Talulah, I'm still a child.

"Meixue, would you like me to hug you?"

To facilitate better communication, Alina also spoke the Great Flame Language, which Talulah had taught her before. Although she wasn't fluent, communication wasn't a problem.

"..."

Mei Xue glanced at Talulah, who nodded and gave her an encouraging look.

"Don't worry, Alina won't eat you. She likes to eat vegetables, and from now on I won't allow anyone to hurt you."

With this assurance, Mei Xue felt a little relieved. He gently crawled to Alina's side, then turned his back to her, letting Alina hug him. The feeling after the bath was very comfortable, and Alina's embrace had a strange power that made Mei Xue feel sleepy. He tried to perk himself up, but Alina snapped her fingers near his ear, causing the already sleepy little fox to fall asleep immediately.

"Let's discuss how to help Meixue get out of her trauma."

Gently stroking the snow-white, fluffy tail, Alina smiled at Talulah, making her skin crawl. Every time Alina made that expression, something bad never happened.

"Alina, what are your thoughts?"

"Yes, Mei Xue is very wary and deeply affected, but he is still young, so it's normal for him to lack a sense of security. Therefore, we need someone to give him a sense of security, such as..."

"For example, I am, right?"

Talulah now understood; they really intended for her to be Mei Xue's bodyguard.

"There's no other way. You're the one who saved him, and he's more willing to communicate with you. You're the only one who can help him get out of this numb and fearful state."

Alina helplessly spread her hands. Even though she was always kind and gentle and loved by the children, she had to admit that Mei Xue's problem was troublesome, and Talulah could be said to be the only breakthrough.

"but I……"

"Are you just going to watch him continue like this?"

Alina's reminder brought back the scene of her and Mei Xue in the bathtub, and the fear in his eyes when he handed her the apple. She looked at Mei Xue lying on the bed, who was still frowning even in his sleep, curled up in a small ball with his tail, seemingly having a nightmare and not finding peace even in his dreams.

"Okay, what do you suggest I do?"

————————————————————————————

[Awoo, run away, Awoo, run as far away as possible, go to a place where no one is, go to the farthest place, hide, don't let anyone find you]

The voice was familiar, but he just couldn't remember who Awu was. Mei Xue had forgotten. He couldn't help but open his eyes and found himself in a strange place.

Starving corpses littered the ground, cries of agony filled the air; everywhere one looked was tragedy, everywhere one heard was wailing. Mei Xue couldn't help but cover his head. Before him were emaciated people, starving to death. They treated others as food. When they saw him, their eyes were filled with nothing but greed. He saw the crowd turn into monstrous ghosts with blue faces and fangs. They devoured his flesh and drank his blood. The crowd tore at his body, taking away all the remaining life force, and then died in a false sense of happiness.

"Don't be hungry...don't eat me...I..."

Mei Xue was terrified. He couldn't find a way out, so he reappeared in the warehouse where he had been imprisoned, watching the knife approach.

"Don't touch him!"

With a shout like the roar of a dragon, flames burned everything in front of him from beneath his feet, severing the shackles that bound him. He fell into Talulah's arms, the flames dancing on his hands without causing him any burns.

"From this day forward, I will not allow anyone to hurt him!"

"From now on, I will protect you."

After saying this, Talulah saw that Mei Xue's brows had relaxed and her face was no longer showing any discomfort. She gave Alina an approving look, and the latter promptly stopped using her Originium Arts. After all, Alina was not skilled in this kind of thing, and it was only because Mei Xue was simple-minded and easy to bully that she was allowed to use this trick.

"It should be better now. Give him a hint in your dream so that he can trust you... To be honest, I don't really like this ability of mine."

"why?"

"Because trust should be built on a more solid foundation, I just used dreams combined with your language to make him gradually regard you as someone he can trust, rather than trusting each other after a long period of interaction."

This is also why Alina doesn't usually use this Originium Arts. If it weren't for Mei Xue's special circumstances, she would never have used it, as she sees it as a form of deception.

"Therefore I will not let this trust down."

