What Happened? . . .
The two sisters radiated intense qi, their wide-open eyes fixed on Cha Eun Xiao. "Bad brother, just say what you meant!"
"Right! What did you mean?"
Cha Eun Xiao was utterly flummoxed. He felt like his head was about to explode...
The four small hands of the two ladies clutched his clothes. Their eyes bore a mixture of fierceness and tears as they questioned him and condemned his actions.
Cha Eun Xiao stared with wide-open eyes for a moment and finally conceded, "I... I was wrong..."
"Not that easy!"
"You won't get off the hook just by admitting your mistake!"
They chorused together!
They exclaimed in unison!
"What exactly do you want me to do then?"
...
The ladies blinked, unable to come up with any specific compensation they desired.
Cha Eun Xiao smiled and gently ruffled their hair. "Girls, enough of this child's play. I promise that no matter what happens, I'll always talk to you first. How about that?"
"Do you mean it?" The sisters blinked, clearly moved.
"Absolutely!"
"Then... how about a pinkie swear?"
"A pinkie swear? That's too informal! Let's make it a pinkie hook promise!"
"Right! A pinkie hook promise is the real deal!"
Their soft white little fingers extended towards Cha Eun Xiao...
Clearly, they were initiating the formal promise ritual...
Cha Eun Xiao didn't mind. He casually extended both of his hands to hook their little fingers. "Pinkie hook, unbroken for ten thousand years!"
All three of them felt touched.
They used to make pinkie hook promises frequently once the girls began to talk.
It was their formal promise to each other!
"Brother, don't steal anymore. You'll get beaten."
"Hmm. I won't anymore."
"Pinkie hook?"
"Sure."
Unfortunately, he never kept his word!
After the pinkie hook, the little beggar still had to steal whatever was necessary and ended up getting severely beaten...
He could refrain from stealing for a day or two...
However, he had to steal something; otherwise, his sisters would go hungry, and he couldn't allow that to happen...
They were living in a city where all the citizens were impoverished. He couldn't find a way to make a living.
He yearned for a proper job, something that would at least provide them with food...
But nobody would employ a beggar who lacked the strength to perform physical tasks...
Nobody knew the weight of the world on the little beggar's shoulders.
The lives of three children, their present and future hopes!
Sometimes they went hungry, while other times, they finally managed to find something to eat. Cha Eun Xiao would try to forage for wild leaves, pick tree leaves and wild mushrooms, whether he had stolen or not. He gathered anything that could fill their stomachs and placed it by their bedside. He saved every morsel of food he could find.
He continued to stockpile food because he wanted his two sisters to have something to eat even when he was beaten so severely that he lost consciousness. He ensured there was enough food for the girls to consume during the days he remained conscious. Upon recovering, he would resume his stealing and food collection...
Now, the siblings were reunited!
An elder brother and two younger sisters embraced one another after many years!
No one could have imagined that the beggar and the two disabled infants he had raised... would ultimately rise to become dominant figures in the Qing-Yun Realm!
The diminutive figures who had once been trampled upon had now ascended to the pinnacle. A mere wave of their hands could obliterate an entire city!
They held onto each other for a long while. Finally, Cha Eun Xiao let out a sigh. "After all those years, fate has finally shown us some kindness."
The ladies nodded gently.
Since recognizing Cha Eun Xiao, they had never left his arms.
Even when they scolded him and argued with him, they remained in his embrace.
Deep down, they feared that they would lose their brother once more if they let go.
"Bad brother!"
"Stinky brother!"
The ladies grumbled, venting their pent-up anger, although what they truly felt was the joy of reunion.
In the old days, when the three of them were together, the girls would often call the beggar "dead brother," "stinky brother," "bad brother," or something similar. However, after all they had been through, they never wanted to refer to him as "dead brother" again!
They wouldn't even use the word in jest.
Yue Shuang and Yue Han had finally grasped the real-world significance of that word!
They refused to use it in connection with their brother, not even words like "wounded," "sick," or "unwell."
He could be bad or stinky, but never dead, ill, or sick!
He should never be a target for others' cruelty!
[Humph!]
[Anyone who dares to harm my brother, I'll risk my life to eliminate them!]
That was the only thought in the ladies' minds. It was the only thing that mattered to them!
...
Ye Nantian and the others awaited the outcome with anxiety.
Ye Xiao, along with the two deadly figures from Qiong-Hua Palace, had gone to the practice area, and there was no news from them.
Not even Zhan Yunfei and Zhu Jiutian could perceive anything from them.
This was to be expected. The two had only recently recovered from their old wounds. They had reached the ninth level of the Dao Origin Stage, a level that already placed them in the top tier of powerful cultivators in the Qing-Yun Realm. Yet, compared to the two ladies who had surpassed the ninth level of the Dao Origin Stage, Zhan and Zhu were considerably weaker. The ladies had sealed off the entire area, and Zhan and Zhu could not break through!
However, Han Bingxue was different. He was on par with the two ladies, and he possessed the strength to break through the barrier jointly maintained by the two sisters.
But when he attempted to infiltrate, he was surprisingly met with resistance from three sources!
It was understandable if he encountered resistance from the two ladies, but he was astonished to detect a third force. When he identified the third force, he realized it was the weakest of the three, and it clearly emanated from Cha Eun Xiao. Han Bingxue recognized it without difficulty.
He was taken aback but also relieved. Cha Eun Xiao's participation in the resistance indicated that he was safe within!
Han Bingxue relaxed and ceased his efforts. As long as Cha Eun Xiao was secure, there was no need for him to intervene further. Attempting to involve himself further might worsen the situation!