# 1168
Chapter 1169: The Abducted Child
Wu Quan's roar mixed with the thunder outside the window, startling Old Liu!
He quickly reached out to pat Wu Quan's back, soothing him softly: "What's wrong with you, child? Why do you react so strongly whenever Shen boy is mentioned... Don't overthink it. That boy's life is as tough as his bones. He's not that easy to kill."
Wu Quan gritted his teeth, shook off Old Liu's hand, and ran into the rain.
"Xiaoquan!"
Old Liu called out, reaching for his arm, but Wu Quan was simply too fast. In the blink of an eye, he pushed open the iron gate into the pouring rain and sprinted toward the end of the alley.
"...This child." Old Liu stood under the eaves and sighed deeply.
...
In the alley.
Torrential rain poured down from the dark clouds. Wu Quan raced along the narrow alley, leaping over puddles.
His brow was tightly furrowed, his eyes filled with struggle and madness. Vaguely, his ears once again caught Shen Qingzhu's voice:
"You're called Wu Quan? Don't be afraid. Those beasts have been killed by me."
"..."
"My name is Shen Qingzhu. From now on, I'll be your brother."
"..."
"Those people just look fierce and act ruthlessly. There's nothing to fear... As long as we're fiercer and more fearless than them, they'll be afraid of us."
"..."
"Your dream is to become an umbrella that protects me? You're still too weak... Grow up well. There will be opportunities in the future."
"..."
"Xiaoquan, I'm going to enlist in the army. From now on, you need to protect Old Liu and the siblings for me. Don't let them get bullied, understand?"
"..."
Wu Quan, running through the rain, gradually grew dazed. His voice hollow as he murmured to himself: "No... Brother Qingzhu, you can't die... We made a promise. Someday I'd become your umbrella. If you die... what do I do?"
Just then, a figure emerged from the other end of the alley, walking straight toward him.
Tap, tap, tap—!
Wu Quan dashed past that figure, startled for a moment, then stopped and turned back to look.
Lin Qiye held a black umbrella and also turned to look at Wu Quan.
In the rain-soaked alley, the two stood facing each other across the misty water vapor.
"You're called... Wu Quan?" Lin Qiye looked at this drenched teenager, somewhat puzzled. "What happened?"
Wu Quan's eyes fixed on Lin Qiye. He下意识 opened his mouth, wanting to ask something.
After a moment, he closed his mouth again and silently turned to walk into the rain. Those dark eyes, rippling with emotion, gradually returned to calm.
Seeing Wu Quan ignore him, Lin Qiye felt puzzled but didn't think much of it. He simply continued toward the orphanage's gate.
Only after his figure completely vanished from the alley, Wu Quan, now standing at an empty street corner, slowly came to a halt.
He turned his head and glanced back at the misty alley.
"He should know about Brother Qingzhu."
"But if Brother Qingzhu really did encounter something... if I just ask directly, he definitely won't tell me anything."
Wu Quan murmured to himself. After a moment, his pitch-black eyes narrowed slightly.
He raised his palm gently, and a drop of rainwater slid down his palm to his fingertip, then dripped into the puddle below.
A ripple spread across the water's surface. In the blurry reflection, behind Wu Quan, black chairs materialized one by one.
These black chairs resembled the seating arrangement of an orchestra in an ancient music hall, carved with obscure and mystical patterns. On more than twenty of them sat grotesque monsters of varying sizes and shapes.
There were black flesh mountains dozens of meters tall, broad-shouldered men carrying blades on their backs with wings and three-toed feet, gray plastic bags shaped like clouds...
They sat quietly in the shadows, heads bowed, like artworks sealed in a museum, or like a dark orchestra seated behind Wu Quan, ready to play at any moment.
In the rain, Wu Quan slowly raised both hands and traced a mysterious trajectory through the air.
The gray plastic bag rapidly expanded, circling around Wu Quan, isolating his form and presence entirely.
The monsters on the other black chairs rose stiffly from their seats like puppets being controlled. Their eyes stared intently at the end of the alley as their figures broke through the curtain of rain one after another and vanished.
"He's Brother Qingzhu's comrade. He must possess some kind of powerful ability. I can't let my guard down."
"Also, don't hurt him. I just need to read his memories..."
Wu Quan's voice was drowned out by the roaring rain.
...
Hanshan Orphanage.
Lin Qiye pushed open the iron gate and saw Old Liu standing under the eaves, sighing heavily.
"Oh? It's you?" Old Liu was startled to see Lin Qiye walk in. "Didn't you all leave?"
"Oh, I remembered I left something behind, so I came back specifically to get it." Lin Qiye smiled apologetically. He glanced back at the door, puzzled. "By the way, Wu Quan just ran out earlier... What happened?"
Old Liu's expression shifted. He shook his head and sighed deeply:
"Nothing much. That child just got a bit of a shock... His childhood experiences were rather special, so his personality tends to be extreme. He gets agitated easily, especially when it involves anything about Shen boy..."
"Extreme personality?"
"Mm." Old Liu nodded slightly, his eyes filling with memories,
"That child wasn't sent here for foster care, nor was he abandoned... He was kidnapped by human traffickers, then rescued."
"A kidnapped child?" Lin Qiye's brow furrowed. "This day and age, this still happens?"
"More than you'd think." Old Liu sighed. "The child was only four or five when he was drugged and kidnapped. Later, he was sold to a begging ring.
They broke his arms, starved him for days until he was nothing but skin and bones. Then they'd push him around in a rickshaw driven by a limping old man, begging on the streets. All the money went to the ring, and his meals were just a few stale buns. If he didn't bring in enough money that day, he'd be beaten when he got back...
Almost every two or three months, the ring would move to a new city to avoid the police. He endured this torment for nearly four years. Every dirty trick you can imagine, this child experienced it all.
If they hadn't happened to come to Linjiang by chance, if Shen boy hadn't happened to spot him begging on the street by chance, this child probably never would have had a chance. Even if he grew up, corrupted by that environment, he would sooner or later have transformed from a victim into an abuser..."
"Shen Qingzhu saved him?"
"Mm. Back then, Shen boy was only a teenager—nothing scared him, a real troublemaker.
That day he saw Xiaoquan begging on the street, so he kept an eye on him, secretly followed them back to a dilapidated house on the mountain, discovered the truth, and，趁夜色放走了所有被奴役的孩子。
Later, when they were discovered on the way, he grabbed a dull blade and fought desperately against those desperate outlaws, killing four or five of them while nearly dying himself.
That day, covered in blood, carrying the unconscious Xiaoquan down the mountain—my old bones were truly terrified."