Abandoned Infant in Wind and Snow, Bone Douluo's Compassion

Chapter 1: Abandoned Infant in Wind and Snow, Bone Douluo's Compassion

Douluo Calendar Year 2632, winter.

The snow in the southwestern Cangmang Mountain Range had already fallen for three days and three nights.

Goose-feather snowflakes were whipped by the gale into white vortices, smashing against exposed rocks with a rustling hiss. Even the air seemed frozen solid, and breathing it into the lungs scraped painfully at the throat. This mountain range had always been known for its treacherous terrain. Ordinary Soul Masters did not dare venture deep inside lightly, much less in a blizzard capable of freezing Soul Rings and Soul Power stiff—but at this moment, a grey shadow sped through the wind and snow like a lone wolf leaving no tracks.

When Gu Rong stopped, his fingertips had just crushed the last trace of the pursuers' Soul Power mark. He had only just escaped from a secret Spirit Hall stronghold, and half a Black Iron Token engraved with strange patterns still rested in his robes. It was the target of the sect's mission, recording Spirit Hall's forbidden methods for cultivating mutated spirit beasts. As the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Bone Douluo, he had traveled far and wide throughout his life and brushed past death too many times to count. Yet the faint Rakshasa Aura within that stronghold still weighed heavily on his heart.

"Spirit Hall's claws are reaching farther and farther." He muttered to himself, raising a hand to brush the snow from his shoulders. His ash-white hair was plastered to his cheeks by the wind and snow, but it did nothing to conceal his hawk-like eyes. Their pupils held the chill brought by years of cultivating Soul Bones, and only when his gaze occasionally swept over the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect token at his waist did the faintest trace of gentleness pass through them.

He had intended to return to Seven Treasures City as soon as possible to report while the snowstorm had yet to subside, but just as he turned around, an unusual scent drifted through the wind.

Not the bloody stench of a spirit beast, nor the rot of dead branches, but... a milky scent?

Gu Rong's footsteps halted.

He operated his Soul Power, and his Spiritual Power spread out like a fine net, instantly enveloping a hundred zhang around him. The blizzard obscured his vision, but that faint scent grew clearer and clearer, finally settling on a sheltered mountain hollow to the west. Snow lay piled there half a person's height deep, with only a protruding rock blocking the wind and snow. Without careful inspection, no one would have noticed anything unusual.

"Strange." He frowned slightly, and with a flicker, he was already before the mountain hollow. An invisible barrier formed from Soul Power pushed away the snow, revealing what was hidden behind the rock—a Dark Red swaddling cloth, frozen stiff, its edges crusted with ice. Only the spot in the very center where the infant was wrapped retained a trace of warmth that was nearly gone.

Gu Rong crouched down and gently touched the fabric of the swaddling clothes with his fingertips. It was the most ordinary Coarse Linen, yet it had been washed spotlessly clean. A stalk of Duckweed Grass was embroidered on the outside with Dark Red thread. The stitches were crooked and uneven, clearly sewn by someone with little skill at embroidery, but every stitch was tight, as though they feared the wind and snow might creep inside.

He carefully untied a corner of the swaddling clothes. What he saw made this Titled Douluo, who had witnessed countless deaths, narrow his eyes.

The infant was barely full-term. Its little face had frozen purple, its lips pressed into a pale line, yet it had not cried once. Tiny grains of ice clung to its lashes, and its chest rose and fell as weakly as a candle flame in the wind. Only within its tightly clenched little fist seemed to be something else. Gu Rong looked closely and found half a withered flower petal, the same color as the embroidery thread on the swaddling clothes, as though it had been deliberately tucked into the infant's hand.

"What kind of parents would abandon their child in a place like this?" Gu Rong's voice sank. A thread of gentle Soul Power gathered at his fingertips and carefully entered the infant's body—but what he found left him utterly stunned.

A thread of incomparably pure Innate Soul Power flowed through the infant's Meridians!

