TSWPF -Chapter 106 Defeated

Days passed one after another, and before they knew it, Li Qingling and her group had already been living in Song Mountain for several months.

Fortunately, Li Qingling had stored up a large amount of food beforehand. Otherwise, they would have starved long ago.

Even so, whenever Li Qingling saw the steadily shrinking food supply, she couldn’t help but feel anxious. If things continued this way, the remaining food wouldn’t last much longer.

Not only she— even the children were secretly worried. Every meal, they would unconsciously eat less, trying to save a bit of rice for the household.

Seeing them like that made Li Qingling’s heart ache. She told them not to hold back — to eat as much as they needed. There was still food at home, and they didn’t need to worry about going hungry later.

But the children wouldn’t listen; they continued eating sparingly according to their own thinking.

Seeing this, Li Qingling could only let them be.

“I wonder how much longer this war will drag on?” Li Qingling murmured helplessly, stroking Ah Huang’s large head as she sat by the cave entrance. “When this disaster finally ends… how many people from the village will still be alive to return?”

Judging from what she knew, very few would likely survive to come back safely.

Although she hadn’t been very familiar with most of the villagers, she still sincerely hoped they could all return unharmed.

Otherwise, when they went back and saw a desolate, empty village… it would feel unbearable.

Liu Zhimou turned his head to glance at Li Qingling, then looked outside and softly called, “Brother Shiyi.”

In an instant, Shiyi appeared before them. His sudden, ghost-like appearances no longer startled them — they’d grown used to it by now.

“Is there something you need?” he asked calmly.

“Brother Shiyi, do you know how much longer this war will last?”

Shiyi shook his head. “I don’t know.”

His duty during this time had been to protect Liu Zhimou and the children, so he didn’t have much information about the outside world.

Hearing that, Liu Zhimou didn’t look disappointed. He simply nodded and thanked him.

After Shiyi vanished again, Liu Zhimou turned to Li Qingling and said, “Let’s just be patient. It shouldn’t be much longer.” After all this time, he figured one side must be close to victory.

Li Qingling sighed softly. There was nothing else they could do but wait.

Just then, someone they hadn’t seen in a long time suddenly appeared — An Dian. His sudden arrival startled the children, who had let down their guard.

But Li Qingning was overjoyed. The moment she saw An Dian, she ran over and hugged his leg tightly, looking up with a milky little voice, “Where did you go?”

An Dian’s body stiffened, then he slowly relaxed. He looked down at the tiny girl with helpless amusement and said, “I was busy with other matters.” Truthfully, this little one had scared him so much that he didn’t even dare appear before her casually anymore.

Li Qingning nodded vaguely, then tugged at his robe, trying to climb up his leg.

With no choice, An Dian bent down and picked her up. Li Qingning beamed, happily sitting in his arms, smiling brightly up at him.

Under her pure gaze, An Dian found himself strangely flustered.

He cleared his throat and said evenly, “Young Master Liu, my lord sent me to tell you — the King of Nanyan has been defeated. The war is over. You may all return home now.”

He never would’ve imagined that Liu Zhimou was actually his master’s own cousin — that revelation had been shocking, even to him.

Li Qingling and the others’ eyes instantly lit up at the good news. They couldn’t help but ask repeatedly, “Really?”

They had been here so long; they desperately wanted to go home. But with the war raging, it hadn’t been safe to return. Now that it was over, they finally could.

An Dian nodded firmly. “It’s absolutely true.”

He wouldn’t dare lie to them. If he did, his master would have his head.

Li Qingling stood up excitedly, twirling around several times before finally calming herself. She looked at An Dian and asked, “If we go back today, will it be safe?”

“No problem,” An Dian assured her. “The Nanyan forces have been completely wiped out. It’s perfectly safe now.”

Hearing that, Li Qingling finally relaxed completely. She turned to the children, raised her hand, and announced excitedly, “We’re going home today!”

The children jumped with joy and immediately ran off to pack their belongings.

They missed everything about home so much that they wished they could sprout wings and fly back instantly.

An Dian, his mission now complete, tried to hand Li Qingning back to Li Qingling — but the little girl refused to go.

The moment he moved, her chubby little arms tightened around his neck like a koala, clinging stubbornly.

