Brother and sister

After leaving the classroom, Chu Mu walked out through the orphanage gates and saw a small figure curled up on the steps, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees as though trying to ward off the cold.

"The ground's freezing. Get up." Chu Mu took Xiao Bu by the hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Mu, you're out!" Xiao Bu looked at Chu Mu in delight, then glanced toward the classroom. "Teacher Natasha didn't give you a hard time, did she?"

"Of course not. Teacher Natasha's a wonderful person!" Chu Mu praised her sincerely.

"But you called her a demon queen earlier..." Xiao Bu blinked.

"Did I? Don't make things up." Chu Mu deftly changed the subject. "Never mind that. Look what I've got!"

Chu Mu brought out the bread he had hidden behind his back.

Unlike the black bread mixed with bran found in the Underworld, the bread Natasha had given him was the exceedingly rare white kind!

Even through the greaseproof paper bag, they could smell the sweet fragrance of butter and feel how soft the bread was!

"Teacher gave it to me. I've already had some, so the rest is yours." As Chu Mu spoke, he discreetly swallowed.

Of course, he hadn't eaten any, but his little sister needed that nourishment more than he did.

Xiao Bu was still young and had a delicate stomach. Eating more of this refined bread would be better for her health.

As for him, there was nothing wrong with eating something coarser.

"Mu, have you really had some already?" Xiao Bu asked quietly.

"Of course. Teacher gave me a huge piece. I wasn't planning to leave any for anyone else-you know what a famously selfish brother you've got. But I just couldn't finish it, so this is what's left." Chu Mu even let out a satisfied burp.

But Xiao Bu still hesitated and didn't take the bread.

"Mu, I can't take it..."

So Chu Mu grabbed her hand and pressed the bread into her arms.

"Just take it when I tell you to. You're going on and on like some big shot giving a speech. Planning to become the Supreme Guardian someday?"

Then he continued with a threat.

"I'm staying right here to watch you. If you don't finish it in front of me, you won't have me as your brother anymore."

Sure enough, those words instantly robbed Xiao Bu of the courage to resist.

She was afraid of losing her brother, the person who treated her better than anyone else in the orphanage!

"Mu, why are you so good to me?" Xiao Bu's voice caught.

"What a silly question. You're my only little sister, aren't you? Who else would I have?"

Chu Mu said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

That tone was deeply reassuring.

Chu Mu glanced around and, once he was sure no one was there, urged her on.

"Hurry up and eat. Finish it here. If anyone sees it later, they'll come and snatch it."

His words reminded Xiao Bu of the past, sending another pang through her heart.

She and Chu Mu had arrived at the orphanage at the same time. He had been four, and she had been three.

Two little children who still spoke in babyish voices had become brother and sister in an unfamiliar place.

Children from the town outside who had parents often came to play at the orphanage and bullied the younger newcomers.

Back then, Xiao Bu had been frail and thin, with a head of exceptionally rare silver hair. They mocked her as an old granny and shunned her at every turn.

The toys she liked were always snatched away. Sometimes, she couldn't even hold on to the bread in her hands, leaving her hungry and unsure where her next meal would come from.

When Chu Mu discovered what was happening, he immediately went to fight the children bullying Xiao Bu.

But with the difference in their ages, how could someone his size possibly win?

There was no wish-fulfillment story where an enraged brother left a million bodies in his wake. He simply got beaten badly, again and again.

They even lost interest in bullying Xiao Bu and concentrated on Chu Mu instead, turning up every day to beat him.

Back then, Xiao Bu had cried and begged Chu Mu not to go outside, but he hadn't budged.

Silly girl. If they don't beat me, they'll go back to bullying you.

Then, one day when they came looking for him again, he hid a sharpened pencil in his sleeve and drove it hard into one of their thighs.

That little tyrant of Rivet Town screamed like a pig being slaughtered.

Once blood was drawn, the fight crossed a line.

The gang clearly meant to beat him to death, but Chu Mu fought as though possessed. When the pencil broke, he used his teeth. A young child's teeth were fragile to begin with, and he broke more than half of his biting them. Blood seeped through his mouth, and no one could tell how much was his and how much belonged to the others. He looked like a demon!

The children were terrified by his utter disregard for his own life. In the end, they scattered, running home in tears to their mothers and fathers.

The incident even reached the mayor of Rivet Town. His son was the chubby boy who had been stabbed with the pencil. He went straight to the orphanage director and demanded that Chu Mu be expelled!

But the old director refused. After all, the boy was so young and had no parents. How would he survive without the orphanage's protection?

When the old director refused, the mayor didn't let the matter drop. Instead, he spread the story throughout the Underworld.

Everyone knew the orphanage had a bloodthirsty mad dog who bit anyone he saw. No one wanted to adopt that child.

At the orphanage, the best time for a child to be adopted was before the age of six.

Older children had a much harder time fitting into a new family.

Chu Mu was already six and a half, a little past that age. With his looks and quick wits, his sound limbs and good health, he should have had no trouble finding someone to adopt him.

Although the orphanage would raise him to adulthood, the difficulties faced by children with parents and those without were worlds apart once they grew up.

In Belobog's Underworld, anyone without parents whose connections could secure them a job had no choice but to take the worst-paid work or become a vagrant!

That incident had affected Chu Mu far too deeply.

For Xiao Bu, it was a burden she could never get past. Her own helplessness had ruined her brother's chances.

If only she had hidden things better back then and hadn't told him what had happened, he would surely be sitting beside a great warm stove in a new home now, eating soft, sweet food and living happily.

Xiao Bu took small bites of the bread in her hands. Tears slid down her cheeks and soaked into it, adding a faint salty taste.

The bread was delicious, perhaps the best she had ever eaten.

But why did her heart keep aching?

Chu Mu crouched beside her, watching her eat the bread bite by bite. Acid rose in his empty stomach, burning painfully.

Yet he never asked for a taste, even though he was the one who had brought it.

When Xiao Bu finally finished, he stood as though he had been granted a reprieve and smiled with relief.

"Good. A little more food, and your complexion already looks much better. You're just too skinny. If you were nice and plump, someone would've adopted you ages ago."

"I don't want to be adopted. I want to stay here with you forever." Xiao Bu looked at Chu Mu, her eyes reddening as tears welled up.

"What nonsense are you talking?" Chu Mu reached out to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes and sighed. "We'll grow up eventually. We can't stay in the orphanage our whole lives."

Seeing the bewilderment in Xiao Bu's eyes, Chu Mu shook his head and changed the subject.

"Right, I need a favor. I've got something to do this afternoon, so I won't be going to class. If Teacher asks, tell her you haven't seen me and don't know where I am."

"Mu, are you skipping class to go to the mine again?"

"Shh! I told you to keep it secret!"

"But the mine is dangerous..."

"Not at all. There are so many people there. How could it be dangerous?" Chu Mu smiled. "Stop worrying. I'm off. Remember what I told you."

"Okay. Make sure you come back early, Mu. I'll be waiting for you!"

"Don't worry. I'll definitely be back before six!"