Be My Big Brother

A sharp pain shot through Xiao Xun'er's clenched neck, and the golden emperor burning heaven flame seed stirred instinctively within her.

She gazed at the fractured light in Xiao Qian's eyes and recalled what her father had said while gently stroking her head before leaving: "There is a hidden safeguard in the Jade Pendant. If he goes berserk... it will be your last means of staying alive."

Hidden within her sleeve, the girl's left hand quietly gathered a wisp of golden flame, but her fingertips trembled slightly.

She forcibly suppressed the warning from her natal flame seed and lifted her young yet resolute face. "You won't."

Her little hands clung tightly to Xiao Qian's arm, and the grip on her throat made speaking difficult.

At just four years old, she seemed as steady as Mount Tai even at this moment of life and death. Xiao Qian's heart jolted, and his gaze instantly grew more appraising.

"Why?" Xiao Qian asked.

"I'm so nice to you. I share all my tasty food and fun toys with you. Why do you still want to kill me?"

The girl spoke with a child's innocence, looking as though she were questioning a playmate who was sulking at her, rather than facing mortal danger.

Is she trying to coax me like some kindergarten kid?

Xiao Qian could not help letting out an incredulous laugh. "Just what I'd expect a little girl to think."

His hand remained tightly clamped around her smooth, tender neck, though his expression eased slightly.

Meeting her eyes, he said softly, "Because I have my pride."

Xiao Xun'er froze as though struck by an immobilizing spell. A haze of bewilderment instantly filled her eyes, and she murmured, "Pride..."

As the young lady of the Gu Clan, she had seen countless rare treasures and profound Dou Techniques. Her horizons and knowledge far surpassed those of other children her age.

Yet she was like a bird lovingly sheltered in a gilded cage, cradled in everyone's palms since childhood. She could not truly grasp that word.

"Do you not want other people to know about our relationship?"

But she soon arrived at her own understanding and hurriedly said, "I've never told anyone. Nobody in the Xiao Clan knows."

"And..." Xiao Xun'er suddenly lifted her exquisite little face and looked at Xiao Qian with utmost seriousness. "I can stop calling you those nicknames. From now on, I'll call you Big Brother. Is that okay?"

That sincere, expectant gaze actually left Xiao Qian dazed for a moment.

Ling Ying's throat bobbed as he swallowed a startled cry, his nails digging deep into his palms.

He wanted to rush forward immediately and rescue Xiao Xun'er.

At the last moment, however, he forcibly restrained himself, not daring to make the slightest rash move.

He knew perfectly well that if Xiao Qian merely possessed Dou Zong strength, he might still risk looking for an opening to save the young lady.

Unfortunately, Xiao Qian was far beyond that.

Before departing, the clan leader had instructed him, "The Ancient Void Dragon Clan is destined to flourish because of this little fellow. With him protecting Xun'er, your task will be much easier."

Xiao Qian was a young dragon whom the clan leader believed had the potential to cultivate to the continent's pinnacle. His depths were unfathomable.

Ling Ying understood the grave consequences that acting rashly in this situation could bring, and they were more than he could bear.

He could only watch the situation unfold anxiously, silently praying that Xiao Qian would not hurt the young lady as beads of sweat rolled endlessly down his forehead.

"You... want to be my little sister?"

Xiao Qian's gaze instantly became a deep whirlpool, its complexity impossible to fathom.

His thoughts drifted far away, and a familiar yet unfamiliar figure rose unbidden in his mind. My little sister, where on earth are you now...?

He had left the Ancient Void Dragon Clan not merely because three Dragon Islands were hunting him at once, but also for another important reason: his little sister.

And the words of the little girl before him plunged him into thought.

When he had devoured the Dragon Phoenix Origin all those years ago, that mournful cry piercing the starry sky had seared a scar into his soul. Amid his daze, the words "When love is severed, the Dao is born" had seemed to emerge. Thinking back now, they seemed faintly connected to today's strange change.

"Yes. I really want a big brother."

Xiao Xun'er had her own little wishes tucked away in her head.

In her simple understanding, a big brother was someone who would protect her, pamper her, and play with her.

Xiao Qian's fingertips unconsciously rubbed the half-piece of dragon-scale Jade Pendant at his waist. It was the reverse scale his little sister had shed when she hatched.

If that little girl is still alive, she should have taken on a form just as delicately sculpted as this...

"Lift the suppression on me, and I'll agree," Xiao Qian said evenly, his gaze sharpening again.

Xiao Xun'er gently bit her lower lip with her cherry-like little mouth, and a flicker of conflict passed through her eyes.

Xiao Qian's heart, which had softened slightly with warmth, seemed to have been thrown into an ice cellar, instantly coated in thick frost once more.

"I'm sorry. I can't..."

The girl's guilt-laden words did not move Xiao Qian. His gaze only grew more resolute.

His hand slowly tightened, utterly disregarding Ling Ying, who stood beside them in absolute terror.

