Brother Tianming~

Ye Tianming helped her up, then picked up the little cloth bundle from the ground, dusted it off, and handed it to her.

The girl took the bundle and held it tight against her chest, her head lowered, saying nothing.

"What's your name?" Ye Tianming asked softly.

The girl pressed her lips together. A long while passed before she spoke in a small voice.

"Dai... Dai Yutong."

Ye Tianming sighed inwardly. So she wasn't the one after all?

But his thoughts raced. He needed to find Huo Yuhao.

He couldn't let Huo Yuhao suffer the same terrible bullying he had endured in the story Ye Tianming knew from his previous life.

After all, Huo Yuhao had been one of Ye Tianming's favorite anime characters in his previous life.

With that in mind, Ye Tianming immediately asked the girl before him.

"Do you know Huo Yuhao? No, uh, I mean Dai Yuhao."

The girl looked up, confusion filling her eyes, then slowly shook her head.

"No... There's no one called Huo Yuhao or Dai Yuhao in the White Tiger Duke's Mansion."

Ye Tianming frowned. There was no one named Huo Yuhao or Dai Yuhao in the White Tiger Duke's Mansion?

Ye Tianming persisted and continued asking.

"Then do you know Huo Yun'er?"

Dai Yutong visibly froze at those words, then stammered out a reply.

"Huo... Huo Yun'er is my mother."

The answer struck Ye Tianming like a bolt of lightning.

Huo Yun'er was this girl's mother?

That couldn't be right. As he remembered it, hadn't Huo Yun'er had only one son, Huo Yuhao?

Wait...

Dai Yutong, Dai Yuhao...

Could Huo Yuhao be a girl in this Douluo World he had crossed into?

Ye Tianming hurriedly took a deep breath and calmed his rattled nerves.

Ye Tianming looked into Dai Yutong's eyes and, for a moment, couldn't speak.

So in this world, Huo Yuhao had become a girl?

And her name was Dai Yutong? A girl version of Huo Yuhao?

Ye Tianming glanced at the girl's eyes again. They were still brimming with tears.

Teardrops clung to her long lashes, as though they might fall at any moment.

Huo Yuhao from the original story—enduring, extreme, starved for love, and destined to become the God of Emotion—

Had become the five-year-old girl before him, skinny as a bean sprout, shoved into a corner yet clutching the money for her mother's medicine with all her might?

The chubby boy, ignored all this time, saw the two staring at each other and shouted angrily.

"Hey! Who are you?"

"That bastard belongs to our Duke's Mansion! Mind your own business!"

"She's not a bastard."

Ye Tianming stood and turned toward the chubby boy leading the others. His voice wasn't loud, but when his gaze turned cold, the boy shivered despite himself.

"D-do you know who I am?"

Ye Tianming didn't move from where he stood. He merely raised a hand, and Soul Power began to surge in his palm.

He unleashed the full pressure of his Innate Full Soul Power. He had no Soul Ring, but the full Soul Power he possessed at six years old was enough to make these brats, who had yet to awaken their Martial Souls, go weak at the knees.

"Get lost!"

Ye Tianming spoke only those two icy words.

The chubby boy's face went pale, and he dropped to the ground with a thud. The other two boys scrambled backward in fright.

Ye Tianming looked at the three of them. One glimpse of his cold stare sent them fleeing on hands and knees.

They didn't even have time to throw out a threat.

The courtyard fell quiet.

Ye Tianming turned around and saw Dai Yutong still standing there, holding the cloth bundle in her arms and looking up at him.

The tears in her eyes finally spilled over, sliding down her cheeks to her chin before dripping onto her clothes.

"Why... why did you help me?"

Dai Yutong's voice was still trembling as she spoke.

Ye Tianming slowly crouched down and looked at the little girl before him, skinny as a bean sprout.

After a moment's thought, he took a piece of Osmanthus Cake from his robes—the one he'd casually picked up earlier—and offered it to her.

"Because they were bullying you."

Dai Yutong looked at the Osmanthus Cake, then at Ye Tianming, but in the end still didn't dare take it.

Seeing this, Ye Tianming simply shoved the Osmanthus Cake into her hand.

"Go on. It's pretty good."

Dai Yutong's fingers were still trembling slightly as she picked up the Osmanthus Cake.

She lowered her head and took a tiny bite. Her eyes suddenly lit up.

Watching the little bean sprout nibble at the Osmanthus Cake, Ye Tianming suddenly felt as though someone had shot an arrow straight into his heart.

So... so cute.

In his previous life, Ye Tianming had read countless Douluo fanfictions and knew that gender-swapped Huo Yuhao was one of the most popular female protagonist setups in fan circles.

She'd grown up starved for love, with no confidence in herself, and was easy to win over. Treat her well, and she'd be devoted to you, heart and soul.

But those had only been words on a page. Right now, a real five-year-old girl stood in front of him.

A girl as skinny as a bean sprout.

A girl whose eyes shone as she ate Osmanthus Cake.

"Your name's Yutong, right?" Ye Tianming asked softly.

Dai Yutong nodded. With Osmanthus Cake still in her mouth, she gave a muffled "Mm."

"I'm Ye Tianming. If anyone bullies you again, come find me."

Dai Yutong looked up at Ye Tianming. The tears in her eyes hadn't dried, but her gaze had brightened.

She opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something. In the end, she only ventured a quiet call.

"Brother... Brother Tianming."

"Yes!"

Ye Tianming smiled and nodded. That one little call went straight to the softest part of his heart.

That night, Ye Tianming lay on the bed in his room, staring at the ceiling beams for a long time.

He ran through the original story's timeline in his head. Huo Yuhao awakened his Martial Soul at six, lost his mother to illness around eleven, and finally ran away from home.

After that came the Star Dou Great Forest, the hunt for a Soul Ring, and his meeting with Brother Sky Dream.

There was one year left before Huo Yuhao—no, Yutong—awakened her Martial Soul, and five or six years before her mother died.

Five or six years was neither long nor short. When Ye Tianming had read about Huo Yuhao's suffering in his previous life, he'd thought it was just what the plot required.

But now that child lived in the same mansion as him. She didn't have enough to eat or warm clothes to wear, and her mother was ill.

Ye Tianming felt his conscience. He couldn't pretend he hadn't seen it.

Early the next morning, Ye Tianming made up an excuse and wandered around the mansion.

He didn't go straight to the Side Courtyard. Instead, he lingered near the kitchen and struck up a conversation with Aunt Zhang, who oversaw it.

Aunt Zhang had worked in the mansion for years. She managed meals for everyone from top to bottom and knew more of its goings-on than anyone.

Ye Tianming offered a few polite words, then slipped her a Gold Soul Coin. A smile instantly spread across Aunt Zhang's face.

"Young Master Ye, ask me anything!"

Ye Tianming put on an air of indifference and asked casually.