*****For a moment, Selene froze, her body paralyzed and her gaze fixed on her husband’s lifeless face, whose chest was no longer rising or falling.Her mind refused to comprehend the stillness until finally, a sharp, searing pain—unlike anything she had felt before in her life, even after getting brutally assaulted by the landlord that night—struck her, piercing through her very soul like a blade.“Help!” she abruptly screamed, her voice cutting through the night like a thunderclap. “Please, someone! Help… help me take him to the hospital! Don’t let my husband die!”“This…” Her desperate cries directly jolted the neighbors into action, and they rushed forward, determined to help. But before anyone could reach her—“You seem to be forgetting something,” the landlord’s cold, mocking voice suddenly cut through the air, dripping with malice, and in the following second, the neighbors’ hearts paused and they froze in their tracks, their courage dissolving as if on cue.‘Here it come
*****Selene’s breaths came hard and fast as she asked the question in her mind, her chest heaving with the weight of her anger, but the landlord, however, wasn’t moved by her outburst per se.Instead, he tilted his head with an air of smug amusement, staring at her for a moment before finally;“Bingo,” he drawled, clapping his hands slowly as though congratulating her on solving a riddle, and with this, his confirmation struck Selene like a bolt of lightning.She had only voiced her suspicions out of sheer desperation in the first place, never truly expecting the landlord to admit to such calculated evil.She stared at the obese, old man with a smug smile on his face in utter stupor for a moment until eventually, a sudden thought crossed her mind and in the following second;“You…” Her voice cracked. “You made him hit you on purpose, right?”“You… you intentionally made my husband hit you in the head?” She inquired, her breathing becoming laborious, but then the landlord shook
*****For a tense, drawn-out moment that felt like forever, after the sudden, cold voice rang out, no one under the oppressive shadow of the old, worn-down, and poor neighborhood could move. It was as if time itself had stopped, leaving them all trapped in a shocked paralysis.Even Selene, whose spirit had already been completely crushed, and the landlord, who had been relishing his vile fantasies of domination, were no exception, all of them gaping in the same direction.They stood frozen, wide-eyed, and slack-jawed as if they had just witnessed the impossible—an alien landing in their midst.It was Elliot who had spoken.“S—son, is… that truly you? Did you just speak” stammered the elderly man, his voice trembling with disbelief, staring at his son as if witnessing a miracle—a coward transformed.Although the old man’s love for his son was undeniable, it was marred by a single, bitter disappointment: his son’s utter lack of courage.Time and again, the middle-aged man, Elliot had ch
*****“This…” The air seemed to become still for a moment after Elliot was done speaking, and for a moment, no one was able to react, staring dazedly at him. Immediately following this, however, all hearts collectively skipped a beat and an audible gasp escaped from everyone present.The landlord, most of all, looked utterly stunned, as though he had just witnessed the most difficult-to-believe thing in the world.His jaw slackened, disbelief radiating from his wide eyes as he pointed a trembling finger.Although he couldn’t see the speaker’s face clearly due to the darkness of the night, it didn’t matter.No one—absolutely no one—had ever dared to defy him before. Not in this neighborhood, where he had long sown the seeds of fear in everyone, so deeply that they had grown into an impenetrable forest. Yet here was someone standing against him, shattering that long-standing terror.Although he had been the one to challenge the speaker to step forward, he had done so only to mock
*****No one had ever challenged the landlord before in the street and he had always been treated like a god, but now, not just one person, but two!The crowd turned toward the elderly woman, and seeing her bloodshot, hateful eyes, they followed them until it landed squarely on the landlord, and following this, a thick, suffocating silence settled over the air which continued until finally, like a dam breaking under pressure—“I hate you! I hate you, you bastard!” An unexpected yell of hatred abruptly echoed and everyone turned to look at the speaker, but before they could pinpoint him;“You scumbag ruined my life, turning me into a cripple with one-and-a-half legs after stealing my life! How heartless!” Another yell echoed, making everyone turn their heads again, but once again;“Are you never afraid of retribution?”One by one, the crowd began to remember the things done to them by this old man, and with this, a man abruptly clenched his fists, a poverty-stricken young woman o
*****In Riverton City, rice was often seen as the humblest of foods, a staple so basic that nearly everyone could afford it—or so the outsiders believed.It came in many grades, catering with the consideration of every pocket: from the kind that cost hundreds of dollars per gram to the kind that did not even reach a dollar per kilogram.It is the most sought-after sustenance, and one of the most affordable that even many farmers choose to feed to their livestock as one of the cheapest, most efficient options.To the residents of this neighborhood, however, it was an entirely different story.Rice was not a staple that many disliked. It was a treasure, a distant dream. A luxury most of them had not tasted in years.That’s right.To these people, rice was a mythical luxury and many children often spoke of it in hushed tones, incorporating its taste into their dreams as if it were pure magic. Some even swore they’d trade their very lives for just a single day to savor it.To be
*****“This… this scoundrel!” The landlord, who had originally been relishing the idea of the servants fighting amongst themselves before returning to their obedient servitude, suddenly froze.His hands trembled and then very slowly, his smug expression began to melt into one of pure, unrestrained fury.“Don’t listen to that old fool!” he bellowed, his voice sharp and cutting, and as soon as it sounded, all gazes turned to him.“I’m offering you miserab… you guys a week’s worth of rice! Do you think such an opportunity will ever come your way again? Not in your wretched… in your lives if you were to miss it now!”“This…” The crowd hesitated, their hearts wavering once more.The embers of defiance that had begun to glow moments ago began to flicker after hearing the obese landlord’s words, threatening to die out.Seeing this, as the crowd’s resolve began to crumble at a speed faster than eyes, despair washed over Elliot and his father.“Please guys, don’t…” Elliot’s father star
***** Ironclad Prison, located in the most uninhabitable and unwelcoming region of Elaria. As implied by its name, this prison was constructed entirely from solid iron, with no hint of other materials and It was the most frightening prison ever created, holding not common criminals but formidable and ruthless ones such as warlords, high-level cultivators, mafia leaders, and those who had caused widespread devastation. The main reason this prison was feared around the globe wasn't merely its solid iron structure; rather, its location in the coldest place on Earth. Each day in this prison was a frozen hell, so unbearable that many warlords had died within its confines, while those who survived faced relentless and terrifying torture daily. In one word, this prison represented the ultimate terror for every power on Earth, and no matter how strong you were, escape was impossible without being released. … “Have you guys heard? That demon will finally be released today!" an ex-te