"Then let's go to hell together!"

Xiao Xun'er's fear surged like a flood bursting through a dam, utterly sweeping away her earlier composure.

"Daddy will kill you-"

She screamed hoarsely.

Only now did she fully reveal the terror buried deep within her heart.

She was still only a little girl. Faced with this threat to her life, she could no longer conceal her fear and helplessness.

Xiao Qian's movements halted, with no trace of his earlier bluster remaining.

Xiao Xun'er's little face flushed crimson as she struggled to speak, every word seeming to drain all her strength. "This suppression was placed on you by the golden emperor burning heaven flame. Only its main flame can lift it, and all I have inside me is its child flame."

"But don't worry!" Seeing Xiao Qian's expression change, she hurried on. "Once I accept you as my big brother, I'll lift your suppression as soon as I have the ability!"

Xiao Qian's gaze shifted slightly. "When will you have that ability?"

"Daddy said I have the purest fire-attribute spirit constitution, so I can absorb and subdue the golden emperor burning heaven flame before I'm thirty." Seeing Xiao Qian's brows crease, Xiao Xun'er hastily raised her little palm and swore an oath. "Twenty-five! I promise I'll do it before I'm twenty-five!"

Xiao Qian's hand remained clasped around her neck, but he felt a faint trembling against his palm.

He lowered his eyes and saw the girl's tears falling one by one onto the back of his hand.

His mind worked like a machine running at full speed, thoughts flashing through it like lightning.

The golden emperor burning heaven flame ranked fourth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. It was indeed not something a little girl could easily subdue.

But is that really the only path available?

Third place, the purifying lotus demon flame!

Second place, the nihility devouring flame!

If he could obtain or borrow their power, removing this suppression might not be impossible.

Moreover, he vaguely recalled from his past-life memories that the nihility devouring flame was in the Soul Clan, whose standing rivaled the Gu Clan's. Could he strike a deal with them...?

"Twenty-five..."

He turned the number over in his mouth, his throat abruptly tightening. "If you break your promise, I'll burn the Gu Clan down with my own hands one day."

"I won't, I won't. I'll definitely keep my promise. Please believe me, okay?" Xiao Xun'er gently tugged at Xiao Qian's sleeve, looking like a pitiful little kitten.

"Daddy never meant to threaten you. He only hoped you could stay with me as I grew up and become my helper."

"What a joke. Do you know how many years I've lived? Stay with you as you grow up?" Xiao Qian snorted coldly, his face full of disdain.

Xiao Xun'er sneaked a glance at him and parted her little lips, but did not say what was on her mind.

"We'll leave it at that for now."

Having made up his mind, Xiao Qian finally descended slowly to the ground with Xiao Xun'er.

Ling Ying landed with them and hurriedly supported the girl, whose whole body had gone weak.

Only then did he realize that, at some point, cold sweat had drenched his entire body and soaked his clothes.

The clan leader's arrangement really has put us through misery. Did he not foresee what happened today? Or perhaps...

He glanced at Xiao Xun'er out of the corner of his eye.

She seemed to have instantly forgotten the heart-stopping events of a moment ago and nestled happily beside Xiao Qian. "Big Brother, Big Brother..."

Ling Ying suddenly had a strange intuition.

Could it be that the clan leader trusted the young lady to handle this herself?

After all, she was the esteemed young lady of the Gu Clan, possessing a pure fire-attribute constitution rarely seen even in thousands of years. Her talent was so extraordinary that the entire clan had cherished her as a treasure from birth.

With that as a foundation, it hardly seemed impossible for her to possess an exceptionally clever mind as well.

What a monstrous prodigy...

"You have a strange sort of trust in me?" Xiao Qian probed.

Like an adorable koala, Xiao Xun'er hugged his arm tightly, a radiant smile blooming on her upturned little face. "That's a girl's intuition! I really like you!"

"Like me?" Xiao Qian's face twitched, disbelief written all over it. "Utterly baffling."

"Because you're really good-looking. Hehe."

The little girl's innocent words darkened Xiao Qian's expression.

"Shallow little girl!"

He shook his arm free and was about to leave when a sudden change occurred.

One of Xiao Xun'er's fingers was still touching his forehead. Just as she was about to withdraw it, an utterly unexpected change took place.

Crack, crack, crack...

An illusory golden chain suddenly emerged from the girl's chest. Radiating a mysterious and powerful aura, it circled her tiny body once as though alive.

Then it shot out from her fingertip, moving as fast as lightning. It swiftly wound around Xiao Qian, flew straight toward his chest, and vanished into it in an instant.

"Urgh..."

As panic filled Xiao Xun'er's face, Xiao Qian suddenly dropped to one knee, clutching his chest with a muffled groan of pain.

At that moment, he abruptly lost all sense of his Ancient Void Dragon magic core. It felt as though he had lost a part of his body, leaving him unbearably empty and distressed.

In its place, dantians appeared within him, just like those in a human body.

One, two, three... nine in all!