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nWhen they got to their room, there was an ambiguous atmosphere in the air.

nBoth of them took a bath with the tub that the inn provided and then it was time for them to go to sleep.

nWhen Lin Fan came back from his bath, he saw Xiao Yue lying in bed and his heart skipped a beat.

nCould it be that it was finally time for…that?

nBut he was disappointed when he came closer and found that there was a row of pillows placed in the middle of the bed.

nWhile he was gone, Xiao Yue had the staff bring her a few pillows which she had used to build a wall right in the middle of the bed.

nComing into the room and seeing the wall of pillows right in the center of the bed, Lin Fan couldn’t help revealing a bitter smile, but there was nothing he could say in response to this. After all, they had indeed only known each other for a day, it wasn’t like she would let him do anything that quickly.

nHowever, when he looked carefully, he saw that there was a hole right in the center of the wall. The hole was right where Xiao Yue’s hand was.

nLin Fan revealed a confused look as he couldn’t help pointing it out and asking, “What is this?”

nXiao Yue didn’t respond and instead, she just put her hand through the hole.

nShe didn’t need to say anything else after that, just the hand peeking through the wall of pillows was more than enough to tell him what she was thinking.

nBut just that alone was enough to make Lin Fan nervous since in his years on Earth, he had never been able to do this before.

nAfter lying down, Lin Fan turned in the direction of the pillow wall and stared at the hand peeking through. He carefully raised his hand and moved it over until he gently held that hand.

nThe moment that their hands made contact, the first thing he couldn’t help thinking was that her hand really was soft.

nHe already kind of expected that it would be soft, but he never imagined that it would be this soft.

nAs they laid there holding hands, Lin Fan’s heart kept beating faster and faster as he was too excited to sleep.

nBut as he laid there, he suddenly heard a sound coming from the other side.

nHe didn’t know what the sound was at first, but slowly it got louder until he recognized the sound.

nCrying.

nShe was crying.

nBut why?

nLin Fan could feel from her hand that she was asleep since she wasn’t gripping, so she must be crying in her sleep.

nLin Fan finally couldn’t take his curiosity and he sat up slightly, not moving too much so that he didn’t wake Xiao Yue up. He sat up just enough that he was able to peek over the wall of pillows.

nWhen he looked over, he saw Xiao Yue’s sleeping face covered in tears.

nIt was at this time that Xiao Yue muttered in her sleep, “Mom, dad, don’t leave Xiao Yue.”

nIt was like he had been thrown into a bucket of cold water the moment he heard this.

nAfter his shock, the only thing that Lin Fan felt was shame, endless shame.

nHe had realized that he had completely misjudged Xiao Yue and he hadn’t even thought about how she felt. He had been completely fooled by the strong appearance that she put on…

nBut he couldn’t blame her since he knew that for her, this was the only way for her to survive in this world.

nShe had no one else, she only had herself, so she had to act strong so that no one would take advantage of her. This was even harder since she was female.

nBut that didn’t mean that what had happened didn’t affect her at all.

nHumans were at their most fragile when they were asleep. They weren’t able to hold back the things that they normally held back when they were awake.

nNow that she was finally in a safe place, her emotions had all poured out.

nHer family had been killed in front of her, her village had been slaughtered, and she had been kidnapped. Any one of these events would be enough to scar a person for life, but all of them had happened to her.

nIt would have been impossible for her not to be affected by it.

nBut she had held it all back just to survive.

nIt was hard to imagine just what kind of emotions she had been feeling this entire time, but it definitely wasn’t easy for her.

nAfter a slight pause, Lin Fan leaned over the wall of pillows and spoke in a soft voice so he wouldn’t wake Xiao Yue up. He said, “Don’t worry, I’m here.”

nAfter hearing this, Xiao Yue slightly knitted her brows before they suddenly relaxed and her tears stopped. Then her lips quivered a bit before she revealed a faint smile.

