A tall man with short chestnut hair slowly walked down the slope.
“I sensed a familiar aura, so I came to take a look…”
He stopped on the slope, his gaze landing on Jin, a slight smile lifting his lips.
“We meet again, sir.”
“Jin recognized the newcomer.”
He froze for a moment, then his shoulders slowly relaxed.
The wariness in his molten gold vertical pupils faded, and his tone, rare for him, carried a hint of excitement.
“Brother He Lian, long time no see.”
“He Lian approached, patting him on the shoulder like an old friend’s wordless greeting.”
“Last time we sparred, your fistwork was impetuous…”
His gaze passed over Jin’s shoulder and landed on Xue Yin.
“Was it because of this young lady?”
“Jin turned slightly to follow his gaze, then spoke.”
“Brother He Lian, this is Xueyin Yueling, my teacher.”
“Xue Yin also met He Lian’s gaze, her voice clear and cool but not lacking in courtesy.”
Last time in the blizzard, thanks to Mister He Lian’s directions, we found that hot spring.
We never had the chance to thank you in person.
“Today, we finally have that opportunity.”
“He Lian gave a fist-and-palm salute, his movements rough but solemn.”
“I am He Lian. To be able to teach someone like Sir Jin, Miss Xue Yin must be no ordinary person. Thank you both for rescuing that brother and sister.”
“The Cloud Ruins Bazaar’s rules must not be broken, but if people’s hearts also harden, then this place will truly become a graveyard.”
“As he spoke, his expression was frank, without any pretense.”
“Come! Let’s go to my camp and sit for a while. Since you helped that brother and sister, you’re friends!”
Xue Yin replied politely, “Thank you for the invitation. Then we’ll trouble Mister He Lian. As it happens, there are some things we’d like to ask you about.”
The three of them walked along a gravel path heading south of Cloud Ruins Bazaar.
Walking ahead, He Lian’s voice came back, sounding especially relaxed in the night wind.
“Ever since our spar in that blizzard, I’ve been curious.”
He turned to look at Jin with the keenness unique to a martial artist.
“Who was that person who disturbed your heart? Now that I see her today, I naturally understand your feelings back then.”
“Jin wanted to end this topic quickly, so he said in a low voice, “Last time we sparred, I was indeed impatient and restless.”
Xue Yin’s steps faltered slightly.
She suddenly remembered that blizzard.
Jin had gone out alone to investigate a loud noise, gone for over an hour.
When he returned, his shoulders were covered in fresh snow, and there were dried bloodstains at the corner of his mouth.
Yet he had said casually, “Just a scratch.”
Only now did she realize that at that time, he had been fighting someone with all his might, and had even been distracted worrying about whether she was safe, which led to his defeat and injury.
As his teacher, she should have been the one standing in front.
But it was him, time and again, in places she couldn’t see, using ways he never spoke aloud, shielding her from storms she didn’t even know existed.
He cared about her far more than victory, dignity, or even his own life.
Xue Yin’s steps unconsciously slowed down.
Jin noticed it almost in the same instant.
He turned his head, naturally matching her pace, and reached his right hand out from under his cloak to gently take her hand.
Warmth, reassurance, accelerated heartbeat…
Xue Yin tightly squeezed Jin’s hand back, everything left unsaid.
Before long, the Rockkin refugee camp came into view.
It was called a camp, but it was actually a cluster of rock shelters carved into the mountain.
Men, women, and children with slate-grey skin moved among them.
When they saw He Lian return, they all stopped their work.
A few children poked their heads out from between the rocks.
“Chief He Lian!”
A thin, small boy was the first to run over, barefoot on the rocky ground.
He held a piece of roasted rock potato and shoved it into He Lian’s hand.
He Lian took it, and with his large hand, ruffled the boy’s messy gray hair, making it even more disheveled.
He broke the rock potato into three pieces, and handed the most neatly shaped piece to Xue Yin first, his voice clear.
“Give it a try. It might not look great, but it’s really sweet.”
Jin looked a bit surprised.
As he took another piece from He Lian’s hand, he asked in a low voice, “Brother He Lian, are all these people under your care?”
He had previously heard He Lian call himself a “traveling fist practitioner,” and thought he was a lone wanderer.
He never expected He Lian would have such deep ties with a refugee camp.
He Lian’s tone was calm but carried a hint of resignation.
“I’m just a fist practitioner, without clan or family, not belonging to any territory. But over the years, traveling through all the rings of the Demon Realm, I’ve seen refugee camps frequently looted and oppressed, so I lent a hand a few times. As I fought more, my reputation spread, and the elders from several camps across the rings recommended me as their chief.”
