Qing Lin

Moonlight flowed like water, silver radiance sprinkling down. The night in Shimo City on the Dou Qi Continent was quiet and deep. Out in the wilderness beyond the city, a shabby prison cart rolled slowly along, its wheels grinding over sand and dirt with dull, heavy sounds.

Inside the prison cart, Qing Lin seemed especially helpless at that moment. Her lips were pressed tight, her hollow gaze staring ahead, her heart filled with terror and despair over the future. She knew what fate awaited her after being captured by these slavers.

During the day, Qing Lin, who had failed to find work in the city, had been preparing to go home. Though she had found nothing, she had heard someone say that the Desert Iron Mercenary Group in the west of the city was recruiting people in large numbers, and that she could try her luck tomorrow. Halfway home, she discovered that part of her route had been blocked off, so she took a detour.

Yet it was precisely that detour that made her run into a slaver. After seeing her, the slaver chased her down and knocked her unconscious. After being knocked out, Qing Lin was locked inside a cage and secretly transported out of the city. By the time she woke again, it was already night.

As a mixed-blood, Qing Lin was undoubtedly discriminated against in Shimo City, but in cities farther away from the desert, she was an extremely sought-after commodity.

"This little chick might be a filthy snake-person mixed-blood, but her looks really are proper. That waist, that face... hope she sells for a good price," one slaver laughed loudly.

"Hehe, although people on our side think snake-person bloodlines are disgusting, some big shots in Falling Leaf City are very fond of this kind of thing. And she's a rare mixed-blood too. They'll probably be able to develop some different ways to play with her. We're definitely making a fortune this time," another slaver analyzed as he laughed loudly.

Listening to their conversation, Qing Lin's heart kept sinking.

Just as Qing Lin was sinking into despair, a cold streak of sword light suddenly streaked across the night sky. Immediately after came a muffled thud, and the prison cart lurched to a stop. Qing Lin looked up and saw a young man descending from the sky, dressed in blue robes, holding a long sword. Drops of blood still dripped from the sword's tip.

It was Lin Yuan, who had waited for a long time.

Sweeping his gaze over the surrounding slavers, Lin Yuan's handsome face was laced with wisps of chill, and a sharp gleam flashed through his eyes. He walked toward the prison cart step by step, each step seeming to land on Qing Lin's heart, making her feel both nervous and expectant.

"No matter what world it is, slavers always have a way of seeking death!"

The thought flashed through his mind. Lin Yuan wasted no more words. He charged at the slavers, long sword in hand, casually flourishing the blade into a sword flower. A powerful surge of Dou Qi erupted from his body. As his figure flashed, sword light flickered. Every strike he made was precise and decisive, and in only a few exchanges, all the slavers were executed.

Qing Lin watched the scene before her, her eyes filled with shock. Although her cultivation was very low, her special constitution gave her a sharp sense for the strength of power. The young man before her did not look very old, but his strength was unimaginably powerful, far surpassing everyone she had ever seen.

After getting rid of all the slavers, Lin Yuan looked towards Qing Lin. His clear, cold eyes met Qing Lin's frail gaze, then softened as if solid ice were melting. He asked Qing Lin inside the cage a question.

"Are you all right, young lady?"

"I-I'm fine. Thank you, my lord, for saving me!" Hearing him, Qing Lin hurriedly shook her head and answered, her eyes full of gratitude as she looked at Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan smiled, put away his long sword, and walked toward the prison cart. He opened the cage, preparing to let Qing Lin out. Just as Qing Lin stood up, a sharp pain in her ankle made her involuntarily let out a low groan of pain. It turned out she had injured her foot while trying to escape during the day.

Seeing this, Lin Yuan carried Qing Lin horizontally down from the prison cart and walked into the distance. The two left the shadow of the prison cart, and moonlight sprinkled down over them, as if draping them in a layer of silver radiance. Qing Lin unconsciously raised her head and secretly glanced at Lin Yuan's handsome profile, only to be caught by Lin Yuan. Their eyes met. Lin Yuan did not dodge or avoid her gaze, while Qing Lin's little face instantly turned crimson, and she hurriedly lowered her head deeply.

"Haha, what a shy young lady! Interesting." A chuckle came from Lin Yuan's mouth, and Qing Lin's ears also turned red.

Lin Yuan carried Qing Lin to a rock not far away and set her down. Sitting on the rock, Qing Lin spent a while mentally preparing herself, then mustered her courage and raised her head to look at Lin Yuan. Somewhat shyly, she said, "Many thanks for saving me, my lord. Qing Lin has no way to repay you."

