Proofreader & Editor: Lotas
Qingyun Continent, Beiliang City.
A little boy of only six or seven years old curled up next to the stone lion at the back door of the Zhao Residence.
In the icy world, the little boy shivered in his ill-fitting single garment.
Strangely, his eyes were still covered with a black cloth.
The black cloth revealed a pair of sword-like eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and thin lips.
The cheeks were slightly sunken due to thinness, and the jawline was sharp.
Creak~
The back door of the Zhao Residence opened, but immediately there was a dull thud.
Bang!
A stiff body was thrown out from the back door.
The slender body fell to the ground, creating a shallow pit in the snow.
Zhao Qing, dressed in a thick coat, hesitated for a moment, a hint of sympathy in his eyes.
He dropped four copper coins and took back the rest into his sleeve.
The young boy quickly got up, shook off the snow on his body, and forced a gentle smile.
“Brother Qing, did the residence throw out leftover food just now?”
As he spoke, the boy crouched down and reached for something at his feet.
The smile on his face was still there, but his hand touched a body that was already ice-cold!
Li Guanqi’s hand froze in the air, and his body trembled slightly as his throat moved.
After a moment, the boy knelt on the ground, trembling hands reaching towards the girl’s face.
The trembling hand touched the girl’s chin, but suddenly recoiled as if shocked!
He had touched a long scar, caused by his uncle hitting his sister two years ago after losing money in a drunken state.
“Sister…”
A somewhat mournful murmur came from the boy’s mouth.
The smile on the boy’s face had long disappeared, and clear tears uncontrollably fell from his eyes.
The young man disregarded the heavy snowflakes falling from the sky and took off his only tattered linen robe to wrap around the girl!
His emaciated body was covered in hideous scars, and the bruises on his back had not yet healed.
He extended his frostbitten hand and gently touched the girl’s hair.
Ignoring the biting cold, the boy searched the ground and found four copper coins.
The boy felt a sudden sadness in his heart.
He never expected that even after death, his sister couldn’t retain her dignity!
Dead people’s money, is it so easy to take?!!
A cold wind blew, and Zhao Qing couldn’t help but tighten his sleeve, looking at the boy and saying.
“Your sister… had bad luck. Take this money and go back.”
The boy took off the cloth covering his eyes, revealing a pair of pale eyes.
Looking up, he reached out his right hand and said softly, “The servant died wrongfully, the master should compensate ten strings of coins!
This money… is my sister’s final dignity, you shouldn’t take it!”
Zhao Qing pulled his sleeves together, and the pity on his face disappeared instantly when he heard the boy asking for money.
With a cold face, he said, “Lowly blind, do you want this four strings of coins or not! Get lost!”
The six-year-old Li Guanqi’s body was weak, but a fierce look appeared on his face!
He quickly stepped onto the steps of the Zhao Residence, grabbed the man’s hand, and shouted, “Give me what I deserve!”
Seeing Li Guanqi’s frostbitten hand reaching towards him, Zhao Qing frowned.
A glint of coldness flashed in his eyes, and he grabbed the boy’s hair and threw him down the stairs.
Bang!
The slender body was brutally thrown onto the snowy ground, which was paved with bluestones even under the heavy snow.
Falling on it would result in bruises, let alone being thrown half a yard away by someone.
Zhao Qing looked at the boy lying on the ground with a cold face, and said cruelly, “Lowly blind! Get out of here with the body!
If it weren’t for me taking pity on you, I wouldn’t even give you these four strings of coins!”
Pooh!
Just as Zhao Qing was about to turn and leave, someone grabbed the hem of his clothes from behind.
Zhao Qing turned around and saw that the boy had somehow come up behind him, holding onto his clothes tightly.
“Give me the money!! This is my sister’s life-saving money!”
Zhao Qing was taken aback, and just as he was about to get tough, he lowered his head and saw those pale eyes!
Although those eyes couldn’t see, he felt as if the boy was staring at him.
A chill rose from Zhao Qing’s heart, and he looked at the girl who had been worked to death.
In the end, Zhao Qing put down his raised fist and stuffed the remaining coins into the boy’s hand.
“Take it, take it, it’s really bad luck!”
Li Guanqi let go of his hand, numbly counting the coins in his hand.
Bang!
The gate closed, and a slightly immature voice came from inside.
“Little Qing~ What are you doing! Hurry up and feed the birds for me！”
“Young Master Yuan Lin, I’m going, I’m going.”
“Just now, where did you go?”
“…”
“It’s just a maid who died, it’s nothing. Hurry up and make that useless blind get lost!”
***
Li Guanqi sat on the steps of the Zhao Residence, staring blankly at the sky, holding the copper coins for a long time.
He finally got up, picked up the stiff body, and left.
Creak… Creak…
That was the sound of Li Guanqi’s footsteps on the snowy ground, slow but determined.
