At that moment, she had none of the Silver Dragon King's imposing dignity. She was nothing more than a little girl who had suffered through a life of wandering, gone hungry and cold, and was filled with unease and timidity.
Lin Qingzhou's heart suddenly softened. The detachment and indifference he usually wore faded by more than half in an instant.
He rose and silently cleared the dishes from the table. His voice softened without him realizing it, growing gentle in a way even he hadn't noticed. "It's all right. Eat as much as you want. There'll always be plenty here with your big brother. You don't have to be afraid."
It was such an ordinary promise, yet Na'er lifted her head as if she'd just heard the best news in the world. Her dark eyes lit up at once, sparkling with tiny flecks of light.
It was the joy of someone who, after a long time enduring cold stares and a life of wandering, had finally been met with gentleness and acceptance. And there was a heartfelt emotion she couldn't hide.
She watched Lin Qingzhou's back as he cleared the dishes. Her instinctive fear of the aura around him gradually faded, until all that remained was wholehearted dependence. At last, that fear vanished completely.
From that day on, Lin Qingzhou's life was utterly filled by the little girl who had suddenly barged into it.
He stopped shutting himself in his room all day, repeatedly going over that cruel sacrificial plan. Instead, he began learning how to look after Na'er.
He wasn't especially attentive, and he could even be a little clumsy, but he was always earnest.
He would go out of his way to scour every street and alley in Aolai City just to buy Na'er the sweets she liked. When she woke from nightmares at night, crying, he would patiently soothe her in a soft voice until she fell asleep again.
He would take a comb and patiently brush her messy long hair. Even when he couldn't manage to tie her braids properly, he would keep trying again and again.
He would lead her by her soft little hand around the street markets, buying her pretty dresses and cute toys, and making sure she was dressed neatly.
The old Lin Qingzhou had cared for nothing but personal gain. He lived only to change his fate of being unable to become a Soul Master, and his days had been cold and numb.
But little by little, he grew used to having a little shadow following him around. Wherever he went, Na'er would cling tightly to the hem of his clothes, never leaving his side for even a step. Her dark eyes were full of trust and dependence, given to him without reservation.
She would carefully save the food she thought tasted best for Lin Qingzhou.
When he was tired and lost in thought, weighed down by worries, she would quietly stay by his side without making a fuss.
With her soft, childish voice, she would sweetly call him "big brother" again and again.
Every time he heard that pure, clear call, the schemes in Lin Qingzhou's heart faded a little, while his affection for the little girl grew a little stronger.
He began deliberately avoiding the sacrificial plan. He even made a point of not thinking about it, and in private he would secretly feel relieved. Fortunately, none of it had begun yet. He still had time to keep this little girl, who had suddenly entered his bleak world, company.
Having been an orphan in both his lives, how could Lin Qingzhou not cherish this familial warmth? Two lonely souls leaned on each other, holding tight.
When he had some free time, he would take Na'er out to bask in the sun in the villa's courtyard.
He would watch her clutch her toy and run around on the grass, laughing and playing. Her clear laughter rang like wind chimes, filling the entire courtyard. The villa, once cold, lonely, and lifeless, finally had the warmth of a home. It was no longer an empty house.
He would sit quietly in a wicker chair nearby, watching Na'er's innocent, radiant smile. His worries about Di Tian, Gu Yue, and God King Tang, along with all his painstaking schemes, were slowly buried beneath this simple, precious warmth and gradually slipped from his mind.
He knew better than anyone how despicable and selfish his original reason for approaching Na'er had been.
But now, looking at the little girl whose heart and eyes were filled with him, who regarded him as her only support, he could no longer bring himself to harbor the slightest ill intent. He could no longer steel himself to carry out that cruel plan that would destroy everything she had.
Na'er's dependence and trust were like a ray of warm sunshine, shining without warning into his bleak, icy world and gradually melting the wariness and stubborn obsession in his heart.
He began to crave this hard-won warmth and cherish the soft, adorable little girl by his side. Even he himself was slow to notice the change.
As the days they spent together passed, their bond grew deeper and deeper. It was long since stopped being the deliberate closeness and distance of the beginning.
Lin Qingzhou was no longer the bystander who only wanted to use Na'er. Without even thinking, he would put himself between her and danger, never letting anyone bully her.
When she was happy, his own heart would fill with joy. At the slightest hint of unease or sadness from her, he would worry too.
Na'er, too, had completely let go of all her wariness and fear. She regarded Lin Qingzhou as her only family in the world, her only source of support.
Her world was tiny—so tiny it held only Lin Qingzhou. Her eyes and heart were filled with this gentle big brother who protected her.
Lin Qingzhou sat in the wicker chair, gazing at Na'er as she crouched beside the flower bed in the distance, grinning foolishly at a little flower. He let out a soft sigh.
His eyes were filled with an inextricable complexity, yet there was also tenderness hidden within them.
Perhaps ever since that strangely smooth encounter, it had already been destined that the stubborn obsession in his heart to change his fate would ultimately lose to the little girl's small, scattered moments of warmth.
All those painstaking, heart-pounding schemes had, in the end, been no match for the everyday life they shared.
The bond that had quietly taken root and grown ever stronger had already rewritten all his original plans without him even realizing it.
He had once been determined to defy fate and change his destiny. Only now did he realize that the soft little girl by his side was the most unexpected light in his life, the warmth he least wanted to lose.
Isn't it just being tormented over and over? After all this time, I've more or less gotten used to it.
In the end, Lin Qingzhou decided to abandon the plan. Looking at the sleeping Na'er, he smiled gently.
Then his expression changed, because it was almost time for him to enter that battlefield.
But by now, he had more or less grown used to it. He felt mostly indifferent.
On the contrary, after going through it each time, waking to see Na'er gently call him "big brother" was an even greater comfort.
Yet at the same time, a deeper pain surfaced in Lin Qingzhou's heart.
Their bond had been built upon the evil foundation in Lin Qingzhou's heart. Every time he saw Na'er, the plan would rise unbidden from the depths of his mind, as though constantly reminding him:
Do you still remember why you approached Na'er in the first place?
In the end, Lin Qingzhou locked the Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art away in the depths of a cabinet with his own hands. He buried it underground himself, along with his wicked thoughts and everything that had tainted the bond between them.
It seemed that doing so made Lin Qingzhou feel the slightest bit better.
In the end, warm sunshine melted away obsession, and two lonely souls found solace in each other.
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