The cave was small. Damp. Cold.
Just enough for two children to curl inside—one unconscious, the other awake, shivering.
The girl hugged her knees, her lips cracked and pale. Beside her, Lin Xuan lay on a bed of leaves and moss, unmoving.
It had been three days.
She had given him her share of water.Split roots with him.Slept beside him so he wouldn't freeze.
But he hadn't opened his eyes again.
"Brother… please wake up…"
Her whisper cracked in the silence. She clutched a dried piece of bark to her chest like a treasure.
It wasn't food. But she'd pretend.
She had to.
Outside, night had fallen again. The forest whispered with wind and distant howls.And snow began to fall.
Inside the boy's mind, however—something stirred.
In the void of his soul, once silent and shattered, now pulsed with faint light.
A rune flared.
A heartbeat returned.
"This body… it's still alive."
Lin Xuan's soul floated within the darkness, fragmented and weak. But aware.
"That girl… she's guarding me."
"Feeding me. Warming me. Crying when she thinks I can't hear."
His chest tightened.He wasn't sure if it was grief, shame, or fury.
"This boy died before… and she stayed."
"A sibling, not by blood—but by survival."
The cave faded back into view as his senses reconnected.
The fire was gone.
Only the girl's shallow breath remained.
Lin Xuan's eyes fluttered open.
His body screamed in silence—but he endured.
"Brother…?"
Her voice was so faint it barely reached him.
She turned, saw his gaze, and froze.
Then tears burst from her eyes like a broken dam.
"You're awake! You're finally awake!"
She dropped the bark. Crawled toward him. Grasped his arm with trembling fingers.
He stared at her—really saw her—for the first time.
Eight years old, perhaps. Thin to the bone. Filthy. Hair matted. Fingers cracked from frostbite.
But her eyes—those dull, tired eyes—were full of light.
Because of him.
"What's your name?" he asked, voice rough.
She blinked.
"Xiao Yan…"
"But… you've always called me Little Rock."
A strange warmth rose in his chest.
Not divine qi.Not battle intent.Just… something forgotten.
Something human.
"Little Rock," he said slowly.
She nodded with tears in her lashes.
"I'll never forget that."
She didn't understand.But she smiled.
Outside the cave, the wind picked up.
Snow fell heavier.
But inside, for the first time in years—there was warmth.