Shen Ningning watched as Wu Zuchang caught a few fireflies for her.

His hands were nimble; he even knew how to weave a small cage from blades of grass.

The fireflies were trapped inside, unable to fly out.

Wu Zuchang tied the woven cage to Shen Ningning’s waist. With every step the little girl took, a flickering light followed her.

"This way, I won’t have to worry about losing you, girlie," he said with a silly grin, clapping his hands.

Shen Ningning tilted her head. "Brother Zuchang, you should call me Ningning!"

"Girlie!" he insisted stubbornly, his smile looking simple, handsome, and innocent.

The little girl spread her hands. "Alright, have it your way."

Just then, a chirping sound came from overhead.

Shen Ningning looked up and saw the familiar little monkey hopping on a branch.

Her face lit up with joy. "Little monkey! What are you doing here?"

The little monkey slid down the tree in a flash, scratching its ears and cheeks by her feet while chittering away.

Shen Ningning understood it.

It turned out that because she hadn’t come home, the Black Wolf King had sent the wolf pack out to patrol the mountain.

The monkeys were afraid of them and had no choice but to run far away.

The way it spoke was like it was tattling. If it could speak human words, it would surely have said, "That giant black wolf is so mean."

Shen Ningning couldn’t stop laughing, amused by the monkey.

Wu Zuchang watched from the side, utterly amazed.

He started to imitate the little monkey, scratching his ears and cheeks and mimicking its chittering.

This very action, however, made the monkey look at him with growing impatience. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

In its eyes, this big oaf was forcing his voice to imitate its speech!

It had just said the night was lovely, as a way to get closer to Shen Ningning.

But the big oaf’s chittering translated to something like "you are so dumb and what about me," which was complete and utter nonsense.

The little monkey waved its paws in displeasure, complaining to Shen Ningning.

Wu Zuchang asked anxiously, "Girlie, what’s it saying?"

Shen Ningning laughed so hard she couldn’t stand up straight, her small body trembling like a little firefly fairy in the night.

"It says you’re speaking with an accent. It can’t understand you, but it’s very angry."

Wu Zuchang scratched the back of his head, looked at Shen Ningning, and broke into a silly smile as well.

Just as the atmosphere turned harmonious, an arrow suddenly shot out from the depths of the forest!

"SQUEAK!" The little monkey was startled and scrambled up to the treetops in a hurry.

Shen Ningning’s round eyes filled with alarm as she looked around. "Hunters?!"

’Are there still people hunting this late?’

However, the next arrow suddenly struck the ground near her feet.

No matter how simple-minded Wu Zuchang was, he felt the fear. "Girlie, quick, let’s go!"

As if remembering something terrible, he scooped up Shen Ningning and bolted forward.

They couldn’t run back, because people were catching up from behind.

Shen Ningning’s small hands lost their grip on the lantern. It fell to the ground and was quickly crushed by the black boot of a pursuer.

Seven or eight men in black, carrying long sabers, said coldly, "After them! We must take her life."

Wu Zuchang had no sense of direction in the woods. He ran deep into a part of the forest overgrown with weeds.

Having no foundation in martial arts, he was kicked to the ground from behind by one of the men in black who had caught up.

A second before he fell, Wu Zuchang threw Shen Ningning forward.

He slammed hard onto the ground, roaring, "Girlie, run!"

Wu Zuchang got back up and desperately clung to the man’s leg, stopping him from moving forward.

The vicious assassins naturally found him to be a nuisance.

They swung their sabers without mercy. Wu Zuchang let out a pained howl.

The night was too dark; Shen Ningning had no idea where he had been cut.

There was no time to think. The little girl turned and ran, but a pebble suddenly struck the back of her knee, and she immediately fell to the ground.

The men in black surrounded her from all sides.

They advanced slowly with their sabers drawn, closing the circle.

The woven cage Wu Zuchang had made for Shen Ningning lay on the ground, where they callously crushed it underfoot.

The light of the fireflies went out, replaced by a deathly silence.

Shen Ningning’s watery, dark eyes trembled. "Who sent you?"

One of the men in black sneered. "You don’t need to know."

Her heart sank.

’Actually, the little girl wasn’t afraid at all. She just wanted to find out who the mastermind was.’

