The Lord’s companion

Ruo Chen was anxiously rocking back and forth on his chair, thinking of all the scenarios that could happen. He recalled the chapters he wrote when Ye Ran was a child, the constant bullying from his siblings and the abuse from the parents. Yet Ye Ran still kept a smile and a hope for the world that would not be extinguished until much later. 

The first memory that Ruo Chen wrote about was when Ye Ran first gained consciousness.

A small child the age of five was sitting silently on the chair looking out of the window. His innocent blue eyes peered out into the grassy plains as he watched kids with their families walk by, smiles plastered on their faces.

"Mom, can't we go out like those people?" The child asked sweetly as he turned to look at the mother who was busy washing the dishes.

"You brat, what did I say about going out!" 

The little question was met with an annoyed response and it left the boy confused. He slow got down from the chair before walking to the mother.

"But they look so happy and free." He asked with a pout as he tugged at his mother's sleeve.

This simple gesture was met with a soapy hand to his chest.

"You're a monster who doesn't deserve the privilege of that!" The response was followed with a harsh push to the little boy's chest and he tumbled backwards with his head knocking the ground.

The boy winced in pain but did not shed any tears at this rough and unfair treatment, only dusting himself before slowly getting up. This treatment was normal to him and he only let out a little whimper before dejectedly walking back to the window with a sad and weary smile.

Its fine if it didn't work today, I'll try tomorrow. Mom knows what's best for me.

He reassured himself before sitting on the chair again, no matter what harsh treatment he experienced, he'd always have a smile on his face.

This boy, although suffering daily abuse, always had faith in the world. That somehow there will be a day where he would experience the joys of being in a happy family.

Ruo Chen snapped out of it as a stealth bird suddenly appeared in front of his face. Said bird then suddenly transformed back into the white pup within a cloud of smoke.

"Xiao Pang!"

Xiao Pang only started hysterically barking, sentences were then quickly translated in Ruo Chen's mind as he slowly understood the situation. Ruo Chen couldn't help pale at Xiao Pang's barking.

Ye Ran's behaviour...

Was almost identical to when he became an overlord.

Ruo Chen felt the air around him drop a few degrees and he suddenly felt as if he couldn't breathe. 

Ye Ran killed his whole family? But didn't that only happen during the later parts of the story when he finally couldn't tolerate them anymore and finally gave up on his childhood dream of achieving a happy family?

Just what was going on? How can there be such a drastic change to the story? 

Unless Ye Ran actually got hold of that artefact, then everything would make perfect sense. But Ruo Chen did not want to believe in that theory. He just doesn't want to die.

Unfortunately, life is never kind to you when you need it and a knock was heard from the door.

Both Ruo Chen and Xiao Pang's head swung to the door and they both looked at each other with a look of despair.

What to do?

"Ruo Chen... My whole family is dead..." 

The voice outside was deeply pained as if the killer wasn't himself. It sounded so heartbroken and Ruo Chen couldn't help but be moved and think that Xiao Pang was just lying to him. That Ye Ran didn't kill his family, that it really was just done by some fire type animals.

In the end, Ruo Chen couldn't resist the urge to help Ye Ran, even if he knew how dangerous it is. He was letting the wolf into his home with open arms and Xiao Pang could only sigh in response.

The door opened with a creak and the sight was enough to make anyone's heart ache with pity.

The face of a child covered with soot and cuts that were still bleeding, along with clothes burned at different parts until there was almost nothing covering him upper body. The tiny pale body was also riddled with cuts and burned skin. Yet the eyes were crystal clear and held tears that refused to fall. 

Ruo Chen felt his legs go weak when he saw this, all these injuries were as if Ye Ran tried with all his might to get his family out of the burning house, only for his tiny body to be unable to bring anyone out and instead suffering torturous wounds all over. But Ruo Chen knew what actually happened, he kept this matter at the back of his mind before wordlessly throwing Ye Ran over his back.

He was around the same height as Ye Ran, only a little taller but they were both around the same build. So it took all of Ruo Chen's effort to carry Ye Ran into the main building where all the house maids gasped in shock.

"Quickly! Help me treat him!" Ruo Chen shouted at the stunned maids before they quickly got to getting the healing kit.

One of the maids brought a pail and towel over to wipe Ye Ran's face and body but Ruo Chen snatched it out of the maid's hands before muttering a, "I got this."