All of this was seen by an old man in a tavern several yards away.
The old man was dressed in a plain gray robe, with white hair.
He had a high nose bridge, slightly thin lips, but no trace of acrimony between .
There was no sign of decay in his eyes, and they were clear and bright.
There were some small dishes on the table, and a pot of warm wine.
Watching the boy feeling his way along the wall, the old man’s hand holding the wine glass suddenly stopped in mid-air.
A hint of indiscernible sharpness flashed in the old man’s eyes as he looked at the boy, murmuring softly, “I never thought that after searching for hundreds of years, the embryo would turn out to be a little blind boy…”
“Never mind, this may be fate.”
Then the old man slowly got up, and with a gentle voice, he said, “Waiter, the bill!”
***
In the heart of winter, it was the time when the north wind was piercing.A gust of cold wind was like a series of sharp knives stabbing at the young Li Guanqi.
He rested a few times on the road, and by the time night fell, the boy placed the already stiff corpse at the entrance of a medical hall.
The old man in grey was also thinly dressed, but the blizzard automatically avoided him as it passed by his side.
“People are dead, their Three Souls and Seven Spirits have entered the cycle of reincarnation, why bother coming to this medical hall?”
Before long, the boy had a few bundles of medicinal herbs in his hand, struggling to hoist the corpse and continue on his way.
Then he arrived at a small shop with white silk hanging at the door.
Not much later, the boy walked out with a jar in his hands.
A piece of paper was stuck on it.
‘Li Cuiwei.’
He wrapped it with the girl’s pink clothes, and from beginning to end, the boy’s face showed little emotion.
On the road, the boy also picked up two buns as hard as bricks from the entrance of a bun shop.
At this moment, a hint of a smile appeared on the boy’s face.
This left the old man who had been following behind him very puzzled; why the boy showed no emotional turmoil over the death of his own sister.
He was just fixated on the fact that the servant from Zhao Residence had shortchanged the copper coins owed for compensation.
The boy holding the ashes showed no expression, yet he smiled at picking up two unwanted buns.
The old man’s curiosity was thoroughly piqued, and he continued to follow the boy.
Suddenly!
The old man in the blizzard halted, looking up into the sky.
With an indifferent expression, he softly said, “Tsk tsk, I merely dismantled a sect recently, and now a National Protector mage from Beiliang Kingdom has come to my doorstep?”
“A mere Elemental Infant… it’s good to meet, to avoid trouble for both sides.”
Whoosh!
The old man took a step and instantly traversed dozens of miles, appearing in a pavilion in the wilderness.
The robed old man had already been warming wine and brewing tea, seemingly waiting for a long time.
Upon seeing the old man appear, the National Protector mage from Beiliang Kingdom hurriedly stood up to salute, respectfully saying, “I’ve seen the Senior…”
***
In the south of Beiliang City, in a dilapidated courtyard where even the main gate could not be closed,
The boy stood at the entrance hesitating for a long time, but finally took a deep breath and pushed the door to leave his home.
Creak~
In the pitch-black room, not a single lamp was lit, the home was bare, and the window paper was torn with many holes but there was no money to repair them.
On the cold earthen bed, a shadow stirred slightly, followed by a weak voice slowly coming through.
“Guanqi… are you back?”
The woman’s voice was very gentle, yet exceptionally weak.
The speaker was Li Guanqi’s mother, Song Wanrong.
Song Wanrong, who got up, looked haggard, her cheeks sunken, but her eyes were full of tenderness when she looked at the boy.
Using the moonlight to look around, she asked softly, “Where is Cuiwei?”
Li Guanqi, who was searching for candles in the drawer, stiffened, lit the candle, and revealed the lonely urn beside him.
With a dry voice, he said, “Sister Cui Wei… is dead, Zhao Residence compensated ten strings of copper coins.”
“I’ve retrieved the money, hid it well, to treat mother’s illness.”
After speaking, the boy took out a bun that had slightly melted from his body heat and handed it to Song Wanrong.
Fumbling with the medicinal herbs, he headed to the kitchen with a hoarse voice, “I’m going to prepare the medicine for mother.”
Song Wanrong gently pulled Li Guanqi’s hand, placing the bun back in his hand.
Holding back tears, she said, “Mother… isn’t hungry, you eat.”
Her dry hair covered most of her face, but Li Guanqi heard the sound of a few tears falling on the mat.
Bang!!
The door was kicked open, and the piercing cold wind suddenly rushed into the room, causing the boy to shiver, not knowing if it was from the cold or fear.
The visitor was Li Guanqi’s distant uncle, Li Dashan.
Li Dashan was not tall, dressed in a dark green jacket, with bulging cheeks, triangular eyes, and a hooked nose.
His entire demeanor was fierce, and even before he entered, his sinister voice had already traveled from afar.
“Damn it! Where’s the money!!”