Chapter 1 Escape from Death
The river leans and the moon sets; the Big Dipper turns horizontally.

Outside the Xingyuan granary in the west of Luzhou City, it was filled with people fleeing famine who had come from all directions to beg for food.

"Brother, how far is it? I can't walk any more."

"Good girl, we'll have food soon."

Among the bustling crowd of refugees, three weak and young children were mixed in and drifted with the flow.

These people are haggard, ragged, with listless eyes and pale faces. In the biting cold wind of winter dawn, these poor people who are shivering from the cold, carrying the elderly and children, come slowly, with unsteady steps and swaying hearts. This scene makes people sigh and feel compassion.

In the turbulent times, the country was ruined and the families were impoverished. These poor people were poorly clothed and hungry all day long, and could only wander around in search of a place to settle down.

It was said that the owner of the Xingyuan Granary in the west of Luzhou was a kind-hearted vegetarian who would open the granary and give out rice porridge and steamed buns on the first and fifteenth day of every lunar month. That was why so many poor people came here early to wait. Most of them were hungry and were eager to have a mouthful of hot porridge later.

They were crowded in groups of three or five. At a glance, there were at least three or four hundred people, most of whom were the elderly, women and children. Occasionally there were a few young men, but they were also very weak and looked miserable, with no clothes to wear.

Next to the horse hitching stone at the corner of the street, the three inconspicuous children were sitting together trembling.

They hugged each other tightly to keep each other warm. Two boys and one girl, all about five or six years old, with ragged clothes and unkempt hair, their parents would be heartbroken if they saw their miserable and pitiful appearance.

It’s a pity that the three of them had already lost their parents.

A year ago, Xinglin Village in Tongchuan Prefecture was suddenly struck by a plague. In just a few days, the lives of almost the entire village were taken away, including their own parents.

Like everyone else present, the three children also came here before dawn and waited from the early morning till noon, staring at the gate of Xingyuan Granary without blinking, waiting with full anticipation for the granary to be opened for porridge distribution.

"Brother, I'm hungry!"

The thin girl stared at the boy beside her with a pair of big watery eyes pitifully. Although she was covered in dust and dirt, it still couldn't hide the girl's natural beauty. She was a real little beauty.

"Dear Yu'er, we will have food soon." The boy held the girl tightly in his frail arms, his tender voice filled with love and care, "Qin Wei and I will go grab some porridge later, just sit here and wait for us to come back. You are weak, so don't come near us, I'm afraid you will be trampled by the crowd like last time."

The boy's name was Liu Xunyi, and the girl in his arms was his biological sister, Liu Xunyu. The other short and thin boy beside him was their friend from the same village, Qin Wei. After the disaster in Xinglin Village, the three of them fled together and wandered here together.

“Opened the position!”

Suddenly, a loud shout was heard from the Xingyuan granary. Then, the door of the granary slowly opened, and more than a dozen servants came out of the granary one after another, carrying seven or eight steaming porridge buckets.

This shout, like a command, instantly lifted the spirits of the listless, lazy and undisciplined crowd. Then, like a pack of wolves pouncing on their prey, they swarmed towards the porridge barrel, holding broken bowls and pots, howling and shouting.

Whenever the granaries are opened to distribute grain to disaster victims, there are always more people than porridge. This situation has never changed.

"Qin Wei, hurry!"

Liu Xunyi had been ready for a long time. When he saw the door of the granary open, he immediately shouted, grabbed Qin Wei who was still in a trance, and staggered towards the porridge barrel, while Liu Xunyu kept shouting loudly: "Brother, hurry up, brother, hurry up..."

Although Liu Xunyi was "quick-eyed and quick-footed", he and Qin Wei were both young and weak, and had no power to resist those wolf-like and ferocious adults. Therefore, before they could get close to the porridge barrel, they were completely annihilated by the sudden army of beggars behind them.

The two children were stumbling around between countless "legs", being bumped into and kicked from time to time, looking so miserable.

Although Liu Xunyi was young, he had an unusually strong will. Even though he was kicked and bruised, he still gritted his teeth and persisted. Relying on his small body and agile movements, he rolled and crawled under the feet of the crowd, struggling to get closer to the tilted porridge bucket little by little.

