A heart-to-heart between brothers, saving Qing Lin and her mother

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were both startled by what they heard.

If they remembered correctly, Xiao Yan was only twelve years old.

A twelve-year-old Da Dou Shi—it was simply unheard of.

Their shock soon gave way to elation. With a peerless genius like Xiao Yan, the Xiao Clan was bound to soar to new heights.

As the brothers caught up, Xiao Yan also told them how the Xiao Clan had been developing.

"Really? Little Yanzi, you really outdid yourself!" Xiao Li clapped in delight after hearing his account.

Their eldest brother, Xiao Ding, nodded too, equally overjoyed.

"Eldest Brother, Second Brother, come back to Wutan City. The clan is doing well now, and we need more hands than ever." In high spirits, Xiao Yan took the opportunity to persuade them.

"Eldest Brother?" Xiao Li turned to Xiao Ding.

His eldest brother had always been the more thoughtful of the two. When it came to major decisions, Xiao Li always listened to him.

After a little thought, Xiao Ding nodded and agreed to return.

With their business settled, the three brothers grew excited, and the two older brothers insisted on dragging Xiao Yan off to celebrate.

Xiao Yan did not spoil their fun. Drinking tea instead of wine, he let loose with his brothers and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Even after several years apart, the bond between the three brothers remained as strong as ever.

They kept going until late into the night before finally retiring to their rooms.

Once Xiao Yan returned to his quarters, he summoned Yao Lao.

"You little brat, what are you calling me out for this late?" Yao Lao stretched, his face weary.

"Teacher, aren't you a soul body? With your current soul strength, do you still need to sleep?" Xiao Yan asked in puzzlement at the sight of him.

Yao Lao rolled his eyes. "What else am I supposed to do if I don't sleep? There's nothing to do anyway. If you don't need anything, I'm going back."

Seeing Yao Lao make to return to the ring, Xiao Yan hurriedly stopped him and said with a smile, "I do, I do! Teacher, this is something big."

That piqued Yao Lao's interest. "What is it? Let your teacher hear it."

"Please use your Soul Perception to help me find a little girl—a hybrid of a human and one of the Snake-People. She has the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils. See whether she's in Stone Desert City right now." Xiao Yan explained his plan.

The girl he wanted to find was naturally Qing Lin. She had yet to join the Desert Iron Mercenary Group, and Xiao Yan was not sure where she was, so he intended to have Yao Lao sweep Stone Desert City with his Soul Perception first.

With Yao Lao's Soul Perception at Spirit Realm Grand Perfection, finding a little girl in the city would be effortless. If Qing Lin really was here, she would not escape his detection.

"The Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils? Those are known as the continent's foremost wondrous eyes!" Yao Lao exclaimed in amazement.

He understood the urgency and immediately unleashed his Soul Perception at full strength, enveloping all of Stone Desert City in a thorough sweep.

Just a few breaths later, Yao Lao opened his eyes.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan hurriedly asked, "How did it go, Teacher? Did you find anything?"

"Kid, we'd better hurry. That girl's mother is in very bad shape..." Yao Lao briefly explained what he had sensed.

"Qing Lin's mother is still alive!" Xiao Yan blurted out in surprise.

In the original novel, Qing Lin's mother had long since passed away. The book never explained exactly when or how she had died.

When Xiao Yan had read the novel, he had thought how pitiful it was for such a young girl to be all alone, with no one to rely on.

Learning that Qing Lin's mother was still alive was an enormous stroke of good fortune for Xiao Yan.

With the power of the Talismans at his disposal, he was not worried about being unable to save her. He could help this poor little girl and gain a future Dou Sheng-level ally in the process. Why wouldn't he?

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Xiao Yan was already racing like lightning in the direction Yao Lao had indicated.

It was a dilapidated mud house on the outermost edge of Stone Desert City. Wind leaked in from every side, and the living conditions could hardly have been worse.

Inside, a pale-faced woman lay on a battered wooden bed.

She was frail and emaciated, her body covered in wounds of every size, and her breathing had grown desperately weak.

Beside the bed, a thin little girl was already drenched in tears.

Her Green Pill Lightning eyes and the faint, tiny scales on her arms made her identity clear—this little girl was Qing Lin.

"Mommy, I don't want you to die..." Qing Lin leaned over the bedside, looking at her dying mother and sobbing her heart out.

"Qing Lin... you must live... live well..." The woman's arm fell limply, and her breath began to fade away.

Qing Lin could only kneel beside the bed and watch helplessly. Apart from crying, there was nothing she could do.

Boom!

With a deafening crash, Xiao Yan smashed straight through the roof, making a spectacular entrance.

He burst into the room and pressed a finger to the woman's forehead, unleashing the full power of the Horse Talisman and the Dog Talisman simultaneously.

A few breaths later, the woman's pale face gradually regained its color, and her breathing slowly returned to normal. Only then did Xiao Yan let out a long sigh of relief and wipe the sweat from his forehead. "Whew, just in time."

When he turned around, he found Qing Lin staring blankly at him.

"Little girl, your mother is all right now," Xiao Yan said gently, smiling as he rubbed her little head.

"I... where am I? Didn't I die?" On the bed, the woman slowly opened her eyes. Feeling her perfectly healthy body, she was utterly bewildered.

"Mommy!" Seeing that her mother had truly awakened, Qing Lin threw herself into her arms.

Watching them, Xiao Yan felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction well up in his heart.

"Qing Lin?" The woman looked at the daughter in her arms, then at Xiao Yan before her, growing more confused by the moment.

"Mommy, this big brother saved you!" Qing Lin pointed at Xiao Yan and spoke happily.

The woman's expression immediately became deeply respectful. She struggled to get out of bed to kowtow to Xiao Yan. "Thank you, benefactor, for saving my life!"

Xiao Yan hurriedly reached out to stop her. "Madam, there's no need for that..."

After some back and forth, Xiao Yan gradually grew acquainted with the mother and daughter and learned how they had ended up in such dire circumstances.

Qing Lin's mother was named Qing Mian. She had become pregnant after being raped by one of the Snake-People and had given birth to Qing Lin.

Because Qing Lin was a human and Snake-People hybrid, the villagers regarded the mother and daughter as ill-omened monsters. They were shunned and driven away wherever they went, and some people even tried to kill them.

Left with no choice, the two had fled, eventually finding their way to Stone Desert City by chance.

After hearing their story, Xiao Yan felt considerable sympathy for their plight. Once he had restored Qing Lin's health, he extended an invitation to them both.

After another round of polite refusals and persuasion, Xiao Yan finally brought the mother and daughter back to the Desert Iron Mercenary Group. He asked his eldest brother to arrange lodgings for them and make sure they were well looked after.

With everything settled, Xiao Yan lay on his bed and began planning his next steps.

Qing Lin is secured. Next, it's time to get that Heavenly Flame.