Talu gently stroked Mei Xue's hair. She had already spoken, and she would never go back on her word. Since Mei Xue called her "sister," she would treat the child as her own younger brother from now on.

"Look, Alina, it's so funny when his ears twitch, and his tail too. It would be so comfortable to hug him while sleeping. I want to hug him as a pillow too."

Watching Talulah curiously touch Mei Xue's body, Alina glanced at the crystal on her hand. Fortunately, it hadn't worsened her condition. Actually, what she did just now was very risky. However, she was more concerned about Talulah's condition than herself. Alina didn't believe that Talulah's rescue of Mei Xue would be so simple. Since Talulah was unwilling to talk about it, it meant that she didn't want Alina to know the truth. But there was only one thing that made Alina uneasy.

(Mei Xue, will you become the shackles that restrain the snake?)

"What's wrong, Alina? Are you feeling a bit overwhelmed?"

"No, I was just thinking about whether I should teach him to read tomorrow. You should sleep with him tonight, otherwise he might still have nightmares. He should be more stable by tomorrow."

Alina got up and left. Just now, when Talulah turned around, she noticed something very strange. The snake that was coiled around Talulah turned its gaze toward Meixue, looking very interested. What was going on?

Chapter Four: Froststar is a Bad Woman

The next morning, everyone noticed Talulah's unusual behavior. Well, that might not be quite right. She had a little tail, and that little tail had three big tails. Yes, I'm talking about Mei Xue.

"Talulah, what's going on here...?"

"He is my younger brother."

Talulah gently rubbed Mei Xue's ear and shielded him behind her. It turned out that Alina's actions last night were very effective. Although Mei Xue would still occasionally take out an apple and hand it to her, he was clearly no longer afraid. He subconsciously regarded Talulah as the person he trusted most and followed her wherever she went.

"Your brother?"

The shield guards frowned. Anyone with eyes could see that Mei Xue was no ordinary person, and they had no idea that Talulah had such a younger brother before.

"Uncle, would you like an apple?"

Seeing the big red apple that Mei Xue pulled out of her tail, the shield guard immediately understood where the pile of fruit from yesterday came from. He adjusted his expression to make himself look less scary, reached out and took the apple, then squatted down and looked at Mei Xue.

"...Why should I have it?"

"Because you, Uncle, are just as hungry as everyone else."

Mei Xue hid behind Talulah, only revealing half of his body and using his tail to cover himself. His eyes were still filled with fear, but Talulah's company made him feel much better.

"If everyone is full, they won't eat me."

"Strange child, but I'll accept this apple, thank you."

The Shield Guards were indeed hungry; in fact, the entire camp was starving. Food available on the snowfield was limited, especially meat. Food was always given to the elderly, children, and logistics personnel first, leaving the soldiers to make do with what they had. Sometimes they even had to gnaw on tree bark. These fruits were a welcome surprise.

"Are we going to look for food today?"

"Yes, the camp is almost out of food."

"Let me pack up first."

Indeed, although Mei Xue could produce all kinds of vegetables and fruits, meat was still a necessity, so Talulah still had to go along. She took the apple from Mei Xue and then rubbed his ear.

"Go find your sister Alina. First, learn Common and Ursus. Just be able to speak them fluently. As long as you can communicate clearly with everyone, they will accept you, and no one will eat you. I will protect you."

"I see."

Mei Xue nodded, and then went to find Alina at the agreed location. However, she had to turn back to look at Talulah every few steps, her eyes still showing some unease.

"I'll bring you a present when I come back."

"Ah."

With Talulah's assurance, Mei Xue turned and ran towards Alina's room. He needed to learn Ursus and Common, as well as more general knowledge. Talulah believed that Alina was a good teacher and that she would help Mei Xue grow up quickly.

"let's go."

Watching the snowflakes fall from the sky, Talulah exhaled a breath of hot air. The snowfield was not a place to survive; they had to find a more suitable place to live, at least so they wouldn't have to struggle for food. However, Bozokasti's words made sense. If they left the harsh environment of the snowfield, they might be easily wiped out by Ursus. As the heir to the dukedom, Talulah and Bozokasti, a former battlefield hero, knew Ursus's strength best. Even with internal and external conflicts, no one dared to mess with this bear.

