A Card In Hand

Chapter 69: The Country Bumpkin Brother and the Country Girl Sister

The sound of a bell.

Li Ao’s sister.

More precisely, she was the youngest daughter of the old servant Aunt Shui Niu and Uncle Huang Niu, fourteen years old this year, with a unique talent known as the “Heart of a Clear Bell.”

As a sister, Ling Yin, who was close in age to Li Ao, always acted as his little follower, both lively and mischievous.

Li Ao doted on her as if she were his own sister.

He always tried to give her the best.

However.

The last time Li Ao saw her in his previous life was a severed head hanging high at the gates of Silverlight City, eyes wide open in death.

Due to the revenge of Venomous Fang, Aunt Shui Niu and Uncle Huang Niu’s entire family was murdered, only she survived by chance because she was running errands in the capital for the main family.

Li Ao spent three years trying every possible way to hide her traces, hoping to evade Venomous Fang’s notice, but ultimately she was betrayed by a traitor within the family.

To force Li Ao out, Venomous Fang mercilessly killed Ling Yin and arrogantly hung her severed head at the gates of Silverlight City.

It hung there for seven days.

Until Li Ao, driven mad by the news of her death, rushed back.

From the day he saw Ling Yin’s head, Li Ao embarked on an unforgiving path of vengeance.

He ascended to the Celestial Realm, ignited the divine fire, and ascended to godhood. His divine office and deity were that of vengeance.

Unforgiving.

Endless pursuit.

These were the two aspects of Li Ao that the gods of the Celestial Realm found most repellent.

In the Celestial Realm, whether they were gods from the good-aligned, neutral, or even evil alignments, none could accept such an anomaly as Li Ao.

Once Li Ao identified a target, he would completely disregard any moral principles, personal relationships, or mutual benefits.

The target of his vengeance must die!

No compromise!

Unforgiving!

Even if that target was a divine child protected by the gods.

Even if the target of his revenge was a god themselves, Li Ao would never give up his quest for vengeance.

“Ling Yin!”

Li Ao, suppressing the turmoil within his heart, reached out and gently patted the top of the lively ponytailed girl’s head: “Were you waiting here for me?”

“I was not!”

Ling Yin retorted haughtily, lifting her little chin in denial, her playful ponytail swaying behind her head.

She turned to greet the rock bear: “Hey, big bear, how are you? Can you understand what I’m saying?”

Seeing that it was his master’s most important relative, the rock bear hurriedly tried to ingratiate itself.

It put on its most honest smile.

And like a well-behaved dog, it stuck out its tongue, ready to lick her small hand.

Li Ao kicked it away: “Disgusting, you’re a bear, not a dog! Get away from here!”

The rock bear was not bothered by the criticism at all due to its exceptionally thick skin.

It made playful facial expressions at Ling Yin, indicating that it was all right.

“Although I am a rock bear, if it makes my little master happy, I can be a dog too. No problem at all…”

“Let’s play a game. Look, this is a fruit. I will throw it, and you bring it back to me, okay? I’m going to throw it now!”

Ling Yin took a sour pear from her pocket and tossed it into the distant sky.

The rock bear immediately understood and sprinted like a hunting dog, leaping high to catch the sour pear in its mouth.

It returned proudly with a face full of achievement, presenting the sour pear back to its young master.

Ling Yin was extremely delighted.

She danced with joy: “Brother Li Ao, your big bear is so smart! It looks clumsy, but it runs really fast. It’s amazing!”

Whoo!

The sour fruit was thrown far away again.

The rock bear instantly regained the joy it never had from Li Ao, who never took it out or played with it.

It sprinted to catch the sour pear and hurried back.

Whoo!

Ling Yin threw the sour pear far away once more, and the rock bear joyously continued to play with her.

“Good job, you are amazing, much better than our dumb dog at home!”

Ling Yin praised the rock bear, grabbing Li Ao’s hand. “Brother Li Ao, how did you contract such an incredible big bear? You must have gone through a tough battle, right?”

“Not really,” Li Ao said casually, “I found it.”

“Found it?” Ling Yin looked at him in astonishment, her clear, bright eyes growing even larger. “Brother Li Ao, how did you find it?”

“At that time, it was in a rock cave, severely injured and on the verge of death. It even begged me to make a contract. If I didn’t, it would have died.”

Li Ao briefly explained the situation.

“Brother Li Ao, you are so lucky!”

Ling Yin genuinely felt happy for Li Ao.

