In the courtyard stood a dry well, and the crying originated from within it.
Wan Lei waved his hand, and the stone slab covering the well was directly thrown aside. The two looked inside.
They saw a little girl inside, with two short pigtails, holding a book in her arms and a white jade dagger in her hand, crying her heart out.
A faint golden light emanated from her body, originating from the book. The golden light protected her from the erosion of demonic energy.
Wan Lei carefully used his spiritual energy to lift the girl up. The girl had been trapped in the well for a day and a night. Upon seeing the sunlight, her eyes were so sensitive that she couldn't open them. She covered her eyes with her arm and continued to cry.
"Baby, baby, don't cry anymore. You're safe now, you're saved."
Fang Xiaoyu crouched down and hugged the little girl tightly, tears of joy streaming down her face.
In this world of devastation, in this human purgatory, a child had miraculously survived.
Seeing the little girl, Fang Xiaoyu had an epiphany.
What is life? Life is a miracle that can grow stubbornly under any adverse environment.
Like cypresses clinging to green mountains on precipitous cliffs, like small grass sprouting in cracks in the middle of a road, like cacti stubbornly growing in deserts without water, like butterflies striving to break free from their cocoons.
Life is tenacious and indomitable; life is self-improvement; life is the will to grow vigorously without bowing to difficulties at any time.
Life is fragile; a person can die from a fall, a blade of grass cannot live without its roots, and a battle between powerhouses can annihilate a city.
Yet, life is also tenacious. No matter what adversity or environment, life grows stubbornly within it.
There are birds in the sky, fish in the sea, and even in the vacuum of space, which lacks air and has a harsh environment, there are microorganisms.
Adversity has never stopped the growth of life.
This world has never lacked life, nor has it lacked miracles.
A majestic and compassionate aura emanated from Fang Xiaoyu. Her Supreme Domain appeared. Wan Lei remained silent, not disturbing her. Within that domain, he could feel Fang Xiaoyu's Dao of Life.
Unlike him, who had comprehended the Supreme Dao at the Nascent Soul stage, Fang Xiaoyu chose her Dao to comprehend after reaching the Immortal Realm, within the Pagoda of Creation.
She had been silently accumulating strength, and now, she had a sudden enlightenment.
At the same time, Wan Lei was also a little worried. Would Fang Xiaoyu, with her complete Dao of Life, become a bleeding heart in the future?
"What are you two doing here?"
The members of the Thunder Rain team found them.
Seeing Wan Lei standing silently and Fang Xiaoyu crying while holding the little girl, everyone understood what had happened.
They understood Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu's feelings. Just moments ago, when they saw the devastation, they too had felt anger and sorrow.
Fang Xiaoyu was still crying, but the little girl had stopped.
She opened her eyes wide, tilted her head back, and awkwardly reached out her small hands to wipe the tears from Fang Xiaoyu's face.
Her little hands were dirty from being in the well, and when she wiped Fang Xiaoyu's face, she left dirt smudges on it.
Seeing that she had dirtied the aunt's face, the little girl became a little scared and nervous, feeling that she had made a mistake. She then reached out to wipe away the dirt smudges, but her small hands were dirty, and she only made it worse.
In a short while, Fang Xiaoyu's face was smudged with dirt.
"Auntie, I'm sorry..."
Seeing that she had made a mistake, the little girl pouted and started crying loudly.
"Don't cry, don't cry, it's okay."
Fang Xiaoyu forced a smile through her tears, wiped her face with her sleeve, and quickly wiped the little girl's tears.
"Little one, what's your name?"
Fang Xiaoyu asked the little girl with a smile.
"I... my mom, dad, and brother all call me Nannan."
Nannan, a very common nickname, much like Niuniu or Yatou. It wasn't much of a name.
"Then, Nannan, will you come with Auntie? Auntie has lots of delicious food and many fun toys."
In this world, everyone was dead. The little girl's family must also be dead. She couldn't possibly continue to live alone here.
"Nannan won't go. Mom and Dad said that people who lure children with delicious food are bad people. Auntie is a bad person. Nannan won't go. Nannan wants to find my brother."
The little girl pushed Fang Xiaoyu away forcefully and turned to run outside. She stumbled at the doorway.
She didn't cry. She stood up and looked around. The ground was covered with corpses.
"Uncle Liu, Grandma Sun..."
Nannan ran to two nearby corpses lying on the ground and pulled at them with all her might.
"Don't sleep on the ground, it's cold."
Seeing that she couldn't move them, Nannan ran back to her own courtyard. Looking at the collapsed house, her mouth turned downwards, and she started crying loudly.
"Nannan's home is gone..."
The little girl's childish words and sorrowful cries made everyone in the surrounding Thunder Rain team look on with heartache.
Liu Yuxin, with her soft heart, cried while holding Wan Liuchuan's arm.
Such a young child, with her entire family dead, her neighbors and elders all dead, living alone in this world, how pitiable she was.
Wan Lei picked up the little girl and said gently,
"Nannan, come with us. We'll give you the best things in the world, alright?"
Hearing Wan Lei's words, Fang Xiaoyu slapped him hard on the back.
The way this guy spoke sounded exactly like a human trafficker.
"Nannan won't go. Let go of Nannan. Nannan wants to find her brother. Nannan's brother put Nannan in the well and went to kill monsters with a knife. He said he would come back to save Nannan after killing the monsters."
Nannan struggled continuously. Seeing that she couldn't break free, she used the dagger in her hand to stab Wan Lei.
"Then Nannan, tell me, who are your parents, and what does your brother look like? Uncle will take you to find them, okay?"
Wan Lei was helpless.
"My dad is the God of War, and my brother, he's ten years old. He's taller than me, and he carries a very big knife..."
Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu both immediately thought of the young boy in the plaza who died with his eyes wide open.
They couldn't let Nannan see her brother's tragic death.
Wan Lei lightly scanned Nannan's mind with his divine sense, causing her to fall asleep without any pain.
"These damned demons!"
Liu Yuxin gritted her teeth in hatred.
Wan Qianxin walked over.
"The God of War is the strongest in this world. She's already dead, and her brother is likely dead too. It's good that she's fallen asleep. Let's take her back to the Immortal Realm. We can raise her in the Hall of Five Elements, or find a good family to foster her."
Wan Lei nodded. He had the same idea.
"Absolutely not."
Tian Suanzi walked over. He looked at the little girl's face and said seriously,
"We cannot take her away. She belongs to this world."