man's side, her small hands tracing his arm from his shoulder down to his wrist.
Upon realizing that not even a scar was left, her nose tingled with emotion. She looked up at the tall, upright figure of Bai Xuan, her voice thick with tears. “Thank you, big brother.”
Having said that, she could no longer hold it in. She buried her face in the man's shoulder, her long-suppressed sobs breaking out in fitful bursts.
The injured people sitting nearby witnessed the entire process, and a quiet commotion instantly rippled through them.
Previously, everyone had assumed he was a dead man walking. Now, seeing flesh and bone heal in an instant with their own eyes, hope flooded back onto their pale, numb faces.
Bai Xuan did not respond to their gratitude. He simply stood up and lightly rotated his wrist.
The injured, who had been slumped on the ground or supporting one another, now crowded toward Bai Xuan with the help of those around them. A chaotic clamor of voices rose up.
“Milord, please save me!” “Milord, my leg bone is broken, I can't hold on much longer!”
In the crowding, someone almost knocked into the pile of rubble, and the scene threatened to devolve into chaos.
Bai Xuan's brow furrowed slightly. He raised his hand and pressed it down in a calming gesture, a wisp of golden light spilling from his palm to suppress the noise. His voice was steady and clear as it reached everyone in the rowdy crowd.
“Do not panic. Take half a step back and form a queue. We will go one by one. I will heal everyone; no one will be left behind.”
The restless crowd settled down instantly. Supporting one another, the injured quickly lined up, bowing their heads and not daring to make any more noise.
Once order was restored, Bai Xuan muttered to himself in a low voice, “It would be much easier if I had a large-scale area-of-effect healing spell.”
Next, Bai Xuan healed the injured in the queue one by one. Each time, a soft golden light would shine from his palm, and once the healing was complete, he would step aside and gesture for the next person.
An injured man whose arm had healed rotated his wrist over and over. After looking down repeatedly to confirm there were no lingering issues, his tense shoulders relaxed completely, and he bowed to express his gratitude. “Thank you, milord!”
An elderly woman whose internal chest injuries were healed caught her breath. Overcome with emotion, she clutched Bai Xuan's sleeve, sobbing so hard she couldn't form a complete sentence, her hands shaking constantly.
Bai Xuan gently pulled his sleeve back. “Next.”
A carpenter whose severed fingers had fully restored felt the sensation return to his fingertips. He instinctively fumbled in his pockets and pulled out a few silver coins, wanting to pay for the treatment.
Bai Xuan shook his head to decline. The carpenter silently put the coins back and bowed deeply to him.
After a youth with a gashed leg was healed, he stared at his flawless skin and couldn't help but ask, “Are you an envoy of the gods?”
Bai Xuan shook his head in denial. The youth pressed further, “Then why are you healing us for free?”
“The act of healing itself brings me its own reward.” Bai Xuan smiled faintly without explaining further, turning to walk toward the next injured person in line.
Bai Xuan had already lost track of how many people he had treated.
He could feel that the way everyone looked at him had completely shifted from their initial wariness and fear to genuine gratitude.
At the same time, his status panel kept updating; this mass healing session had brought in a massive harvest of Pleasure.
What he didn't know was that tiny, almost imperceptible specks of light were quietly drifting off the townspeople's bodies. They were like fireflies in the deep of night, or moonlight rippling on the water's surface.
The specks of light landed silently on Bai Xuan, merging into his body. No one saw these specks of light.
Even Bai Xuan himself didn't notice them at all.
He stood up and scanned the area, confirming that all the visible injured had been treated. His gaze finally settled on a corner of the wall.
Huddled there was a person in tattered clothes, pressing tightly against the cold stone wall, looking no different from a common beggar on the street.
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