An Dian began to seriously doubt whether his murderous aura had weakened — why else couldn’t he even scare a child anymore?

Even Li Qingling found it strange.

Though Li Qingning was young, she was normally cautious and not easily affectionate with strangers. So why was she so attached to An Dian?

An Dian didn’t dare forcibly pry her off, afraid of hurting her, so he looked helplessly at Li Qingling, silently pleading for help.

Li Qingling couldn’t help but smile. “Ning Ning, come down. Uncle doesn’t have time to hold you — he still has work to do.”

“…Uncle?” Several black lines almost slid down An Dian’s forehead. Uncle? He was only seventeen!

Li Qingning looked at Li Qingling, then back at An Dian, her lips quivering pitifully. She hugged his neck even tighter and rested her little head on his shoulder, using her actions to express that she wasn’t getting down.

She had finally seen him again — they hadn’t even played yet! How could she come down already?

“Li Qingning, come down. Don’t make me say it a third time.”

Li Qingling’s tone turned stern, making the little girl’s body tremble slightly. Seeing that, An Dian actually felt a pang of guilt.

He sighed softly and patted her back stiffly. “Alright, I’ll play with you for a little while. Then you’ll come down, okay?”

He never thought he’d one day be coaxing a child like this.

Li Qingning immediately lifted her head, her little face blooming into a bright smile as she nodded enthusiastically.

Seeing that radiant face, An Dian could only resign himself. He gently flicked her tiny nose, then took her in his arms and flew off into the forest.

Soon, Li Qingning’s delighted giggles echoed through the mountains.

The other children, hearing it, were green with envy.

They wanted to fly too — it looked so fun!

But none of them dared approach An Dian. His cold expression still scared them.

“Brother Shiyi! Where are you?” The children thought of Shiyi and shouted toward the forest, grinning.

In their eyes, Shiyi was just as strong as An Dian but much friendlier. Surely he wouldn’t refuse to take them flying!

Up in a nearby tree, Shiyi nearly fell off his perch when he heard them.

He’d just seen An Dian flying around the woods with a little girl in his arms — a sight that had nearly made his eyes pop out. And now they wanted him to do the same? No way!

He planned to tell their fellow brothers about this later so they could all have a laugh at An Dian’s expense. But if he did it too, how could he tease An Dian anymore?

So he stayed perfectly still on the branch, pretending he hadn’t heard a thing.

An Dian smirked and flicked a leaf straight toward Shiyi.

If Shiyi hadn’t dodged in time, that leaf would’ve ruined his face.

He bared his teeth toward An Dian in warning — no way was he going down there!

An Dian sneered, flicking even more leaves in his direction. Oh, you want to watch my misery? Dream on. If I’m suffering, you’re coming down too!

Among the shadow guards serving Liu Zhihao, rank was based on martial skill. The fact that An Dian served directly by Liu Zhihao’s side proved his abilities far surpassed Shiyi’s.

Under the relentless assault of flying leaves, Shiyi had no choice but to reveal himself.

The moment he appeared, the children’s faces lit up and they shouted even louder.

Having spent so much time with them, he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint them completely. Resigned, he swooped down, scooped up Liu Zhirou, and soared into the air.

At first, Liu Zhirou was stunned — then she burst out laughing, squealing, “We’re flying! We’re flying!”

Seeing Shiyi take off, An Dian raised an eyebrow smugly. Now that’s better — at least I’m not suffering alone.

Grinding his teeth, Shiyi shot him a glare and flew off in the opposite direction with Liu Zhirou in his arms.

He silently vowed to get back at An Dian one day — he’d make him pay for this humiliation.

If only he could beat An Dian in a fight, he’d have turned that smug face into a pig’s head long ago!

But since he couldn’t, he just swallowed his curses. Saying them aloud would only get him beaten instead.

An Dian ignored whatever silent names Shiyi was calling him. He was in a good mood and couldn’t be bothered.

After all the children had taken turns flying, Li Qingling called an end to the fun, urging them to hurry up and pack so they could go home.

Even Li Qingning wasn’t exempt — she was ushered away to pack her things too.

The little girl looked back at An Dian every few steps, waving her tiny hand and calling sweetly, “Uncle Dian, come play with me again next time!”

An Dian nodded vaguely, then disappeared with a flicker of his shadow.