Xiao Mo heard the commotion and immediately sat up from his bed.
He grabbed the shovel placed beside his bed, carefully opened the door, and walked out into the courtyard.
If it was a thief, he would secretly strike them down with one shovel blow!
It was already deep into the night, with moonlight spilling over the courtyard, draping everything in a faint luminescence.
The sounds were coming from the kitchen.
With the help of moonlight, Xiao Mo lightened his footsteps and carefully walked toward the kitchen step by step.
The "thief" hadn't closed the door but left the wooden door half-open.
Leaning against the door frame, Xiao Mo cautiously looked inside.
"Hm?"
Seeing everything in the kitchen, Xiao Mo couldn't help but be stunned.In the kitchen, Xiao Mo only saw a "boy" who appeared to be about nine or ten years old.
This "boy" had short hair, wore tattered and dirty clothes covered in mud and dust, as if having tumbled down from the mountains.
The "boy's" face was also smeared with black charcoal, and there were even some clumps of dried mud in the hair.
[The little girl has appeared before the host.]
Suddenly, the voice of the Book of a Hundred Lives appeared in Xiao Mo's mind.
"So she's that little girl."
Xiao Mo was somewhat surprised.
To be honest, if the Book of a Hundred Lives hadn't reminded him, Xiao Mo really wouldn't have realized she was a girl.
After all, which wandering child wasn't thin? Moreover, most of her face was blackened, making it impossible to see her features clearly.
However, her eyes left a very deep impression.
This reminded Xiao Mo of his first life, when he first met Qingyi.
Back then, Qingyi had looked just like this, and it was also those eyes that people found extremely beautiful.
The only difference was that Qingyi's eyes back then had been full of wariness but her eyes were crystal clear, as transparent as ice springs from ten-thousand-year-old snow mountains.
It seemed that no matter what happened, nothing could stain the purity of her clear eyes in the slightest.
She looked at the leftover food preserved in cold water in the pot, continuously swallowing saliva.
This little girl appeared extremely hungry, her throat constantly moving, several times reaching her hand toward the pot but each time the little girl was about to touch the food, she immediately pulled her hand back, repeating this several times, appearing to struggle internally.
Struggling over whether she should steal someone else's food to eat.
Finally, the little girl gripped her left wrist with her right hand and shook her head forcefully.
After taking a deep breath, the little girl jumped down from the wooden chair, planning to leave the kitchen but when she turned around and raised her head, she was suddenly startled.
A person was watching her through the crack in the wooden door.
Since he'd been discovered, Xiao Mo stopped hiding.
He fully opened the kitchen's wooden door and walked toward the little girl step by step.
The little girl kept backing away, and in her panic picked up a tree branch from the kitchen, gripping it with both hands and pointing it at Xiao Mo.
At this moment, Xiao Mo read fear in her eyes, but more than that was confusion.
Xiao Mo guessed that she should normally be able to read others' inner thoughts, know their emotions, which would give her some sense of security.
After all, most fears arise from the unknown but she had encountered him, and due to the Book of a Hundred Lives, she couldn't see any of his inner thoughts.
This unprecedented unknown truly generated fear and bewilderment in her heart.
With each step Xiao Mo took forward, the little girl took one step back.
Finally, Xiao Mo took out the bowl of rice left unfinished from dinner from the large pot on the stove, and pulled out a pair of chopsticks to hand to the little girl, "Do you want to eat? If you want to eat, I'll give it to you."
The little girl looked at the rice in Xiao Mo's hands, then looked at Xiao Mo, and couldn't help but swallow.
"Gurgle gurgle"
The little girl's stomach made sounds but the little girl still didn't step forward, still hesitating.
Xiao Mo placed the rice bowl and chopsticks on the stove top and stepped back several paces himself.
After a little more time passed, as if confirming that this boy truly had no ill intentions, the little girl finally stepped forward, carefully picked up the chopsticks, and began eating bite by bite.
She ate very quickly, but her mouth was small, stuffing her cheeks full with each bite.
"Eat slowly, don't choke." Xiao Mo drew a bowl of water from the water vat and placed it beside her.
Before long, that large bowl of rice and water had been completely finished by the little girl, her small belly bulging.
"Are you full?" Xiao Mo asked with a smile, trying to make this little girl feel more comfortable and let her know he had no malicious intent.
"I'm full," the little girl nodded, "Thank you, you're a good person."
"In the Western Region, being a good person isn't necessarily a good thing."
Xiao Mo shook his head, murmuring to himself in a low voice, as if speaking to himself.
"Why didn't you steal the food earlier?" Xiao Mo raised his head and asked curiously, "You didn't know I had discovered you anyway."
"Sister Zi said that stealing is wrong. Although I was very hungry then, that was your food. If I ate it, then you wouldn't have anything to eat." The little girl said earnestly.
"Sister Zi?" Xiao Mo was stunned, not expecting there to be such a reasonable and kind person in the Western Region, "Where is your Sister Zi?"
Hearing Xiao Mo's inquiry, the little girl lowered her head:
"I don't know either. We lived in a cave, but two days ago when I returned, I found that Sister Zi and the other companions were all gone. I kept searching and searching, walked in the mountains for so long, but couldn't find them no matter what..."
"So you found your way here? Haven't eaten for two days?" Xiao Mo asked.
The little girl shook her head, "I ate some fruits."
Xiao Mo: "..."
"How about this then, since I happen to be alone too, why don't you stay here for a few days first, and we can inquire about news of your Sister Zi together, how about that?"
Xiao Mo persuaded, his tone full of sincerity.
"Otherwise, if you wander around alone you won't find her, and you might easily starve to death. Besides, what if your Sister Zi is looking for you and comes here too?"
"No, no, I can't," the little girl shook her head, "Sister Zi said I can't accept others' charity for free. I can't eat your rice for nothing."
"You wouldn't be eating my rice for nothing either." Xiao Mo thought for a moment, "Usually you could help me wash clothes, cook meals, and lend a hand, and I'll give you food to eat, how about that?"
Wangxin lowered her head, thinking seriously, appearing somewhat conflicted.
Xiao Mo wasn't in a hurry either, just patiently waiting for her answer.
Finally, Wangxin clasped her small hands at her heart and looked up anxiously, "Alright, I... I agree... but you... you can't bully me..."
"Don't worry, I won't bully you..." Xiao Mo said with a smile, "My name is Xiao Mo, what's yours?"
"Ah Xin."
The little girl's eyes blinked.
“My name is Jiang Xin. Sister Zi calls me Ah Xin.
You can call me Ah Xin too."