Leaving the trial grounds with a victor’s smile, the first one to greet Ling Yu was Tongxi, who was always glued to his side. With a little thump, Tongxi threw herself straight into his arms.

Her eyes were full of worry and anxiety as she looked at him. Ling Yu naturally comforted her. “It’s fine! Didn’t I win?”

Of course, Tongxi wasn’t the only one worried about Ling Yu. Xia Mo had also been watching the trial like everyone else. She saw Ling Yu get hurt, and she realized something seemed to be wrong with him.

Until the moment Ling Yu made that crucial move and landed the winning blow, she had been just as worried about her master as Tongxi was.

Seeing her master safely win the first trial, Xia Mo, as his disciple, felt proud of him from the bottom of her heart.

“Congratulations! You won your first trial so quickly. As expected of my mas— I mean, as expected of you, Ling Yu!” Xia Mo came over to congratulate him.

“Ah, well, even if my opponent was a teacher, it was still a piece of cake for me. So, which teacher am I fighting next?”

Ling Yu was extremely fired up. He wanted to keep the momentum going, challenge the four teachers of different classes as soon as possible, and smoothly enter Huangfeng Academy as a mage.

But Xia Mo’s next words instantly dumped a bucket of cold water over his excitement. “Ling Yu, the trials are split into four rounds. One round per day. Each round is against a teacher of a different class. You’ve already completed today’s trial, so you can go home now.”

“Huh? Does it have to be this troublesome? Can’t you give me an extra match?” Ling Yu asked anxiously.

“Ling Yu, I’m really sorry, but those are the school rules. You’re not the only one taking the trial. So for today, you should go back and rest first.”

Xia Mo patted Ling Yu on the shoulder. He couldn’t understand why his master was in such a hurry to clear all the trials and enter Huangfeng Academy right away.

But with that pat, Xia Mo accidentally hit Ling Yu’s injured shoulder.

“Hiss— that hurts. Don’t pat me...” Ling Yu instinctively pushed Xia Mo’s hand away, and his expression turned a little ugly.

“...” That reaction felt very abnormal to Xia Mo. As if realizing something, he asked, “Does... the wound hurt that much?”

Xia Mo understood this clearly. His master had once gone to war and fought through countless battles. There was no way someone like that would be troubled by such a tiny scrape.

For his master, a wound like this should’ve been nothing at all. But from just one pat, how could it become like this?

Then he remembered. His master was no longer the same master from before, but...

Xia Mo understood why his master was in such a hurry. Maybe, just as he had guessed, his master’s body really had undergone a substantial change.

And his master absolutely didn’t want to admit that change. He wanted to erase this transformation he hated as quickly as possible.

Walking over the soft snow, the shadows of the hand-holding pair stretched beneath the noon sun. Ling Yu and Tongxi were on their way home.

Just like in the morning, no matter where Ling Yu went, Tongxi stuck close to him. She even stepped right into the footprints he left behind, following tightly after him.

Whenever anyone passed by or came near, Tongxi would shrink back in fear.

As usual, Ling Yu comforted her while walking. “It’s okay. Didn’t I tell you I’m here? So why are you scared?”

As they happened to pass a certain spot, Ling Yu stopped. His gaze fixed on the delicate patterns hanging from bamboo sticks on the display rack.

Those patterns were all made of golden malt candy. Holding Tongxi’s hand, Ling Yu walked closer.

“Hey there, customers, come take a look. These are all freshly made!” The shop owner called out when he saw them approach.

“Boss, your malt candy still looks as amazing as ever. After all these years, yours is still the best-looking candy shop around.”

Ling Yu praised him. In Ling Yu’s childhood memories, after Uncle Ye left him and he stayed alone in the orphanage, there had been a certain “big sister” who used to protect him.

She had often brought him to this very malt candy shop to buy sweets.

The moment he remembered those happy times they had shared, his longing for her rose to the surface.

“Haha, customer, don’t say that. I only know a little,” the owner said with a cheerful laugh, patting his round little belly. Then his eyes swept over Ling Yu.

“Customer, did you grow up around here? Why do I feel like your face is a little unfamiliar?”

If someone could say something like that to praise his candy, they should’ve been an old regular from years ago.

The owner had a deep impression of customers like that. But the man in front of him clearly looked unfamiliar.

“More or less. Let’s not talk about that for now, boss. I’d like one malt candy.” Ling Yu pulled a few copper coins from his pocket.

The owner took a piece from the rack, one with an exquisite design of two butterflies entwined together.

As he handed it over, he noticed the two extra snow-white ponytails behind Ling Yu. Tilting his head slightly, he realized there was a little girl hiding behind him.

“Sir, is this malt candy for yourself?”

