That evening, after dinner, Huo Yutong followed Lin Xi to his room at the orphanage.
After having Huo Yutong sit on the bed, Lin Xi asked curiously:
"So, what's up? Is something wrong?"
Come to think of it, he and Huo Yutong had known each other for half a month, but this was her first visit to his place.
There was no helping that. Huo Yutong was a girl, and a thorn in the duchess's side at that. If she opened her heart to others too easily, Lin Xi would have found that even more troubling.
Huo Yutong blinked her big eyes and gently shook her head.
"No, nothing's wrong. I just suddenly wanted to see where you lived and get to know you a little better, Brother Lin Xi... is that not okay?"
Lin Xi scratched his head and said with a wry smile:
"It's not that it isn't okay. Actually, if that's all it is, that's a relief. I thought you were too scared to sleep."
"Too scared to sleep?" Huo Yutong's eyes widened in confusion. "Why?"
Lin Xi sighed. "Because we killed those thugs. Seriously, you're a girl, after all. It was already pretty impressive that you didn't throw up or get the runs the first time you saw someone being killed."
"Hm...?"
At his words, Huo Yutong merely tilted her head in confusion.
So that was it. What Brother Lin Xi did was something she was supposed to be scared of.
To her, there had only been a flash of light, and then the nightmare was over. She had felt none of the fear Lin Xi spoke of.
Watching her reaction, Lin Xi suddenly realized something, and his expression grew serious.
He seemed to have gotten something wrong at a crucial point.
He gently held Huo Yutong by the shoulders.
"Yutong, how do you feel about me killing people?"
"How I feel..." Huo Yutong murmured, then answered as though it were only natural, "Grateful, of course. You were willing to go to so much trouble and take such a huge risk for me, Brother Lin Xi. Nothing I could do would be enough to repay you."
"That's not the answer I was looking for..."
Lin Xi couldn't help feeling somewhat drained.
Oh no. It looked like he had been a bad influence.
Although Huo Yuhao in the original story was fundamentally a good kid, he had plenty of black marks for reasons that those who knew, knew.
Among them were the great explosion in Mingdu and killing people during a tournament.
In Lin Xi's view, behind those two incidents lay not only Shrek's inexplicable brainwashing ability, but also a disregard for life itself.
Someone like Mr. Li certainly deserved to die, not because he had courted death, but because he harbored malicious intentions toward Lin Xi and the others.
Lin Xi was no noble soul. He couldn't spare someone who wanted to harm him. In his eyes, that would be irresponsible toward himself and those around him.
That was why he had killed Mr. Li without hesitation after learning his original plans from his own mouth.
But that didn't mean Huo Yutong's reaction was right.
The fundamental reason she cared so little about the deaths of Mr. Li and those thugs was that she didn't understand the weight of life.
A six-year-old child was still far from understanding what death was. If this wasn't corrected in time, her disregard for life might become even worse than in the original story. Lin Xi didn't want Huo Yutong to turn out that way.
Seeing Lin Xi look so dispirited, Huo Yutong asked apprehensively:
"D-did I say something wrong? Brother Lin Xi, p-please don't be angry. I'll change, I promise!"
Lin Xi was her first friend, the first person besides her mother who was willing to help her and smile at her. Every day lately had been so happy that it felt unreal. She didn't want him to dislike her. Just imagining Lin Xi's disappointed expression made her whole chest ache.
Although she didn't know what she had done wrong, she was willing to give way on anything that didn't involve her mother.
"You don't have to be so timid." Lin Xi gave a faint, wry smile and rather roughly ruffled Huo Yutong's hair. "Don't worry. It's fine if you don't understand what the problem is right now. I'll teach you little by little. Nothing matters more than being able to recognize your mistakes and correct them."
He realized he seemed to have underestimated his place in Huo Yutong's heart. One casual remark had frightened her this much. Just how starved for affection had this girl been?
It made it seem as if he were raising a little girl to his liking.
"Phew." Only then did Huo Yutong relax. Lin Xi truly meant too much to her. In her heart, he was second only to Huo Yun'er. She really didn't want to imagine life after Lin Xi abandoned her and left.
Yet as she breathed a sigh of relief, a new question arose in her heart.
No, this question had been there throughout the past half month. She simply hadn't had the courage to ask it.
"...By the way, Brother Lin Xi, why are you so good to me?"
Other children would never have asked such a question. To them, kindness from others was something commonplace.
But Huo Yutong was different. The environment she had grown up in had destined her to be exceptionally sensitive to the kindness and malice of others.
