Rover was startled, but before she could stand up, the little girl had already started running ahead of her.
Clenching her teeth, enduring the burns under the bandages on her thigh, she ran with all her strength toward the direction the voice came from.
On one side was a little girl who looked extremely similar to Changli, and on the other side was Zane's cry for help. No matter which side it was, Rover couldn't ignore it.
After this interruption, her worry faded, and a bit of doubt arose in Rover's heart, 'Just what kind of powerful enemy could make Zane cry for help?'
With deep confusion, Rover followed behind the little girl, preventing her from being attacked by echoes that might suddenly appear around them.
Soon, she and the little girl saw the source of the cry for help.
A white-haired boy was hugging a charred tree, crying loudly, "Rover, Master, save me!"
Rover cautiously looked around. Aside from the village that had been burned to ashes, there didn't seem to be any enemies hiding in the shadows…
"Hey, you're a grown man, why are you crying?"
The little girl couldn't stand it anymore. She immediately ran up to Zane and pointed at his nose, scolding him loudly.
But before she could finish speaking, the white-haired boy who had been hanging onto the tree suddenly disappeared.
The next second, the little girl felt her feet leave the ground. She seemed to have been picked up, "Wuwuwu, Master Changli, I finally found you. I got lost!!!"
Hearing the reason for Zane's cry for help, Rover almost fell flat on her face.
'Who cries for help over such a ridiculous reason!'
Having never been touched at such close range, the little girl froze for a moment. Then, without caring about anything else, she quickly started struggling, "Put me down, you'll get burned!"
"Huh?" Only then did Zane come back to his senses after hearing the little girl's voice. Logically speaking, Master Changli shouldn't be this… flat…
Squeeze!
"Eek!"
Squeeze! Squeeze!
"Pervert!!"
The little girl's sharp scream, along with a loud slap, suddenly echoed through the mirage realm.
Although the little girl wasn't very old, she was still a resonator. Her physical strength wasn't something an ordinary person could compare to.
With his left cheek swollen high, Zane stretched his hand toward the sky, half-closing his eyes, looking like he had burned out, "This old man's life… was worth it!"
Seeing Zane like this, the little bit of guilt the little girl had for hitting him too hard instantly disappeared.
Rover, who had witnessed the whole process, walked over with her arms crossed and an expressionless face. The moment Zane met those emotionless eyes, he shivered.
Driven by a strong survival instinct, Zane's IQ and EQ instantly shot through the roof.
He didn't care about the little girl's look at him like he was a pervert anymore. With half his face still swollen, he jumped up from the ground and immediately pounced onto Rover, "Wuwuwu, Rover, don't hit me, I'm innocent. I really thought she was Master Changli! You have to believe me!"
Obviously, Rover didn't expect Zane to suddenly pounce on her. Feeling the male presence so close, her face instantly flushed red.
"Get down, get down first!"
"No, I won't get down unless you forgive me!"
Zane could clearly tell the difference between taking a beating and dying on the spot.
With that thought, his arms wrapped around her slender body tightened even more. The soft curves pressed and deformed against his chest, and the warmth passed through the fabric onto his skin, making him lose focus again and again.
"If you don't get down, I'm really going to hit you."
There was a hint of anger in Rover's tone, but even she didn't notice that beneath that faint anger, there was also a trace of a young girl's shyness.
Zane lowered his head slightly and immediately saw that the girl's delicate ear had already turned slightly pink.
"Tsk tsk tsk, you're blushing…"
Before he could finish speaking, Zane suddenly felt the world spin. The next second, he was slammed onto the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw.
If looks could kill, Zane would have already been set on fire by Amaterasu.
The little girl hesitated for a moment, but still decided to voice the doubt in her heart, "Pervert scumbag mister, why aren't you afraid of my body temperature?"
Right now, she had no way to control the flames in her body. The bandages wrapped all over her body were proof…
Though speaking of it… can burns even be wrapped like that…
Hearing the way the little girl addressed Zane, Rover couldn't help but let out a laugh. After all, he had just hugged the little girl, then immediately went to hug her. It really did fit the title of pervert scumbag.
Hearing this, Zane instantly sprang up from the ground and pointed at the little girl, shouting, "That's slander, you're slandering me! So annoying. I have to give you an ugly nickname. I'll call you Short Changli!"
"What!?"
The little girl's brows shot up as her reddish-gold eyes glared fiercely at him.
"Short Changli!"
"Pervert scumbag!"
"Short Changli!!"
"Pervert scumbag!!"
———
Watching the two children quarrel, Rover covered her forehead and let out a deep sigh.
No choice, she would have to deal with the echoes that were gathering because of the noise herself.
A few minutes later, after dealing with the newly appeared echoes, Rover sheathed her blade and returned to the two.
At this moment, perhaps because they were tired from arguing, the two were sitting together eating bread.
Seeing Rover return, Zane quickly patted the spot beside him, "Rover, you're back. Come, come, have something to eat."
As he spoke, Zane broke the bread in his hand in half and handed one piece to Rover.
Rover didn't mind at all. Holding the bread with both hands, she sat down beside Zane, then tore it into strips and ate it in small bites.
At the same time, after finishing a piece of bread, the little girl patted her small belly in satisfaction and turned to look at the two leaning against each other.
The girl who had looked so strong just now was now slightly leaning to the side, gently resting against the boy.
Her beautiful eyes were slightly narrowed, and it was unclear whether she was satisfied by the delicious bread or enjoying this brief moment of peace.
"Per… forget it, you still haven't told me why you weren't burned by my Changli Fire."
After thinking for a moment, the little girl decided not to dwell on the nickname anymore. Otherwise, who knew how long this guy would keep arguing with a seven or eight-year-old girl.
Besides, his girlfriend didn't seem to mind.
To be honest, Zane didn't really know either. Could it be because he had been burned too many times by Master Changli's Fire?
Speaking of Changli, Zane suddenly remembered something. He reached into his coat pocket and took out a red feather.
"What is that?"
The little girl tilted her head. Although she didn't know the name of the feather in his hand, she felt a familiar warmth faintly emanating from it.
It was as if this feather had fallen from her own body.
The little girl suddenly thought of her favorite story. In that story, a spirit bird reborn from flames would give its most precious tail feather to the one most important to it.