On the other hand, Qin Wei had already been excluded from the crowd. No matter how he cried, shouted, and struggled desperately into the crowd, he was ultimately unable to break through the blockade.

The battle for porridge ended in the blink of an eye, like a whirlwind.

Several porridge buckets were emptied, and those who got the porridge had already run away and found a secluded corner to enjoy it alone. Those who didn't get the porridge beat their chests and sighed.

Gradually, the crowd dispersed in groups of two or three. These poor people had to find another place to wait for the next "melee".

"Qin Wei, come! Come quickly!"

Liu Xunyi's excited voice rang out beside the porridge bucket. When Qin Wei, crying, ran to him, he saw Liu Xunyi carefully holding a puddle of porridge in both hands, and the porridge kept flowing down through his fingers.

"Hurry, drink a sip!" Liu Xunyi held out his hands. Qin Wei quickly leaned over and took a sip. A happy smile appeared on his dirty little face.

"Hurry up and give it to Yu'er to drink." Qin Wei urged.

The two children were full of joy and walked towards the horse tethering stone happily.

"Yu'er, come and have some porridge!" Liu Xunyi stared at his hands, not daring to relax for a moment, and shouted without raising his head, "Yu'er, come here quickly, otherwise the porridge will be gone."

"Strange, where is Yu'er?"

Suddenly, Qin Wei's puzzled voice woke Liu Xunyi from his excitement. He looked up quickly, but saw that the horse tie stone was empty and there was no trace of Liu Xunyu anymore.

"Yu'er!" Liu Xunyi looked around. He wanted to find Liu Xunyu among the scattered crowd, but he and Qin Wei looked back and forth for a long time and still found nothing.

"Yu'er!"

Finally, Liu Xunyi realized that something was wrong and no longer cared about the hard-earned rice porridge in his hand. He looked around anxiously. Qin Wei followed closely behind Liu Xunyi. While he was anxious, a deep panic appeared in his eyes.

……

For several months, Liu Xunyi and Qin Wei searched almost every corner of Luzhou City, but they could not find any trace of Liu Xunyu. Although they did not want to admit that Liu Xunyu might have been abducted, they had to face the reality. After searching for her many times without success, the two of them had no choice but to continue to depend on each other and wander around in order to survive.

Spring goes and autumn comes, and in the blink of an eye another year has passed.

Liu Xunyi and Qin Wei lived in great hardship and begged for food all day long. Although they were displaced and suffered a lot, they managed to survive another year.

When I fled all the way from Luzhou to Qianzhou, it was already the coldest time of the year with heavy snow.

There were very few pedestrians on the street, and it was even harder for anyone to stop and give them alms.

Liu Xunyi and Qin Wei were stranded on the streets of Qianzhou. They were frozen and covered with wounds, and starved to the point of being emaciated. They were both on the verge of death.

"Xun Yi, are we going to die soon?"

Qin Wei snuggled in Liu Xunyi's arms. At this moment, he had exhausted all the energy to breathe out to keep warm. His eyes were slightly closed, and he kept mumbling weakly. At the same time, a few tears quietly flowed from the corners of his eyes, "Xunyi, I miss my mother..."

When Liu Xunyi mentioned her mother, her eyes became moist. Her chilblained hands tightly covered Qin Wei's ears, which were almost frozen stiff. She smiled innocently and said, "She won't die. As long as we survive this winter, we can find a job next year. Then we will have food, drink and a place to sleep."

"We are too young, too weak, and illiterate..." Qin Wei said weakly, "Xunyi, do you think we can see our parents after we die? I miss the sesame fire cakes and braised pork made by mom..." Qin Wei smacked his lips as he spoke. At this time, his tears were already sliding down his cheeks.

"I can't die!" Liu Xunyi murmured to herself with a firm face, "I still have to live to find Yu'er..."

"Boom!"

Suddenly, a copper coin was thrown in front of Liu Xunyi and Qin Wei. Looking up, they saw a middle-aged man with extraordinary stature and dignified bearing standing in front of them. At this moment, he was looking them up and down with a pair of piercing black eyes, with deep meaning.

