Chapter1: The Blind boy, Quentin Lee (1/2)

Peklam City, Blue Cloud Continent.

A small boy, no more than six or seven years old, was curled up beside the stone lion at the back gate of the Chiu's House.

In the freezing snow, the boy shivered in his ill-fitting and thin clothes.

It looked strange that his eyes were covered with a black cloth.

What the cloth didn't cover were a pair of sharp eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and thin lips.

His cheeks were slightly sunken, and his chin was sharply defined due to his emaciation.

"Creak..."

The back gate of the Chiu's House was opened, followed by a dull thud.

"Bang!"

A stiff corpse was thrown out of the gate, landing heavily on the ground and creating a shallow pit in the snow.

Kane Chiu, dressed in a thick coat, hesitated for a moment, with a trace of reluctance flashing in his eyes.

He tossed four strings of copper coins onto the ground, then tucked the others back into his sleeve.

The boy quickly got up, brushed the snow off his body, and forced a gentle smile. "Dear Chin, did they just throw out leftover food?"

As he spoke, he crouched down to feel around his feet.

His smile remained until his hand touched a ice-cold corpse.

Hand frozen in mid-air, his throat worked convulsively as his body trembled slightly.

After a moment, he knelt on the ground and reached for the body's face with shaking hands.

When the trembling hand touched the body's chin, he suddenly recoiled as if struck by lightning!

It was a long scar, a mark left two years ago when his uncle, drunk and in debt, had beaten his sister.

"Sis…"

A faint, sorrowful murmur escaped from the boy's lips.

The smile on his face had vanished, replaced by uncontrollable tears streaming down his cheeks.

Ignoring the heavy snowfall, the boy took off his only ragged hemp and wrapped it around the girl's body.

His gaunt frame was covered in scars, with bruises on his back yet to fade.

He extended his frostbitten hands and gently stroked the girl's hair.

Bowing his head, his voice hoarse, he murmured, "Death is a release, anyway... living is torture."

Ignoring the biting cold of the snow, the young man rummaged through the ground and unearthed four strings of copper coins.

A sudden pang of sorrow gripped his heart.

Never thought that my sister couldn't even retain her dignity after death!

So easy for them to take money from dead man!

A gust of cold wind blew, causing Kane Chiu to tighten the cuffs of his sleeves. He watched the small boy and said. "Your sister was bad luck. Just take the money and go away"

The boy pulled down the blindfold, revealing a pair of pale eyes.

Looking up to the direction of the voice, he slowly extended his right hand and declared with a low voice. "For each servant wrongly dead, the master shall pay ten strings of copper coins!"

"This is my sister's final dignity. You can't take it!"

Kane gathered his sleeves, his face no longer showing any trace of pity upon hearing the boy's request for money.

Coldly he said, "Blind beggar, do you want these four strings of coins or not? Get away!"

Quentin Lee was only six years old and had a frail body, yet a hint of fierceness surfaced on his face.

Striding up the steps of the Chiu's House, he grabbed the man's hand and shouted, "Give me what's owed to me!"

Seeing the boy's frostbitten hand reaching towards him, Kane frowned. With a glint of coldness flashed in his eyes, he grabbed the boy's hair and flung him off the steps.

"Bang!"

The frail body was viciously slammed into the snowy ground, where even beneath the heavy snow lay smooth flagstones.

People falling on them would leave bruises, let alone the small boy being thrown half a yard away.

With a cold gaze at the boy lying on the ground, Kane Chiu sneered. "Filthy beggar! Leave with the corpse right now!"

"If it weren't for me taking pity on you, I wouldn't even give you these coins!"

Just as Kane turned around to leave, his coat tail was unexpectedly gripped tightly.

Turning back, he saw that the small boy had somehow appeared behind him, gripping his coat tail tightly with both hands.

"The money! Give me back!" He shouted. "This is my sister's ransom money!"

Evil crept into Kane's heart, but when he was about to retaliate, he lowered his head and saw those pale and lifeless eyes!

Though the eyes couldn't see, he felt as though they were staring right at him.

A chill rose from the depths of his heart, he turned to look at the girl who had been worked to death.

Finally, he relented, lowering his raised fist and shoving the remaining copper coins from his sleeve into the boy's hand.

"Here, take it, take it, this is truly ominous!"

Lee released his grip, numbly counting the coins in his hand.

"Bang!" The gates of the house closed.

Before the gate closed, from inside came a childish voice. "Kane! Why did it take you so long!"