Early morning.
Cheng Han had just reached the entrance to Shanyi Neighborhood when he saw a small figure trudging into the neighborhood through the snow, occasionally raising a hand to wipe away tears.
It was Zhang Tie, the child next door.
Cheng Han moved, gliding gracefully across six or seven meters and lightly slipping behind a tree, avoiding Zhang Tie's gaze.
The entire process was nearly silent.
The control displayed by this technique was noticeably stronger than yesterday's.
Over on the other side.
The two Spirit Mastiffs guarding the gate, Tao Zi and Li Zi, naturally saw the crying child as well. But they merely watched in silence and made no other move.
Though the Spirit Mastiffs worked diligently, they did not concern themselves with matters outside the neighborhood, nor did they often take the initiative to approach its residents.
Cheng Han stood still, watching Zhang Tie gradually walk away.
As far as he knew, the child got up at six every day, wandered around outside the neighborhood for a while to gather a bundle of dead branches, then returned to Shanyi Neighborhood at around seven-thirty.
Zhang Tie usually skipped breakfast. After taking only a few sips of hot water, he would walk to the nearby Seventeen Elementary School and wait hungrily for the school's free lunch.
But it was only seven now. Why had the child come back so early? Cheng Han stared at him for a moment and silently said, "Deduce."
A series of images flashed through his mind.
This was a cold story.
Zhang Tie had encountered a middle-aged man gathering firewood. First, the man warned him never to come to Jing'an Neighborhood again. Then he kicked him to the ground and took away the bundle of dead branches he had worked so hard to collect.
Cheng