Facing the bow drawn by Ruoran, Old Bit suddenly knelt on the ground.

He never expected that, after being a seasoned veteran of the world, having licked blood off blades for decades, experienced countless bloodbaths and betrayals, seen all kinds of strongmen, today he would lose to this frail little girl.

And even lost a few companions' lives.

Yanran coldly watched him, the bow in her hand not letting go, unlike earlier, when faced with those crazed smugglers, she was forced to resist to protect herself and her beloved Little Flaming Firebird.

But now, facing Old Bit who knelt before her, she really did not know what to do. Although she knew the man kneeling before her was as cunning as a fox and as ferocious as a wolf, it was this person who led his companions to try and capture her beloved Little Flaming Firebird; it was this person who wanted to capture her, sell her for a good price; it was this person who almost used her compassion to put her in a deadly situation... If not for the fortunate coincidence earlier, where her cultivated spiritual power advanced further, allowing her to break free from their shackles, she could hardly imagine what kind of outcome she would face now.

Earlier, when her beloved Little Flaming Firebird was attacked by them, she wished to kill them all, and when facing their frenzied attacks, she indeed did so.

Those people deserved to die, their deaths were not to be lamented!

But now, facing the man kneeling before her, Yanran once again hesitated.

Now that he is kneeling before her, signifying his surrender, he no longer resists, making it truly difficult for her to shoot a captive, to kill someone who does not resist.

Yanran is not a barbarian; on the contrary, she has been nurtured by high civilization, and as a young girl, she possesses all the characteristics of femininity, despising killing and bloodshed.

At the same time, she feels different degrees of compassion for all creatures weaker than her.

Although she is exceptionally talented, with abilities far surpassing ordinary people, this pertains to her physical capabilities; in terms of her heart, she is no different from an ordinary woman. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

So even though her bow was drawn, and letting it go could kill the man before her whom she detests so much, under the current circumstances, she couldn't release the arrow no matter what. Facing the hesitating Yanran who couldn't make up her mind, Old Bit's mind started working again.

As a person living in a survival-of-the-fittest world, Old Bit had experienced several situations where he, being at a disadvantage, managed to reverse the situation with a counterattack.

Afterwards, he also reflected on it, and the conclusion of the reflection turned out to be that where there is a will, there is a way.

Kneeling on the ground, Old Bit raised his head, and he exerted so much force that his forehead broke, blood once again flowing down his ugly face, seeping into the deep wrinkles across his face.

"Miss, I was wrong." Old Bit cried painfully.

"I shouldn't have used your compassion against you. You are such a kind person, so astonishingly so, just like your appearance suggests."

Old Bit muttered to himself.

"And I, this old fool, actually didn't believe you, thinking you and that man would doom us."

Old Bit raised his head again, his eyes filled with tears of regret.

"Miss, I shouldn't have suspected you in this way, but if you knew my experiences, if you knew what I have been through these decades, you would understand why I resisted you like this."

Old Bit started speaking, describing how the world he lived in was a dog-eat-dog, bloody world filled with darkness, where people distrusted each other, and when disaster struck, even the closest friends would accuse and betray each other; a friend who was smiling at you just now might turn around and pull a knife on you.

Simply put, the reason Old Bit exploited Yanran's compassion was not out of malice towards her, but because his experiences led him to distrust whether this alien girl truly intended to help him and not to torment him in some way.

Yanran wanted to refute him, intending to fulfill the water request he had just made, which wasn't her idea to use water to torment him.

Just as she was about to speak, Old Bit kneeled forward.

Yanran cautiously tightened the bow in her hand which had just relaxed a little.

"Miss, just kill me, kill this old fool, I deserve to die, I deserve to die!" Old Bit wept bitterly, overwhelmed with pain.

He persistently begged Yanran to kill him, his desire to die was so strong, it seemed as though he wasn't meant to live in this world at all, even though he had lived for decades.

He sometimes lowered his head, sometimes slapped his own face, causing his already swollen and battered face to become even more damaged; he sometimes muttered to himself, sometimes raised his hands toward the sky, confessing his crimes and expressing his remorse.

Yanran had never seen someone like this; she was more surprised than moved by his words, expressions, and body language.

However, Old Bit's spectacular performance did indeed have an effect; through tearful eyes, she noticed with pleasure that the bowstring in the alien girl's hand was slowly relaxing, a discovery that filled him with great joy.

However, it was far from achieving his goal; this was not nearly enough.

Although his outward appearance seemed utterly insane, his words filled with madness, and his actions of self-flagellation fully expressed his regret, beneath this seemingly crazed exterior, Old Bit knew exactly what he was doing, how to do it, and what purpose he was trying to achieve.

Old Bit kneeled another step forward, this time, Yanran didn't tighten the bow in her hand.

Tears continued to flow from Old Bit's eyes, and Yanran was indeed amazed at how a man could have so many tears.

Moreover, Old Bit's requests baffled her immensely.

He first asked Yanran to kill him, kill him, as if with his disappearance, the world would be rid of an old scoundrel, a little less dark, and a little more light.

He wanted to die, to be like his deceased companions, never again to commit further misdeeds in this world.

Seeing that Yanran did not intend to kill him, he made another request.

He pleaded with Yanran to release him, to banish him to this desolate wasteland and let him die quietly here, to let the monsters here devour him.

He said it was the retribution he deserved.

Facing the alien girl standing before him, facing the drawn bow in her hand, the smuggler Old Bit conducted the most spectacular performance of his life on account of survival instinct because this was a matter of life and death, how could he not use all his skills?