"It's fine. If you can't repay me, your parents can. Where is your home?" Lin Yuan asked, knowingly.

Hearing this, Qing Lin's eyes dimmed a little, and her tone gained a bit more sorrow. "I'm sorry. My mother is already gone. I don't have any family."

"Is that so? I'm sorry." Lin Yuan apologized with great sincerity, while inwardly despising himself a little for knowingly tearing open someone's scar.

Hearing him, Qing Lin hurriedly waved her hands. "N-no, no, my lord did nothing wrong. You don't need to apologize to Qing Lin."

As her arms swung, two sections of fair wrists were revealed from her sleeves.

"Mm? Snake-person mixed-blood?" Lin Yuan asked, as if he had discovered something. There was a bit more of an unreadable meaning in his tone, and his gaze also fell on Qing Lin's fair wrist, where several azure scales were adorned on it.

"Ah, y-yes... I'm sorry. I... I didn't mean to scare you." The calm words instantly made the shy Qing Lin's face turn deathly pale. Discovering that Lin Yuan was looking at her exposed wrist, her entire person changed from shy to terrified. Her body began to tremble, and there was a hint of sobbing in her voice. She instinctively tugged at her sleeve, wanting to hide her wrist away, her whole person like a startled little rabbit.

A snake-person mixed-blood, a life with both human and snake-person blood flowing within them, near this battlefield where humans and snake people fought, was as if born with original sin, bearing the shared loathing and discrimination of both sides. Qing Lin had lived since childhood in an environment filled with cold eyes all around her.

Looking at Qing Lin's timid and pitiful appearance, Lin Yuan, though he had long expected this in his heart, still had not expected her psychological shadow to be this severe. A bit more pity rose in his heart. He walked to Qing Lin's side, bent down, and rubbed Qing Lin's little head, saying gently, "Why hide it? It's so pretty. How could something this pretty scare me?"

Feeling the warmth of the palm resting on her head, listening to Lin Yuan's comforting words, Qing Lin finally gradually calmed down after a while. Sensitive as she was, she could feel Lin Yuan's goodwill toward her, and a few inexplicable emotions rose in her heart. Mustering her courage, she asked Lin Yuan, "You don't dislike the snake-person bloodline in me?"

Hearing this, Lin Yuan chuckled and said seriously, "My view of others has nothing to do with bloodlines. I already have a younger sister as cute as you who transformed from a Magical Beast, so how could I be prejudiced against someone because of their bloodline? Moreover..."

Lin Yuan bent down and gently brushed away the tear at the corner of Qing Lin's eye with his hand. Looking at Qing Lin's pair of green-crystal-like eyes, three tiny green dots silently emerged. A bit more profound meaning entered his words. "You also have such a beautiful pair of eyes!"

Listening to Lin Yuan's words, Qing Lin fell somewhat dazed. Sensitive as she was, she could feel Lin Yuan's sincerity and friendliness, which made her feel a strange sense of unreality. She, who had always been hated and discriminated against by others, was actually being treated this way by the heavenly young man before her.

Looking at the dazed Qing Lin, Lin Yuan took a jade bottle containing medicinal ointment from his storage ring and pressed the jade bottle to Qing Lin's face, chuckling. "This bottle of ointment is for you. Use some medicine on the places you injured."

The coolness emitted by the medicine awakened the dazed Qing Lin. Qing Lin took the bottle of medicine that looked extremely precious and asked somewhat shakily, "This medicine must be very expensive. It isn't worth wasting on someone like me."

Lin Yuan stretched out both hands and gently lifted Qing Lin's little head, making her gaze meet his. His tone was extremely solemn and serious. "You may have suffered a lot of discrimination from others since you were young, but don't look down on your own worth because of other people's attitudes. If you don't dare affirm your own worth, then your worth will be affirmed by me."

Saying this, Lin Yuan released his hands, took a step back, and extended his hand toward Qing Lin, solemnly issuing his invitation. "Having just seen your eyes, I can be sure that you possess unique talent and potential. You should not be trapped in the shallows. Come with me. I will teach you how to use your own power, to become a true expert and control your own fate. When you become strong, you will discover that those things of the past were only insignificant specks of dust in your life."

"If you have the will to follow me, then take my hand."

I tried having the protagonist imitate a little of Aunt Snake's bewitching style. What does everyone think? Everyone is welcome to communicate more. If you have opinions and suggestions, please bring them up. For a newcomer like me, when writing a novel, I need readers' feedback to keep myself from falling into self-indulgence.