Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan! Chapter 346 Fate

Gu Yiming stood frozen for several breaths before his body finally moved.

Then, as if awakening from a dream, he turned to the others.

"Quick! Let's go back to the shelter! Bring out the people, especially the injured ones!"

The others jolted to life. Even with trembling legs and bloodied faces, they ran. They pushed aside the broken metal gates of the shelter and announced that the Beast Tide had ended.

Within minutes, survivors began to emerge-some limping, some carried on makeshift stretchers, their faces pale but still breathing.

"Did someone really come to save us?"

"I can't believe that I'm not dead!"

"Oh! They must be the saviors! Let's thank them!"

People were relieved to see that the Demonic Beasts were nowhere to be seen.

Then realization hit-some cried for what they had lost, while others were simply grateful to still be alive.

Moreover, while the danger had been dealt with, there were hundreds of problems that needed to be addressed.

First and foremost was helping the injured, especially those in critical condition.

Bai Ren glanced at the group of survivors and knew what had to be done. With a flick of his hand-

"Go. Assist them!"

Several Bai Clan cultivators descended immediately, their movements steady and practiced.

The ones going were cultivators who specialized in healing.

These were no ordinary healers.

Each of them had been trained personally by the Bai Clan and were especially sent with Bai Zihan in case he was ever injured.

So, there was no need to worry about their lack of ability-they were probably the best of the best in the entire Desolate Heaven Empire when it comes to healing.

One knelt beside a woman with a crushed leg, sending Qi over the wound. The bone knit itself together within seconds.

Another fed a trembling boy a pill the size of a fingernail. His labored breathing eased instantly.

Even what seemed impossible to heal-cut arms-were restored within

seconds, as if they had never been broken before. No, they felt even better than before.

Compared to treating the wounds of cultivators in the Spirit Severing Realm, stabilizing mortals was almost effortless.

To this group of people who were in desperate need, the Bai Clan cultivators looked almost like gods.

Cries of pain slowly turned to gasps of astonishment.

"They... they healed me... I thought I could never walk again!"

"Thank you, great ones! Thank you, Bai Clan!"

Gratitude turned to reverence.

Soon, the once-silent street was filled with cheers and sobs.

"Long live the Bai Clan!"

"Long live the Bai Clan!"

Their voices trembled with emotion, echoing across the smoldering ruins.

Not only that, Bai Zihan also shared all the food that he had.

Well, cultivators didn't need to eat, but because he liked to-and because of

Luo Qing-he always kept quite a big haul.

He decided to give them away.

They were thankful, to say the least.

However, if they knew the worth of each item that was given, they might have thought about selling it instead of eating it.

But sometimes, water is more precious than gold.

When one is hungry, they wouldn't think about profit or logic-they would simply eat.

When the last of the wounded were stabilized and the cries of pain quieted, silence once again fell over Willowshade.

Bai Zihan stood at the edge of the ruined street, his gaze sweeping across the devastation.

Half-buried corpses of Demonic Beasts littered the ground, their monstrous forms already stiffening.

Among them were the remains of the townsfolk-burned, crushed, or torn

apart.

It was not a pleasant sight, especially for the survivors who were related to those corpses.

He turned his head slightly, his expression calm but his eyes heavy with

thought.

"Do you really want to stay here?"

He asked, almost quietly.

Gu Yiming, who had naturally taken on the role of leader among the survivors,

looked at Bai Zihan.

Then he looked back at the group behind him-faces covered in soot, eyes red, bodies trembling but still standing.

Despite everything they had lost, there was something in their gaze-resolve.

Gu Yiming took a deep breath and bowed deeply.

"We are thankful, truly, for Young Master Bai's kindness," he said, voice hoarse but steady.

"But Willowshade has and always will be our home. Even if it's in ruins now... it's still our home."

The others nodded behind him, murmuring in agreement.

"We can rebuild."

"As long as we live, Willowshade still stands."

"I need to bury my friend's body and look after their tombstone. We can't abandon Willowshade after our loved ones made sacrifices to protect it."

Bai Zihan's expression didn't change.

"Is that so?" He looked at them for a while longer, then turned away.

He had already suggested they move elsewhere-another town or city-but they refused.

Perhaps they really couldn't leave their home.

Or perhaps they knew they might struggle in another place, where everything was unfamiliar.

Looking at the debris, it would take a great deal of time and effort to rebuild the town as it once was.