“No, actually, I’m buying it for the child behind me. Haha.” Ling Yu took the candy and was just about to hand it to Tongxi.

“Then why aren’t you buying one for yourself?” the owner asked in confusion.

“No need, boss. I’m not a little kid anymore. Haha.” Ling Yu smiled as he said it. In truth, those copper coins had been all the money he had on him.

“Ah...” Hearing that, the owner quietly let out a sigh. Then he took another malt candy from the rack and handed it to Ling Yu. “In all these years, this is only the second time I’ve heard an answer like yours.”

“The second time?” Ling Yu seemed to catch onto something and asked in confusion.

“Yeah. Many years ago, there was a sworn sister and brother who often came here to buy candy. One time, the sister brought the younger brother here, but she only bought one piece.”

“I asked her the same thing back then, and she gave me exactly the same answer you did. Actually, I knew she didn’t have enough money on her either.”

Hearing that, Ling Yu let out a slightly startled breath. “Boss, are you talking about...?”

“That brother and sister were from the orphanage nearby. The younger brother was the warrior who died on the battlefield not long ago—Xue Yu!”

So it really was...

Listening to the owner, Ling Yu realized his guess had actually been right. The sister and brother the owner was talking about were his younger self and that “big sister” from years ago.

And yes, what the owner described really had happened. The two of them had come to buy candy, and the big sister had only bought one for the younger brother.

“Take this one as a gift from me. No charge.” The owner took the initiative and pressed the candy into Ling Yu’s hand.

“His companions had fallen into enemy danger and were on the brink. So he chose to stay behind and hold back the demon race’s assault so the others could retreat safely. That’s what a real man is.”

The owner spoke with emotion, then sighed.

“Ah... but sadly, some people go and return, while others go and never come back. That boy who once came to buy candy with his sister can never be seen again.” The owner shook his head with a sigh.

“I heard his sworn sister was heartbroken over his death too. They may have only been sworn siblings, but they were closer than real brother and sister. Ah...”

“Boss, have you heard any other news about his sister?”

Ever since “big sister” had been adopted by a noble family, he had rarely had any chance to see her again. He had heard very little about her too.

He didn’t know how she had been doing all these years, so Ling Yu tried asking.

“She’s amazing too, just like her brother. After Xue Yu, the Second Knight, died, she became Daystar’s First Knight. Not long ago, she even led a team on a mission and defeated a powerful demon force that tried to invade Gaelkani!”

I see. So big sister has become that incredible now?

“Thank you. I’ll come again next time.” Ling Yu thanked him, then left while holding Tongxi’s hand.

“Tongxi, here—this is malt candy. It’s sweet, just like cream cake, very—” Just as Ling Yu was about to hand her the candy, he suddenly noticed that her expression had turned a little frightened.

“Uh... no, no, that’s not what I mean. Not cream cake. It’s different from cream cake. It’s just sweet, that kind of sweet!”

He had almost forgotten what happened with Tongxi and the cream cake that morning, so Ling Yu hurriedly explained.

After handing the malt candy to Tongxi, she looked at the pair of butterflies on the bamboo stick, as if they wanted to wrap around each other. The delicate design really was quite eye-catching.

But when she heard Ling Yu say it tasted like cream cake, she hesitated for a while. In the end, though, she still chose to trust him.

Tongxi swallowed. Her soft cherry-pink lips parted slightly. Her eyes were shut tight, and even the hands holding the candy were trembling a little.

Then the moment the malt candy lightly touched her tongue, her eyes suddenly lit up.

Even with her hat on, you could still see the pair of little bat wings under it fluttering adorably and excitedly. They were flapping so energetically they almost knocked the hat right off.

Luckily, Ling Yu noticed in time and quickly pressed the little wings down. That kept Tongxi from exposing the tiny wings on her head in the middle of the busy street.

It scared Ling Yu half to death. Letting out a breath of relief, he said, “See, Tongxi? I told you malt candy is delicious.”

Her whole face practically screamed delicious. Stars sparkled in Tongxi’s eyes as her sharp little teeth nibbled at the butterfly candy. A sweetness unlike cream cake spread across her tongue.

Before long, Tongxi finished the whole stick of malt candy in her hand, looking thoroughly excited.

Seeing how happy she was, as if she had even forgotten her fear of strangers, Ling Yu couldn’t help but laugh cheerfully too.

“Do you want more, Tongxi? Here.” Ling Yu handed her the untouched stick of malt candy in his own hand.

When Tongxi saw more delicious food appear in front of her again, her eyes lit up at first. But then, after calming down a little, she gently pushed the candy back.

She opened a few pages of the book and pointed at the words inside.

“This is yours~”