’But since the men in black wouldn’t say anything, she wasn’t going to waste any more time. She prepared to hide in the Immortal Realm.’

At that moment, however, Wu Zuchang caught up to them again.

"Girlie!" He lunged forward, scooped up Shen Ningning, and tried to run.

But he was kicked to the ground by one of the men in black.

"Such a nuisance. Kill him too," one of the men said. Then, the sabers fell on Wu Zuchang’s back like raindrops.

Shen Ningning heard his constant muffled grunts and the sound of blades sinking into flesh.

"Brother Zuchang!" she cried out in terror.

"Girlie, don’t be afraid. Big bro is here. I’ll protect you," Wu Zuchang said weakly.

Just then, a sharp wolf howl echoed from the distance.

Shen Ningning snapped back to her senses, her soft, childish voice choked with sobs. "Langlang, come save us!"

The little monkey that had gone to report the news came running down the hillside with a pack of wolves.

The Little White Wolf leaped out, the fastest of them all. It seemed to harbor an intense hatred for humans.

When it got the signal to attack from the Black Wolf King, it was the first one to charge.

The men in black instantly realized what was happening and scattered in a panic.

The Black Wolf King let out a furious howl, and the wolf pack split up in an orderly fashion to chase down the culprits!

The Black Wolf King and Wolf Three stayed by Shen Ningning’s side to protect her.

"Brother Zuchang!" the little girl cried. Only then, by the light of the moon, could she see clearly.

The cloth robes Wu Zuchang was wearing were completely soaked in blood.

The little monkey chittered frantically beside them, saying that his back was a bloody, mangled mess.

Shen Ningning paid it no mind, quickly taking out ginseng and spring water from the Immortal Realm to feed him.

She wanted to save his life, but Wu Zuchang was losing too much blood. It quickly pooled on the grass, forming a winding stream.

"Little sister..." he called out weakly, his eyes fixed on Shen Ningning. "Are you okay?"

Shen Ningning quickly grabbed his hand. "I’m fine! I’ll have Langlang carry you to a doctor right now."

But Wu Zuchang shook his head. "Don’t bother. I’m not going to make it..."

At this moment, his gaze, once dazed and muddled, became exceptionally clear.

It was as if he had woken up in an instant.

"Five years ago, my girlie was killed by a bandit’s saber while I was carrying her on my back as we fled for our lives. By the time I realized it, she was covered in blood, cold and stiff."

"No wonder she was crying so loudly on my back. It was because of the pain... But I was so stupid back then. All I knew was to run, and I never once looked back at her."

"For all these years, in my dreams and in my heart, I’ve imagined countless times that if I could do it over, I would hold her in my arms. I would rather take the blade myself than let her get hurt."

He looked at Shen Ningning with a gentle, brotherly smile. "I’ve rehearsed it in my mind so many times. I thought that if I ever faced this situation again, I would definitely protect my family. Today, I finally got to save your life."

"Actually, I know my girlie died a long time ago. But you... you’re really like a little sister. You didn’t look down on me, and you played with me."

Shen Ningning held his hand, her voice hoarse from crying as tears streamed down her cheeks like a broken string of pearls.

"Brother Zuchang, I’ll take you home! From now on, I’ll be your little sister, I’ll be your girlie! Don’t die! You have to stay and be my big brother!"

She stood up, and the Black Wolf King nudged Wu Zuchang with its head, trying to hoist him onto its back.

But the moment they moved him, he started bleeding even more heavily.

His face was as pale as paper.

Shen Ningning, stained with his blood, cried helplessly.

"Can I see your snot bubble one more time?" Wu Zuchang asked with a weak smile.

Even at a time like this, he was still trying to cheer her up.

Shen Ningning tried her best to force out a snot bubble. Wu Zuchang smiled, but she cried in sorrow, collapsing onto his body in tears.

He reached up to wipe her face, and the blood on his hand smeared her fair, tender cheeks.

Wu Zuchang gently patted her shoulder. "Tell my parents for me that when I left, I had no regrets."

"Ningning, go home now. I will watch over you from the afterlife and hope you find your birth parents soon."

With that, he closed his eyes with a smile on his face.

After five years, he was finally at peace.

If his world had filled with rain on the day his sister died, then in this moment, the rain finally stopped.