Hymn to Nature

Lian Na's family was once happy, with her father and mother living in harmony and showering her with love. But after her father became addicted to drugs, everything changed drastically.

He stopped working, began extorting and beating her mother... Disillusioned, her mother eventually left him for another man. When she departed, she didn’t take Lian Na with her, and Lian Na didn’t complain much about it. At home, she did her best to make herself invisible, watching as her father, in the throes of addiction, destroyed everything around him... Only when he collapsed from exhaustion would she carefully try to piece their shattered family back together.

When sober, her father could still hold a normal conversation. He would apologize for his mistakes and swear it would never happen again... But his promises meant nothing, always dissolving into even more agonized screams.

Lian Na wanted to escape too. She knew her father had become a monster with no bottom line, corrupted by the drugs... But she had nowhere to go. This was her home.

Yet even then, she never imagined her father would sell her off.

As she watched him fawn and haggle with a bare-chested man from the Human Race—who eyed her like merchandise—an endless terror rose in her heart.

"No... no! Father, don’t sell me! Wake up... Help!" Lian Na screamed, struggling to break free.

But her father’s grip on her wrist was unrelenting. She was just an underage girl—how could she escape a grown man’s hold?

"Stay still!" Her father kicked her in the stomach impatiently, making her double over in pain before he dragged her along the ground by her arm.

The bare-chested man from the Human Race frowned at the elf. "She’s merchandise. Damage her, and she loses value."

"Sorry, sorry... I understand. She’s yours now. She’s no longer my concern."

The man from the Human Race tossed the elf a small bag, which he clutched like treasure before bolting outside.

"Drugs... hah! So much! Enough to last days! Who knew Lian Na was worth this much? Should’ve sold her sooner!" The elf tore open the bag as he ran, eagerly dipping a finger inside.

"His mind is completely gone," Xia Lun sighed, watching the scene.

"Once he finishes that bag, he’ll just hurt more people," Aina warned. "What will you do, Hero?"

As the elf sprinted out of the alley, his foot suddenly slipped—and he plummeted into a void beyond space.

The chaotic spatial currents shredded him like a meat grinder, erasing his existence in an instant.

Xia Lun stared thoughtfully at the heavy bag of white powder in his hand before stepping into the alley with Aina.

"Is this the contraband Liyana mentioned?" he murmured.

Aina dipped a slender finger into the powder, rubbing it thoughtfully.

"Hmm... not made from materials native to our world," she mused.

"What?"

"Likely from the Spirit Realm or certain dungeon ingredients. Hallucinogenic, addictive... and especially potent for elves..."

Xia Lun: "Aina, do you know something?"

She shook her head lightly. "I’m not certain, but this might be linked to the Hymn of Nature."

"The Hymn of Nature?"

"A malevolent god from beyond our world... In its realm, all life is plant-based, and the Hymn of Nature is the strongest among them."

"Plants?"

Xia Lun pondered—how did plants define strength? By competing for nutrients? Was the Hymn of Nature simply the largest?

Aina seemed to read his thoughts. "The plants of that world are mobile. They walk on roots, impale foes with branches, even use vines like hands... They’re nothing like what you imagine."

Well, that was far from what Xia Lun had pictured.

He glanced at the bag. "And this connects to the Hymn of Nature how?"

"Because that’s how it controls all life in its world—its pollen induces submission. This drug’s effects are nearly identical," Aina said softly. "This might be made from its pollen... but I can’t be sure. I’ve never encountered that god. Its world is too distant."

Huh... So a god’s true form could be a flower.

And elves, being closer to nature, suffered stronger effects from the drug.

A rough voice echoed from deeper in the alley.

"Tch, stop fighting. Your father sold you. You’re a slave now."

"Elf slaves fetch a high price among the Human Race."

"But even nobles wouldn’t dare flaunt you openly—it’d anger the elves. So you’ll spend your life locked underground as a plaything."

"Annoying... but once you’ve had a taste of this, you’ll obey."

The man poured powder into his palm, moving to force it into Lian Na’s mouth.

But a hand seized his wrist.

"Who the hell are you? When did you get here?" The drug dealer glared at Xia Lun, trying to yank free—but his wrist might as well have been clamped in iron. "Stay out of this!"

The man was no weakling—a mid-tier warrior—but against Xia Lun, he was just another mortal.

Crack.

With a crisp snap, the dealer’s wrist twisted unnaturally, dangling limp. The bone hadn’t pierced flesh, but the sight was gruesome.

"Ahh!" The man screamed. Xia Lun watched coldly.

"W-what do you want?" The man shrank back until his back hit the wall. "Who sent you?"

Xia Lun had no interest in answering. He held up the white powder. "Where did this come from?"

The man’s face twisted. "I... I got it from the witches’ guild—"

Blue light flickered in Xia Lun’s eyes. A lie. And an attempt to shift blame.

Crack.

Xia Lun stepped forward and kicked, snapping the man's thigh with a sickening crack. Another agonized scream tore from the man's throat as he slid down the wall, collapsing onto the ground.

"You have one last chance," Xia Lun said coldly.

"It's the Blood Pact! They supply this kind of potion!" the man howled in pain.

"Good. Thanks for the information."

"So... you'll let me go, right?"

Xia Lun didn’t answer. With a casual flick of his hand—

The man could only stare, dumbstruck, at the spatial rift now gaping before him.