Ruo Chen actually learnt how to take care of people back when he was Ming Ze and he was quite skilled at doing so. He soaked the towel with water before handily twisting off the excess to gently wipe at Ye Ran's chubby cheeks which were stained with soot.

Ye Ran look at Ruo Chen's ministrations with a gentle gaze, a gaze that was filled with warmth and joy and he couldn't help but lean into the touch. His eyes were now a deep purple as he stared at Ruo Chen.

However, Ruo Chen was too busy with cleaning up Ye Ran to notice his gaze, along with worry and unease clouding his mind. Ruo Chen was really at a lost for what to do. He was almost a hundred percent sure that Ye Ran staged all this, but he just doesn't know why?

Why do all these to yourself? Doesn't it hurt?

Ruo Chen to once again push the thoughts to the back of his mind now that he had a clear view of the injuries on Ye Ran's body without the soot.

The face and body was cut bloody but at least some of the shallower gashes were already healing, as expected of the protagonist. There was some wood stuck in his pale skin and they needed to be out asap.

"I'm going to pluck the wood out okay?" Ruo Chen announced what he was going to do next so that Ye Ran wouldn't be shocked.

Ye Ran only weakly nodded before he was met with sharp pains all over his body. Ruo Chen gritted his teeth when he heard the small whimpers coming from Ye Ran but he had to continue. The sooner they were done with it the better.

Only after all of the wooden splints were removed did Ruo Chen ask Ye Ran to sit up before pressing a hand to his back. With this, Ruo Chen started transferring his energy to Ye Ran to help with his healing and to be blocked.

He looked at Ye Ran questioningly before something clicked in his mind. This only further confirmed the suspicion that Ye Ran had been reborn. Ye Ran never again trusted anyone after he became the overlord and he always had his guard up. When he was young, he was still a little more trusting but its not the case now.

The Ye Ran before him was the one most readers of the novel knew him by, the cold and untrusting lord. 

"Ye Ran, I'm not going to harm you, so let my energy flow into you." Ruo Chen steadily assured Ye Ran.

Only at this did Ye Ran slowly relax his tense shoulders and remove the blockage to the energy flow. Ruo Chen saw this as his green light and began unceasingly pouring his energy into Ye Ran.

Ye Ran couldn't help but melt as the warmth flooding his senses, no one had ever done this for him before, the most anyone would ever do was toss him a bottle of medicine when he was in his schooling days. Or when he was a lord, all he had was himself when treating his injuries.

This novel feeling was something that Ye Ran knew he would never want to let go and he felt himself reclining back to chase after Ruo Chen's firm yet gentle touch at his back. The energy worked like a charm in treating injuries and Ye Ran's cuts slowly stopped bleeding and closed at a visible rate before there were only small scars on his skin.

Ruo Chen felt drained after transferring almost all of his reserves into Ye Ran and could only let the house maids dress him up. Ye Ran seemed to be a bit peeved at the maids touch but let it happen without a word, only a scowl was visible on his face.

But when his eyes met Ruo Chen's tired ones, the scowl quickly transformed back into a smile. Ruo Chen thought nothing of it before ordering the maids to bring Ye Ran into a room where he could rest, he only hopped that his parents won't be back tomorrow, it would be hard to explain this mess.

"Won't you come with me?" Ye Ran asked when he saw Ruo Chen go to the room opposite his.

Ruo Chen froze for a second before going into the room with Ye Ran. The room was big with a queen sized bed near the window, the sheets were a light blue and ever so soft. Ye Ran felt himself relax as he laid down when Ruo Chen told him to do so. He let his eyes close before he felt the bed dip down beside him, Ruo Chen had laid down to rest to.

He was really too drained from having expended so much of his energy and had no time to think about whether this was appropriate or not, if Ye Ran was truly reborn, then it would be two old souls in child bodies lying next to each other. 

Whatever, that can wait for tomorrow, yea tomorrow. Ruo Chen then quickly fell asleep while Ye Ran watched fixatedly. Ye Ran only then fell asleep when he realized that Ruo Chen was in deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, Xiao Pang appeared in the room and transformed into a book to blend into the bookshelf. Like this, he could monitor that both of them would stay safe. After all, it was his job as the supervisor to make sure that those two are alive to complete the mission of finding a lover.