As Lin Xun arrived at Feiyun Village with the little girl on his back, he saw a group of villagers at the village entrance with anxious expressions.
When they saw Lin Xun return, their faces lit up with joy and they hurried over to welcome him.
Lin Xun then learned from Village Chief Xiao Tianren that the villagers were in a state of terror due to the landslide-like impact from the earthshaking battle that happened dozens of miles away.
Fortunately, it happened far away and didn’t affect Feiyun Village too much.
“What happened there?” asked Xiao Tianren worriedly.
“Chaos among beasts.”
Lin Xun decided to conceal the truth. A battle between two Spirit Sea cultivators was so shocking that he thought it was better to not let the villagers know about it.
While speaking, a thought struck Lin Xun’s mind and he exclaimed, “Village Chief, on my return I saw many beasts dead in the forest. It’s an unexpected harvest.”
Xiao Tianren’s eyes lit up. This was undoubtedly good news! The villagers could fulfil their desire for food if they gathered the beasts’ corpses.
Additionally, their fur and bones could be exchanged for considerable money!Without hesitation, Xiao Tianren hurriedly set off with a dozen strong villagers.
Everyone was so preoccupied that they forgot to ask Lin Xun who was the little girl on his back—
When Lin Xun got home, he carried the little girl to his bed and tucked her in. Then, he prepared a hot towel to clean the dust off her face.
The little girl's smooth, glistening jade-like skin and her stunning yet peaceful face took Lin Xun’s breath away.
‘Her face…is too beautiful!’
She was only five to six years old, but the beauty of her exquisite facial features was so ethereal. Her beauty was like a delicate lotus flower in the misty rain and it outshone everything in the world.
Even Lin Xun, who had a strong mind, couldn’t help feeling astonished. It was only after a good while that he muttered, “She’s so beautiful already, what would she look like when she grows up? She will likely become a peerless beauty…”
The little girl seemed very mysterious and didn’t seem like a resident of the Ziyao Empire.
This was obvious from her incomprehensible language and her animal skin dress.
Most importantly, even if she was only five to six years old, she concealed an extremely powerful force within her young and slim body.
Lin Xun couldn’t forget how the little girl carried him in her arms like a little chick when they were in the forest. At that time, he couldn't even react before he was being dragged away by her.
How could an ordinary little girl do that?
Moreover, although the battle happened abruptly, Lin Xun somehow felt that the brute wasn’t trying to kill him but the little girl!
Why would a Spirit Sea cultivator attack a little girl?
This was another mystery that puzzled Lin Xun.
To sum up, the little girl who was sleeping soundly had many secrets!
“Never mind. I shouldn’t think about it too much since it has nothing to do with me.”
Lin Xun shook his head, turned around and headed into the kitchen.
……
The little girl had a dream.
In her dream, she was frantically running amidst earth-shattering battle cries and howls of pain.
Her heart was filled with grief, indignation, helplessness and panic.
She didn’t know where she was running but she knew that death would take her away if she stopped.
After fleeing in panic for an unknown period of time, the girl sensed something and suddenly turned her head. She saw a scene that almost made her collapse.
A black bear over tens of feet tall suddenly dropped to the ground, and opposite the bear stood a burly man emitting golden light all over his body.
Why?
Why did that happen?
An indescribable pain surged in the little girl’s heart and made her wail in grief.
However, she felt a hand wipe her tears, and the warmth of that hand, which felt like her mother’s embrace, calmed her terrifying and sad feelings.
She wanted to turn her head to see who it was.
But at this time, she woke from her dream.
The little girl opened her eyes and saw a handsome face and a pair of bright eyes filled with empathy and warmth.
She remembered the face and the scent of the person because it had made her spirit feel happy and comfortable.
On the day she killed the lava wolf, she had smelled that scent, but not as clearly as she did now.
“You’re awake.”
Lin Xun couldn’t help smiling when he saw the little girl had awakened. He picked up the bowl of aeth grain and urged, “You should eat something first.”
The little girl stared blankly at Lin Xun and then at the steaming-hot and fragrant bowl in his hands. She suddenly felt very hungry.
She got up and slurped down the bowl of aeth grains. In the blink of an eye, it had disappeared into her mouth.
The little girl raised her head, staring at Lin Xun with her bright, jet-black crescent-shaped eyes.
“More?” Lin Xun was a little taken aback, but he then scooped another bowl for her.
The little girl quickly finished another bowl like a whirlwind.