On Douluo Continent, Innate Soul Power at level ten was already exceedingly rare. Though this infant's Innate Soul Power had not reached the maximum level, it was so pure that it contained not the slightest impurity, like glazed crystal untouched by the dust of the mortal world. Yet at this moment, the bitter cold was devouring that Soul Power bit by bit. If they delayed another Half an Hour, even the child's life might not be saved.

Gu Rong's heart clenched sharply.

He remembered that decades ago, when he had still been a Lone Soul Master struggling at the Soul Elder realm, he had nearly frozen to death on a snowy night like this. Had he not encountered the previous Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect back then, he would have long since become food for the spirit beasts in these mountains. Over the years, he had guarded the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, watched Ning Fengzhi grow up, and watched Ning Rongrong change from a baby in swaddling clothes into a lovely young girl. Yet he had never imagined that he would encounter a child as lonely and helpless as his younger self in such circumstances.

The freezing wind swept snowflakes into the mountain hollow, and the infant's breathing weakened slightly. Gu Rong hesitated no longer and abruptly removed his outer robe. It was woven from Thousand-Year Ice Silkworm Silk, capable of withstanding attacks from a Soul Douluo and insulating against the bitter cold. He carefully wrapped the swaddling clothes in the robe, tucked it into his clothes, and used the warmth of his chest and his Soul Power to protect the child.

"Little one, you're lucky." He lowered his head to look at the infant in his arms. A rare warmth had spread through those eyes that usually carried such coldness. "Since I found you, it must be fate. From now on, you'll follow me."

After thinking for a moment, he gently touched the infant's frost-reddened little face. "As for your name... Lin Che. Lin as in the forest deep enough to see deer, Che as in clear water. I hope the road ahead of you will be cleaner than this snowy day."

As soon as he finished speaking, the infant in his arms suddenly moved. Its tightly shut eyes did not open, but it gave a soft hum and rubbed its little head against his warm chest. The small hand clutching the dried flower petal loosened slightly, revealing a faint Green Mark on its palm. That mark was identical to the Duckweed Grass pattern on the swaddling clothes.

Gu Rong's heart stirred, but he gave it no further thought. He tapped the ground with the tip of his foot, turning into a grey shadow as he sped toward Seven Treasures City. The wind and snow howled behind him, but they could no longer harm the small life within his robes.

Along the way, he occasionally lowered his head to look at Lin Che in his arms. The infant seemed to be sleeping peacefully, its breathing gradually evening out. The corners of its little mouth even lifted slightly, as though it were having a sweet dream. The corner of Gu Rong's mouth also rose unconsciously.

He thought of how Ning Fengzhi might smile and tease him for finally blooming like an iron tree when he saw this child. He thought of how Sword Douluo Chen Xin might frown and say, "Raising a child will distract you from cultivation." He also thought of how Ning Rongrong might insist on being the child's "little aunt"...

Those thoughts gradually eased the heavy mood that the Spirit Hall mission had left in his heart.

When the horizon glowed Fish Belly White, the outline of Seven Treasures City finally appeared amid the wind and snow. The towering city gates were tightly shut, but the guards on the walls immediately opened them respectfully when they saw Gu Rong. He did not stop, walking straight toward the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. There were warm rooms there, clean bedding, and everything this child needed to grow up safely.

Lin Che in his arms seemed to sense the familiar presence as well and gently rubbed against his chest again.

Gu Rong lowered his head and smiled, quickening his steps.

He did not know that this child he had found in the wind and snow would one day stir the entire Douluo Continent with Dual Huaxia Spirits and a mysterious Can Opening System. Nor did he know that this child named Lin Che would become the dearest concern of his life, using his own strength to protect the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and everything Gu Rong wished to protect.

At this moment, he was merely an elder carrying an infant, walking toward a warm home beneath the Morning Light.

A legend belonging to Lin Che quietly began on this morning as the wind and snow gradually subsided.