Over the past half month, Lin Xi had not only taught her swordsmanship, how to fight, and principles for conducting herself, but had also often secretly brought food for her family, greatly easing the pressures of daily life on Huo Yun'er.
In her eyes, she was lowborn, her family was poor, and her talent ranked among the very bottom of the entire Soul Master World. Search herself from head to toe, and she couldn't find anything that made her worth Lin Xi treating her so well.
So why, exactly?
"..." Lin Xi fell silent for a moment, then let out a long breath. "That question, huh? Fair enough. You definitely won't feel at ease unless I explain myself. But the truth really isn't anything special. Are you sure you want to hear it?"
"Yes, I do."
Huo Yutong hurriedly sat up straight.
A smile curved Lin Xi's lips as he gave the explanation he had long since prepared:
"With me, perhaps because of my Martial Soul, I have some ability to perceive fate. I can sense the major events in this world ahead of time, more or less. And my Martial Soul told me that you'll become a peerless powerhouse in the future, Yutong."
He had prepared this explanation long ago. After all, the original Huo Yuhao had merely been blindly loyal, not stupid. There was no way he wouldn't notice something amiss with such deliberate and obvious attempts to curry favor.
Not to mention that Lin Xi would have to take Huo Yutong to collect cheats like Tian Meng and the Ice Empress in the future. Explaining how he knew that information would be another problem then.
Since that was the case, he might as well open the skylight and speak frankly. He would tell Huo Yutong everything except the information concerning his transmigrator identity, and let her decide for herself what path to take in the future.
He believed Huo Yutong would make the right choice, not only because of his knowledge of Huo Yuhao, but also because of his observations of Huo Yutong over this time.
"..." Huo Yutong's mouth fell open. "You mean me?"
A peerless powerhouse? Her, with her innate rank-one Soul Power?
"Yes, you." Lin Xi nodded firmly and explained further, "Everything I've done over the past half month has been an investment. I want to help you become powerful, then profit from you in the future-so? Have your illusions about me been shattered?"
"Of course not!" Huo Yutong hurriedly denied it vehemently. "I can feel how good you've been to me, Brother Lin Xi. How could I just decide to be disappointed in you over something so small?"
"Mm, I believe you."
Lin Xi gave her a warm smile.
In the original story, Bei Bei and Tang Ya had merely given Huo Yuhao somewhere to go when he had nowhere else, and received the revival of the Tang Sect in return. Huo Yuhao might have had plenty of black marks in matters great and small, but at least his loyal-dog trait could be trusted somewhat.
If the person he was making a deal with were Vina or someone like her, Lin Xi would never dare lay out all his important information like this. At the very least, he would keep a few cards hidden.
After all, no matter how generously one described him, right now he was merely an ordinary Soul Master who could instantly kill a Soul Ancestor.
At that thought, Lin Xi extended a hand toward Huo Yutong and said with a playful smile:
"Then, now that you know my greatest secret, are you willing to work with me? If you are, I guarantee I'll help you stand at the pinnacle of this continent, and even give you a chance to glimpse the Divine Realm. If you aren't, I won't do anything to you. We'll part on good terms and meet again in the wider world if fate allows."
Without hesitating for even a second, Huo Yutong grasped Lin Xi's hand.
"I am!"
To her, never mind that Lin Xi could help her become one of the strongest people under heaven-even if he were just an ordinary person who knew nothing, as long as he was still willing to be her friend, she wouldn't leave him.
He was her very first friend, after all.
"Very good." Lin Xi smiled in satisfaction. "Then is there anything else you want to ask? Since we're partners now, I promise to tell you everything I know, so long as it's something I can talk about."
"Um, if I can ask anything..." Huo Yutong thought for a moment, then gave a shy smile and asked, "Then... could you tell me about when you were little, Brother Lin Xi?"
"Huh?"
Lin Xi was dumbfounded.
"No, did I not make myself clear? I can see through fate to a certain extent, you know? I can predict major events that are going to happen in the world! And that's what you ask me?"
"W-what's wrong with that?" Huo Yutong pouted in displeasure. "I just want to know more about you, Brother Lin Xi! J-just think of it as, um... right! An assessment of my partner!"
She didn't understand things like the state of the world anyway. Right now, she only wanted to know more about Brother Lin Xi!
"...All right, that works too." Lin Xi sighed helplessly. "I keep my word. Since you asked, I'll tell you about my childhood."
There was a long road ahead, anyway. Sooner or later, he would have to tell Huo Yutong about the events of the main storyline. There was no rush.
Pulling up seedlings to help them grow was never a good thing, no matter the world. Better to take one firm step at a time.
The night grew late, yet the light in Lin Xi's room remained on.
It seemed this night would be a long one.