Chapter 80: Her

Wei Yang's words came as the night grew colder with the falling darkness. To the girl, whose heart was filled with ice and whose body was frail, they injected a warm current. 

At this moment, a strange light flashed in her eyes which had been filled with inferiority and timidity. Deep within, three extremely small emerald green dots faintly lit up, becoming increasingly evident. 

Wei Yang, observing this scene, slightly raised his eyebrows. 

The fabled Bi Snake Three Flower Pupils, indeed it lived up to its reputation, though it did not affect Wei Yang at all. 

He gently tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear and softly asked, "What's your name?" 

Wei Yang's attentive gesture made her blush slightly, and she replied timidly, "My name is Qing Lin." 

"Qing Lin, that's a very nice name," Wei Yang nodded and asked again, "Do you have any family at home?" 

Qing Lin shook her head, lowered it, and bit her somewhat parched and cracked lips. Her eyes glimmered with tears, revealing a trace of loneliness and desolation. "I, I don't have a family, I'm all by myself." 

Upon hearing this, a trace of compassion flashed in Wei Yang's eyes. He reached out a hand to her, smiling, "My name is Wei Yang, would you like to follow me from now on? I'll be your family from now on, wherever I am, that's where your home is." 

Qing Lin was stunned; she stared blankly at the gentle smile of the handsome young man before her. She opened her small mouth, but no words came out, and two crystal-clear tears slowly fell from her cheeks. 

Her little hand, hidden within her loose, black sleeves, seemed to move and wanted to rise. But there was an instinctive fear. 

Wei Yang looked at her encouragingly. 

Moments later, as if she had mustered some courage, her small hand hesitantly and bravely stretched out from her sleeves, revealing a fair wrist. 

On that fair wrist, a few blue serpent scales grew densely. 

She nervously watched Wei Yang's expression. 

Wei Yang's gaze also fell on those scales, yet his face still bore a gentle smile, showing no hint of disdain. 

Seeing this, she finally summoned the courage to place her slightly trembling, thin white hand gently into Wei Yang's broad palm. 

"It's a very warm hand," thought Qing Lin at that moment. 

Very warm, reaching right into her heart. 

And so, her last defense quietly dissolved, as if bewitched, she tightly grasped that warm big hand, nodding in agreement, "I do!" 

Wei Yang watched Qing Lin nod in agreement, his smile grew even more warmly and softly, and he gently clasped her somewhat cold little hand with his fingers. 

Then, he put his arm around Qing Lin's knees, lifting her up with one move. 

The first sensation was that she was very light, too light, as if she weighed nothing. 

Qing Lin, suddenly lifted off the ground, let out a small gasp, her hands instinctively wrapping around Wei Yang's neck. 

Wei Yang adjusted his hold and laughed, "Why are you so light? Too thin." 

Before he could finish speaking. 

A grumbling sound came from Qing Lin's little belly, like the sound of drumming. 

Instantly, her little face turned crimson, burying her head in Wei Yang's shoulder, too embarrassed to look up. 

"Hungry?" Wei Yang smiled and carried her out of the alley, saying, "I'll first take you to get something to eat, and then we'll buy some clothes." 

... 

Qing Lin, a very pitiful little girl. 

Her mother was human, her father a serpent-man. 

In the Tagore Desert, it was not uncommon for human women to be assaulted by male serpent-men. 

Logically, the union of a serpent-man and a human would typically not produce offspring, but nothing in the world is absolute. 

For example, Xiao Yan and Medusa were a special case. 

Thus, there was always an exceedingly rare chance that a woman who had a relationship with a serpent-man would become pregnant and give birth. 

However, although a baby might be born, such children with both human and serpent-man blood rarely survived; they usually perished prematurely. 

Yet Qing Lin's birth and growth, particularly in such a city with profound hatred for serpent-men, was nothing short of a miracle. 

But she was also unfortunate. 

Individuals like her are recognized neither by humans nor serpent-men. 

Since she could remember, both humans and serpent-men have treated her as a cursed anomaly. 

Having lived to this age, she received nothing but disdain and ridicule. 

In her world, outside of coldness, she had never experienced much warmth. 

She played alone from a young age since no one was willing to be her friend. 

