While Leticia held the children back, Lin Ling finally found an opportunity to approach the little boy.
The little boy was still huddled in his mother’s arms.
His shoulder, where the scabbard had struck him, was severely swollen. He was trembling from the pain, yet he bit his lip, not daring to make a sound.
Lin Ling felt a pang in her heart.
“Bear with it for a moment,” she whispered.
The faint white light in her palm descended.
When the boy’s mother saw that beam of light, her expression changed instantly.
“No!”
She hurriedly pulled her child back.
But it was too late.
The moment the healing spell touched the boy’s shoulder, the soft Holy Light was like moonlight dissolving into water, gently covering the injured area.
The swollen flesh gradually subsided.
The boy’s tense body slowly relaxed.
His face, which had been pale with pain, finally regained some color.
Seeing that he was no longer trembling, Lin Ling let out a long sigh of relief.
“Good thing it was just a scabbard,” she muttered softly, patting her chest. “Otherwise, my healing spell might not have been enough.”
However, before she could truly relax, the mother seemed as if all her strength had been drained away, freezing in place.
She looked down at the child in her arms.
The child’s injury was healed.
She should have been happy.
But the expression on her face wasn't the joy of a child being cured.
It was despair.
“I told you not to...” her voice trembled. “Why... why did you have to use that damned Holy Light?!”
Lin Ling was stunned. “Eh?”
The woman held the child tightly, tears suddenly gushing out.
“We really don’t have the money to pay for it!” she cried. “Are you trying to drive us to our deaths?!”
Her voice wasn't loud, but every word carried the tremor of someone pushed to the edge of collapse.
Lin Ling panicked. “No, that’s not it.”
She waved her hands frantically. “I really just wanted to treat him. I truly won’t charge any money.”
But the woman was no longer listening.
She simply held the boy in her arms, her head bowed as she wept.
The boy’s injury was healed, but his mother held him even tighter.
It was as if this healing wasn't a life-saving light, but a debt contract that had already fallen upon them.
Lin Ling stood there, at a loss.
“I...”
She didn't know how to explain, because she suddenly realized that the phrase “won’t charge money” seemed to have lost all meaning to these people.
They likely hadn't heard it for the first time, nor was it the first time they had been deceived.
Just as the atmosphere turned cold, the door of a nearby dilapidated house was pushed open.
“That’s enough, Mrs. Percy.”
An aged voice rang out. “This young lady doesn't seem like those trash from the Holy See.”
Lin Ling turned her head.
An old woman stepped out of the house.
She was incredibly thin. Her cheeks were sunken, her back slightly hunched, and her clothes were washed until they were faded white, with patches on the cuffs.
But her eyes were very bright.
Those eyes weren't cloudy like those of a typical elderly person. They were strangely bright, like two points of fire that had yet to be extinguished in the darkness.
The old woman looked at Lin Ling.
“The light on her is very pure,” she said slowly. “That is what my eyes tell me.”
Lin Ling met her gaze. In that moment, Lin Ling felt a very strange sensation.
Not far away, Leticia was still holding the wooden stick in the boy’s hand. The other children had also stopped.
They clearly listened to this old woman.
The old woman glanced at Leticia, then looked back at Lin Ling.
“Come with me first. Bring your companion along.”
The children slowly lowered their sticks. Leticia let go of her grip.
Her shoulder had been struck several times just now, and her arm was aching, but she said nothing.
She only looked up at the old woman.
Those eyes made her very uncomfortable. Not because of malice, but because they were too clear, as if they could peel away the things about herself she didn't even dare to look at, layer by layer.
Lin Ling picked up her shopping bag by the wall and hurriedly followed. After a moment of silence, Leticia walked in as well.
...
The house was very old.
The corners were damp. The wooden table was missing a leg and was propped up with several stones. The window was small, letting in very little light, but the room was kept relatively clean.
The old woman motioned for them to sit. The children didn't enter the house, staying outside to keep watch, occasionally peeking at Lin Ling through the cracks in the door like a pack of wary small beasts.
Lin Ling sat somewhat stiffly, while Leticia stood to the side. She didn't seem accustomed to sitting in such a place.
The old woman glanced at her but didn't call her out. She looked at Lin Ling first.
“Child, your light is very clean.”
Lin Ling looked down at her hands. “My light?”
The old woman nodded. “You do not come from the Holy See. The light there is not pure.”
