"Qing Lin?"
Hearing these two words, Xiao Se was startled and turned his gaze to the girl's wrist, which, though covered in dirt, was still pale. There, indeed, were some green scales growing.
Just as Qing Lin was about to express her gratitude, she suddenly looked up, noticing Xiao Se's gaze. Following his line of sight, she saw the scales on her little arm, and her delicate face turned ashen.
She tried to pull her torn clothes to cover the scales on her elbow, but the ragged clothing couldn't fully conceal them. Helplessly, she pulled up the sack she was sitting on, carefully draping it over herself, and squatted down, exposing only her small head, her tiny body trembling continuously.
"I'm sorry, I… I didn't mean to scare you. Please don't hit me," Qing Lin said, her voice trembling with a desperate tone as she clutched the sack, pleading earnestly.
Xiao Se shook his head with a smile, gently patting her little head. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Everyone is equal from birth. You don't need to feel inferior, and those scales aren't frightening."
Hearing this, Qing Lin's fearful expression froze. Since her birth, apart from her mother, no one had ever cared for her. Even when there was someone, upon learning she was half-snake, they would retreat, followed by endless insults and scorn.
After her mother passed away, she had no family left in this world, and life had become increasingly difficult in her suffering. If not for her mother's dying wish for her to live well, she might have already lost the will to survive.
Within her battered and fragile soul, a strange warmth gently arose. She lifted her face, her eyes, which held a unique allure, looked up timidly. "Aren't you afraid of me? I'm the child of a snake and a human."
Xiao Se smiled and shook his head, his gaze falling on her somewhat enchanting green pupils. He vaguely saw three tiny green spots, which made him momentarily dazed. Then he quickly recovered, noting that the three spots had disappeared. He thought to himself, "Is this the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils?"
"I'm Xiao Se. Do you have any family?" Xiao Se remembered that in the original story, Qing Lin first appeared as a maid in the Desert Metal Mercenary Company, seemingly taken in by a woman from the Mercenary company.
At this point, Xiao Se's spiritual sense extended outwards, and sure enough, he found a man and a woman hidden behind a sand dune a few hundred meters away. They were being very cautious, not daring to move a muscle.
At the same time, Xiao Se heard Long Kui's voice in his mind, "Brother, the man and woman we spotted half an hour ago didn't seem significant, but they appear to be heading this way. They're currently hiding behind the sand dune to the west. One of them is a Nine-Star Dou Zhe. Although he isn't a match for you, please be cautious."
"Got it. Thank you, Long Kui," Xiao Se nodded slightly in his mind and then turned his gentle gaze back to Qing Lin, quietly waiting for her response.
Hearing Xiao Se's question, Qing Lin quickly shook her head and looked up at Xiao Se's eyes, which were filled with genuine warmth and compassion. A warm current flowed through her heart.
"I don't have a family either, but I have a younger sister and a few close friends. Would you like to come with me and become my second sister?" Xiao Se's face wore a warm smile as he rubbed Qing Lin's little head and said after a moment of contemplation.
Qing Lin trembled slightly at Xiao Se's sudden kindness. At this moment, her battered and fragile soul seemed to be healed in an instant.
"Mm," she replied softly. With Xiao Se's assistance, she removed the sack from her body and stood up.
Having comforted Qing Lin, Xiao Se let out a sigh of relief. He turned and called out sternly towards the distant sand dune, "You've been hiding for so long. Are you not coming out?"
Hearing Xiao Se's shout, the two people hiding behind the sand dune realized they had been exposed. They looked at each other, seeing resignation in each other's eyes, and then stood up and walked out from behind the dune.
They were a young man and woman.
The man wore a mercenary outfit and looked to be in his early twenties. His appearance bore some resemblance to Xiao Yan, with a tall and strong physique, giving him a beast-like impression.
The woman was more alluring and followed the young man with a nervous expression.
Seeing the young man and woman approaching, Xiao Se speculated, "He looks somewhat like Xiao Yan. I wonder if he is Xiao Ding or Xiao Li." He had arrived at the Xiao family in Wu Tan City only when he was six. Before that, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li had rarely stayed at the Xiao family and had been out training, so he didn't recognize them.
"It's Sister Xue Lan who gave me food!" Qing Lin exclaimed in excitement upon seeing the alluring woman.
The woman, called Xue Lan, was relieved when she heard Qing Lin recognize her. She and the young man stopped about ten meters away from Xiao Se and Xue Lan said softly, "Qing Lin, are you alright? I heard from the slums that you were kidnapped, so we came with the second team leader to rescue you."
Qing Lin smiled and said, "Thank you, Sister Xue Lan. It was the big brother who saved me."
Xue Lan smiled and nodded, glancing at Xiao Se. "Then I'm relieved. I was planning to take you to our mercenary group, but it seems that won't be necessary now."
From their conversation, Xiao Se understood that even if he hadn't rescued Qing Lin, she would have been taken to the Desert Metal Mercenary Company as a maid, just like in the original story.
As for how they rescued her from the mercenaries who had a Dou Master among them, that remained unknown.
"I am Xiao Li, the second team leader of the newly established Desert Metal Mercenary Company in Mo City. This is Xue Lan, a member of our mercenary group." The young man greeted with a clasped fist. Though surprised by Xiao Se's youth, his ability to easily kill the notorious mercenaries in the Tagore Desert and detect them from such a distance made him respect Xiao Se.
Xiao Se nodded, calmly revealing his alias. "Xiao Huo Huo."
"Xiao Huo Huo?" Xiao Li was slightly taken aback. The person in front of him also bore the Xiao surname, but after careful recollection, he realized there was no one named Xiao Huo Huo in the Xiao family. Tentatively, he asked, "Could it be that you are also from the Xiao family in Wu Tan City?"
"No," Xiao Se replied calmly.
"Uh..." Xiao Li was stunned, then awkwardly said, "Haha, it seems I was mistaken."
Xiao Se shook his head, casually tossing a few jade bottles. "It's fine. Since you came to rescue Qing Lin, I can't let you leave empty-handed. Here are three bottles of Healing Pills. Whether taken internally or crushed for external use, they can accelerate the recovery of injuries. They will be very suitable for mercenaries like you."
Receiving the pills, Xiao Li's eyes brightened, and he excitedly asked, "Are you a pharmacist?"
Xiao Se nodded slightly, acknowledging it, and turned to Qing Lin, speaking gently, "Qing Lin, it's time to go."
"Oh, okay." Qing Lin was slightly dazed but then bid farewell to Xue Lan, saying, "Goodbye, Sister Xue Lan."
After saying that, Xiao Se picked up Qing Lin and, with a light step, used his movement skill to vanish from their sight in just a few flashes.
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