The Girl in the Snowy Night

Qin Yan'er suddenly interrupted, "Then how did I die, brother?"

"You..." Ye Yuan suddenly stopped. He didn't really want to tell Yan'er; it was a pain in his heart that could never be erased.

At that time, after Qin Yan'er learned that her limbs had been crippled and she had been driven out of the imperial city, she went to find him all by herself.

As a result, she was captured by the Royal Knight patrol halfway there.

Then, she was slandered by the royal family as a heretic of the empire and tied to a stake to be burned alive.

By the time Ye Yuan returned, only ashes remained.

After Tang San and the others ascended to the God Realm, Ye Yuan tracked down everyone involved at the time and wiped out their entire families, down to the last person. He didn't even spare the original onlookers.

Seeing the sorrowful expression on her brother's face, Qin Yan'er hurriedly said, "It's okay, it's okay! If you don't want to talk about it, brother, then don't."

Ye Yuan forced a smile.

Looking at the familiar face before him, he couldn't help but recall the days when the two of them relied on each other for survival.

Back then, he lived alone in this imperial city, lonely and helpless, with no one to lean on.

Every holiday, he could only hide in his room, peering at other people's happiness through the window like a rat in the sewer.

Until he met her.

Ye Yuan's thoughts returned to that snowy night.

At the time, Ye Yuan had just become a captain, and the royal family was holding a large-scale event outside the city, so he had led his men to scout for dangers beforehand.

The snow was heavy that day; it seemed to be just as heavy as the time he was almost beaten to death.

After he arranged the patrol locations, he walked slowly through the snow-covered imperial city all by himself.

Not far away, a crowd had gathered, and shouts of abuse kept drifting over.

Ye Yuan ignored them, merely glancing once before walking away.

He roughly knew what was happening; since arriving in this world, such scenes were a common occurrence.

Just as he was about to pass the crowd, a small, blood-stained figure rushed out.

She collided directly with his legs and fell to the ground.

Ye Yuan was stunned. Was he being scammed?

He looked closely and could vaguely make out that it was a little girl with messy hair and thin clothing.

One had to know that this was the coldest time in the Star Luo Empire; wearing such clothes in the snow, she would likely freeze to death by nightfall.

The girl scrambled up, as if she had seen a savior, and hid behind Ye Yuan, clutching his hem tightly.

The group of people immediately walked over, just about to loudly scold Ye Yuan for meddling in other people's business.

But they were intimidated by the knight's badge on Ye Yuan's chest. That was the mark of a Royal Knight, and they were not people they could afford to offend.

A man dressed in finery stepped out from the crowd, appearing to be their leader.

He walked slowly to Ye Yuan, bowed, and said in a low voice, "Noble Knight, I am the owner of this pawnshop. May I ask if you know this little girl?"

"She stole gold from our shop and smashed quite a few things inside, which is why we must punish her."

Ye Yuan didn't want to get involved, so he said, "Of course I don't know..."

Before he could finish, he felt the trembling of the petite body behind him.

He sighed in his heart. After all, he wasn't from this world, and he couldn't bring himself to be that cold-hearted.

So he shook his head and said to the owner, "Yes, I know her. What of it?"

The owner clearly hadn't expected this little beggar-like girl to actually know Ye Yuan, or perhaps he thought this knight had some peculiar hobby.

He could only accept his bad luck, his gaze turning fierce as he looked at the gold bars tightly gripped in the little girl's hand.

But he didn't have the guts to demand them back, so he finally said with a dark face, "Oh, then it's nothing. It turns out to be a misunderstanding!"

Ye Yuan took the gold bars from the little girl's hand, then pulled 3000 Soul Coins from his pocket and tossed them to the pawnshop owner.

He said coldly, "Here. These 3000 Soul Coins are compensation for the items in your shop."

The pawnshop owner hurriedly took the gold bars and Soul Coins, biting the gold to confirm it hadn't been swapped, then opened the money bag to see if there was truly money inside.

Seeing the 3000 Soul Coins in the bag, the owner immediately beamed and said, "Ah! Very well, my noble Knight, you are truly a good person! I will definitely sing praises of your greatness to my friends and family!"

"Everyone leave, don't gather here," Ye Yuan barked, and the crowd dispersed.

He then said to the little girl, "Go quickly. You won't have such good luck next time."

With that, he walked away.

He continued to walk alone through the city.

Halfway there, Ye Yuan took a deep breath, "Sigh..."

He turned around to look at the little girl following him and said, "Why do you keep following me? Go back now."

Seeing Ye Yuan act so fierce, the little girl's round eyes instantly welled up with tears, and she took small steps into an alleyway.

"You certainly run fast." After saying this, Ye Yuan turned around and continued walking.

Suddenly, Ye Yuan seemed to sense something; he immediately spun around, only to see that the little girl had stealthily followed behind him again at some point.

Seeing she had been discovered, the little girl immediately took small steps and ran back again, just like a little mouse, saying as she ran: "I, I'm not following you anymore!"

Ye Yuan turned to walk away again, but this time, he immediately looked back after turning.

At a glance, he saw the little girl emerging from a small alley.

"Ah, you dis... discovered me!" the little girl cried out.

Then she ran back again, but Ye Yuan was quick-witted and fast-handed; he grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up, just like holding a little chick.

Ye Yuan hadn't expected this little one to be so light, even lighter than he had imagined.

"Wah! You let me go!" the girl said, kicking her feet.

Ye Yuan couldn't help but rub his forehead; why did it feel like he was the one bullying a little girl?

He set the little girl down, but his hand still held onto her clothes, and he said: "Speak, why are you following me?"

The little girl hesitated for a moment and said: "I... I want to borrow money from you."

"Borrow money?"

"Yes, borrow money. I need money to buy medicine for my mother."

Ye Yuan stared at the little girl's dirty face, checking to see if she was lying.

"Are you sure you aren't lying?"

The girl nodded rapidly like a chick pecking at rice and said: "No!"

So, this little girl had gone to steal the gold bar just to save her mother.

"Where is your father?"

The girl rolled her eyes and said: "Yan'er doesn't have a father; Mommy picked Yan'er up."

Ye Yuan's expression dimmed, and he said: "It's big brother's fault for bringing up something that makes you sad."

The girl said: "It's okay." Seeing that Ye Yuan hadn't agreed to lend her the money, she hurriedly added: "Big brother, don't worry."

"Yan'er is very capable. I can help you serve tea and water, and when I grow up, I can even be big brother's wife!"

"Look, this is Yan'er's muscle!"

As she spoke, she didn't forget to bare her arm to show Ye Yuan her "muscle."

"In any case, Yan'er will definitely pay back the money!"

"Hahaha, you little girl are both filial and interesting."

Ye Yuan didn't know how long it had been since he had laughed like this.

At this moment, his favorability toward the girl in front of him rose quite a bit.

"How about this: I'll go with you to see your mother first to see what kind of illness she has, so I can better lend you money to buy medicine. How does that sound?"

Qin Yan'er nodded and said: "Mm, big brother, follow Yan'er quickly."