Stronghold of the Light of Hope

At You Xingxue's home.

"Just rest well at home for now, Xiao Xue. Mom's going to work."

"I've prepared lunch for you and your father, it's in the fridge. Just heat it up in the microwave when it's time."

The middle-aged woman gently instructed You Xingxue.

You Xingxue nodded, her expression somewhat unnatural and her voice timid: "Okay, mom."

"Good girl."

After saying that, the middle-aged woman left and closed the door.

What followed was a voice that made You Xingxue's whole body tremble: "Alright, You Xingxue, it's time to begin our training."

You Xingxue stiffly turned her head to see Mei Xue who had appeared behind her at some point.

"Ah... so suddenly..."

You Xingxue had thought she would have more time to mentally prepare herself.

Mei Xue, unable to stand such a lazy attitude, nodded and said: "That's right, time is of the essence. Don't you want to become a warrior?"

Become a warrior...

You Xingxue struggled internally for a moment before nodding: "Well... okay... but I need to be back by noon to take care of my father."

Hearing this, Mei Xue shook her head and sneered: "Once you become a warrior, you'll no longer be in the same world as them.... Never mind, it's too early to tell you these things. Well then, let's depart."

She didn't bother explaining the vast difference between warriors and ordinary people, and after making that brief comment, she snapped her fingers.

A deep, dark spatial vortex appeared out of thin air in the room.

You Xingxue stared in amazement: "That's amazing..."

Seeing her reaction, Mei Xue showed a proud smile: "This technique is called Shadow Space. It's one of our special abilities that others can't possibly learn or have the chance to learn."

"Enough talk, follow me."

Mei Xue said as she entered the vortex.

You Xingxue felt her eyes itching. She looked at the spatial vortex nervously, swallowed hard, but still stepped into it.

......

......

Hope's Light, a private property area belonging to the Yan Xing Group.

But now it basically belonged to Gu Yan.

A black luxury car slowly stopped in front of a solid metal gate.

Through the windshield, Gu Yan looked at the place, which was completely surrounded by high walls and barbed wire.

It looked just like a black prison.

The next second, as if knowing Gu Yan had arrived, the gate slowly opened.

The car drove in.

Because it was abandoned, many of the sectioned-off areas were completely desolate, merely enclosed by simple metal sheets.

At the very back of the property, one could vaguely see it connected to a large mountain, which also belonged to the Yan Xing Group.

The original plan was to develop it into a mountain resort.

Moving forward, Gu Yan saw the track field, and behind it stood the abandoned school building with peeling wall paint. Several small figures were playing on the field.

"Stop here."

Gu Yan spoke.

As the car randomly stopped beside the track, the small figures on the field, dressed in tattered clothes, all stopped and looked over with timid expressions.

Among them, a black-haired boy with only one arm stood protectively in front of a white-haired girl who was hugging a one-armed teddy bear.

At this moment.

Whoosh!

Ten figures instantly appeared beside the car, with Shadow Claw respectfully opening the car door.

Gu Yan, wearing a black coat, stepped out and looked at the children watching fearfully from a distance. A smile curved his lips as he slowly said, "Tell me about the organization's current situation."

While speaking, Gu Yan walked toward the children, with Shadow Claw and others following behind, reporting: "Sir, we've established Hope's Light as our organization's base through the contact information of Long Zaitian from Yan Xing Group that you previously provided us."

"Currently, we've found 5 children with training potential."

"They're all orphans who were homeless."

"Among them is a pair of siblings whom I rescued from human traffickers. Because they were small and thin, and the sister had strange white hair, there were no buyers."

"The traffickers, in their frustration, broke the brother's arm and made him beg on the streets."

By the time the report was finished, Gu Yan had reached the five children.

The children stood together, their bodies trembling uncontrollably, all afraid of this strange man who had suddenly appeared.

Among them, the white-haired little girl tightly held onto her one-armed brother's clothes, hiding behind him while peeking out to carefully observe Gu Yan.

Upon seeing the siblings, a peculiar look flashed in Gu Yan's eyes.

He crouched down, trying to make his expression as gentle as possible, and smiled at the children: "Children, don't be afraid, I won't hurt you."

"You might not know me, but just know that... from now on, I'll be your guardian."

The children still dared not speak, just nervously watching him.

Seeing this, Gu Yan stood up and looked at Old Gao: "Old Gao, go get those things."

"Yes, young master."

In no time, Old Gao brought down several cardboard boxes from the car trunk.

Opening the boxes revealed their contents: candy, clothes, and toys.

Gu Yan took out some candy and offered it to the timid children, saying: "These are gifts for you. They're very sweet."

The children looked at the candy with longing in their eyes but still didn't dare to reach out and take it.

So Gu Yan placed the candy on the ground, saying: "Take it yourselves, don't be shy."

The children hesitated for a moment before slowly walking forward and picking up the candy.

They put the candy in their mouths, tasting the sweetness, and smiles appeared on their faces.

At this time, Gu Yan gently placed his hand on the one-armed boy's head, softly stroking while asking: "What's your name?"

The boy trembled slightly but allowed Gu Yan's gentle touch: "I'm Shitou, and my sister is Little Bai."

While savoring the sweetness of the candy, Shitou continued: "I'm eight years old, and my sister is six."

"Our parents are dead, killed by bad people."

"The bad people took us and tried to sell us, but no one would buy us."

"So they wanted to break my sister's arm to make her beg..."

At this point, Shitou's voice became choked with emotion, tears falling drop by drop.

Little Bai then gathered her courage to look at Gu Yan, speaking softly: "No, it was Little Bai's fault. Because I look ugly, no one wanted to buy me."

"So the bad people wanted to break my arm, but brother wouldn't let them. He said he could earn enough money for both of us, so they didn't break my arm."

As she said this, Little Bai's eyes turned red: "Big brother... we don't have a home anymore, could you keep us?"

Gu Yan looked at the white-haired Little Bai, his eyes showing an appropriate amount of sympathy as he reached out his other hand to gently stroke her head.

Then he looked at the other children who were also afraid of being abandoned again: "Since I've taken you in, I won't abandon you."

"From now on, you can call me Sir."

"Now, would you like to follow me? I'll give you a warm home, teach you to read and write and train, help you become people capable of protecting yourselves and those around you."

Feeling the unprecedented warmth on her head, Little Bai reached out and grabbed Gu Yan's wrist, tears falling as she choked out: "Sir, I want to follow you."

Shitou also looked up, his gaze becoming determined: "Sir, I want to follow you too!"

After they spoke, the other three children also began crying out.

"Sir!" "Sir!"

In that moment, each child's heart was filled with trust in Gu Yan.

Seeing his objective achieved, Gu Yan stood up and looked at Shadow Claw: "Take them to bathe and change clothes."

"The dormitories in the school building should still be usable, right?"

Shadow Claw respectfully nodded and replied: "In response, Sir, the basic facilities are all operational now."

Gu Yan nodded slightly, "Let's do it this way..."

Then he looked at the remaining death guards, pointing to each one as he spoke, "From now on, you will be known by numbers, from One through Nine."

"Each of you take one child to bathe, one person carry these cardboard boxes, and the rest of you prepare nutritious meals for these children. If there aren't enough supplies for cultivation, go directly to Long Zaitian."

"Yes, sir!"