“What little brat? You’re the little brat!”
Jiang Xuanyu scrambled up from the ground in fury, and the moment the words left his mouth, even he froze.
That babyish voice—had it really come from his own throat?
Jiang Xuanyu looked up, staring at the others in shock.
“You’ve got some nerve calling me that—aren’t you all the same?”
Except, damn it, why did he look like the youngest of them all?
He’d already been the youngest before, and now that they’d all shrunk, he was still the youngest. Unbelievable.
At his words, Chu Yanyi and the others immediately stood up and looked at each other—and that one look terrified them. How had they all turned into six- or seven-year-old kids?
Five-year-old Bai Yuchuan sat on the ground, the white cloth that had covered his eyes slipped down and dangling over the bridge of his nose. His childish face remained calm and composed as he listened to the voices around him, then reached out a hand to feel himself.
The next second, his whole body jolted. His hands scrambled frantically around him, and the moment they found his clothes, he hurriedly pulled them over his body.
Jiang Xuanyu, flustered and furious, ran around in circles near the others, hands cupped over his crotch. “Why? You guys look six or seven, but I look three or four!
And—even Bai Yuchuan, that kid, is older than me!”
Jiang Xuanyu pointed furiously at Bai Yuchuan on the ground, but as he watched the boy fumbling to pull his clothes over himself, his voice cut off abruptly.
“Shit!”
Jiang Xuanyu looked down. Sure enough—nothing there.
Huo Chiye, Chu Yanyi, and Shi Baiheng all stared at him like he was an idiot.
“That age suits you pretty well, little brat!”
Huo Chiye added, pointedly glancing at his backside.
“You bastard!” Jiang Xuanyu clapped his hands over his rear and ran off to find his clothes.
Once dressed, the group sat together, trying to make sense of their situation.
Bai Yuchuan, unable to see, wore his clothes loose and baggy, half his body slipping out of them. In the end, Jiang Xuanyu couldn’t stand watching anymore and reached over to tug them straight for him.
So this guy’s skin was even fairer than his. Truly a creature soaked in water, as expected.
“Wait! Why has my Mental Power dropped to F-Rank!” Huo Chiye shot to his feet, probing his Mental Power over and over.
He had just tried to see if he could trigger the Federation’s communication system.
But because his Mental Power was insufficient, he’d been unable to contact the Federation—and only upon probing did he discover his Mental Power had fallen from SSS-Rank all the way to F-Rank.
Chu Yanyi was the first to react, immediately checking his own. Same thing—dropped to F-Rank.
A grave expression crept onto Shi Baiheng’s fair face.
“Ah! No way. What on earth is going on? Could it be because of that giant stink bug?” Jiang Xuanyu sat on the ground looking like the sky had fallen.
They didn’t even know where they were. Without their Mental Power, they couldn’t contact the Federation. Were they really going to be trapped in this desolate, godforsaken place?
“It’s possible. But the most important thing right now is to get out of here.” Shi Baiheng’s expression returned to calm as he rose from the ground.
Chu Yanyi wanted to transform back into his true form to see if he could fly out—but in the end, not only did the transformation fail, he managed to make his legs disappear.
Jiang Xuanyu had been about to try as well, but seeing Chu Yanyi’s ridiculous display, he quickly abandoned the idea. Something so embarrassing—better to let Chu Yanyi do it alone.
Just as the group was about to figure out which direction to head, a chorus of shouts rang out not far away.
“Move faster! All this dilly-dallying—at your pace, you’ll all be dead before you even reach the savage wilds!”
An angry shout drew closer, accompanied by the crack of a whip striking flesh.
The five of them quickly rose to their feet and looked toward the source of the sound. Bai Yuchuan tilted his head slightly.
In the crowd, Yu Wangge had rolled her eyes countless times along the way. When she realized she hadn’t been blown to death, she couldn’t have been happier—and with no one else around her, she’d been looking forward to freedom, free as a bird in the open sky.
Then came a click—something was clamped onto her ankle. She turned around and saw another exile convoy, and her heart instantly sank as if doused with a bucket of cold water.
Stone cold!
“Yu Wangge!”
Chu Yanyi spotted her in the crowd at a glance.
“A Mental Power-less trash like her actually made it out unscathed?” Huo Chiye said in surprise.
Shi Baiheng shrugged. “Maybe they’ll find something if they examine her. But either way, it looks like our only option is to follow them for now.”
The three of them looked at Bai Yuchuan, the little blind boy, then shifted their gaze to Jiang Xuanyu, who was glaring at Yu Wangge with fury on his face.
A chill ran down Jiang Xuanyu’s spine. Why did he have a bad feeling about this?
…
“Waaah, big sister, big sister, how could you abandon us? Boo-hoo-hoo!”
“What the hell?”
Before Yu Wangge could figure out what was going on, a little brat rushed up and wrapped his arms around her leg, wiping his tears and snot all over her pants like they were free of charge.
Yu Wangge’s temple throbbed violently. She looked down at the little boy, about four years old, who tilted up an adorable little face and gazed at her with eyes brimming with tears.
Yu Wangge swallowed. Fine, he was just a kid—he didn’t deserve to die for it.
The guards in charge of the escort up ahead heard the commotion behind them and stopped, visibly annoyed that everyone was being held up.
“What are you standing around for? Keep moving!”
With that, he raised his whip, ready to strike Jiang Xuanyu.
A flash of killing intent crossed Jiang Xuanyu’s eyes. A mere ant like this actually dared to raise a hand against him?
“We’re going, we’re going! Please calm down, sir, calm down.” Yu Wangge yanked Jiang Xuanyu behind her, smiling ingratiatingly at the escort officer, then stepped forward and slipped some star coins into his hand.
“Hmph. Smart of you. Your little brother, right? Keep an eye on him and don’t hold everyone up.”
“Uh, no, he’s not—”
Before Yu Wangge could finish explaining, the other three had already dragged the little blind boy over to her side.
“Aw, poor kid. He’s blind, too.”
The people nearby murmured as they looked at Bai Yuchuan.
“Give it a rest. Instead of feeling sorry for others, you’d better feel sorry for yourselves,” a man nearby sneered.
Yu Wangge stared blankly at the five kids at her feet.
She hadn’t done anything—how did she end up with five little attachments?
“Am I really your sister?”
Yu Wangge asked, somewhat doubtful. She wasn’t sure herself. In the book, the original owner was a vicious cannon-fodder character who died early, so there were no details about her.
Chu Yanyi looked at her earnestly. “Yes, big sister.” Inwardly, though, he was full of contempt—this woman really was as dumb as a pig as always.
She didn’t even know whether she had younger brothers or not.
As she walked, Yu Wangge studied them carefully. “Then what’s my name? How old am I? When’s my birthday? What do I like?”
Chu Yanyi’s little face stiffened. Why would he care about this woman’s trivial matters?
Seeing that he couldn’t answer, Yu Wangge narrowed her eyes. “So, you’re not my brother at all—you came here deliberately to extort me?”
Yu Wangge quietly took out a dagger from her Spatial Dimension for self-defense.