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In a lush, boundless wilderness of mountains and forests.

The biting cold wind howled incessantly, and goose feather snow fell in abundance, everything white as far as the eye could see.

Although the setting sun had not yet completely fallen, the mountain forest in the snow-covered sky already appeared quite dim.

A forest path, already faint to begin with, twisted and turned, almost indistinguishable beneath the thick layer of snow, but at its distant end shone a glimmer of firelight, radiating a trace of warmth in the frozen world.

The firelight emanated from a mountain shrine, the only one within hundreds of miles of these mountains and forests.

Due to its remote location, the mountain shrine had long lost its incense offerings and had been abandoned for many years. The outer courtyard's gatehouse and walls had completely collapsed, leaving only a dilapidated main hall standing forlornly in place.

The main hall's doors had long since vanished, and a tattered straw mat was half-draped over the door frame, barely shielding the interior from the wind and snow.

Through the holes in the straw mat, one could see that inside the empty main hall, besides some scattered withered grass and bricks, there was also a figure sitting cross-legged in the center.

It was a tall youth dressed in green, whose physique appeared exceptionally upright even while seated on the ground, but his face was utterly expressionless, wooden to the extreme, just like the dilapidated clay statue of a deity behind him – rigid, dull, and lacking vitality.

The tall youth had his arms folded across his chest, and lying in the crook of his arm was a slender, petite girl, none other than the little fox demon, Liu Le'er.

"Uh..."

Just then, a soft groan came from within the youth's embrace.

Liu Le'er's small head nuzzled against the youth's arm, her face, which had been buried in his chest, shifted outwards slightly, peeking out from between his arms.

Her originally delicate and charming little face was now flushed with a sickly red. Even though she was still asleep, her delicate eyebrows were tightly furrowed together, and her eyeballs rolled restlessly beneath her closed eyelids, as if she were experiencing a terrifying nightmare.

"No... don't... Wuwu..."

Accompanied by a murmur in her sleep, Liu Le'er's arms, which were wrapped around the youth's arm, instinctively tightened a little.

Her half a calf also restlessly kicked out from the youth's embrace, and her body twisted a few times, appearing very uneasy. Her small face, which had just shifted outwards, now buried itself back into the youth's chest.

The youth, who had been staring straight ahead, seemed to sense something, lowered his head to look at the girl in his arms. The wooden look in his eyes changed slightly, seeming somewhat puzzled, but mostly still blank.

"Shi Tou... Gege..."

Another indistinct mumble echoed from within the youth's embrace, like the buzzing of mosquitoes, almost imperceptible.

Perhaps it was because of the firelight, but the tall youth's face seemed to soften slightly at this moment, and a hint of light appeared in his originally empty eyes.

Without getting up, he scooted closer to the side, using half of his body to block the cold wind that was seeping in. He shifted his arm slightly, tucking the girl's extended calf back into his embrace, and hugging her a little tighter.

The girl's body nuzzled against him a few times, and her little head burrowed further into his chest. Her movements slowly ceased, and her breathing gradually became more even.

The sky outside the hall had long since turned pitch black, and the wind and snow raging between heaven and earth had gradually lessened, without anyone noticing.

...

Halfway up a verdant peak, hundreds of feet tall, at the entrance of a cave over ten feet high, a tall youth stood with his back to the entrance.

Liu Le'er stood behind the youth, one hand tugging at the hem of his clothes, the other hugging his leg, peering forward with half of her face, which appeared somewhat pale due to nervousness.

Several yards in front of them, a grey-haired giant bear, as tall as two adults, stood upright with its hind claws on the ground and its forelimbs raised.

A ferocious single horn, like white bone, grew from its head. Its protruding, blood-filled mouth curled back, revealing rows of chillingly sharp white teeth, and it snarled lowly, with a line of stinking, viscous saliva dripping from the corner of its mouth.

The tall youth, who was already tall, appeared as frail as a child in front of this giant bear.

However, he had no expression on his face, his eyes were fixed straight on the giant bear, his dark pupils were like ink, lacking luster.

The giant bear stared at the tall youth's face for a moment. For some reason, a hint of human-like fear appeared on its face. It let out a sudden roar, took two steps back, turned around, lowered its forelimbs, and fled away on all fours.

Liu Le'er's expression eased, and she breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this. Then, scratching her head in confusion, she walked around to the front of the tall youth and looked up at him.

She stared at the youth's wooden face for a long time, but couldn't see anything unusual, and couldn't help but reveal a hint of disappointment.

