Online Game: Evil Dragon Against The Heaven - 273

“Mm… Big Brother, thank you… for protecting my sister… and me.” Chenxue gently responded with a soft and ethereal voice, her delicate eyebrows slightly arched.

Her face was frighteningly pale, yet her eyes were extraordinarily pure and bright, just like her sister’s. She had been gazing at Ye Tian Xie all this time, as if trying to etch his image deeply into her memory. She was smiling—a kind of smile that even Chenxin had rarely seen… A smile that carried no trace of pain, worry, or struggle—only pure joy.

Under the influence of this smile, which seemed to come from a girl who had stepped out of a painting, Ye Tian Xie felt his heart involuntarily soften. He sat down by the bed, just about to speak to her, when his expression suddenly changed…

Before his eyes, Chenxue’s eyelids slowly closed. Her smile remained, but her body, which had been sitting upright, gradually slumped down.

“Xue’er!” At Chenxin’s startled cry, Ye Tian Xie quickly moved forward to support Chenxue’s body, letting her lean quietly against his shoulder… But she was no longer able to hear her sister’s calls. She rested silently against Ye Tian Xie’s body, motionless.

Her body was soft, incredibly light—as if she were a bundle of cotton. Touching her, Ye Tian Xie could feel how fragile she was… truly as delicate as a flower. A mere breeze would be enough to topple this weak and feeble body.

“Xue’er! Xue’er… What’s wrong? Don’t scare me!”

Having just calmed down from the previous terror, Chenxin was now plunged into an even greater panic. Chenxue spent most of her days sleeping, but before each slumber, she would always softly say, “Sister, I’m so tired…” But this time, her unconsciousness was clearly abnormal.

From Chenxin’s previous accounts, Ye Tian Xie knew she had a seriously ill sister. But now, feeling the barely perceptible signs of life in the girl nestled against him, he finally realized how severe that『illness』was. Her frail vitality was barely enough to sustain life, as if it belonged more to a withering flower than a human being.

“Chenxin, don’t panic. We need to leave here first… Come on, let’s go to the best hospital in Huaxia. Trust me, Chenxue will get better.”

Perhaps it was because she was Ran Qingsheng’s daughter… or perhaps it was because her pure eyes had conquered him. At this moment, Ye Tian Xie felt a deep sense of urgency and anxiety. He realized that he was afraid—afraid that this fragile girl, whom he had just met, would be taken away by illness right before his eyes. He picked her up gently… She was so light, as if he were holding a cloud… Then, grabbing Chenxin’s hand, he dashed out of the tiny house where they had lived for so long.

“Po Jun , Qiu Shui, let’s go! To the best hospital!”

With one arm cradling the unconscious Chenxue and the other pulling Chenxin, Ye Tian Xie’s expression was tense as he hastened toward the helicopter, his voice filled with urgency. Zuo Po Jun took one look at the girl in Ye Tian Xie’s arms and immediately nodded, quickly boarding the helicopter with Murong Qiu Shui. Within moments, the helicopter took off swiftly and disappeared into the distance.

It wasn’t until the helicopter vanished from sight that a dozen trembling figures cautiously poked their heads out from behind the door… Kidnapping, helicopters, and murder—this usually peaceful slum had witnessed a horrifying day.

Before long, a shadow appeared out of nowhere and landed on the roof of Chenxin’s and Chenxue’s small home. After a quick sweep of the area, the figure picked up a tiny communication device and spoke softly, “Send a team. This place needs to be cleaned up.”

“Po Jun, faster.” Feeling the weakening life force of the girl in his arms, Ye Tian Xie’s anxiety grew even stronger than it had been when they first came here.

“Second Brother… don’t worry, we’ll be there soon.” Zuo Po Jun spoke, his forehead drenched with sweat. The helicopter’s speed was far less than that of a jet, let alone a nuclear-powered aircraft. It was already flying at its maximum speed, causing the fuselage to tremble, as if it could fall apart at any moment.

“Thank you, Brother Tian Xie.” Feeling his anxiety that matched her own, that indescribable feeling of being moved once again filled Chenxin’s heart. Seeing how carefully he held Chenxue, her emotions grew even more complicated. Until now, she had always been the one taking care of her sister, supporting their little 『home』and their world. But today, this man who had appeared in her life like a dream brought her a feeling of security that shook her heart to its core—a feeling only she could understand.

“Why thank me? Don’t forget, we’re friends.” Ye Tian Xie replied with a gentle smile.