He paused, a slight smile lifting his lips, firelight dancing on his rugged profile.
“Actually, it’s just that everyone trusts me and is willing to let me shield them from the wind and rain. This title of chief sounds nice, but in practice, it means everyone’s troubles pile up on you, haha!”
A fire was burning in the center of the camp.
Seeing He Lian bring back guests, a few young men who had been sitting around the fire immediately stood up, vacated the spots closest to the fire, and silently retreated to the outer rock shelters, not coming closer.
When everyone had moved away, only the three remained by the fire.
Xue Yin then got down to business.
“We came to Cloud Ruins Bazaar to investigate five missing persons. They all come from Slag Heights, with different backgrounds, but they share one thing in common—”
“Flowing within them, unknown even to themselves, are extremely thin traces of rare bloodlines: Dragonblood, Star Spirit Priest offshoots, High Elf distant relatives…”
Each name she reported, her tone grew heavier.
He Lian listened carefully to Xue Yin before slowly speaking, his tone carrying a rare hint of apology.
“The five missing from Slag Heights… to be honest, I don’t really know the details of this matter.”
He looked up, his slate-grey eyes frank.
“I’ve been traveling all over to train in fist techniques all year round. Camp affairs are mostly handled by the elders. However, when it comes to information—”
“The Cloud Ruins Bazaar’s Cloud Ruins Merchant Guild. An old acquaintance of mine is there. When it comes to intelligence matters, she is more professional than I am.”
Jin’s gaze sharpened.
“Brother He Lian, are you referring to the owner of the Cloud Ruins Merchant Guild, Bai Li?”
“So she’s already this famous? I’m really happy for her.”
He Lian looked up, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, then it turned into a warm smile.
“She saved my life when I was young. I trust her completely.”
Hearing this, “Xue Yin felt even more anticipation for this Bai Li she had yet to meet, because someone like He Lian did not easily say the word “trust.”
“Then we’ll trouble Mister He Lian to introduce us tomorrow.”
“No need to be polite.”
He Lian waved his hand, his gaze sweeping over Xue Yin and Jin.
“You saved the refugee siblings—that is benevolence. You investigate the missing—that is righteousness. I am merely building a bridge.”
The night wind swept by, the fire crackled softly, and the camp sank into silence.
He Lian had already returned to his own cave to rest.
Before leaving, he only left a “See you tomorrow” and strode off, his back disappearing into the night, as if unwilling to disturb this rare tranquility.
Xue Yin then leaned her head on Jin’s shoulder.
Her cloak slipped a little, revealing a pale nape.
“Tonight… no need to say too much.”
Jin lowered his gaze to her pointed ears, looking at the vulnerable Xue Yin at this moment, and couldn’t help saying, “Teacher, may I touch your ears?”
A long silence.
For a long time, no one answered.
The air had frozen, as if Jin had never made that request just now.
“…I’m seriously starting to suspect,” Xue Yin finally spoke, with a hint of feigned anger in her voice, “that when you first became my disciple, you had ulterior motives.”
Jin chuckled softly.
“What if I said yes?”
Another long silence…
—What Teacher considers a simple favor sometimes becomes important enough to change a person’s life.
After a long while, only a soft “mm” came from Xue Yin, sounding like an answer, or perhaps tacit permission.
Jin certainly did not miss that permission.
That pair of delicate, pointed elven ears peeked out slightly from the gap in her hood, covered with fine silver down, shimmering faintly in the firelight.
Jin’s fingertip was warm.
He touched her ear tip extremely gently, his movements restrained almost to the point of reverence, caressing along the helix from the tip to the lobe, and from the lobe back to the tip.
Xue Yin felt like she was being petted into raising her hackles.
What kind of touching was that!
The sensation was like little electric currents, shooting from her ear tip straight down her spine, spreading along her backbone to her fingertips, numbing and tingling with a strange sense of calm.
But then she thought of what He Lian had mentioned today about Jin…
The road ahead is long… Tonight, she would allow herself to be willful just this once…
In the end, Xue Yin did not pull away.
She only buried her head deeper into the crook of his neck.
Elves regard their ears as the gateway to the heart—
Only the most trusted person can touch this place without being pushed away.
Jin could feel Xue Yin’s full weight leaning into him.
Her silver hair carried a faint herbal scent.
She was in his arms, so small, so close—
So close that he could feel his teacher’s warmth through the fabric.
It made him feel that everything up to now had been worth it…