"Shi Tou Gege, Le'er knows you're not an ordinary person, but it's a pity you can't talk, otherwise it would be good if you could say something to Le'er, alas..." Liu Le'er sighed like a little adult, took the youth's large hand, turned around, and walked back into the cave on the mountainside.

The youth didn't say a word, but his lowered gaze fell on the girl's fair little hand holding his, and his body gradually walked into the cave, following her pull.

...

On a vast, unknown grassland, it was the height of spring when the grass was growing and the birds were singing. The newly sprouted spring buds had already emerged, and the entire grassland was filled with the refreshing fragrance of grass.

A girl, eight or nine years old, was carrying a cluster of slender vines covered in pale yellow flowers, and rode on the shoulders of a tall, upright youth, moving leisurely forward.

Compared to two years ago, the youth hadn't changed at all, still wearing the same green shirt. But Liu Le'er was very different from before.

The girl had grown a lot taller, and the childishness on her small face had faded, with a hint of unusual charm between her brows and eyes. She was clearly a rare beauty, and it was hard to say if she would captivate the country in the future.

Her ten fingers moved quickly, weaving the yellow flower vines in her hands, and she hummed a lighthearted little tune, her voice clear and sweet, like the song of a nightingale.

"Done."

Before the tune was finished, Liu Le'er stopped what she was doing. A beautiful flower crown, tightly packed with flowers, had already taken shape.

She held the flower crown in her hands, looked around at it, nodded with satisfaction, and happily placed the flower crown straight on the youth's head.

The size of the flower crown was just right, and the densest part of the flowers fell directly above the youth's forehead.

The tall youth seemed to sense something, and reached out to gently touch the flower crown, then slowly withdrew his hand.

Liu Le'er was already used to the tall youth's reaction. She glanced down at the thin green string around his neck, covered her mouth and smiled, mischievously reaching out to grab the string, making as if to lift it.

The youth, however, seemed to react instinctively, and grabbed at his chest, holding onto the dark green ornament tied to the end of the string, and refused to let go for a long time.

"Shi Tou Gege is stingy, you're always like this. I just wanted to take a look out of curiosity..." Liu Le'er's cheeks puffed out.

Although she said this, she wasn't really angry. This Shi Tou Gege hadn't spoken to her in the past two years, and except for very few reactions to the outside world, he would always actively react whenever this ornament in his arms was involved.

And that was precisely why Liu Le'er would sometimes tease the youth with this.

...

Time passed like a fleeting white horse, and several more years went by in a hurry.

A pretty girl, about thirteen or fourteen years old, wearing a white dress, with black hair that reached her waist, walked along an official road paved with yellow sand, her hands behind her back, her lotus-colored short boots taking light steps.

Behind her, a tall man in green clothes followed, his expression wooden, his pace slow.

The two walked at different speeds, one fast and one slow, and their steps were different sizes, but they didn't open up too much distance between them.

Liu Le'er, who was walking in front, saw a majestic blue-grey city in the distance at the end of the official road. She could see many pedestrians coming and going at the city gate, as small as sparrows.

Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she stopped.

"Ming... Yuan City..." Liu Le'er squinted her eyes and looked at it for a long time, then slowly said the name.

The tall youth walked to her side and stopped as well, looking at the majestic city like her.

"Looks like a large human city..." Liu Le'er murmured in a low voice, her expression hesitant.

In the past five years, she and the youth had entered some human towns in order to cure the tall youth's mental problem, but they had never approached a city of this scale before.

"Shi Tou Gege, if you get completely better, will you be able to help Le'er take revenge?" Liu Le'er looked up at the youth and said softly, not knowing if she was asking him or herself.

Upon hearing this, the youth seemed to react a little, and slowly withdrew his distant gaze, looking at the girl, but still didn't say a word.

"What nonsense am I talking about, even if Shi Tou Gege is amazing, how could he possibly beat so many bad guys from the Blood Blade Society?" Liu Le'er seemed to remember something again, and lowered her head with a sad expression. Tears fell uncontrollably, soaking into the yellow sand on the ground.

Just then, she suddenly felt a weight on her head, and a warm touch came over her.

She raised her head slightly and saw that her "Shi Tou Gege" was stroking her head with one hand, his eyes exceptionally gentle.

For some reason, Liu Le'er felt extremely at ease at this moment, and an indescribable courage arose within her body, as if she was no longer afraid of any difficulty.

She raised the back of one hand to wipe away the tears on her face, and with the other hand, she took the tall youth's thick palm, and with a determined expression, strode towards the city gate in the distance.