Chenxin nodded vigorously. She felt an impulse to lean against him like her sister, to rely on him.

“Brother Tian Xie, why did you come here? Were… you just passing by?” She couldn’t hold back her curiosity anymore. Everything felt like a miracle—as if heaven had heard her prayers and sent the person she desired the most to her side, pulling her back from the brink of despair and disaster.

Why was he here? Ye Tian Xie held Chenxue a little closer and smiled gently. “I can only say… it was the guidance of destiny.”

“The guidance of destiny…” Chenxin softly repeated, her gaze becoming hazy, her heart racing quietly.

『Destiny』had brought them together, intertwined their fates, and made them meet in the real world at her most desperate moment. Everything seemed like a deliberate arrangement, a guiding hand from the heavens.

“Chenxin, your last name is Ran, right?” Ye Tian Xie suddenly asked.

Chenxin was slightly stunned by the question, then gently nodded, her eyes still gazing at him with a hint of daze. She didn’t know why he knew her surname… That surname, if she could, she would never want to mention it again.

“How old are you now? Let me guess… eighteen, or nineteen?” Ye Tian Xie lightly stroked the hair of the girl in his arms and smiled softly at Chenxin.

“I’m nineteen.” Chenxin answered softly.

“Nineteen.” Ye Tian Xie lifted his head slightly, his gaze drifting to the sky as if recalling something. “Do you remember? I once told you that when I was five and a half years old, I fainted from hunger and cold in the snow… That day, the snow was heavy, falling for a long time. I was buried under the snow for an entire day and night… If not for an old man clearing the snow who saved me, I wouldn’t be standing here today.”

“I remember. Brother Tian Xie, I remember everything you told me.”

“Then do you also remember… when you were four years old, your father brought home a boy dressed in rags who had fainted… You once hid behind the door and secretly peeked at him when he woke up, but you ran away, frightened by his fierce gaze…” He lowered his head, looking into Ran Chenxin’s eyes as he spoke softly.

Ran Chenxin froze. She stared at him blankly for a long time, her hand unconsciously covering her lips. After a long while, she finally uttered, her voice trembling, “Brother Tian Xie…You’re saying that boy was… was…”

“Back then, the person who pulled me out of the snow brought me back to his home. He used snow to rub my body to restore my blood circulation and personally brewed a bitter medicinal concoction, feeding it to me spoon by spoon… I was only five and a half years old at that time, my entire body frozen blue and purple, practically no different from a corpse. In an era so full of selfishness and indifference, anyone who found me like that would have treated me as a dead body and avoided me… But he not only saved me, he never gave up on the tiny hope of keeping me alive. Finally, on the morning of the second day, I miraculously woke up…”

“When I woke up, I can still clearly remember the relieved and contented smile on that uncle’s face. But back then, I was filled with too much resentment and hatred, and even more distrust and wariness toward everyone. So, even though I knew he had saved me, I never said 『thank you』and always faced him with a cold expression. But he didn’t mind at all, always smiling kindly at me… I remember, that day I ate three meals at Uncle’s house… Those three meals were the most delicious and the most satisfying meals of my childhood. Even now, I can still vividly recall the taste of every dish. I also remember… when I had just woken up, a little girl with pigtails peeked at me from the doorway… And then, I glared at her with a wary and fierce look, scaring her away so badly that she never dared to look at me again.”

Ran Chenxin covered her mouth to muffle her emotional sounds, but she couldn’t suppress the wild beating of her heart.

Ye Tian Xie shook his head and sighed regretfully, “But at that time, my distrustful nature kept me from believing anyone. That very night, before my body had fully recovered, I left quietly… Before I left, I learned the name of that uncle and swore that when I had the ability, I would do everything in my power to repay him because my life was given back to me by him. That uncle’s name was… Ran Qingsheng. Chenxin, does that name sound familiar to you?” He emerged from his memories and looked at Ran Chenxin with a soft smile.

From the very first moment he saw her, he had felt an inexplicable pull toward her. His feet had moved toward her almost of their own accord… Now, he finally understood. The reason he was so drawn to her wasn’t just because her eyes revealed her suffering—but because… there was a distant yet familiar feeling hidden within her gaze.

That little girl who had peeked at him back then… He had remembered her for a long, long time, because her eyes had been so pure—as pure as freshly fallen raindrops. Over the span of more than ten years, the little girl had grown into a woman of unmatched beauty, but what hadn’t changed were her eyes—still as pure as ever.