Chapter 629

Chapter 629: Unchanging Nature

“Little brother? Little brother?”

“Don’t be scared, brother is here to hold you. Don’t cry too hard, this place is sealed—if you cry too much, you won’t be able to breathe properly…” The boy’s voice was thick with congestion, as if he had cried before.

He reached out, feeling around until his hand touched the hem of a skirt. “Huh…?”

“She seems to be wearing a dress. She’s not a little brother…” The boy was surprised.

“Impossible. The kidnapper was very gentle when pushing him in. Girls aren’t worth much; they always get kicked in.”

“Boys sell for more, so they’re careful not to damage them and lower their price.” A soft voice, still trembling with sobs, responded.

The boy lifted Shan Shan into his arms, touching his small face. “He’s not crying?”

In the darkness, Shan Shan’s expression remained eerily calm—so calm that it was unsettling.

He stared blankly at everything before him.

The boy’s body bore whip marks; blood had seeped through his clothes and scabbed over.

Everyone’s hair was disheveled, tangled with bits of straw. Their faces were filled with panic and terror. Some clutched their knees, curled in corners, staring blankly ahead, their spirits broken.

Others hunched protectively over stale cornbread, nibbling bit by bit, even carefully catching the crumbs in their hands.

A basin of murky water sat on the ground. They took turns drinking a sip each, never daring to take too much.

Sometimes, the woman who guarded them disappeared for days at a time, leaving them to survive on a single basin of water and moldy cornbread.

The batch of cornbread that had just been brought in was already snatched clean—each person got two or three pieces.

The boy sat with Shan Shan in a cold corner of the cellar. The underground air was damp and chilly. The sudden cold made Shan Shan, still a toddler, cough lightly.

The boy hesitated for a moment before shifting away. Soon, there was the rustling of fabric in the darkness.

Moments later, a warm piece of clothing, still carrying the scent of dried blood, was draped over Shan Shan.

“It’s cold in the cellar. You shouldn’t catch a chill,” the boy murmured before pausing. Then, as if forcing himself to continue, he added, “If a kidnapped child falls sick, they’ll be abandoned in the mountains.”

He then pulled out a piece of cornbread. He hesitated for a moment, then carefully tore off the hard outer layer and tucked it into his own mouth, chewing it slowly as if it were a treasure.

He tore the softer inner part into small bits. “Eat this… You have to eat more to survive.”

His voice trembled—clearly terrified to his core. But he still tried to comfort Shan Shan, suppressing his own fear.

Shan Shan frowned. The boy’s hands were grimy, and his body emitted an unfamiliar, unpleasant odor.

Stray bits of straw clung to his messy hair, his face was smudged with dirt, but his eyes shone brightly in the darkness.

But after the long journey, Shan Shan’s stomach was already empty.

His milk bottle had been thrown away by the kidnappers back in the city.

“Hu Lu…” He wasn’t lying—his old nickname had once been Sugar Gourd. His family used to call him Hu Lu…

But later, his sister said it was too childish and changed it to Shan Shan.

“Hu Lu, Hu Lu… What a nice name. I heard Hu Lu sounds like ‘fortune and prosperity.’ Your parents must love you dearly.”

“Eat up. We don’t know how long we’ll have to endure this…” The boy gently pressed small pieces of cornbread to Shan Shan’s lips. Shan Shan wrinkled his nose in distaste but still took a small bite…

The texture was dry and rough, but as he chewed, a faint sweetness emerged—a taste he had never experienced before.

He finished a small piece, eating directly from the boy’s hand.

But he still wanted milk.

Sigh…

“I’m Mai Feng. You can call me Brother Mai Feng…”

“You must be around one year old, right? Those heartless kidnappers… They even take babies this young.” The boy’s voice carried an undertone of anger.

“Sleep now. I’ll hold you.”

“Are you thirsty? But you’re too small, you can’t drink this dirty water.”

Shan Shan glanced at the filthy water basin and immediately shook his head. “Wo dun wanna…”

A hoarse, dry chuckle echoed from a corner. “Why do you even care about him? We can barely fend for ourselves, and you gave him your food!”

“If you don’t want to eat it, give it to me! At least we’ve known each other for longer—we have some bond.”

“Your little brother is already dead. He’s not your brother.”

The arms holding Shan Shan tightened. The boy’s eyes turned red instantly.

Shan Shan felt hot tears drop onto his arm.

In the darkness, he made a face of disgust and wiped the tears off on the boy’s clothes.

“None of your business.” The boy wept silently, his voice hoarse as he hugged Shan Shan tighter.

The darkness returned to a strange silence.

Shan Shan observed the despair and collapse on everyone’s faces. He didn’t understand. Perhaps… he simply lacked empathy.

“I’ll never run around recklessly again, never again… Father, Mother, I know I was wrong…”

“I want to go home…” In his sleep, a curled-up child whimpered softly.

Shan Shan’s round eyes blinked, and he suddenly thought of Lu Chao Chao. She was probably panicking and crying at this very moment.

He couldn’t help but chuckle.

Heh heh…

As he laughed, he even let out a small giggle.

Then he froze and glanced around nervously—scared out of his wits.

For a second, he thought Lu Chao Chao had appeared…

But then, feeling relieved, he shut his eyes with a contented smile and drifted into deep sleep.

He had always known—perhaps from birth, it was ingrained in his very bones.

He was different from ordinary people.

He did not belong among them.

He did not possess sympathy or compassion. Even in the face of such misery, his heart remained unmoved.

He was merely waiting to be sold again—so he could find his subordinates.

And leave without hesitation.

He was not a savior. None of this had anything to do with him.

He was not Lu Chao Chao!

He should return to his own world.

Morning… or at least what felt like morning. When he opened his eyes, he felt utterly exhausted, his eyelids unbearably heavy.

Yawning, his throat burned with a dull ache.

Shan Shan tried to speak but realized his body was too weak to move. Even lifting his arm was impossible.

Bad…

He had forgotten—he was still just a child. Despite possessing immense power, his body… was still just a baby’s!

After a day of rough travel and a night spent in the cold, his entire body was burning up.

The first to notice was Mai Feng. His hands and feet were ice-cold, but the child in his arms was scorching, radiating warmth that even he could feel. Panic surged through him as he pressed his forehead against Shan Shan’s and discovered the alarming heat.

“Little Hu Lu…”

“Little Hu Lu, wake up…” Mai Feng’s voice quivered with tears.

“Little Hu Lu, Guo Guo… Don’t die, little brother, don’t die…” He suddenly froze—Guo Guo was his younger brother.

His three-year-old brother.

His name was Mai Feng, and his little brother was Guo Guo. Their mother had died two years ago. On her deathbed, she had held his hand and told him and his brother to rely on each other, to always be the closest to one another.

He had promised her.

Two months after his mother’s burial, his father remarried.

Everyone said his stepmother was beautiful, and his father treated her like a treasure. He had never seen his father smile at his mother that way.

His mother had worked herself to death, yet his stepmother was pampered like a queen.