Chapter 99

Although the little girl was covered in mud, her eyes were like stars in the night sky, bright and pure.

The little girl looked at Shen Lian, timidly saying, "Big brother, are you here to catch Yinyin? Please don't eat me, I'm very dirty."

Shen Lian should have smiled, but he couldn't. The little girl's features were about sixty to seventy percent similar to Shen Ruoxi's, or perhaps even more like his own, with delicate eyebrows and a lively spirit.

He bent down, extended his hand, and the little girl, though very afraid, still grabbed Shen Lian's hand.

Shen Lian spoke in a gentle tone, "Big brother is not a bad person. How did you get here?" His words seemed to have a special charm, or perhaps it was the child's keen intuition, but the little girl put down her guard.

"Uncle Bai brought me here."

"Where is he now?"

"Many bad people were trying to catch Yinyin. Uncle Bai said he would lead them away, but he never came back." After saying this, the little girl pulled on Shen Lian's hand and said in a clear voice, "Big brother, can you go find Uncle Bai?"

Now she knew that Shen Lian was not a bad person who had come to catch her.

Shen Lian gently brushed a strand of hair from the little girl's forehead and sighed imperceptibly.

******

He learned about the little girl's background. When Shen Ruoxi married the Prince of Qinghe as a concubine, the wealthy Shen family in the northwest naturally aligned themselves with the Prince of Qinghe.

This was not the idea of the old patriarch of the Shen family. After Shen Lian left, the old patriarch passed away in a cold winter month. This self-made man, who had amassed a vast fortune, could not resist the ravages of time. No matter how great his achievements in life, he could not take them with him in death.

By the time he died, he must have seen everything clearly.

He was not a good person, as the Shen family's wealth was not entirely clean and free of blood. He was also not a good father, but in his final days, he often visited an inn, sitting in the room where Shen Lian had stayed, and even died there.

Perhaps it was because of Shen Lian, or perhaps it was because of Shen Lian's mother—his long-dead daughter.

Twelve years ago, Shen Ruoxi married the Prince of Qinghe. She did not conceive until seven years later, and died in childbirth. The Prince of Qinghe had only this one daughter, and due to the Shen family's influence, he doted on Shen Ruoxi, as the Shen family was still his financial backing.

Then the Prince of Qinghe rebelled, but was defeated and retreated to Qingzhou. However, the rebel army he led could not be controlled, and before the main force entered Qingzhou, he was beheaded by his subordinates. The Shen family, young and old, did not escape this fate, and the little girl was saved by Bai Yufei.

Bai Yufei was one of the few who knew some of the Shen family's secrets. After all, the little girl was already the last of the Shen family's bloodline, apart from Shen Lian.

Shen Lian learned all this from the severely injured Bai Yufei and also healed his wounds.

Bai Yufei, having found the little girl and Shen Lian, felt relieved. He had no hope of immortality and wanted a peaceful life. He did not stay with Shen Lian but bid farewell and sought a new place to spend his remaining years.

On the night Bai Yufei left, Shen Lian went to take the head of the traitorous general who had sold out his master, and also sent the rebel army to raid the Shen family.

Doing these things did not make Shen Lian feel at ease, but killing more people involved in the matter would not help.

The little girl's name was Ruo Xi, which sounded the same as Shen Ruoxi's name.

Little Ruo Xi did not understand why her big brother called her uncle, so she stubbornly continued to call Shen Lian big brother.

Uncle Bai said that as long as she was with big brother, no bad person would dare to catch her, but she still missed her father, her grandfather, and grandmother.

Uncle Bai also said that big brother was a god, so she asked him to take her to find her father, because they had gone to a very far place, so far that they could never return.

But big brother said he couldn't do it, even though he was a god. Gods could fly like birds and go anywhere.

Little Ruo Xi thought big brother was a liar because he could indeed fly but refused to take her to find her father.

She decided not to talk to him for several days, but she was also afraid that if she ignored him, he would ignore her too.

Big brother had many strange qualities, as she often saw him conjure things out of thin air. He could produce things that he clearly did not have on him, which was even more magical than the tricks she had seen before.

Gradually, she felt that being with big brother was quite nice.

In the past, she could only stay in the prince's palace or her grandfather's house, with few opportunities to see the outside world. She liked magic shows, and her father would find a group of performers to entertain her alone, but she preferred the lively atmosphere of the shows. After her nanny secretly took her out once half a year ago, she fell in love with the outside world, the hustle and bustle.

But after that, she never saw her nanny again and never went out again.

Being with big brother, she could see different people every day, visit many lively places, and play freely.

One day, big brother brought her to the most bustling place in the world, called the Divine Capital.

The Divine Capital was very large, with many people, many fun things, many delicious foods, and many beautiful clothes, but what she liked most was the sugar-coated haws.

Big brother only let her eat one skewer a day.

Big brother brought her to the Divine Capital and settled down, opening a medical clinic on a busy street.

She knew that a medical clinic was a place to treat and save people, but no one came to see big brother. She heard the uncles and aunts around them say that big brother was too young and definitely couldn't treat illnesses.

She was very angry when she heard this because big brother was very capable, and they knew nothing.

Of course, apart from lying about not letting her eat sugar-coated haws, big brother had other things that made her unhappy.

For example, now, big brother wanted her to read and write.

She didn't like reading or writing. Apart from occasionally thinking about her father, she only wanted to eat delicious food and play.

But she was afraid of making big brother angry, even though she had never seen him get angry like her father.

The characters were really easy to remember; she could remember them at a glance and write them out, but big brother always said she wrote them wrong.

Later, big brother didn't let her write other characters, only copying the character '永' (yong), which big brother had written himself.

The paper was filled with the character '永', and then she handed it to big brother.

Shen Lian took it, examined it carefully, and the paper suddenly disappeared.

Little Ruo Xi was no longer surprised by this.

Without praise or criticism, Little Ruo Xi felt a bit disappointed.

Sometimes Shen Lian thought Little Ruo Xi was like her mother, but her features seemed more like his.

Not only did Little Ruo Xi call him big brother, but even outsiders thought they were siblings.

Shen Lian was too lazy to explain, and Little Ruo Xi couldn't correct it, so he just let it be.

He felt guilty, so he would raise this child, even though he had never raised a child before.

PS: Thank you to Quxie Xiaoxiao for the 1888 reward, congratulating the fellow Daoist for becoming the hall master of this book and reaching the 4th place on the fan list. Also, thank you to Xiao Xun, Zao Hua Zhi Zhu, Davidabeideh, Bao NO Xue, and Jing Shi Zhi Huang for your rewards.

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends