Anyone Who Wants to Hurt My Sister... Must Step Over My Dead Body First

"Come on, Granny, you don't trust me?"

Long Ling patted her chest and said proudly, "Who am I? I'm the best fighter in our tribe! What can a mere beast tide do to me? Who could possibly kill me?"

"Oh, children do say thoughtless things, children do say thoughtless things. Don't talk nonsense. No matter how good you are at fighting, you're still a little girl. Stop running so deep into the forest from now on..."

The old woman wore an unhappy expression, but her eyes were full of concern.

Long Ling stuck out her tongue. "Got it, got it. Granny, your legs aren't good. Go sit down already..."

Chu Zisheng lay on Long Ling's back, watching the scene without saying a word.

This tribe felt like one big family. The atmosphere was quite nice.

And... it seemed that rescuing people was something Long Ling often did.

So when they saw him... no one found it strange.

Long Ling greeted people all along the way. Before long, she carried Chu Zisheng through the tribe and into the innermost house.

Someone sat inside.

He was a middle-aged man. One of his arms had been severed at the shoulder, leaving an empty sleeve dangling at his side. His face was weathered, his aura weak. One look told anyone that he had once suffered grave injuries.

Yet even sitting there, his expression remained resolute, and his bearing had lost none of its majesty.

Long Ling set Chu Zisheng down, darted over in a few quick steps, crouched before the man, and said excitedly:

"Dad! I'm back! Guess what happened to me today! Let me tell you..."

She chattered away, recounting everything that had happened from beginning to end.

She deliberately skipped over the life-threatening details to keep him from worrying, only saying that at the most dangerous moment, the wolf pack and the two Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts had somehow run away for no reason.

"Dad, do you think the Azure Hunt Goddess protected me?"

Her father listened with a smile the whole time, but upon hearing that, he did not answer.

He merely raised his head, his gaze passing over Long Ling and landing on the quiet child behind her...

He gave Chu Zisheng a meaningful look.

Then he withdrew his gaze and patted Long Ling on the head.

"Enough. You must be tired after running around all day. Go soak in a medicinal bath and recover properly. I'll have your second aunt bring you some beast milk..."

"Alright!!"

Long Ling did not think much of it. She nodded, then crouched before Chu Zisheng and carefully gave him a few instructions before turning back to look at her father.

"Oh, right, Dad. Help me look after this little guy. He just got here and doesn't know anyone, so he must be really shy."

"Got it. Go on."

Long Ling skipped away.

Her footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

Once that chattering little lark was gone, the room suddenly fell quiet...

"You..."

Supporting himself, the man slowly rose to his feet and walked over to Chu Zisheng.

But the look in his eyes was completely different from when he had looked at his daughter. They were filled with reverence, solemnity, and gratitude.

Even though the other party only looked like an eight-year-old boy.

He still bent deeply at the waist and gave a formal bow.

"Thank you, sir, for saving my daughter's life."

Chu Zisheng looked at him and did not evade it.

He recognized me?

Fair enough.

Other than Long Ling, that silly, busty, empty-headed girl with a kind heart and a screw loose, who had been completely unguarded around him;

Anyone with even a little experience could tell that something was off about what had happened today.

An eight-year-old child had appeared in the Star Dou Forest for no apparent reason, without a single adult by his side.

The wolf king chasing Long Ling had inexplicably had its head explode.

The two Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts had also inexplicably fled.

Did that make any sense?

So it was easy enough to realize something was wrong.

Chu Zisheng shook his head and said flatly:

"You don't need to thank me. The god she believes in saved her."

"You mean the Azure Hunt Goddess?"

Long Ling's father shook his head. "Gods stand high above us. They do not save people."

"And... the tale of the Azure Hunt Goddess has been passed down for who knows how many years. Is she real or not? No one knows, and no one has ever witnessed her divine miracles."

"So-called faith is nothing more than a way to put one's own heart at ease."

"When danger truly comes, you still have to rely on yourself. Gods will not protect you."

Chu Zisheng did not respond.

He looked outside.

In that direction was the room where Long Ling was taking her medicinal bath.

He could faintly hear her cheerful humming.

Then he suddenly recalled what she had said earlier.

"Do you need to get something in return before you believe?"

The god she had believed in all her life had never responded to her.

She would gain nothing from it.

Yet...

She still believed.

Inside the medicinal bathhouse.

"Glug glug—ah~!"

Long Ling soaked in the medicinal bath while gulping down beast milk, letting out contented sounds as she could not help humming softly.

"La la la~~~"

She raised a thumb toward herself and hummed smugly in her heart:

Long Ling, Long Ling, even though you didn't manage to hunt a soul beast and obtain a soul ring today, you saved a little guy and even received a response from the Azure Hunt Goddess. You were amazing today! So amazing!!!

The Azure Hunt Goddess...

She smiled and smiled.

Then suddenly.

As though she had remembered something, her smile gradually stiffened.

A trace of solemnity slowly appeared in her eyes as well...

At the same time.

Several hundred miles away, within a small city.

BOOM—!!!

Thunder roared deafeningly, and in an instant, torrential rain began to pour from the sky.

The rain was especially heavy. Along both sides of the city streets, every household had shut its doors.

Yet two frail children huddled together in a narrow gap between the brick walls of two houses.

Outside the alley entrance.

Several sets of disorderly footsteps rushed past.

"Search! Those two children can't have gone far!"

A hoarse male voice suddenly came from directly above them.

Hu Liena's body instantly tensed, and she instinctively tried to curl herself into an even smaller ball.

Sensing his sister's terror, Xie Yue lowered his head. One hand covered her ears while the other tightly held her icy little hand.

The two immediately held their breath.

But their bodies still trembled uncontrollably from fear.

Under normal circumstances, such movement would have been easy to notice.

But the torrential rain concealed it well.

That man had not imagined that the targets he had been desperately seeking were hiding in the shadows of the gap between two houses, right at his feet.

The footsteps outside lingered for a while.

At last, accompanied by several impatient curses, they gradually faded away and vanished into the depths of the rainy night.

Even after the surroundings had gone completely quiet, Xie Yue did not dare relax, afraid that they might return.

Only late at night, once he was sure they had truly left, did he finally let out a long breath.

The rain had stopped.

He lowered his head and looked at Hu Liena, who had fallen asleep in his arms from exhaustion. He reached out and gently wiped the mud from his sister's face.

Sleep, Nana...

They had been desperately hiding and fleeing this whole time, with no chance to rest at all.

Xie Yue raised his head and looked through the gap between the two walls at the cloud-filled sky. His pale face was full of despair.

They had escaped disaster today.

But what about next time...?

Gods, please... please save my sister...

He prayed to the gods, but only emptiness answered him.

Xie Yue's heart sank bit by bit. He clenched his fists, and the despair and unwillingness in his eyes slowly turned into resolve.

No matter who it is... anyone who wants to hurt my sister... must step over my dead body first!