nAfter watching her for a bit longer and making sure that she was alright, Lin Fan laid back down. However, as he laid there, he didn’t go to sleep.

nInstead he began thinking of different ways that he could help make Xiao Yue feel more comforted and as he thought about them, he unknowingly started to drift off into the land of sleep.

nWhen he woke up, he was surprised to find that he was holding nothing in his hand.

nHe quickly sat up and looked around the room, but he didn’t see anyone there at all.

nAs his mind began to turn, he suddenly started getting worried.

nWhat if Xiao Yue was so sad that she…

nIn a panic, Lin Fan immediately got out of bed and without even putting on the rest of his clothes, he started to bolt for the door.

nBut when he had just opened it and was about to run out, he suddenly bumped into someone who was coming in.

nIt was a good thing that Lin Fan was strong and had quick reactions. He immediately reached his hand out to grab the person who had been sent stumbling after bumping into him, firmly catching that person.

nWhen they were both finally in a stable position, Lin Fan looked down to see Xiao Yue in his arms.

nOnce he saw that it was her, he immediately asked, “Where did you go?”

nSeeing the anxious look on his face, Xiao Yue was confused at first, but then she said, “I went to wash up after getting up. Is there a problem?”

nAfter calming down a bit from this answer, Lin Fan saw the wash basin and towel that had fallen on the floor when they crashed. Then after a momentary pause, he said, “Oh, it’s nothing…”

nThe two of them stayed like that for a bit and as Xiao Yue stared at Lin Fan’s face, her cheeks couldn’t help turning red.

nOnce he stopped panicking, Lin Fan realized the awkward position that they were in and quickly helped her stand up straight.

nAfter another awkward moment, Lin Fan also went out to wash his face and get ready.

nAll that was left in the room was a bashful Xiao Yue with a red face.

n…

nAfter washing up and getting breakfast at the inn, the two of them headed out for the Mercenary Guild.

nWhile they had gotten some money from the corpses of the bandits, naturally that wouldn’t be enough for them to survive on. After all, they were just mortal bandits, how much money would that have?

nSo they would have to find a way to earn money for their new lives.

nNeither of them had any real professional skills and even if they did, with their age, it was unlikely that someone would hire them.

nSo the only choice they had for employment was to become mercenaries.

nMercenaries in this cultivation world would be similar to adventurers in a magic fantasy world.

nThey took tasks that others offered, doing a variety of different things. Sometimes they collected materials, sometimes they hunted down dangerous beasts, and sometimes they would escort people who paid them. In short, they were handymen who did all kinds of work.

nBut the key thing that attracted Lin Fan into becoming a mercenary was the freedom that came with the job.

nMercenaries were free to choose missions as they pleased and there was nothing that forced them to take missions. Of course if they didn’t do anything, they wouldn’t earn any money.

nSo the more dangerous missions would always pay more since there was always someone willing to do the missions if it paid enough.

nOf course, one could be a mercenary without registering at the Mercenary Guild as well, but that would mean giving up the services and connections that the Mercenary Guild provided. So even though the Mercenary Guild charged a fee for all work introduced through them, there were plenty of people willing to sign up as a mercenary and plenty of people willing to issue tasks through them.

nIt didn’t take them long to make their way to the Mercenary Guild because it was a famous place in this small city.

nThe Mercenary Guild in this city was just a small branch of a much larger organization, so the location they were in was quite a good one with plenty of people walking in and out.

nJust by following the flow of people, they were able to easily find it.

nOnce they entered the giant building, they were completely surprised by what they saw.

nInstead of matching the professional feeling that the outside of the building gave, the inside of the building made them feel like they had just stepped into a bar.

nIn fact, half of the space in the hall was actually taken up by a bar and there were many people drinking even though it was the middle of the day.

nBut there was still a proper counter at the center of the hall which was where Lin Fan and Xiao Yue headed to.

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