Dong'er's First Battle

Dong'er followed the old man step by step into a shop. While the old man was haggling with the shopkeeper, she whispered to Ye Tian.

"Brother Ye Tian, the old man is really kind."

"Kind people are indeed rare. Dong'er, give the old man some water from your gourd later."

The old man accepted a pouch of currency, opened it to count carefully, and then smilingly called Dong'er over to hand her the money, leaving the furs with the shopkeeper.

Dong'er glanced at the money in the pouch: three Gold Soul Coins, two Silver Soul Coins, and over a dozen Copper Soul Coins.

"Thank you, Grandpa. I'm hungry; will you have a meal with me?"

The old man tried to decline, but he couldn't resist Dong'er's coquettish pleading.

While eating, Dong'er naturally poured a bowl of water from her gourd and pushed it toward him.

"Grandpa, this is mountain spring water I collected on the road. It's delicious!"

"Good, good?"

The old man nodded repeatedly, unable to refuse such a cute little girl. After drinking it in one gulp, the cool spring water flowed into his stomach, and he felt the fatigue from his early morning journey vanish completely.

After bidding farewell to the old man, Dong'er walked toward the city's only orphanage, asking for directions along the way.

Just as she turned into a small alley, a sleazy-looking guy ducked in from the other end, blocking the path that was barely wide enough for one person.

"Little girl, big brother is broke today. How about lending me some money?"

Dong'er turned around, only to see another man dressed in the same way appearing behind her. Now, both ends of the alley were blocked.

The two thugs walked up to Dong'er. Upon seeing her stunning little face, a flash of greed appeared in the eyes of one, the Skinny Monkey.

"Little girl, do you have nowhere to go? Come with us; we'll introduce you to a great place where you'll never have to worry about food or drink again!"

"That's right, little sister. It's too dangerous for you to wander around alone. We big brothers will protect you."

The Skinny Monkey's companion looked at him, already understanding what he intended to do.

Their unscrupulous gazes raked over Dong'er's face, as if they weren't looking at a person, but at a piece of valuable merchandise.

"This face really is something else!"

The companion couldn't help but reach out to pinch her cheek, but before his hand could reach her, Dong'er slapped it away.

"Skinny Monkey, this little girl has quite a temper!"

"Who cares? Once she's in that place, even the fiercest temper will be tamed!"

"If she weren't so young, I'd want to enjoy her myself!"

The malice from the Skinny Monkey and his companion was completely undisguised.

Ye Tian reminded Dong'er to stay calm and prepared to take over her body at any moment to teach these two bastards a lesson.

With Brother Ye Tian there, Dong'er found she wasn't as panicked as she had imagined. Perhaps because these two didn't take a four or five-year-old child seriously, she quickly spotted the openings in their stance.

She bent her knees slightly, pushed off the ground hard with both feet, and shot forward like a nimble rabbit.

Dong'er dashed right past the Skinny Monkey's side. Just as she brushed past him, the Skinny Monkey reacted with lightning speed, reaching out to grab her with a look of shame and annoyance in his eyes.

He had almost let a chance to get rich slip through his fingers!

Just as the Skinny Monkey's fingers were about to grab her collar, her body suddenly stopped, and she pulled a short dagger with a sharpened blade from her clothes.

The dagger instantly slashed across the Skinny Monkey's arm. He cried out in pain and pulled his arm back immediately. Looking at the bleeding gash on his arm, his eyes turned vicious.

"Hahaha, Skinny Monkey, are you trying to laugh me to death so you can inherit my debts?"

The companion laughed loudly, pulled a small knife from somewhere, and chased after the fleeing Dong'er with rapid strides.

The Skinny Monkey tore a few strips of cloth from his clothes to bandage his wound, pulled a slingshot from his chest, and squinted as he pursued Dong'er's figure.

Now!

The taut elastic cord snapped back, and a stone whistled through the air.

Dong'er heard the sound of the air being torn behind her and instinctively stepped to the left, pressing her entire body against the wall.

The next second, a stone smacked into the mud in front of her, gouging out an egg-sized hole.

Dong'er's eyes trembled; if that force had hit her, she would definitely have suffered a fracture.

"Little girl, stand still. The Skinny Monkey's stones don't have eyes. Last time, he accidentally blew someone's head apart."

"Red and white stuff splattered everywhere, just like a spilled bowl of tofu pudding."

While chasing her, the companion kept applying pressure with his words.

The Skinny Monkey didn't stop using his slingshot. Aside from her head, he fired shots at every other part of her body.

Dong'er dodged several times; although she wasn't hit, her speed was forced to slow down.

The companion's eyes lit up, and he immediately accelerated, one hand reaching for Dong'er's collar while his other hand swung a heavy slap toward the arm holding the dagger without mercy.

Seeing that Dong'er was about to be caught, Ye Tian shouted immediately: "Dong'er!"

In the next instant, Ye Tian swapped souls with Dong'er. He glanced back quickly, instantly perceiving the trajectory of the companion and the dozen or so stones whistling toward them.

Ye Tian leveraged his momentum to leap onto a nearby wall, curling his body in mid-air as several pebbles whistled past his frame.

The moment the stones flew by, Ye Tian straightened his body, his feet landing perfectly against the wall. With a powerful push, he launched himself directly into the arms of Skinny Monkey's companion.

"Dong'er, close your eyes, don't look!"

As Ye Tian warned Dong'er, he quietly reversed the grip on the dagger in his hand.

Though it seemed like a long time had passed, it had actually been less than a single breath. Skinny Monkey instantly lost track of Dong'er, leaving him unable to fire his slingshot.

His companion had also never expected that Dong'er, who had been exhausted from fleeing, would turn around and pounce on him.

Ye Tian slammed into the chest of Skinny Monkey's companion, driving his gripped dagger into the man's left breast before twisting the blade.

A faint, soft thud sounded, and the man's consciousness vanished instantly.

Ye Tian caught the short dagger slipping from the man's hand, ducked under his arm, and charged toward the final Skinny Monkey.

Seeing his companion collapse to the ground, Skinny Monkey's hands began to tremble, and the stones he fired lacked their usual accuracy.

Ye Tian did not dodge or weave; the dagger danced in his hand, perfectly deflecting every incoming stone.

This kid isn't right!

Her eyes look at me as if I'm already a corpse!

I can't beat her here, I have to run!

Just as Skinny Monkey ran a few meters away, a dagger chased him down, burying itself deep into his left leg.

Skinny Monkey fell to the ground, looking up at the approaching Dong'er to beg for mercy.

"He made me do it! Spare me, I'll never dare to do it again!"

"You aren't afraid; you just know you're about to die."

Ye Tian slashed across Skinny Monkey's throat without a moment's hesitation, gathered the belongings from both men, and quickly departed the scene.