Dai Hao

Dai Yutong cried even harder in his arms, as though she meant to cry out every fear and grievance she had suffered these past few days.

Her little hands clutched Ye Tianming's clothes tightly.

Ye Tianming simply held her and patted her back, again and again, without saying a word.

From his experience in his previous life, nothing he said would help right now. What she needed was a hug.

She cried for a long, long time before her sobs gradually quieted to hiccups.

She looked up at Ye Tianming through tear-filled eyes. She had cried until her eyes were swollen and her nose was red.

"Brother Tianming, you... you really won't leave me?"

"Of course I won't."

Ye Tianming wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, his fingertips gently brushing her cheeks.

"I promised you, and I promised your mother."

"Have you forgotten?"

Dai Yutong gazed into Ye Tianming's eyes for a long time. Moonlight filtered through yellowing leaves and fell across his face.

Suddenly, Dai Yutong reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck. Burying her face against it, she spoke softly, her voice still thick with tears.

"Brother Tianming, you're so good to me."

Ye Tianming stiffened for an instant, then gently raised his arms and held her.

Perhaps because boys developed faster, Dai Yutong seemed especially tiny in Ye Tianming's arms.

A long time passed before Dai Yutong's breathing gradually evened out. All that crying had exhausted her.

Then she slowly fell asleep right there in Ye Tianming's arms.

Ye Tianming held her gently, carefully laid her on the bed, and tucked the blanket around her.

Even in her sleep, Dai Yutong clutched the hem of his clothes and refused to let go.

Ye Tianming sat beside the bed and watched the little one sleep. In the moonlight, her eyelashes looked long, and tear tracks still lingered on her face.

Yet the corners of her mouth had lifted slightly, as though she were having a lovely dream.

Ye Tianming reached out and gently wiped the tears from her face, moving so lightly that he wouldn't wake her.

Outside the window, moonlight flowed like water, and autumn insects chirped softly.

Nights in the Side Courtyard were cold, but with the two of them nestled together in this little room, it somehow didn't feel quite so cold.

Ye Tianming remained beside the bed, holding Dai Yutong's little hand, and slowly fell asleep there.

At daybreak, the annoying birdsong outside the window woke Ye Tianming.

He had slept slumped against the bed all night, his right hand still held tightly in Dai Yutong's.

Ye Tianming gently freed his hand and flexed his numb arm. He had already made up his mind.

She would need medicine for a long time, and none of the medicines the doctor had prescribed was cheap. The few Gold Soul Coins he had saved probably wouldn't last six months.

The Side Courtyard needed fixing, too. Winter was almost here, and drafts came through every side of this rundown room. If Huo Yun'er recuperated here, she probably wouldn't last long.

But he was only a six-year-old adopted son. His monthly allotment of Gold Soul Coins was limited, and he had almost no one he could call on.

Only one person could help him get this done.

Dai Hao!

Ye Tianming tucked Dai Yutong's blanket around her, told Huo Yun'er, who had just woken, "I'll be right back," then left the Side Courtyard and headed straight for the study in the front courtyard.

Dai Hao had just returned from the military camp and was reading reports in his study.

When he heard that Ye Tianming had come to see him, he paused in surprise, then had someone show him in.

"Tianming? What brings you here so early?"

Dai Hao set down the military report and looked at the adopted son he had taken in.

The boy had been at the mansion for several months now. He was so composed that he hardly seemed six years old, and he possessed Innate Full Soul Power and that unknown Azure Dragon Martial Soul.

He even grasped his lessons as soon as they were explained. The more Dai Hao saw of him, the more pleased he was.

Ye Tianming bowed first, then got straight to the point.

"Adoptive Father, I'd like to ask you for something."

"Go on."

Ye Tianming raised his head and met Dai Hao's eyes.

"An auntie named Huo lives in the Side Courtyard at the northwest corner of the mansion, along with her five-year-old daughter."

"She's very ill. The doctor says she needs half a month's worth of expensive medicinal herbs to recover. I'd like to ask you to approve the money for them."

Dai Hao froze when he heard that name.

Auntie Huo? Huo Yun'er?

The name was like a key unlocking a corner of his mind he had deliberately avoided. After a moment of silence, he asked in a low voice.

"How do you know them?"

"On my first day here, I saw several children bullying a girl, so I stepped in."

"After that, I visited them often. The girl's name is Dai Yutong. She's very sensible, but her mother is too sick to get out of bed. They didn't even have money to call a doctor."

Dai Hao said nothing. The study was so quiet that they could hear the wind rustling through the branches outside.

Of course he knew Huo Yun'er. Many years ago, while drunk, he had bedded a maidservant. Later, she seemed to have given birth to a daughter.

But he spent most of his years away at war and could count the times he had returned on one hand. He had left everything in the mansion to his wife.

It wasn't that he felt no guilt. He had simply kept deceiving himself with the excuse that military affairs kept him busy.

Eventually, he had almost convinced himself that the woman and child did not exist.

And now a six-year-old adopted son stood before him, laying out the matter he had avoided for years.

At last, Dai Hao asked, his voice a little hoarse.

"How... how ill is she?"

Ye Tianming looked him in the eye and answered, word by word.

"The doctor said her blood and vitality are both depleted, and her spleen and stomach are badly damaged. If treatment is delayed any longer, her life will be in danger."

"Adoptive Father, she has a daughter, too."

Dai Hao stood there in silence for a long time. Then, as if he had made a decision, he said to Ye Tianming.

"Take me to see them."

At those words, a weight finally lifted from Ye Tianming's heart. He knew Dai Hao was not a cold-blooded man. He had simply needed someone to give him a push.

When they reached the Side Courtyard, Dai Yutong was already awake. She was holding a bowl of warm water and helping her mother drink.

Then Dai Yutong saw the tall, armored man following Ye Tianming. Her hand trembled in fright, spilling some of the water from the bowl.

She did not know Dai Hao. Or rather, she had only seen her father a few times from afar and had never spoken a word to him.

Huo Yun'er recognized him, though. She struggled to sit up and bow, but Dai Hao raised a hand to stop her.

"Lie down. Don't move."

Dai Hao looked at the woman on the bed, her face sallow and her body so thin she was almost unrecognizable. Then he looked at the little girl holding the bowl, hiding timidly behind Ye Tianming. Something seemed to lodge in his throat.

After so many years traveling far and wide, he had made it through mountains of blades and seas of blood. Yet now he could not bear to look into the child's eyes.

Those eyes looked too much like his. She was someone he should have protected, yet he had left her in a forgotten corner to fend for herself.

Dai Hao turned to Ye Tianming, a trace of weariness hidden in his voice.

"I'll arrange the medicinal herbs."

(P.S. I'm wondering whether Huo Yuhao should leave the White Tiger Duke's Mansion. The story going forward will definitely be very, very sweet, but would you rather see Huo Yuhao go out into the world on his own or stay at the White Tiger Duke's Mansion?)