If You Hug Me, I Won't Tell on You

December 1, 2024.

Today, Mom said Dad would come back to see me.

I thought I must have misheard her.

The last time I saw him was five years ago, at night.

It was my birthday, and after he came back, he tossed me a beautifully wrapped gift box and hugged me.

I silently counted the time—it lasted exactly 3 minutes and 36 seconds.

I can’t forget it. That was the third time I had ever seen my dad.

The first time was when I opened my eyes as a newborn, and the second time was when I was seriously ill at the age of three.

If it weren’t for Mom mentioning him often, I would have doubted whether I even had a father.

I once asked Mom,

“Dad is a hero. He has so many things to do, so… you can’t blame him, sweetheart.”

“Blame him? Why would I blame him? I’ve barely even seen him.”

When I said that, Mom fell silent for a long time.

“What is a hero?” I asked her again.

A rare look of pride appeared on Mom’s face:

“A hero is someone who, in any moment of danger, will do everything in their power to save people from disaster, turning the tide!”

I nodded and asked,

“Then if Mom and I were in danger, would Dad come?”

“Yes, because Dad is our hero.”

“Then I won’t blame Dad!”

Just like now.

The sky has collapsed, and the earth has crumbled. Blood mingles with flames, devouring everything.

The surroundings are eerily silent, with lives buried beneath the ruins. The dim, blood-red atmosphere paints the scene like a hell from a story.

But I’m not afraid.

Because I believe Dad will come!

But… I’ve waited for so long…

Until.

The fires of hell were parted.

I didn’t get to see my dad.

But I met my hero.

……

“Little girl, do you want me to take you away?”

Wang Xian looked at the little girl in front of him, but she didn’t ring any bells in his memory.

He sighed inwardly.

Too many people had died in this disaster in his past life.

In the rush, aside from Ye Miyue, he could only save one more person.

It felt a bit frustrating.

The little girl didn’t respond, so Wang Xian waved his hand and shook his head slightly.

She was probably scared out of her wits.

It made sense—this place was nothing short of a living hell.

Corpses and debris were everywhere, but he was used to it, so it didn’t bother him.

For a little girl, being in such a dangerous place, suddenly thrust into this apocalyptic nightmare, it was a miracle she hadn’t been scared to death already.

But…

‘That must be a defensive artifact with an energy level of over 100,000, right?’

The necklace around the little girl’s neck was no ordinary item.

It was a rare martial artifact, also known as a martial combat tool—basically, equipment.

Martial combat tools were categorized by energy levels, just like the realms of martial artists, divided into several tiers.

A tool with an energy level of 100,000 was a proper Tier 5 artifact.

There were countless types of martial combat tools—offensive, defensive, disruptive, amplifying, transformative, flight-capable, and so on.

High-energy-level tools could generally only be used by martial artists with equivalent vitality levels.

For example, a Tier 5 artifact with an energy level of 100,000 could only be equipped by a Tier 5 martial artist with 100,000 vitality.

But the kind the little girl was wearing, which could activate automatically without restrictions, was called a restriction-free artifact.

In gaming terms, it was known as “no level restriction.”

It was an exceedingly rare piece of equipment!

Even non-martial artists could use it, and it would activate automatically when attacked.

Without it, the little girl wouldn’t have survived this long in such an environment.

But it wouldn’t last much longer—it was probably about to break.

The spiritual miasma had a strong corrosive effect on modern high-tech martial artifacts.

It was lucky that it was just a few feathers.

“Are you from the rescue team?” the little girl suddenly asked.

Her voice was clear and crisp.

Huh?

She’s still conscious?

Wang Xian smiled:

“No, but I’ll take you away first.”

With that, Wang Xian turned his back to her, crouched down, and gestured for her to climb on.

The little girl shook her head:

“Big brother, can you carry me instead?”

Wang Xian was taken aback, looking at the little girl who was only about seven or eight years old:

“Why do you want to be carried?”

“In fairy tales, when the prince saves the princess, he always carries her,” the little girl said very seriously.

“……”

“But I’m not a prince.”

“But you’re my prince, big brother.”

“?”

Wang Xian was stunned, both amused and exasperated.

At such a young age, she already knew how to say things that tugged at heartstrings.

What would she be like when she grew up?

Who taught her this?

“No,” Wang Xian said with a wave of his hand.

Then he reached out, grabbed the back of the little girl’s neck, and lifted her up like a little piglet.

“This will do.”

“……”

The little girl tilted her head, looking at Wang Xian, but she didn’t seem upset:

“Big brother, do you have a girlfriend?”

