Mei Hua woke up with a throbbing sore body. No matter how much he wanted to move, all he could do was y curled up in a ball. The other children had pushed him into a corner so he had a small space to himself. He struggled to lift his head so he could look out the bars of the cage.

  Tall oaks with emerald leaves passed by as the carriage bumped its way along the rough path. There was no sign of civilization in this part of the woods other than the people passing through. Deers stopped to watch the procession with curious gnces before prancing away.

  Moving his eyes from the scenery to the vast expanse of blue above their heads, Mei Hua stared at the sky. It was full of puffy cumulonimbus clouds that warned rain might be on its way in the future. Everything from his head to his toes hurt, but it couldn’t compare to the aching in his chest.

  After receiving a beating, Mei Hua thought that his head might clear and this aching feeling would disappear, but it didn’t. It stuck to his heart like sticky rice or tape, he just couldn’t shake it off.

  Ah, I shouldn’t have let myself get so comfortable. Now I don’t know what to do… Mei Hua thought. The sight of the sky grew blurry as tears burned his eyes. His throat, already parched, closed painfully tight as he fought down a sob. This sucks!

  A few hours ter, the sve traders stopped for a short break. Grey clouds roiled above as if the heavens were angry. Sharp, cold winds blew through the trees and chilled the children to the bones. The guards provided them with no bnkets or cover from the harsh gales so they had to huddle together pitifully for warmth.

  Meanwhile, the guards took shelter under sturdy oak trees and set up their tents for the night. On the canvas of the tents, arrays were stitched into the fabric so that they would be waterproof, warm, and provide protection against wild beasts. The children were provided with no such luck, they were only sves after all.

  Mei Hua who was ostracized by the other children and badly beaten was left to shiver in the corner of the cage. He closed his golden eyes and tried to focus on gathering spiritual energy. In the darkness behind his eyelids, he could see scattered white energy that resembled fireflies. Mei Hua worked hard to pull all of the white light into one ball that was his core.

  Rain surged down from the sky in a deluge. It soaked the children instantly, chilling them to the bones. Mei Hua was startled from his meditation because of the biting cold. He scrunched his face as he tried to regain his focus. He allowed some spiritual energy to flow through his meridians and coat his body like another yer of skin.

  A gentle warmth caressed the boy’s flesh, shooing away the cold. Mei Hua sighed in relief at the sensation and rexed as the rain doused his hair and clothes. It felt as though he were taking a warm shower. He focused all of his energy on remaining that thin yer of spiritual energy that kept the cold at bay, ignoring the thought to repair his bruised and broken body.

  One thing at a time, Mei Hua thought. It would be quite draining to repair all of the injuries that he sustained while also maintaining the yer of protection.

  The children in the cart who did not practice cultivation didn’t have it so lucky. Even the few that did, didn’t have the same talent or skill at this age to maintain an energy skin. All of them looked like drowned rats with their teeth chattering loudly over the sound of the rain.

  Mei Hua gnced over. Most of the children were around nine or ten, the same as him. Most of them would surely perish if they were to remain out in this chilling weather without protection. But he didn’t see how it was his problem. They had even pushed him in a corner and let him shiver alone. Why should he bother?

  Just when he was about to go back to meditating, his eyes caught on the figure of a young boy. He had dark hair and rge inky eyes. Mei Hua felt his breath hitch at the sight. The boy reminded Mei Hua of him. Although their looks were different, their hunched and pitiful shoulders were simir. Even the trembling lips and rge eyes. Mei Hua swallowed a curse as he changed the flow of his spiritual energy.

  The rain caused goosebumps to rise on his flesh. Mei Hua used some spiritual energy to dull the pain of his injuries and with jerky movements, staggered to his feet. The other children in the cage looked at Mei Hua with wary eyes, they were terrified of him after what happened yesterday. The child with a battered body and golden eyes moved toward the center of the cage, causing people to scatter. They pressed closely against themselves to give him as wide a berth as possible in their narrow confines.

  Biting his thumb, Mei Hua tasted rusty iron against his tongue. Holding his thumb against the roof of the cage, he began to draw an array to keep out the wind and rain. He squeezed his finger to draw more blood, finishing the rge circle with various runes.

  A collected sigh of relief ran through the children as the wind and rain died around them. The youngest boy in the group stared up at the elder child with admiration and gratitude. It felt a lot warmer without being cut by the wind or spped by rain.

  Mei Hua returned to his corner and sat down wearily. His face was pale from using too much blood and spiritual energy at the same time. He should have preserved his strength so that he could have escaped instead, but the image of the miserable little boy had tugged at his heartstrings. It reminded him of a certain someone and he couldn’t leave the child be.

  Small fingers tugged at the coarse, soaked fabric, causing Mei Hua to squint open his eyes. The small boy from before was looking up at him with those dark, round eyes.

  “What?” Mei Hua questioned, his face softening.

  “Thank you,” The boy said, smiling. Dimples appeared in his round cheeks, making him appear absolutely adorable.

  Mei Hua’s lips twitched into a smile against his will. Against his best interest, he grabbed the young boy’s hand that was ice cold and infused it with spiritual energy. The boy’s eyes widened with surprise as he looked down at himself; he felt a lot warmer now and his hand was tingling. Once again, Mei Hua closed his eyes as he filtered more of his energy into the young boy who was too innocent to be in this situation. All of them were.

  Bruised, beaten, and exhausted, Mei Hua slipped into a fitful slumber.