Indifference and the Heart Demon.

Fang Xue ran through the dark village, guided by the glow of a fire and the desperate screams echoing all around. When she finally arrived at the site of the fire and the bandits, her eyes were drawn to the bodies scattered on the ground. Women, children, and the elderly were dead, some with horrific burns, others with deep cuts in their throats.

Fang Xue's first reaction was an indifference that deeply bothered her. She couldn't feel empathy for the dead and wounded, which left her disturbed. But there was no time to reflect, she was there with a mission and couldn't fail.

Pulling out her weapons from her spatial ring, she focused her attention on the eight bandits slowly walking towards the center of the village, armed with knives and short swords.

Fang Xue felt the tension growing in her chest, but remained calm and focused. When the bandits entered deeper into the village, she left her position and ran towards them.

"Hey, who are you?" one of the bandits asked, with a hoarse and threatening voice. The others approached, ready to attack.

Fang Xue didn't answer. Instead, she wielded her weapons and advanced toward the bandits. They prepared to fight but had no idea what they were up against.

With a quick movement, Fang Xue cut one of the bandit's hands, causing his sword to fall to the ground. Then, she dodged another attack and kicked her opponent's knee, making him fall.

The other bandits momentarily backed off, watching cautiously as Fang Xue moved gracefully among them, skillfully dodging their attacks.

It was then that one of the bandits threw a handful of dirt into Fang Xue's eyes, causing her to temporarily retreat. "Aha, now you're ours!" he shouted, advancing with his sword.

Fang Xue responded with a cold smile. She focused her Asura Star Power, and suddenly her speed increased dramatically. She dodged the bandit's attack and, in a fraction of a second, cut his throat.

The other bandits were momentarily stunned by Fang Xue's speed. Meanwhile, she took advantage to attack again, cutting another bandit in half with a single blow.

"Who is this girl?" one of the bandits asked, trembling with fear. "She's a demon!" another replied.

Fang Xue smiled internally. She always felt indifferent about the deaths of the bandits, but was satisfied with her combat skills.

As she fought, she carefully observed the movements of the bandits, seeking to learn from each fight. She noticed that they used dirty tricks, such as trying to throw dirt in her eyes and taking hostages. But Fang Xue was always one step ahead, using her Asura star power to increase her speed and prevent the bandits from subduing her.

The fight continued for a few more minutes, and Fang Xue seemed to be in her element. Her cold smile and fluid movements showed that she was enjoying the combat.

The bandits were clearly at a disadvantage. They tried to attack Fang Xue together, but their coordination was weak, and their attacks were clumsy.

Fang Xue, on the other hand, was a perfectly tuned fighting machine. She dodged their attacks with ease and attacked with deadly precision. One by one, the bandits fell.

When the fight finally ended, Fang Xue stood in the middle of the battlefield, covered in blood and breathing heavily. She looked at the bodies of the bandits with indifference, showing no sign of remorse or regret.

Suddenly, a sound caught her attention. She looked to the side and saw a little girl crying in a dark corner of the village. Fang Xue approached her with slow steps, her eyes still shining with a strange mix of cruelty and indifference.

The little girl looked at Fang Xue with fear but did not try to run away. Fang Xue knelt and looked at her with a cold gaze. "What are you doing here?" Fang Xue asked with a harsh voice.

The little girl whimpered and pointed to her mother's body, which was lying next to her. Fang Xue looked at the body, and for a moment, her eyes shone with confusion, and memories of her parents dying in front of her came back to her.

"When did I become like this?" Fang Xue thought, frightened by the realization that the thought of killing the little girl had briefly crossed her mind just because the sound of her crying was bothering her. Then, when she saw the little girl's mother's body, memories resurfaced.

From a very young age, Fang Xue learned about the cruelty of the world, watching her parents die before her eyes. That's why she became indifferent to death and didn't hesitate to kill.

Even in her past life on Earth, Fang Xue was cold and indifferent, but not to the point of being cruel and indifferent to the lives of innocents. So, the coldness she felt towards the bodies around her or that little girl was quite strange.

As these thoughts took hold of her mind, Fang Xue spat out a bit of black blood, and a mysterious energy cleansed her soul, leaving her purer and her thoughts clearer and faster.

At last, you managed to get rid of that heart demon." Suddenly, Li Qiang's voice sounded beside her, slightly startling the little girl, who looked at the talking rabbit with fear and curiosity.

"Heart Demon?" Fang Xue asked confused, vaguely understanding the concept but not exactly sure what it was.

"Doubts, fears, confusion, and other negative emotions can affect the mind and personality of a cultivator. A person who has lost someone very close can develop a demon in their heart. They completely shut themselves off, afraid of forming bonds and losing them, and over time, develop doubts about themselves and their path, slowly becoming insane.

"That's when the demon in their heart completely consumes them. Usually, the person dies, but in rare cases, the demon in their heart takes over, and they become a demon, capable of using Demonic Qi to corrupt the minds of others and turn them into their puppets." Li Qiang explained briefly.

"I understand that I have my traumas, fears, and doubts, but I don't think these problems are severe enough to make me cruel and indifferent to death, especially that of an innocent little girl," Fang Xue expressed her doubts.

"I realized this when your lineage started to evolve. Your mind was being affected by the curse, but your Asura Energy suppressed the curse and turned it into a demon in your heart. I believe that the Asuras of the past found this way to alleviate their curse, by making their offspring able to control their bloodthirsty impulses from an early age, especially against innocents." Li Qiang stated her theory as he finished applying pressure to the acupressure points of the little girl and put her to sleep.

Fang Xue pondered Li Qiang's words, agreeing with the hypothesis, but also feeling a growing fear fill her thoughts.

She realized that she could have become someone so indifferent to the life and death of innocent people, and that frightened her deeply. As she thought about herself, Fang Xue realized that her revenge was just an excuse to achieve something greater: freedom.

She wanted to be free to do whatever she wanted, without worrying about the consequences or other people's opinions. If she wanted to be a demon and kill everyone who crossed her path, she would be a demon. If she wanted to be a Buddha and liberate all beings from their suffering, then she would be a Buddha.

The only person capable of dictating her fate, actions, thoughts, and emotions would be herself. And Fang Xue was willing to fight for that freedom, no matter the cost.

"Li'er, thank you for always being by my side. I realized that my revenge is just an excuse to achieve something greater: my freedom," said Fang Xue firmly, feeling like a burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

"I understand, Little Xue. And I will always be by your side, no matter what happens," replied Li Qiang with a gentle smile on her rabbit face.

'I have found a purpose in life, to be free, but my promise of revenge and to help you will never change, and I will fulfill it, even if I have to destroy all existence.' Fang Xue secretly thought, looking at Li Qiang's gentle smile and a determination much greater than before grew in her heart, even her Asura Energy changed a little as she felt this shift.

Fang Xue looked at the little girl who was sleeping peacefully next to Li Qiang and felt a whirlwind of emotions inside of her. This little girl had probably lost everything, and it was she who awakened Fang Xue from her indifference.

Fang Xue wrote a few words on a piece of paper, put it in the little girl's clothes, and picked her up in her arms before returning to the part of the village that was intact.

She saw that everyone had managed to escape and that, at some point, the rain had started to fall, and the fire was slowly dying out. Soon, she found a middle-aged man, the leader of the village.

Fang Xue approached and scared the leader and the people around him, but she didn't care. She handed the little girl to the middle-aged man and said, "I have dealt with the bandits."

Then, without hesitation, she turned and picked up Li Qiang in her arms. "Let's go, we still have things to do," said Fang Xue, heading back to where the bandits' bodies were, in search of clues about their camp.