However, for some reason, ever since Talulah recognized Mei Xue as her younger brother, she suddenly felt a sense of attachment. She was still thinking about what gift to bring Mei Xue later. She didn't even know what the little fox liked. She should talk to him more in the future.

Just as Talulah set off, Meixue found himself in trouble. He realized he was lost. Yes, lost. The little fox didn't know the way. Even though the entire camp was only the size of a village, and Talulah had taken him for a walk that morning, Meixue still didn't know how to find Alina.

But it was impossible to expect this socially awkward little fox to ask for directions, so Mei Xue walked carefully while constantly looking around, hoping to recognize what Alina's room looked like. At the same time, she kept telling herself that Talulah's companions should all be trustworthy.

"Mei Xue?"

The sudden sound startled the little fox so much that he jumped up on the spot, his fur standing on end. Froststar was stunned. She could scare the child like this just by saying hello. How timid he was!

"Don't be nervous, I won't eat you. I just saw you here all alone and couldn't find Talulah, could you?"

Although he had never systematically studied Ursus, Mei Xue easily distinguished a few simple and obvious pronunciations and roughly understood the meaning of the sentence. He looked at Froststar, reached into his tail, took out two carrots, and handed them to her.

"For me?"

"Ah."

As long as everyone is full, no one will eat him. This is Mei Xue's conclusion from experience. Hunger turns people into devils. He found that everyone in the camp was hungry, which meant that he was in a very dangerous situation.

"Thank you, I am indeed a little hungry, but don't worry, I don't eat cute children."

"..."

Mei Xue instinctively hugged her tail tighter. Did this mean that if someone wasn't cute, they'd be cooked right away?

"Cough cough, I don't eat people, I misspoke."

Froststar quickly took two bites of radish to indicate that she was a vegetarian. Although she and Talulah were somewhat sworn enemies, she still liked Mei Xue very much. On the one hand, she felt that he was somewhat in the same boat as her, and on the other hand, Mei Xue was really good-looking. Volper's appearance was generally quite good, not to mention that he was happy to share food with everyone.

Where is Sister Alina?

"You're looking for Alina? She's over there, just go straight."

"Thank you sister."

Seeing Mei Xue's panicked and disorganized state, Shuang Xing took a bite of the carrot in her hand. She had never eaten so much of this before, which showed just how barren the snowfield was. Looking at Mei Xue's several large tails, Shuang Xing couldn't help but sigh.

"It really looks like a big radish."

However, Mei Xue's ears were very sharp, and these words reached his big, furry ears without any obstruction. The little fox was so frightened that he slipped and fell headfirst into a snowdrift. He then immediately got up and ran frantically towards Alina's dwelling.

Watching Mei Xue walk briskly, Shuang Xing glanced at the carrot in her hand. She scratched her head sheepishly, wondering if Talulah would cause trouble for her when she came back. She had just said it casually, but she didn't expect it to really scare the child.

However, seeing Mei Xue's flustered appearance, Shuang Xing felt a strange sense of satisfaction, the kind of fulfillment one gets when playing with a pet. Watching the little fox being frightened by her words and running away in a panic, a sense of guilt and remorse mingled with a strong sense of satisfaction, ultimately resulting in unparalleled joy. Shuang Xing quickly stopped herself from having such unhealthy thoughts.

"No, no, I'm guilty."

While pushing those rather strange thoughts to the back of her mind, such as biting Mei Xue's tail and ears, Frostnova patted her face and then wondered why she would suddenly have such thoughts that didn't fit her character.

Mei Xue, who was on the run, didn't care about any of that. In his mind, Frostnova had already been labeled as a rather dangerous woman. According to what Talulah had told him this morning, she was a bad woman!

Personal profile and voice recordings. Mei Xue

梅雪

Gender: Male (confirmed by multiple parties, process kept confidential)

Place of birth: Dayan (probably)