Lin Xun’s eyes widened. The little girl is so small but she has such a huge appetite.
But he was glad to see her eating since it indicated that her condition wasn’t serious.
Lin Xun brought over the entire pot and the smile on his lips slowly froze as he watched the little girl finish one bowl after another. She eats so well.
It didn’t take long for her to devour the entire pot of aeth grains. The little girl licked her lips in satisfaction and babbled something at Lin Xun.
Unable to understand, Lin Xun simply stared at the beautiful little foodie to figure out what she wanted to say from her expression.
“Rest well. You don’t need to thank me.”
Lin Xun stacked the dishes and walked out of the house. He gazed at the twilight sky and felt a little worried and upset. Who are the little girl’s parents? How could they be so cruel to abandon her in the forest?
If she stays with me forever, I definitely won’t have enough food to eat—
However, Xiao Tianren soon brought good news to Lin Xun.
Just as night was about to fall, Xiao Tianren and the villagers finally returned with sacks of beasts!
Among them were snow spotted leopards, vined pythons, blood-thorned boars...and even a rare iron-beaked mountain pheasant!
A group of strong villagers, who were drenched in sweat, brought over dozens of beast bodies to Lin Xun’s courtyard.
Xiao Tianren was high-spirited and his excitement was evident in his voice. Before Lin Xun asked, he motioned enthusiastically. “Take what you need. We will make another trip before it gets dark. We unexpectedly picked up so much this time. Thank you, heavens!”
Before Lin Xun could say anything, Xiao Tianren happily left with the others. Seeing them rolling up their sleeves, Lin Xun knew they intended to go all out.
Lin Xun dumbly rushed to the door and saw not only Xiao Tianren and the other strong villagers, but also the women and children of the village. They all lifted torches and left the village together in a mighty manner
If Lin Xun didn’t need to take care of the little girl, he would have followed them.
Lin Xun returned to his courtyard and was overjoyed to see the pile of beasts that had died in this unexpected disaster. He wouldn’t have to worry about food anymore!
……
In the next few days, the villagers constantly traveled back and forth between the ancient forest in the mountains and Feiyun Village like they were celebrating a festival. They brought back a lot of prey.
However, the majority of their haul were wild beasts and fierce beasts. There were rarely any savage beasts.
Even so, the beast corpses piled up like a mountain in Lin Xun’s courtyard. It was a rather spectacular sight.
Lin Xun had no use for the wild beasts and fierce beasts, so Xiao Tianren distributed them to other households in the village.
Xiao Tianren and the villagers learnt about the little girl living in Lin Xun’s house. They didn’t say anything but every villager was stunned when they saw her beautifully perfect face.
Xiao Tianren was no exception.
As for the little kids, they went cross eyed when they saw the little girl. They looked silly but extremely funny. They originally planned to play with her, but they all chickened out as though they feared to contaminate her beauty.
Lin Xun found their actions very funny, but his head ached a little. Sometimes it is very hard to approach someone too beautiful.
In the end, Lin Xun asked Aunt Qiao who lived in the village to help create a hooded animal skin cloak for the little girl to cover her flawless face. He felt a lot more at ease after that.
The only thing that puzzled Lin Xun was that the little girl was very withdrawn and she never wanted to socialize with other people except him.
Moreover, Lin Xun noticed that the little girl’s seemingly-calm gaze was always detached and indifferent.
The indifference and detachedness only disappeared when she was facing Lin Xun
Why was that?
Lin Xun didn’t understand.
However, after a few days, Lin Xun finally learnt the little girl's name—
Xia Zhi.
A very unusual and special name.
He knew nothing about her except for her name. But there was nothing he could do about it since they couldn’t communicate.
However, what surprised Lin Xun was that, in just a few days, Xia Zhi had already understood him and even learned to say some simple words and sentences.
Undoubtedly, beneath the little girl’s stunning face was a remarkable intelligence and learning ability, which was by no means inferior to her beauty!
Lin Xun was an orphan, and so he treated Xia Zhi, who he thought was as lonely as him, like a little sister.
Another three days passed.
The villagers went to the ancient forest in the mountains and found that there was no longer any prey to pick up. Their sweeping operation finally ended.
The number of beast corpses piled up in Lin Xun’s house was close to thirty!
Lin Xun worked very hard in those days. He spent almost all his time dissecting the beast corpses because the corpses would rot. The losses would be huge if that were to occur.
Xia Zhi often quietly sat and watched Lin Xun prepare the beast corpses. It was as though her world only consisted of Lin Xun.