"Hey! Stop! Someone catch those kids!"
In the back alleys of a prosperous city, a robust man's voice rang out. Passersby all turned to look with interest for just a moment before being too lazy to get involved. This place wasn't somewhere people would rashly go looking for trouble.
Moreover, theft seemed to be something that happened frequently. Here, the guards were too busy to chase after the few small-time thieves who appeared every day. Their main job was to prevent "clashes" between cultivators. To keep things from escalating into damage to the city's residents.
"Hah... hah..."
In a small, desolate alley, a place ordinary people didn't want to walk near, several small figures sat huddled together panting quietly. They were all thin and small, each one looking like children no older than ten years old. Multiple pairs of eyes turned left and right, watching for movement outside.
"Looks like... looks like they're gone..."
A boy hiding closest to the entrance whispered. He looked left and right to make sure the adults had really gone before turning back to his companions.
Everyone looked exhausted and wore tattered, shabby clothes. When they heard it was safe, they all sighed in relief.
"Let's see what we got."
The child who seemed to be the group's leader finished speaking and pulled something out from inside his shirt. He held it carefully even though it was just an ordinary piece of bread.
But even if it was just cheap food, the children sitting in a circle all gulped loudly. Many stared greedily as if ready to jump in and snatch it away at any moment.
"I got this..."
The only girl in the group pulled out some dried meat. She hesitated for a moment but yielded and placed it in the middle next to that piece of bread. They reacted the same way to the dried meat — maybe even more greedily. After all, even if it was old meat, it was still better than that bland bread.
"My part..."
Several more children started taking turns pulling out what they'd gotten from "stealing" to place together. There was fruit and stale food. But about half the children didn't bring out food like the others, because some of them had served as lookouts or decoys to attract attention, making it easier for their companions to work. So when the job was done, they would also get their share.
The one who thought up organized operations and made plans was that leader boy. He gathered these street children living in this slum together and arranged duties for each person, helping these unwanted children survive through this cruel era each day.
"...This is your share."
When it came time to divide the food, the girl looked at her share with reluctance. After being divided among so many, the portion she received back was barely one quarter of what she'd given — which was why she had hesitated at first. If she had secretly kept that meat for herself, it might have been better for her.
But then several children noticed her expression. They tore off small pieces of their own bread portions and offered them to her.
"...Take it."
This was how they showed they cared. After all, they still remembered well how much more food she shared today compared to what she received in return. Moreover, she was the brains of their operations. She could draw rough city maps and memorize the exact daily time periods when each target wasn't being careful. That made their "operations" much more likely to succeed each time.
She could only keep her dissatisfaction to herself. She sighed, took the food, and walked toward a corner.
In the ruins of an old building, she could see a pair of eyes staring out from the darkness. They looked toward the group of children eating messily. It was impossible to tell what the hidden figure was thinking, but when the girl walked in, that gaze shifted to her.
Or more accurately, to the food in her hands.
"...You snuck out there again today?"
Still holding the dried meat, she tore it into two portions without hesitation. She offered it to the figure shorter and thinner than her, with unreadable eyes.
But before those small hands could reach out to receive it,
"Xinyao, what are you doing?"
A voice spoke behind her. Standing there was that leader boy looking at her with a displeased gaze. He saw the food divided in two and strode through the narrow doorway.
"Haoyang, stay out of it."
Xinyao spoke in a rather displeased tone. She positioned herself between Haoyang and the small child behind.
"I already told you, didn't I? Those who don't work don't get shares..."
Haoyang furrowed his brow. He was much more mature than his appearance suggested, earning everyone's trust. He used this kind of "teaching" to motivate everyone to go work. There would be no lazy person who could live comfortably day by day.
"Fanxian is working too."
Xinyao tried to protect her. She turned to look at Fanxian, who looked up in surprise.
"Secretly watching the alchemy workshop every day isn't working!"
This time he raised his voice. And because many people were here, his voice drew everyone's attention. They gathered together. The more they learned that the food they'd worked hard for had been taken by Xinyao to give to another child, the more displeased they felt. Especially with "that one" who had never worked for the group even once.
"..."
Fanxian, the cause of the argument, just stared quietly. Xinyao gritted her teeth. She could sense the mood, so she pushed back:
"Don't you remember the day you got so sick you almost died!? If that day you hadn't gotten the medicine Fanxian brought you, you wouldn't have had the chance to stand here!"
Haoyang went still.
That day it rained heavily. The storm pounded the city for three days and three nights, leaving these street children no chance to find food. During that time, their leader Haoyang fell ill from the changing weather.
He still remembered the torment of that day well.
His body burned hot, the fever climbing until he was seeing things. All day long, he couldn't even get up to drink water.
When he was about to give up and surrender to life, something cool slid down his throat.
The heat in his body subsided. Something cool moved through him, dissolving the torment he'd suffered for many days until his condition clearly improved.
The next morning, his world was brighter than ever before. The blood in his body flowed with such vitality it felt like a different body. That strength made Haoyang feel like he'd been reborn somehow.
And that strength was what kept him as the leader of these street children to this day.
"..."
Haoyang looked toward Xinyao with disbelief. No — more accurately, at that small, frail figure sitting behind her.
He had never known this before. "...Why didn't you ever tell me?" he asked Fanxian.
Until now, he hadn't thought much of the child — too small, too weak. The disheveled hair was so messy one couldn't see the face, only those eyes stood out. Moreover, since meeting, the child rarely spoke or worked. Day after day just wandering around watching near the alchemy workshop — all of this made Haoyang rather displeased with this "boy" that Xinyao kept protecting all along.
"...No matter what, a boy has to go work. Can't keep hiding behind a girl forever."
His tone softened now that he knew. But he still couldn't make exceptions for any one person — the entire system built with such difficulty might fall apart. And he knew well that the "medicine" Fanxian had used on him that day must have been valuable enough to buy food and shelter for weeks. The strength he'd received from that day could still be felt. There was no way ordinary medicine from regular shops could have such results.
But this child had given it without a word. Never even told him, never came to claim the favor even once.
This became like a wedge driven into his heart. He felt guilty toward the child.
While he was pondering how to divide his daily food portion as repayment, Xinyao furrowed her brow and stared at him as if he were an idiot.
"What are you saying?"
"I understand he's smaller than anyone. But even so, he still has to do some small work..."
"Fanxian is a girl."
"..."
His world froze for an instant.
Especially when Xinyao walked over and combed her fingers through Fanxian's messy, disheveled hair — a stunning image appeared before his eyes.
A delicate face composed of a tiny mouth and small nose, blended together perfectly like artwork. Skin fair and bright — even dirty and grimy from the environment, it couldn't completely hide the original beauty. Especially her eyes, calm and filled with a depth no child should have, became a charm that could draw tremendous attraction.
Overall, young Bai Fanxian looked no different from an adorable stuffed doll!