While the men were busy slapping their own faces,
Only then did he notice that the girl really wasn't very old—she looked to be only fifteen or sixteen, roughly the same age Chu Feng had been when he first became an Outer Disciple of the Azure Dragon Sect.
The girl was initially afraid of Chu Feng. Every time he fed her medicine or treated her wounds, she would instinctively flinch away, though she didn't dare retreat completely.
However, after Chu Feng healed her injuries in the blink of an eye, her wariness toward him eased considerably.
"Thank you." The girl touched her cheek, which had already fully recovered, and said with great sincerity.
"No need to thank me—it's the right thing to do." Chu Feng smiled kindly, then asked, "What's your name?"
"My name is
Looking at their bloodied faces, Yao'er's eyes showed not the slightest trace of satisfaction. Instead, sympathy welled up in them, and she said to Chu Feng, "
"They almost destroyed your little face, and you call that nothing?" Chu Feng asked in surprise.
"It's not a big deal." Yao'er smiled brightly. Though she wasn't particularly striking in appearance, her smile was sunny and pleasant to look at.
Seeing that smile, Chu Feng couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow. He could tell from Yao'er's words that she was probably bullied by Core Disciples on a regular basis, yet she bore no resentment toward them at all—as if it had become completely normal.
"Yao'er, you're truly a kind girl," Chu Feng sighed with emotion. Then he turned to the five men and said, "Get lost."
Hearing this, the five men scrambled to their feet. Without even looking back, they fled into the distance as fast as they could, desperate to leave the Cangming Herb Garden immediately.
"Stop." But before they had made it more than a few steps, Chu Feng spoke again.
At his words, the five men froze mid-stride, their bodies trembling. They stood rooted to the spot, not daring to take another step forward. Slowly turning their heads back, they forced strained smiles onto their faces and stammered, "Th-this senior brother, is there... is there something else?"
"You haven't apologized to Miss Yao'er yet," Chu Feng said.
"Right, right, right! Senior brother Chu Feng is absolutely right!" At that, the five men hastily dropped to their knees once more and kowtowed to Yao'er and Chu Feng. "Thank you, Miss Yao'er, for your great mercy! Thank you, senior brother, for your leniency!"
"Enough. Get lost." Chu Feng waved his hand, having no desire to look at their faces a moment longer.
At that point, the five men didn't dare hesitate for even a second. Each of them unleashed their most powerful movement techniques and fled the area with their lives on the line.
"Yao'er, just because you're a garden keeper doesn't mean you're really a notch below us disciples."
"Never think that it's right for them to bully you. Take care of yourself. If you don't even value yourself, how can anyone else respect you?"
"You're still young. I don't want you to spend your entire life living under other people's boots." After saying this, Chu Feng turned to leave.
The girl was certainly pitiable, but Chu Feng knew he couldn't help her. He might help her today, but tomorrow she could easily be bullied again.
The only one who could truly help her was herself—she needed to be smarter. Even as a garden keeper, she shouldn't allow herself to be trampled on at will.
"Senior brother, I still don't know your name." Just then, Yao'er suddenly asked.
"My name is Chu Feng," Chu Feng replied.
"Senior brother Chu Feng, if you're looking for Cangming herbs, I actually know a place I could tell you about," Yao'er said.