In that land long shrouded in the haze of war, the ruins of the city resembled open wounds on the earth, the shattered walls standing in silent testimony beneath the dim, yellowish sky. Former prosperity was now like a dream, vanished without a trace. The wind carried the scent of gunpowder and decay, whistling through the broken masonry like countless wronged souls crying out about the past.
Lin Yu climbed laboriously through the debris, his clothes in rags and covered in dust and blood. With every step he forced his injured leg to take, a piercing pain shot through him, but his eyes gleamed with determination, and his hands tightly gripped an old rifle he had picked up from an enemy corpse. Following closely beside him was a frail little girl with a gaze full of terror yet reliant upon him. Her name was Xiaoyan. War had ruthlessly stripped her of her family, and had Lin Yu not found and protected her amidst the ruins, she would likely have perished in this chaotic era long ago.
"Uncle, I'm scared..." Xiaoyan's trembling voice sounded faintly in the wind.
Chapter 51