Is It Easy?

In the distance, Xuan'er plopped to her knees as she choked on air. Her legs were depleted of strength, twin beads of crystalline liquids ran down her cheek. Right as her knees were about to graze the snow, a calm gush of wind engulfed her before she felt a frame ever-so-cold, yet comfy welcome her into an embrace.

"There there, silly girl." Yang Lin spoke softly. Through her blurry vision and unsteady mental, Xuan'er couldn't question how nimble and quick Yang Lin's steps were. The only one who witnessed such in a somber mental was the thug, and he was speechless. To him, it was as though Yang Lin transitioned into a flock of snowflakes and phased through the wind, essentially becoming the frosted gale that rushed unhindered to embrace Xuan'er.

Unbeknownst to Xuan'er, the thug was experiencing a whole different feeling of cold, at the moment. He stood there, corrupted by terror as he eyed the spot that Yang Lin had just stood in, not daring to turn around just yet.

Seconds felt like hours, and by the time he mustered enough courage to turn his head around, he was shocked.

Yang Lin had long left. However, there was an abnormal, blood-drenched 'thing' on the ground. That blood, surprisingly, drew near towards the thug. Realizing how cold it was, with blood fuming his gape lips, the thug was prompted to glance down for realization struck him.

'Ah, my heart is gone…' The thug muttered within his mind, darkness shrouding his world. Dead he dropped.

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"Huh…" Xuan'er opened her round eyes, the redness still as prominent near her iris. "Am I dreaming?" She muttered to herself. Her arms, not knowing since when, draped over Yang Lin's neck tightly as she clung to his chest, he carried her like a spoiled princess under the starry sky, his sharp contour complemented by a faint smile.

"Is it?" Yang Lin asked, but Xuan'er quickly sobered up as recalled the past events. In a panic, she shook Yang Lin and said, "You need to run!"

As Yang Lin's body shook, Xuan'er felt cold between her legs, specifically over her inner-thigh, she then recalled she had pissed herself. Face flushed red, she tucked her embarrassment into Yang Lin's chest as she knocked his cheek. As much as Yang Lin would have loved to laugh and tease, he simply froze in place. With an accelerating heart rate, Xuan'er who was practically glued to his beating chest stiffened.

She knew where they arrived, and she knew that at this moment, Yang Lin saw his mother.

"..." Xuan'er said nothing. Those bastards, after killing her aunt, kept her corpse out for all to see. The body lingered in its stench, blood, and miserable state; no one dared oppose. There was even a humble number of thugs stationed nearby to keep watch over the woman's body, just in case someone had any funny ideas. Howbeit, Yang Lin paid little to no attention to those thugs, it was as though everything but the carcass of his mother was invisible; nonexistent. His body shuddered, but as he could easily fracture Xuan'er apart if he happened to lose his cool whilst she rested in his embrace, he somehow found the resolve to maintain his body calm, contrary to his heart that terrified Xuan'er.

All this anger, all this wrath, made her recall the matter of the earlier thug. Fear and joy consumed her and she passed out, but if this wasn't a dream, where was the other thug? Could he have returned to notify the gang? If so, Xuan'er was really panic-stricken.

She was about to plea to Yang Lin for him to leave, then she also remembered the thug mentioning the matter of her mother becoming their 'whore', which washed away her senses. Her eyes grew dull and somewhat lifeless, her mother or Yang Lin, who should she follow after?

As she was in deep thoughts, Yang Lin had already rested the dazed Xuan'er on the ground. Then, he fixed her wrinkled clothing with an apologetic expression, he said, "My hands are a bit bloody from earlier but don't worry, I guarantee that your mom will be home tonight to wash your clothes."

Bloody? Ah, so Big Brother killed the thug?

Xuan'er realized, but she wasn't as surprised as she expected. Perhaps… Perhaps it was because she had already lost hope. In the past month, she embraced the fact that human life was so fragile, the strong would kill the weak, even if there was no clause to warrant death.

Because they can, they did. Now she did not know if her Big Brother had that type of strength. Even if he did, she did not, and would never, it was something beyond her horizons.

"Hey! Brat! Step away from the old hag!" Xuan'er snapped out of her daze to witness Yang Lin approaching his mother. His back looked desolate, lonely, and angry. This scene frightened her, with each step he took, she felt as though he left traces of the Big Brother she adored all these years in his wake.

"Are you too like them? Is killing really that easy?" Xuan'er asked softly, her tone somewhat lonely and lost. She knew he heard her, which was why it hurt.

It hurt that he ignored her and kept walking.