Thud! Thud! Thud!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Big brothers? We just wanted to trade for a few things. Isn’t that okay?”
“Waaah… We’re from upstairs. It’s so cold outside, and Weiwei can’t hold on anymore. Please open the door, big brothers…”
The weather was unbearably hot, so Qin Shuo and Jiang Xun kept drinking water to quench their thirst.
After quite a while, Li Tong gradually grew drowsy and unknowingly fell asleep.
Xiong Ji carried his little sister back to his bedroom.
He tucked his precious girl beneath the blanket.
Wrapping an arm around her from behind, Xiong Ji closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep as well.
Li Tong was exhausted and quickly drifted into a deep, peaceful sleep.
Xiong Ji, however, couldn’t sleep. He propped himself up, stole countless kisses from her before finally lying back down again.
His little sister had been frail and sickly ever since she was a child, so delicate that she resembled a thin sheet of white paper, as though even the gentlest breeze could leave her catching a cold.
The weather remained stifling, and early the next morning Xiong Ji found himself constantly drinking water…
“Big Brother?”
“Mhm. Big Brother’s here.”
After finishing his water, the man went into the Small World to take a shower.
Li Tong waited another ten or so minutes before washing up and taking her own bath.
By the time she slowly emerged from the Small World, she heard her brothers speaking to the people outside in unusually stern voices.
The moment Nan Qi saw her come out, he hurriedly pushed Qin Shuo outside. He followed him out himself and immediately shut the front door.
Not understanding what was happening, Li Tong walked into the living room, took out breakfast, and while eating quietly, pricked up her ears to listen to the commotion outside.
“The world’s about to end. Is it really wrong for us to come looking for our brothers?”
“We survived on the same battlefield together. Xiong Ji, don’t be so heartless.”
Among the entire Ghost Guild, the four of them made up the smallest team, yet they were also the strongest, the fiercest, and the ones with the fastest and highest mission completion rate.
The enormous bounties placed on their heads had made their reputation spread relentlessly throughout the industry.
Some fellow mercenaries admired and idolised them, trying every possible way to join their team. Others envied and feared them, exhausting every trick they could think of to claim the heads of the four brothers.
“How about this? Let us join you, but we won’t live together. Just treat us as your subordinates. We brothers only want to earn enough to survive while keeping these miserable lives of ours.”
“Xiong Ji, we’ve come all this way to find you. For the sake of the days we fought side by side, give us a chance to live.”
“Look at the world outside. Order has completely collapsed. The more people there are, the safer we’ll be.”
What they said wasn’t entirely wrong. They really had once been comrades who had lived and died together. Although they were mercenaries whose honesty and loyalty were practically nonexistent, that much was true.
Most mercenaries only looked out for themselves. They went wherever the money was best, and betrayal was as commonplace as eating a meal.
But there was one thing in common. Mercenaries like that usually accumulated too many enemies and died young.
Those who managed to survive were all intelligent. Every mission they accepted was approached with extreme caution, and they never crossed the line.
Looking at the dozen or so people crowded outside the door, Xiong Ji thought of his little sister again. After a long silence, he finally spoke.
“Find somewhere to settle down for now. The four of us need to discuss this first.”
Seeing there was hope, their moods instantly brightened. Waving goodbye with enough tact to know when to leave, they departed first.
After the four brothers returned home, they saw their soft, obedient little sister sitting quietly on the chair, and their determination not to form a team with anyone only grew stronger.
“Big Brothers? Come sit down and eat.”
They sat around the table looking at her, each lost in thought, with no appetite whatsoever.
“Tell me what’s wrong, Big Brothers.”
Nan Qi gently rubbed the top of her head.
“It’s nothing. Finish eating, Little Treasure, then go play.”
Seeing that her brothers were in low spirits, Li Tong didn’t dare ask any more questions. She obediently curled up on the sofa and quietly read her comic book.
Jiang Xun said, “I’ll go tell them we’re refusing.”
Qin Shuo replied, “Or we could agree for now. Our precious girl never goes outside anyway, so they won’t see her.”
Nan Qi frowned. “Those guys already know where we live. They’ll definitely keep us under surveillance. If we refuse outright, there’s a good chance they’ll retaliate.”
The four of them weren’t afraid for themselves, but their little sister was different. The Small World could only be used for twelve hours. It wasn’t an absolutely foolproof shelter.
When they’d encountered those people outside before, there had only been three of them. None of them had expected more than ten to show up today. Clearly, the situation was far more complicated than they’d imagined, and there were probably even more people behind them.
Every one of them had arrived carrying firearms, making their threat perfectly clear.
No matter how strong the four brothers were, fighting a close range gun battle against an unknown number of professional enemies offered very little chance of success.
Xiong Ji glanced at his precious girl, who was secretly watching them. Lowering his eyes, he let out a quiet sigh.
“We’ll do as Qin Shuo suggested. We’ll find an opportunity to leave later. As long as our precious girl doesn’t go outside, everything will be fine.”
From their conversation, Li Tong had pieced together most of what was happening. She couldn’t help feeling that her brothers had become so troubled because of her. Her little mouth immediately drooped, and her eyes turned red with grievance.
The moment the four brothers noticed something was wrong, they all hurried over to comfort her once again.
Nan Qi lifted his little sister into his arms and settled her onto his lap.
“What’s wrong? Why’s your little mouth all puffed out?”
Li Tong couldn’t organise her thoughts into words. She simply lowered her head in silence without saying anything.
Jiang Xun gently squeezed her little hand, lifted it to his lips, and kissed it softly.
“Let Big Brother see… Oh my, why are my little baby’s eyes all red like a little rabbit’s?”
She didn’t want to speak. Burying her face against Nan Qi’s firm chest, she pretended to be dead.
Xiong Ji gently stroked her hair and comforted her in a soft voice.
“Don’t overthink things, precious. Nothing’s wrong.”
The brothers exchanged glances before Nan Qi carried her back to the bedroom.
The other three remained on the sofa, continuing their discussion about what had happened.
Nan Qi carefully laid his little sister on the bed.
She immediately pushed at him with one hand, refusing to let him come any closer.
Covering her small hand with his large one, he completely enclosed her tiny fist within his palm. Leaning down until he was close to her face, he coaxed her gently.
“Be good, precious. Big Brother loves you…”