“Don’t worry, even if you carry me, I won’t accuse you of molesting a young girl.”

“……” Wang Xian.

You’re not even close to being a young girl—you’re just a little kid who hasn’t even grown any body hair yet.

At most, you’re a child.

Wang Xian couldn’t help but laugh.

As if sensing what Wang Xian was thinking, the little girl said:

“Big brother, do you think I’m very young?”

Wang Xian retorted:

“You’re only seven or eight years old. Isn’t that young?”

The little girl shook her head:

“But you’re only about ten years older than me.”

“Ten years is a big difference. It’s almost a whole generation,” Wang Xian said.

“But if we both become martial artists in the future,”

The little girl counted on her fingers, “living to a hundred or two hundred years old would be easy. By then, you’d be 110, and I’d be 100. You wouldn’t be that much older than me.”

Wang Xian: “……”

That… kind of makes sense.

“Still, no.”

“Aww…” the little girl sighed. “Then just carry me on your back… I’m not a cat or a dog. Being carried like this hurts my self-esteem.”

“You’ve got quite the mind for someone so young.”

Wang Xian put her down and crouched again.

The little girl smoothed her dress, brushed her bangs aside, and wrapped her arms around Wang Xian’s neck, climbing onto his back.

Wang Xian held her legs and jumped off the balcony.

A blue light enveloped the two of them.

“Big brother, are you a martial artist?”

“Not yet…”

“If you’re not a martial artist or part of the rescue team, why did you come here to save people? I know! You must be my future lover, who traveled back in time to save me and make up for regrets, right?”

“……Stop reading so many novels.”

“Then why did you come to save me?”

“There’s no special reason for saving people.”

“But they didn’t come.”

Wang Xian was surprised.

“You can see what’s happening outside?”

“I can see it very clearly.”

“They didn’t come because they wanted to, but they couldn’t or didn’t dare to. I came because I wanted to, and I could and dared to.”

“Is it really that simple?” The little girl’s voice carried a hint of disappointment.

“It’s really that simple.”

Wang Xian patiently chatted with the little girl, back and forth…

When the burly man came out, he collapsed weakly against the railing.

Fortunately, the first wave of rescue teams had already arrived.

“Brother Xiong!”

A woman who had been waiting anxiously rushed forward, tears filling her eyes.

The line of people hadn’t thinned much, and countless pairs of eyes seemed to be filled with hope.

By his count, half an hour had already passed.

Not only were there the first batch of rescue teams, but also news reporters and security officers who arrived at the scene almost immediately to maintain order.

"Sir, excuse me, have you found..."

A voice, anxious yet tinged with a certain coldness, reached the ears of the burly man.

He looked up.

It was the classmate of that high school student.

The martial artists accompanying him also sensed the heavy silence around them, filled with silent yet hopeful gazes.

One of the martial artists spoke softly:

"I'm sorry, we haven't found..."

As soon as the words left his mouth, everyone's hearts sank.

Ye Miyue clenched her fists tightly, her eyes welling up with tears, as if the world around her was spinning.

In truth, this outcome was somewhat expected by everyone.

Especially when they saw the state of these Third-Realm martial artists, who had barely managed to crawl out, looking as though they were on their last breath.

If martial artists of this level had nearly lost their lives just by making a round trip through the disaster zone, what chance did a young child or a high school student have?

The burly man remained silent. He wanted to say that perhaps the young boy might still be alive.

But he didn't want to give people hope, only to have it crushed later.

"My name is Cheng Wu, a security officer from the Tianfu District Safety Bureau. We are already aware of the situation," said a security officer in a deep blue uniform as he approached. He looked at the Third-Realm martial artists with a serious yet respectful expression. "Even if you couldn't find anyone, it's not your fault."

"Any martial artist willing to enter a disaster zone under these circumstances to search for survivors is truly commendable!"

"Leave the rest to us."

After speaking, he sighed quietly to himself.

Having dealt with disaster zones like this before, he knew better than the average person.

If it were a disaster zone caused by an A-Class Mutant Beast, the survival rate for ordinary people would be around ten percent.

But in a disaster zone tainted by the killing aura of an S-Class Mutant Beast, the survival rate for ordinary people... was practically zero.

The only hope was that more martial artists might survive.

Just then, a voice of surprise came from nearby:

"Captain, we've detected life signals... it seems like someone is coming out of the disaster zone!!"

He immediately turned to look.

All eyes followed his gaze.

Through the hazy mist of the ruins, a figure gradually emerged, becoming clearer and clearer...