Girl

The little girl looked to be no more than ten years old. She had snow-white long hair that was a tangled, matted mess, covering more than half of her face.

She wore a faded linen shirt full of holes. Her exposed arms and calves were covered in black-and-blue bruises and scabbed wounds, and she was so thin she was little more than skin and bones.

The most shocking sight was her left leg, which was twisted at a bizarre angle. The pant leg was stained with dried, dark red blood; it had clearly been broken.

Dragged across the floor, the little girl neither cried nor fussed. She merely bit her lip hard, her hollow eyes completely devoid of light, as if she had long grown numb to it all.

"Still dare to glare at me?" The leading thug was annoyed by her gaze. He viciously stomped on her broken leg and ground his heel into it. "You unwanted little bastard, let me tell you, your father owes us money. Now that he's run off, it's up to you to pay his debts!"

"Mmph..." The little girl finally let out a muffled groan of pain. Her body trembled violently, and her pale lips bled from biting them so hard, yet she still did not beg for mercy.

Her fingers clawed wildly at the floor, driven by the agony, scraping against the ground until they bled.

"Stop!" Ye Chuan stood up almost subconsciously and shouted.

The three thugs turned their heads simultaneously. Seeing that Ye Chuan was alone and looked as weak as a twig, they immediately burst into laughter.

"Oh? What's this, trying to play the hero?" The leading thug spat on the ground and sauntered over with his two subordinates, looking Ye Chuan up and down. "I advise you to mind your own business, or we'll deal with you too!"

Ye Chuan's heart skipped a beat. Seeing the fierce and menacing looks of the three thugs, a trace of fear rose within him.

He was just an ordinary guy without the strength to even tie up a chicken; there was no way he could beat these three burly men.

But looking at the little girl on the ground, trampled underfoot and covered in wounds, he simply couldn't bring himself to turn and walk away.

Sure enough, he was just too kind-hearted.

Ye Chuan forced himself to stay calm and said, "She's just a child, how can you treat her like this? Besides, her leg is already broken. You should be looking for her father."

"Look for her father? If we could find him, would we be wasting our breath on you here?" The thug laughed heartily, raising his hand to slap Ye Chuan across the face. "Kid, it looks like you have a death wish! Since you love sticking your nose into other people's business so much, I'll let you taste my fist first!"

The slap flew toward Ye Chuan's face with a gust of wind.

Seeing this, Ye Chuan was so frightened that he subconsciously reached out and pushed forward.

Bang! A loud crash echoed out.

The expected pain never came. Instead, he heard a shrill, miserable scream.

Ye Chuan snapped his eyes open and was instantly stunned.

The thug who had just swung at him was now flying backward like a broken sack. He slammed heavily into the wall behind them, cracking the solid wall into a massive spiderweb pattern.

The thug lay on the ground, spitting blood. He twitched a few times before passing out.

The remaining two thugs were dumbfounded. They stared at Ye Chuan in shock, then at their unconscious companion, their arrogance instantly turning into terror.

"Y-y-you... a powerhouse!"

The two exchanged a glance and, not even bothering with their companion on the ground, scrambled away, disappearing at the end of the alley in the blink of an eye.

Ye Chuan was also dumbfounded. He looked at his hand, then at the crack in the wall, his mind completely blank.

"I... I have this much strength?" he muttered to himself. "Could it be... I got a cheat ability when I transmigrated?"

It was highly possible. After all, didn't all transmigrators get some sort of cheat?

"Having a bit more strength seems pretty normal, right?"

While he was lost in thought, a faint coughing sound came from the ground.

Ye Chuan snapped back to reality and hurriedly ran to the little girl's side, crouching down.

The little girl was still lying on the ground, her broken leg remaining in its twisted posture. Her face was as pale as paper, and her forehead was covered in cold sweat.

She looked up, staring at Ye Chuan with those hollow eyes. There was a hint of wariness in her gaze, as well as an imperceptible trace of bewilderment.

"Are you okay?" Ye Chuan lowered his voice, asking carefully for fear of frightening her.

The little girl didn't speak. She just silently shook her head and then looked down at her broken leg.

Looking at her injuries, Ye Chuan reached out to help her up but was afraid of touching her wounds. He could only say softly and gently:

"Your leg is broken. Let me take you to see a doctor, okay? If we wait any longer, it'll be too late."

The little girl still didn't say anything, merely raising her head to quietly look at him.

Ye Chuan didn't care whether she agreed or not. Carefully avoiding her injured leg, he gently lifted her onto his back.

The little girl was very light, as light as a feather. He could clearly feel her protruding bones against his back.

"..." The little girl didn't seem to understand why Ye Chuan was helping her, but feeling the warmth of his back, she made no move to resist.

"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you," Ye Chuan comforted her softly, carrying her toward the center of the street.

Along the way, the little girl rested quietly on his back. She didn't speak or squirm, only burying her face in his shoulder.

Ye Chuan could smell the sour stench coming from her and feel her body trembling. She was clearly in immense pain.

After asking around along the way and walking a little further, Ye Chuan spotted a medical clinic.

He hurried inside and shouted to the old doctor who was organizing herbs, "Doctor! Please help! This child's leg is broken!"

The old doctor quickly put down the herbs and walked over.

When he saw the little girl's twisted, broken leg and the scars all over her body, his face darkened immediately. "How did she get hurt like this? This is outrageous!"

He quickly had Ye Chuan place the little girl on a hospital bed and then expertly examined her injuries.

"This... the fracture has been there for a long time. It's an old injury. Ordinary herbs won't work at all... You need to find someone who knows healing magic," the old doctor said with a frown as he examined her.

However, having no other choice, he could only give her some emergency treatment.

He immediately brought out splints and herbs and began setting the little girl's bone.

Setting the bone was incredibly painful. The little girl clenched her teeth tightly, her forehead covered in cold sweat, yet she stubbornly refused to make a single sound.

"Alright, I've done a basic treatment... But if you want her bone injury to fully recover, you'll still need to go to the Adventurer's Guild and ask a Healer," the old doctor said to Ye Chuan, wiping his sweat. "The treatment fee plus the cost of the herbs comes to a total of ten silver coins."

Hearing this, Ye Chuan was instantly stunned.

Silver coins?

Is that the currency of this world?

He patted all the pockets on his body. Let alone a hundred silver coins, he didn't even have a single copper coin.

He scratched his head awkwardly and said to the old doctor in embarrassment, "Um... Doctor, I'm really sorry. I... I have amnesia, and I don't have any money on me. Do you think I could put it on a tab for now? I promise I'll pay you back later!"

The old doctor paused for a moment, looking Ye Chuan up and down before turning his gaze to the pitiful little girl on the hospital bed. He let out a heavy sigh. "Forget it. Seeing how badly the child is hurt, I don't have the heart to just turn her away. We'll put the medical bills on a tab for now. You can pay me back whenever you have the money."

"Thank you," Ye Chuan said hastily.

The old doctor waved him off. "No need for thanks, it is simply a doctor's duty. By the way, what do you two plan to do next? You have lost your memory, and this child is homeless."

Ye Chuan looked at the white-haired little girl lying quietly on the bed, then out the window at the unfamiliar streets. A profound sense of uncertainty washed over him.

He didn't know who he was, where he came from, or where he was supposed to go.

But as he looked into the little girl's hollow eyes, he realized that, in a way, they were exactly the same.

Neither of them had anywhere left to go.