And who knew whether there would be another such invasion of Demonic Beasts?

They were lucky this time, but who could say it would be the same next time?

Still, Bai Zihan didn't argue. He had already warned them twice. It was more than enough.

Soon enough, Bai Zihan turned away from the broken street.

The survivors had begun gathering the corpses, laying their dead to rest amidst the rubble.

Cries of grief mixed with the soft chant of prayers, echoing faintly under the dim sky.

Without another word, Bai Zihan walked toward the Flying Ship.

The Bai Clan cultivators followed him. Once all had boarded, the massive ship began to rise-its radiant formations flaring to life.

As the Flying Ship ascended through the smoky air, the survivors below raised their hands, waving with trembling arms.

Some cried.

Some prayed.

Some simply stood there, watching until the shadow of the ship vanished beyond the clouds.

From above, Bai Zihan stood near the edge of the deck, his gaze following the figures shrinking below.

"Do you feel sympathy for them?"

The calm voice came from behind. Bai Ren approached, hands clasped behind his back, his expression as composed as ever.

Bai Zihan didn't turn around. His eyes remained fixed on the town below, on the smoldering horizon.

"Perhaps," Bai Zihan answered after a moment.

He doesn't know whether it was sympathy or not but indeed, he felt a bit sorry for those survivors and also felt a sense of responsibility towards them since he saved them.

Of course, he knew that he did everything to help them and it was more than enough.

Bai Ren's lips curved slightly.

For anyone else, hearing the Clan's heir speak that way might have been cause for concern.

A future patriarch of such a great clan shouldn't waste thought on the weak, nor let sentiment dull his edge.

But Bai Ren only smiled.

Rather than thinking about emotion clouding one's judgment, he thought the opposite-for Bai Zihan, who was always scheming and making cold decisions to get what he wanted.

Even if it were his brother or sister, he would show no mercy. There was no way Bai Ren was worried about Bai Zihan growing soft-hearted.

Rather, it was a relief-that Bai Zihan hadn't lost his human emotion, that there still existed something called sympathy within him.

Bai Ren stepped beside him, his gaze drifting down toward the town below- nothing but ruins and ash now, yet still filled with the faint flicker of human resilience.

"Fate is a strange thing," Bai Ren said quietly, his voice almost lost to the wind.

"They were doomed the moment that Beast Tide appeared. Even if another clan had come across them, few would have intervened. To survive this long, to meet you here-it was already their blessing."

Bai Zihan remained silent.

Bai Ren continued, his tone calm but firm, "There's no need to trouble yourself over them. You already did more than anyone else would have. You not only stopped the Beast Tide but also healed them, and even gave away your own resources."

He gave a small, knowing smile.

"And you didn't even take the beast corpses or their cores. With the number of Grade-3 and Grade-4 beasts, plus the Grade-5 leader you slew, the value of those materials alone could fund a minor sect for decades. They could surely live well after selling those."

Then looked at the group of survivors which was visibly for Bai Ren.

"And if they die even after that, that too shall be their fate."

"Fate, huh."

Bai Zihan muttered.

The word echoed in him, sinking deeper and deeper-beyond thought, beyond

reason.

Fate!

A single word, but within it carried infinite meanings.

Was it truly the invisible thread that bound all beings from birth to death?

Was it the hand that guided the Chosen Ones toward glory... and cast the nameless into despair?

His mind flashed with countless memories-those who were born talented, those who struggled only to fall short, and those mortals who survived admist impossible probability.

Was their fate to be destroyed? Or fate to be saved?

Bai Zihan closed his eyes. In that instant, the world around him seemed to fall silent.

"What is fate?"

He asked himself softly. "An unchangeable line drawn by heaven?"

He opened his eyes, and within them burned a light so deep it seemed to pierce through the sky.

"No," he said. "Fate is nothing but the name weaklings give to their chains."

A faint tremor rippled through the ship's formation, reacting to the pressure that suddenly emanated from him.

Bai Ren turned his head slightly, eyes narrowing. The surrounding air began to hum, as if reality itself trembled.

Bai Zihan's hair swayed in the rising wind. His robes fluttered, untouched by Qi but driven by the sheer will that surged from his body.

"If heaven has written my path," he said, voice calm but resounding, "then I will

write over it."

"If fate decrees my rise, then that shall be my destiny."

"But if it decrees my fall-" His voice deepened, eyes blazing like twin stars."— then I will sever it myself."