Lin Ling was startled. Before she could speak, the old woman’s gaze fell upon Leticia.
“As for your companion here...”
Leticia’s fingertips tightened imperceptibly.
The old woman stared at her. Those bright eyes seemed able to pierce through the illusion she couldn't remove.
“The light on her is also very dense.” The old woman paused.
“However...”
The room fell silent for a moment. Lin Ling subconsciously looked at Leticia.
Leticia said nothing.
The old woman spoke slowly: “You are from the Holy See.”
Leticia’s face turned slightly pale. Lin Ling was stunned. “Sia is from the Holy See?”
She turned to look at Leticia, who was dressed in rags. “But...”
The old woman didn't explain immediately. She continued to look at Leticia.
“Your light is dense, but it is wrapped in a layer of dim gray. It’s as if you’ve been shrouded by many things that do not belong to you.”
Leticia’s lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.
The old woman’s tone remained calm. “Your status within the Holy See is not low, is it?”
These words were like a stone dropped into the room.
Lin Ling looked at Leticia. For a moment, many thoughts flashed through her mind.
Sia’s mannerisms were like a noble’s. Sia’s expression was strange when she heard about the Holy See and the soldiers. Even though she was dressed in rags, she always had a sense of being bound by etiquette.
“Sia...”
Just as Lin Ling was about to ask, the voices of soldiers suddenly came from outside.
The group fell silent at the same time. The footsteps outside were very close. Coarse laughter drifted in through the window.
“Hey, that move you did just now was so cool. You practically had the air of a Sword Saint!”
“Of course,” another soldier laughed proudly. “Don’t you see who I am? I think the next Sword Saint should be me.”
The others immediately burst into laughter. Lin Ling’s fingers slowly clenched.
She could tell. It was those patrolmen from before.
Another soldier asked casually, “But weren't you a bit too forceful? What if that kid dies?”
“They won't have the money for treatment, anyway.”
After a brief silence, the first soldier sneered.
“Hey, why do you care so much about the lives of these commoners? If they’re dead, they’re dead.”
“If things really get out of hand, we can just go to the Holy See and label them as a Filthy One. Say they were corrupted by filth and attacked the patrolmen. Who would ever investigate for people in a place like this?”
“True.” Another person laughed. “The Holy See is easy to deal with, anyway. To put it bluntly, the Saintess is just a pretty puppet.”
Leticia’s body suddenly stiffened.
The soldiers continued to speak, their tone becoming more and more flippant. They were nothing like the people who bowed their heads to receive blessings in the White Tower.
“What does the Holy See rely on to be powerful? The Saintess? Hahahaha! They rely on us nobles.”
“Without nobles giving them money, connections, and publicity, where would they get their Holy Light ceremonies?”
“That’s right. When the time comes, we’ll have Lady Nadia arrange it. We’ll say that little brat who blocked the way was already tainted by filth. It’s just one more insignificant person, anyway. We’ll just have the Saintess sign off on it and deal with him.”
The voices gradually faded away, and the footsteps slowly disappeared at the end of the street.
The room was deathly silent.
Lin Ling stood by the window, her back to the other two. Leticia’s face had darkened completely.
Lady Nadia. She was all too familiar with that name.
Her mother.
Those soldiers said they were going to find her mother. To have her mother arrange it. To have the Saintess sign off on it. To deal with them.
So that was how it was.
Were those “Filthy Ones” she had once declared sent to her in this way? Were the people who knelt below the judgment platform, looking up at her with eyes full of hatred, turned into Filthy Ones like this?
She had once thought she was delivering divine judgment. It turned out she was just rubber-stamping a name for others—a name that allowed them to dispose of commoners without any burden of conscience.
Filthy One.
Leticia lowered her head, her fingers clenching tighter and tighter until her nails nearly bit into her palms.
Lin Ling still stood by the window. The old woman looked at Lin Ling’s back, her eyes that could see “light” widening slightly.
“Grandmother,” Lin Ling’s voice was very soft. “Have the soldiers here always been like this?”
The old woman remained silent for a long time. Finally, she sighed.
“Child, don’t concern yourself with such things. You’re still young. These matters are not for you to handle.”
Lin Ling didn't speak. She remained with her back to them, staring in the direction the soldiers had left. But in the old woman’s eyes, it was clear: the light on that child was burning fiercely.
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