“It is quite lucky!” Li Ao nodded.

His definition of luck was different from Ling Yin’s.

Li Ao’s luck.

Was being able to come back to life.

And to see his lively sister standing in front of him, jumping and laughing with a bell-like cheer.

“My sister, this sweet smile of yours, I will never let anyone take it away in this lifetime. No matter who it is, they won’t even dream of touching a single hair on you!”

Thinking this, Li Ao couldn’t help but gently stroke the top of Ling Yin’s head.

“What’s wrong?”

Ling Yin, not quite understanding, could sense a change in Li Ao’s emotions. “Did you do poorly on a test?”

“No, I am already a summoner!” Li Ao smiled and shook his head.

“Did someone from our main family bully you?” Ling Yin asked again.

“From now on, we will be the ones doing the bullying, and no one will dare to bully us. Look at my fist, anyone who dares will get beaten!”

Li Ao laughed heartily. Just as he finished speaking, the rock bear joined in to please its master. It stood up, raised its palms high, and roared to show it would also protect its little master.

“The bear is really good!” Ling Yin was distracted by the rock bear and joyfully patted its head.

They walked on.

The village in the countryside loomed in the distance.

Suddenly, Ling Yin lifted her head and looked towards Li Ao with unspeakable expectation in her bright eyes, “Now that Li Ao is a summoner, are we moving back to live in the Silverlight City family home?”

Li Ao playfully pinched her cute little nose and said, “Silly girl, our home is right here! Is Silverlight City our home?”

Ling Yin was delighted to hear this.

However, she haughtily wrinkled her cute little nose at Li Ao, “Silly brother, all other summoners live in Silverlight City, they’ll call you a country bumpkin if you don’t go!”

“Country bumpkin brother and country girl sister, that sounds pretty scary!” Li Ao exclaimed exaggeratedly.

“Ha ha ha…”

Ling Yin burst into laughter, almost unable to stand still, she had to tightly grasp Li Ao’s hand to barely keep herself steady.

The village was gradually getting closer.

It was noon, and the village was filled with columns of smoke from cooking fires.

Along the way, villagers returning from their work happily greeted Li Ao when they saw him.

Some were amazed at Li Ao’s contracted Rock Bear.

To these ordinary folk, who worked from sunrise to sunset, summoners were unimaginably powerful beings.

Among them.

To become a guardian was their ultimate dream.

For instance, Uncle Huang Niu, the old servant who had raised Li Ao, was a guard of a farm owned by a branch of the Iron Clan family.

At his peak, he had been the captain of the farm’s guard squad, with a combat power nearing 60.

Unfortunately, his combat power significantly dropped after his contracted war beast, the Big Horn Bull, tragically died in battle.

Furthermore, because of his honest nature and lack of skill in flattering his superiors, he was directly demoted by the then head of the guards, reducing him back to a regular guard.

“Li Ao is back? Really? Isn’t he supposed to return tomorrow? Are you kidding me? What? He has contracted a big bear? Alright, I’ll go right now!”

Aunt Shui Niu, with a load of several hundred kilograms of firewood on her shoulders, heard the joyous news from her fast-legged neighbor and was so overjoyed that she immediately sprinted towards the farm’s main road, completely forgetting she was carrying a mountain-like pile of firewood.

Her neighbor chased after her, yelling, “Aunt Shui Niu, you dummy, put down the firewood, I’ll carry it back for you!”

The strong Aunt Shui Niu then quickly unloaded it.

With a hearty pat on her neighbor’s shoulder, she said, “Thanks a lot. Call everyone to come to our place for a big meal later. Uncle Huang Niu and Shi Pan just hunted a big wild boar this morning; they are preparing it now… I must go, oh my little Li Ao, he’s finally made something of himself! May the gods protect, my little Li Ao has returned safely!”

Watching Aunt Shui Niu’s hurried departure, the neighbor shook his head, thinking that only Uncle Huang Niu could tolerate her temperament.

He bent down.

Trying to lift the load of firewood.

After several tries, he couldn’t budge it at all, and couldn’t help but curse, “Aunt Shui Niu, are you trying to kill me? How heavy is this? Can I even lift this? What will my wife do if I break my back?”

Li Ao and Ling Yin were talking with a large group of neighbors.

Suddenly, the crowd split.

A tall figure thundered in.

Without a word, he gave Li Ao a solid, hearty hug.

The protective stone skin was triggered, making a crackling sound, and rock debris started to clatter down…