Na'er

Although the afternoon sunlight was less fierce than at noon, it still spilled warmly over the roadside.

What truly made Tang Wulin stop was not the sunlight itself, but a flash of silver reflecting beneath it.

A little girl was crouching by the road.

She looked a little younger than Tang Wulin. Her clothes were worn, and her face was dirty; however he looked at her, she seemed like a little beggar stranded on the streets. Yet she had an exceedingly rare head of short silver hair, which naturally took on a faint sheen when the sunlight touched it.

What was truly special, though, was her eyes.

They were enormous, crystal-clear purple eyes, like two amethysts, so pure they scarcely seemed to belong on this noisy street.

Tang Wulin could not explain why he had stopped.

Perhaps her silver hair was too unusual, perhaps her eyes were simply too beautiful, or perhaps it was because, the instant he saw the little girl, that faint, heavy warmth inside him had stirred ever so slightly.

As though something were silently urging him to look at her.

The little girl seemed to sense his gaze as well and slowly raised her head.

Their eyes met.

She did not immediately look away. She merely stared at him, her eyes holding a trace of bewilderment and wariness, like a little beast lost in the world, still unsure whether she should trust anyone.

Tang Wulin was just about to ask, "Why are you here all alone?" when someone nearby approached her first.

They were several young thugs.

They had clearly noticed the little girl too, and every one of them eyed her without the slightest attempt to hide it.

"Well, that's a rare hair color." One of them crouched down and said with a smile, "Little girl, where's your family?"

The little girl lowered her head without speaking and merely shook it gently.

The young men immediately exchanged glances.

"Silver hair, purple eyes..." another murmured. "Someone at the underground black market is bound to like a look like that. We might even get a good price for her."

At those words, Tang Wulin's brows drew together.

Though he was young and did not fully understand what an "underground black market" was, their looks and tones were enough to tell him instinctively that something was wrong.

Those were not the looks people gave another person.

They were more like the looks people gave an object.

The young thug in front had already reached out, seized the little girl's arm, and hauled her up from the ground.

"Come on. I'll take you to get something tasty."

At last, the little girl began to struggle, alarm flooding her large purple eyes.

She said nothing, but her struggles said it all.

The other young men immediately crowded around, blocking the view of passersby. With practiced ease, their leader slung the little girl over his shoulder and turned to leave.

"What are you doing!"

An angry shout in a child's voice suddenly rang out.

The young men all froze. Turning around, they saw a little boy standing beside the road, not even reaching their waists, glaring at them in fury.

The little boy had delicate, lovely features, yet there was not a trace of fear in his large eyes at that moment—only stubborn defiance.

They stared for a moment, then their embarrassment turned to anger.

"Where'd this little brat come from? You dare stick your nose into our business?"

One of the young men at the back cursed and kicked at Tang Wulin.

The kick came fast. Tang Wulin could not dodge in time and was sent tumbling backward, rolling twice before coming to a stop, covered in dust.

His chest hurt a little, and he had scraped his elbow.

Yet almost the very next instant, Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and climbed to his feet.

Before his awakening, that kick would probably have left him lying on the ground for ages, unable to recover. Now, though it hurt, it did not hurt enough to keep him down. Even he had not realized that his body had become slightly different since his awakening.

"You bad people!"

His face flushed with anger, Tang Wulin stumbled forward and once again blocked their path.

The expression of the young thug carrying the little girl turned utterly dark.

They were on a public street, after all, and people nearby had already noticed the commotion. If this went on, it would only bring more trouble.

With a flick of his wrist, a Dagger appeared in his hand, its edge flashing coldly as he pointed it straight at Tang Wulin.

"Get out of the way unless you want to die!"

At that instant, Tang Wulin's heart clenched.

A Dagger.

A real weapon.

He was only six, after all. Even though he had just awakened his martial soul and soul power, he could not possibly be unafraid. Yet when he looked at the silver-haired little girl slung over that shoulder, then at the vicious faces before him, he forced that fear back down.

"Bad people never come to a good end!" he shouted. "Put her down!"

As he spoke, he raised his right hand. Black light flashed, and the little black hammer reappeared in his palm.

Compared with that sharp Dagger, the hammer was truly unremarkable.

It was small, blunt, and pitch-black, even a little shabby. In anyone else's hands, it probably would not have intimidated them at all. But Tang Wulin gripped its handle tightly with both hands, his little face taut, and somehow exuded an air of unyielding defiance.

"I-I'm a student in Red Mountain Academy's soul master class!" His voice was strained, but he still tried to shout as loudly as he could. "I have a martial soul and soul power! If you dare hurt me, neither the Academy nor the Spirit Pagoda will let you get away with it!"

At those words, all the young thugs' expressions changed.

Had he merely been an ordinary child, they might not really have been afraid.

The problem was that this child had already awakened his soul power and officially entered a soul master class. Children like him were registered with both the Academy and the Spirit Pagoda. If anything happened to him, the Federation and the Spirit Pagoda would never brush it aside as they might with an ordinary civilian.

Moreover, quite a few passersby had already seen them. If they truly let things escalate, the consequences would be more than they could bear.

They exchanged glances, their faces grim.

Their leader spat viciously.

"Just my rotten luck!"

In the end, he did not dare attack again. Loosening his hold, he simply lowered the little girl from his shoulder.

The little girl's feet tangled, and she stumbled, about to fall.

Without a thought for anything else, Tang Wulin hurried over and caught her.

"Don't be afraid!"

As he steadied her, he did not forget to turn and glare at the bad men, trying hard to look like a real man who could protect someone.

"Get lost!"

The young thugs' faces were livid. However unwilling they were, they did not dare linger. Seeing the crowd of onlookers growing, they could only turn and run, cursing as they went.

Only after their figures disappeared around the street corner did Tang Wulin finally let out a quiet breath of relief.

Once he relaxed, he realized that his back was soaked with sweat.

His chest still felt a little tight from the kick, and his palms were somewhat numb from gripping the hammer too hard. Deeper inside, that familiar burning sensation quietly rose again from his lower abdomen and palms. Even after he withdrew his martial soul into his body, it lingered for a long time.

But he had no time to think about that. Instead, he lowered his gaze to the silver-haired little girl.

Up close, her purple eyes were even more beautiful, as though they could truly reflect a person's image. Now, however, a thin veil of tears covered them; she had clearly been frightened by what had just happened.

Seeing her like that, Tang Wulin immediately forgot that he himself had been terribly afraid and hurriedly fumbled to comfort her.

"Don't cry, don't cry," he said awkwardly. "I've chased the bad people away. They won't dare come back."

The little girl stared at him without speaking.

When she remained silent, Tang Wulin thought she must have been frightened out of her wits and quickly patted his little chest.

"I'll protect you," he said earnestly. "I'm a man."

Once he said it, even he felt as though he had suddenly become much more dependable.

The little girl looked at him, the tears in her eyes trembling slightly, and finally spoke for the first time.

"Weren't you... afraid just now?"

Tang Wulin paused.

Afraid? Of course I was.

That Dagger had nearly frightened him into a cold sweat.

But after thinking for a moment, he still nodded honestly.

"I was."

The little girl was visibly stunned.

Tang Wulin scratched his head and continued:

"But even if I was afraid, I couldn't let those bad people take you away."

Then he gave her a slightly goofy but utterly sincere smile.

"My name is Tang Wulin," he said. "What's yours?"

The little girl froze for a moment. Only after what seemed like a long while did she finally speak softly.

"My name is... Na'er."