Every time she mustered the courage, filled with anticipation but cautiously, to approach other children, they would be quickly snatched away by their parents, who would curse her in the process. 

Gradually, she began to fear those adults, their disdainful eyes terrifying her as a child. 

As she grew older, she understood that it was indeed loathing and scorn. 

Sometimes, when families nearby lost a loved one working as a mercenary to the serpent-men, they would specifically come to curse or even beat her to vent their anger. 

They called her unlucky, a cursed breed, and other awful names... 

She learned humility at a tender age, timid and not daring to hope for anything. 

Even her mother's gaze was complex. 

In her memory, her mother often sat alone, silently crying, and during such times, her look towards Qing Lin would become frightening. 

Sometimes angry and resentful, sometimes muttering curses, occasionally even hitting her. 

Yet her mother was the only person who had shown her kindness through her childhood. 

In her cold-hearted world, her mother was the sole flicker of warmth. 

But more than a year ago, her mother passed away from illness. 

When her mother lay on her deathbed, not a single neighbor was willing to come over and offer help. 

She mustered the courage to plead with them, but everyone remained unmoved, unwilling to lend a hand. 

In that moment, she fell into despair. 

This warm desert city offered her nothing but coldness. 

They were always warm to others, but to her, they were always indifferent. 

What she received was nothing but endless aversion and ceaseless curses. 

Finally, one night, in her mother's last moments, she tightly grasped Qing Lin's hand and told her not to hold grudges, to live well and strive to survive. 

After saying these words, her mother closed her eyes forever. 

Qing Lin lay on her mother's growingly cold body, crying her heart out. 

Her fragile soul, already scarred beyond recognition, lost even the last trace of warmth. 

The next morning, at just twelve years old, she wrapped her mother's body in a mat and a blanket, struggled to drag it outside the city to bury. 

The frail girl struggled with each step, dragging her mother's body step by step. 

Along the way, everyone only looked at her with cold eyes, some even spat for bad luck and hurried away. 

Not a single person stayed, not even for a moment, nor offered help. 

It wasn't until dusk that she finally buried her mother ten miles outside the city, using sand. 

When she, both exhausted and hungry, knelt in front of her mother's grave, her heart was filled with coldness, the world seemed utterly gray, devoid of color. 

She wished she could just lie next to her mother's grave and sleep forever, never wanting to wake. 

She didn't understand why she continued living, what was her purpose in this world. 

Everyone despised her, hated her. 

Why? 

She had done nothing wrong! 

It wasn't until the darkness enveloped the world and the climate grew cold did she awaken. 

Her last bit of survival instinct, along with her mother's last admonitions, spurred her to gather her remaining strength to return home exhausted. 

Relying on the scraps of food left behind, she managed to survive. 

Since then, she lived like a mouse in this city, hiding in the sewers and living in secrecy. 

She dared not leave home during the day, only venturing out under the veil of evening when the streets quieted down, wrapping herself in a black cloak to sneak outside. 

She scavenged leftovers from behind restaurants and wealthy homes to fill her belly or acted as a guide for outsiders to earn some reward. 

If she encountered generous guests, who casually tossed her a silver coin, she could trade it for food that would last for a long time. 

Sometimes, even Qing Lin didn't know why she continued to live like this, or what for. 

Nonetheless, she numbly and arduously survived for over a year. 

Until today, she met him. 

A well-dressed and handsome young man adorned in black embroidered with gold patterns. 

He neither despised nor detested her. 

Instead, he was gentle and warm. 

He was like a beam of light, piercing into the dark world deep within her heart. 

He told her her eyes were beautiful. 

That her existence had meaning and that she was unique. 

That her birth was a miracle, only others couldn't appreciate her beauty. 

He also told her that their meeting today was predestined by fate. 

His name was Wei Yang, a man radiating a warm glow. 

He asked her if she would be willing to follow him. 

He said he would be her family from now on, wherever he was, that would be her home. 

Home! 

A word she had nearly forgotten. 

She nodded in agreement. 

Like a dilapidated little boat that had been drifting in the vast ocean for so long, she finally found a warm harbor. 

Perhaps, the reason for her existence was to meet him at this moment. 

That's what she thought.