"Bad person! Witch! Acting shameless at your age! Sadist!"
Hsi looked at Zane, who was lying there pitifully yet still shouting loudly, and the hand applying medicine couldn't help but press a little harder.
"Ow ow ow, sis, it hurts, it hurts, go easy."
"So you do know it hurts." Hsi was only giving him a light punishment. Seeing Zane beg for mercy, her movements while applying the medicine became gentler.
"Let's see you provoke Master again. Next time I won't help you apply medicine."
Hsi muttered, but her gaze grew more focused.
Soon, Hsi finished applying the medicine for Zane.
Looking at Zane, who had regained his energy again (or maybe he had been energetic from the start?), Hsi nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, I should go back and read now. Remember, don't provoke Master again. She works tirelessly for Jinzhou and is already very tired."
But Zane didn't quite agree with Hsi's words.
"It's exactly because she sits at the desk all day that I use this method to help her relax."
Hearing that, Hsi raised an eyebrow.
"By your logic, Master should be thanking you?"
Zane jumped off the bed, hands on his hips, chin raised, proudly nodding in agreement, which made Hsi laugh.
This kid really is stubborn with his words.
Having lost her family at a young age, Hsi only truly felt relaxed when she was by Zane's side.
Only at times like this could she genuinely show a smile.
After all, in front of outsiders, she was the lofty Resonator of the Sentinel, the future magistrate of Jinzhou, destined to hold great power,
A little girl who didn't understand the world yet stood in a high position.
But she wasn't just Hsi.
Only in front of Zane could she be herself.
Hsi knew that if she stayed with Zane any longer, she wouldn't want to leave even more. So she stopped talking, reminded him to rest well, and turned to leave.
Watching Hsi leave, Zane felt a bit sleepy, perhaps because of his injury. He returned to bed and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Until…
"Sister Hsi… what time is it…"
Zane woke up groggily. When he opened his eyes, it was pitch black.
'...Could it already be nighttime?'
"Sister Hsi?"
Zane climbed off the bed. The bandages brushed against the wound on his backside, and the bursts of pain cleared his mind a little.
But the dark room in front of him felt like a bottomless void, and the air was filled with silence.
The thick, suffocating air wrapped around him, making his breathing grow heavier.
After waiting for a while and still not hearing Hsi's gentle voice, a sense of unease suddenly rose in Zane's heart.
'...At this time, Sister Hsi should definitely have come back home… she's not someone with no sense of time…'
With that thought, Zane ignored the pain in his backside and immediately jumped off the bed, rushing outside.
'...If Sister Hsi hasn't come back, something must have happened… I need to find Master, Master will definitely have a way…'
Enduring the pain, Zane ran forward like crazy.
As long as he reached Master, then everything would…
Zane stopped in his tracks, staring at the pitch-black room in front of him.
At this time normally, Master would definitely be working inside…
Misfortune never comes alone.
But today, the room was dark.
Zane's heart sank instantly. Every time he made a mistake, Master Changli would somehow appear nearby.
Yet every time he actually needed her, she was nowhere to be found.
Zane looked up at the pitch-black night sky. At this late hour, how was he, a child with no frequency and injured, supposed to find another child in the vast Jinzhou…
Even so, sitting and waiting wasn't Zane's style.
If there were no clues, then he would make the clues come to him.
'...I remember Sister Hsi always goes to a bookstore to buy books before heading home.'
'Sometimes even if she doesn't buy anything, she still goes in to look around.'
Thinking of this, Zane rushed without stopping toward the location Hsi had once told him about.
———
The bookstore owner, who was about to close shop, looked at the boy who came running over, out of breath, and a trace of surprise appeared in his cloudy eyes.
Seeing the shop about to close, Zane didn't even bother catching his breath. Enduring the feeling that his lungs were about to burst, he quickly explained to the owner that he was looking for someone.
"You mean that white-haired little girl."
After hearing Zane's description, the owner stroked his graying beard, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.
"That white-haired little girl does come to the bookstore every day, and today was no exception."
Zane listened while gasping for air.
Hearing this, a flash of hope appeared in his eyes. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and anxiously asked, "Where did that little girl go after leaving here?"
"She seemed to head east, toward outside the city."
"Thank you, sir."
Hearing the owner's words, Zane felt like a drowning man grabbing onto a lifeline. After hastily thanking him, he rushed toward the outskirts of the city.
As he ran, his mind raced.
...The timing of Sister Hsi's disappearance is too coincidental… it just happens to be the day after she revealed her resonance ability.
With the intense running, Zane's face turned pale, and his eyes became bloodshot.
Even so, he didn't stop. Stumbling forward, he ran along the road.
If his guess was correct, then the patrol guards of Jinzhou couldn't be trusted right now.
Zane stopped, bracing his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath. Fatigue and pain took over his body, and his clothes were already soaked with sweat.
But he didn't give up. Even though his body was on the verge of collapse, his emerald-green eyes shone brightly.
After who knew how long, Zane lifted his head and saw a faint light coming from a valley not far away.
Gritting his teeth, he moved toward the light. Before long, he arrived at the outskirts of a campsite.
But inside the camp, it wasn't Sister Hsi or Master. Several burly men sat in the center, drinking and eating meat, enjoying themselves.
Seeing this, Zane quietly turned to leave.
Sister Hsi was still missing somewhere. Since it wasn't her, there was no need for him to stay.
And these people definitely weren't a match for Sister Hsi, who now had resonance ability…
"Why do you think that little girl still hasn't woken up? What if we grabbed the wrong one, we won't be able to explain ourselves."
Zane paused mid-turn. After hesitating for a moment, he quietly circled back under the cover of darkness to the edge of where the firelight could reach.
Only then did he notice that behind them, there was a tent. But with just the firelight from the center, he couldn't tell what was inside.
And he didn't know who the "little girl" they were talking about was.
'If it was Sister Hsi, then it meant he had found the right place.'
'But if it was some other unlucky girl captured by traffickers…'
Zane quietly slapped himself.
In a situation like this, he was actually thinking about whether it would be a waste of time if it wasn't Sister Hsi he saved…
No matter who the little girl those men were talking about was, as a normal person with proper upbringing, he should help.
Reason told him that right now, he should go find Master Changli. As long as Changli took control of the situation, she could turn the whole situation around.
But Changli's whereabouts were unknown. It wasn't like she hadn't disappeared for more than three days before.
At a time like this, instead of relying on uncertain reinforcements, it was better to try himself.
As long as he could resolve the situation here quickly, even if it wasn't Sister Hsi, he wouldn't be wasting too much time…
Thinking this, Zane adjusted his breathing and stepped out of the shadows.