Chapter 548: A Lucky Charm

"Tell me more." Zhu seemed very curious about the child's circumstances.

"My name is Huai Geng. When I was very young, about thirteen years ago, a few outsiders came to the village to search for my father. They had learned of the mysterious beast that lived around the village, and they threatened to kill everyone in the village if he didn't lead them to the beast. They were very strong, and my father was no match for them. He had no choice but to follow suit."

"Thirteen years ago?!" Zhu shouted. "How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen."

"You're seventeen?" Zhu looked him up and down. Seventeen, truly? He hardly looked anything more than a child. Perhaps his life in the village was hard, and he wasn't able to eat enough.

Huai Geng looked down, aggrieved. "Ever since my father left, he never returned. Everyone said that my father ran off because he was tired of his family, and they laughed at me for being fatherless."

Zhu patted Huai Geng on the shoulder. "It must hurt, doesn't it? Don't worry, my father left me as well. I fully understand your loneliness."

Huai Geng raised his head in shock. "You, too?"

As though he had just found a companion, Huai Geng's eyes lit up brightly.

Zhu patted her chest and announced proudly, "But I'm even luckier. After my father died, my mother also perished a short while later because of her broken heart. I was sent to live with my uncle, a deplorable human, and subsequently became the sacrifice to a sea god."

Zhang Lie sighed. "And just what part of that was lucky?"

Despite his initial desire to be rid of her, he looked at her with no small amount of pity.

What was most unlucky about her wasn't the depressing and upsetting events she had to go through, it was the fact that she didn't have the time to feel depressed or upset about what had happened.

Huai Geng glanced at her with compassion. At the very least, he still had his mother.

Zhu frowned at the twin gazes directed his way. "What are all of you looking at me like that for? I'm living an excellent life—this mister's going to take care of me, and we're traveling the realm! I'm finally going to be able to see sights that I've never been able to see before, oceans and seas that I've never explored—I'm finally understanding why my father loved adventure, because this world is truly glorious."

Zhu's eyes shone like stars, like precious gems, innocent and pure. Her excitement was contagious.

Zhang Lie glanced up at the sky. He had barely done anything...

"Is it really so exciting?" Huai Geng asked. "Why don't you come home with me? It's the first time I'm meeting people who are willing to believe me, and I'd like to be a good host."

Zhang Lie shook his head. "We don't have much time. We came here in search of that lifeform, so please tell us what you know."

Although Zhu might have been happy to find a friend of around the same age as her, they wouldn't be sticking around the village for long. If he and Zhu were to become friends, it would only make both of them sad when Zhang Lie had to depart.

Huai Geng shook his head. "I don't know where the lifeform is, either."

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

If he did, he wouldn't have had to suffer being called a liar for so long, after all.

Zhang Lie replied, "Think carefully. In which direction were your father and those mysterious figures headed?"

Although Huai Geng had been very young, the events of that day had been so memorable to him that they had all been ingrained in his memory.

After thinking for a moment, Huai Geng said, "If I'm not wrong, they headed toward the direction of the nearby cave. My father also told me before that the lifeform was in that direction."

Zhu replied, "We're not familiar with the surroundings."

"In that case, let me bring you over." Zhu was the first person to have believed him, and Huai Geng was already treating her like a friend. That he would help Zhang Lie out was solely a courtesy for her.

Zhang Lie was certain that, if he had come alone, Huai Geng would have all but ignored him. Zhu's age and appearance, along with their shared background, caused him to sympathize with her. If Zhang Lie had asked him for specifics, Huai Geng might have mentioned the cave, but he certainly wouldn't have brought him there.

Zhang Lie had to admit that Zhu seemed to be a lucky charm; with her around, everything became far simpler.

Zhu asked curiously, "Just who were these outsiders who asked your father to be their guide? What did they look like?"

Huai Geng gnashed his teeth. "Some had red skin, others had blue skin. They had horns on their forehead and didn't look like seafarers.

Zhang Lie frowned. "Did they look fierce and carry a scent of blood around them?"

"Right, do you know them?"

"More or less." These were none other than sura!

It looked as though Zhang Lie didn't have as good an understanding of the empire of stars as he had expected. Just a decade before, there were sura interested in peak- or higher-grade lifeforms.

"How curious." According to the autobiography of the monarch of stars, he had given up this search over a century ago. This list of lifeforms had been created then, and it hadn't changed since.

"Or perhaps it wasn't the monarch of stars?" Were there other sura searching for such lifeforms, and for what purpose?

Huai Geng tugged on his shirt. "Do you know what race they are? What they're called?"

Zhang Lie shook his head. "If you want to seek revenge, I advise you to give up. With your strength, they'd pummel you to death."

Huai Geng clenched his fists. "I might be short, but believe me, among those of my generation—"

Zhang Lie suddenly unleashed a tremendous aura, the aura of a scorching sun, as though a disaster-grade lifeform stood before Huai Geng. Huai Geng's eyes rolled back as he fainted to the ground.

Zhu stomped her feet. "Mister, he fainted!"

"Che, he's far too weak!"

Zhang Lie had been trying his best to restrain himself; if he had unleashed his killing intent as well, Zhun Gang might have gone crazy or even died on the spot.

With him unconscious, it would be very difficult for them to find the cave. Zhang Lie retrieved a bit of drinking water from his extra-dimensional storage and splashed it over Huai Geng's head, startling him awake. He glanced to his left and to his right before shuddering as he recalled the events that led to him fainting.

Zhang Lie shook his head in exasperation. "Just how do you expect to seek revenge like this? You can't even survive my aura!"

Huai Geng had grown more than a little scared of Zhang Lie after that experience, and his body trembled upon hearing Zhang Lie's voice.

"I'll grow stronger for sure!" Huai Geng clenched his fists.

"We can talk once you've actually grown stronger." Zhang Lie pointed ahead of him. "Now, lead on!"

Huai Geng asked, "Will you help me become stronger?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't have time." Zhang Lie had no intention of becoming a nanny.

"In that case, when will you have time?"

"Once you've become strong."

Zhu: ...