Liu Xunyi stretched out her trembling little hand, picked up the copper coin hesitantly, and bowed her head timidly, saying, "Thank you for the reward, sir!"

"What's your name?" The man's voice was quite gentle, making people feel like spring breeze and very comfortable.

"Liu Xunyi." Liu Xunyi immediately became alert, and quickly pointed at Qin Wei beside him, saying, "His name is Qin Wei. Are you looking for workers? We can do both long-term and short-term work... Although we are young, we work seriously..." Seeing that the man was unmoved, Liu Xunyi quickly added, "We can do any job, and we don't need to be paid, as long as we can have food to eat..."

"Let me see your hand." After saying that, the man didn't wait for Liu Xunyi to agree. He grabbed his wrist and pulled it up and down.

The man was extremely strong, and the frail Liu Xunyi was completely defenseless in front of him and could only endure the pain and let him do whatever he wanted.

The man looked at his hands, then at his arms, and finally at Liu Xunyi's body, groping and patting it up and down. He then nodded repeatedly in surprise and said, "Not bad! Not bad! He is indeed a rare talent! I never thought that in this poor alley, I, Zhao Yuan, would actually meet a martial arts talent with extraordinary strength and bones. Excellent! Excellent!"

"Master, you..."

"Come with me!" Without waiting for Liu Xunyi to ask, Zhao Yuan suddenly said with a smile, "Not only can I provide you with food and drink, but I can also make you rich and prosperous! How do you think?"

"Really?" Liu Xunyi agreed hurriedly with a look of ecstasy on his face, then pulled Qin Wei and kowtowed to Zhao Yuan to express his gratitude.

But Zhao Yuan frowned and waved his hand, saying, "I only said I would take you away, but I don't want him."

"This..." Liu Xunyi suddenly looked embarrassed, then turned to look at Qin Wei whose life was hanging by a thread, thought it over again and again, then sat on the ground again and continued to hold Qin Wei in his arms.

Seeing this, Zhao Yuan was stunned and asked in surprise: "What are you doing? Do you want to freeze to death here?"

"Qin Wei is my good brother. I can't leave him alone." Liu Xunyi's face tightened and she said stubbornly, "I won't go with you. I want to stay with Qin Wei. Even if I freeze to death or starve to death, I will never leave him."

Zhao Yuan looked at Liu Xunyi suspiciously, and asked, "What if I can only take one of you away?"

"Then please take Qin Wei away." Liu Xunyi answered without hesitation, "He is weak and about to die."

"Are you willing to starve to death?"

"I won't starve to death. Didn't the master give me a copper coin?" Liu Xunyi raised the copper coin in his hand and smiled proudly, "I can exchange it for a steamed bun and a bowl of hot porridge. With them, I won't starve to death."

“Haha…” Zhao Yuan laughed loudly and nodded repeatedly, “At such a young age, you understand the meaning of life and death, sharing weal and woe. How rare! How rare!” After that, Zhao Yuan took off his mink coat and threw it on Liu Xunyi and Qin Wei, laughing, “Forget it, the two of you come with me!”

Feeling the warmth brought by the mink cloak, Qin Wei's expression became much more relaxed than before. Liu Xunyi supported Qin Wei, stood up shakily, and bowed to Zhao Yuan three times in a row, expressing his gratitude beyond words.

"You just said that as long as you have a stutter, you can do anything. Are you serious?" Zhao Yuan asked with a meaningful smile.

"Really." Liu Xunyi was afraid that Zhao Yuan would go back on his word, so he nodded desperately in agreement.

"What about killing someone?" Zhao Yuan's expression became serious, and he asked again, "Do you dare to kill someone?"

"I dare!" Qin Wei spoke without hesitation before Liu Xunyi showed any hesitation, "As long as I can be rich and successful, I will kill anyone you ask me to kill!"

Zhao Yuan nodded slightly, keeping a secret in mind, and said lightly: "Let's go!" After that, he walked away without looking back.

"Um..." Liu Xunyi hesitated again and again, and finally couldn't resist his inner curiosity and asked, "Where are you taking us?"

"Lin'an City, Tianji Pavilion!"

……

　New book released, please pay attention!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)