Slap!
A middle-aged man slapped the older girl across the face with force, then shouted at the two girls in the room:
“What the hell is wrong with you two!? You only brought back this little silver!?”
“Sorry, foster father. We really tried our best, but many people just wouldn’t give us anything.”
The younger girl helped her older sister, who had been knocked to the ground, tears streaming down her face. She looked both wronged and terrified.
Slap!
Another slap landed, this time knocking the younger girl to the ground. Bright red marks appeared on her tender cheek. Tears rolled down her face, but she dared not cry aloud.
“Foster father, please don’t hit my sister. She’s still young. If you must hit someone, hit me instead!”
The older girl, seeing her sister being hit, grabbed the man’s hand and shielded her sister behind her. She pleaded, but the man kicked her hard, sending her flying several meters away. She clutched her stomach in pain, her face turning pale as blood trickled from her mouth.
“Big sister, big sister, are you okay? Please stop hitting her, foster father! My sister was the one who got the money. It’s my fault. I’ll go get more money right now!”
The little girl, Yiyi, sobbed as she crawled to her sister’s side, shaking her body as tears poured down her face.
“Hmph, it won’t be that easy. If I don’t teach you two lazy brats a lesson today, you’ll slack off even more in the future!”
The man walked forward, raising his hand to hit Yiyi again.
“Stop!”
An enraged female voice rang out from outside. Sun Yueying and Zi Ying stormed into the room, their eyes blazing with anger. Tian Fan and Li Yunyang followed closely behind, with a stout tiger bringing up the rear.
“Who are you!?”
The man was startled, but when he turned and saw Sun Yueying and Zi Ying, a wicked glint appeared in his eyes, and he licked his lips.
“Sister…”
When Yiyi saw Zi Ying, she called out in surprise, then lowered her head shyly.
Seeing the plight of the two girls up close, Zi Ying became even angrier. Pointing at the man, she said, “How could you do this? They’re just children! How can you treat them like this!?”
“Heh, little lady, I don’t need you meddling in my affairs. But you’ve come here uninvited. Don’t you know how dangerous this place is? Heh heh.”
The man’s eyes roamed lewdly over Zi Ying and Sun Yueying.
“Sister, you have to leave, quickly…”
Yiyi, hearing the man’s words, raised her head in a panic and shouted at Zi Ying.
Slap!
Before she could finish speaking, she was slapped again, a fresh handprint appearing on her cheek.
“You ungrateful brat! After all I’ve done for you, you dare side with outsiders!?”
The man raised his hand and slapped Yiyi once more, cursing furiously.
This was the last straw for Zi Ying. Her fair face flushed red with anger as she shouted to those behind her, “Tian Fan, close the door and let Xiao Hua loose!”
Even though both Tian Fan and Li Yunyang were furious and wanted to teach the man a lesson, Zi Ying’s peculiar phrasing made them momentarily speechless.
Slap!
Before Tian Fan could move, Li Yunyang slammed the door shut, and Tian Fan let go of the rope in his hand.
“Roar!”
The tiger, Xiao Hua, seemed exceptionally perceptive. Sensing its master’s anger, it let out a deafening roar and charged at the man.
Meanwhile, Sun Yueying and Zi Ying rushed to the girls’ side, helping them up and using their gentle divine power to heal their injuries. Soon, the marks on Yiyi’s face disappeared, and her sister recovered as well.
“Huh? It doesn’t hurt anymore… Ah! Sisters, it’s you! Why are you here… I…”
Yiyi’s older sister, Minmin, looked up and saw Sun Yueying and Zi Ying. She stammered and quickly lowered her head.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry, it’s not your fault,” Zi Ying comforted her gently.
“Thank you, big sisters. Minmin is a bad child. We don’t want to lie to people, but if we don’t, our foster father won’t give us food, and he’ll beat us. Boohoo…”
Hearing Zi Ying’s kind words, Minmin broke down in tears. Her sobs tugged at the women’s hearts. How could anyone be so cruel to such young children?
“Minmin, don’t cry. It’s not your fault. Tell me, does he often hit you?”
Zi Ying softly brushed the messy hair from Minmin’s forehead and asked in a soothing tone.
“I… I’m scared. If I say anything, he’ll hit me…”
Minmin looked timidly at the man, sitting close to Yiyi.
“It’s okay. We’ll protect you,” Zi Ying assured her.
It was Yiyi who finally spoke up. With tears in her eyes, she rolled up her sleeve, revealing her thin, scarred arm. The sight stunned both women. Yiyi’s arm was covered in fine whip marks, the kind left by thin branches. They wouldn’t cause internal injuries but were excruciatingly painful.
Through Yiyi’s account, the sisters learned that they had been shipwrecked while out at sea with their father. The waves carried them to shore, where the man found them and brought them home. He revived them with hot soup and took them in as his foster daughters. But instead of continuing his work as a fisherman, he forced the girls to beg for money while he lived a leisurely life of eating meat and drinking wine. The best food he ever gave the girls was plain buns and watery porridge. When displeased, he would mercilessly whip them with branches.
“Big sister has taken so many beatings to protect me. Boohoo, I’m useless. I can’t protect her…”
Yiyi cried bitterly. When Zi Ying pulled back Minmin’s clothes, revealing her battered body, her eyes turned red and misty with tears. Even Tian Fan and Li Yunyang felt a sharp pang in their hearts. Was this really a child’s skin? Her body was covered in countless scars from wh!ppings.
“Damn it, is he even human? He’s worse than a beast!” Li Yunyang roared.
“Xiao Hua, bite him! Bite him hard!”
For the first time, Zi Ying’s face showed uncontrollable fury.
Roar!
Responding to its master, Xiao Hua intensified its attack, tearing at the man with all its might.
“Ahhhh!”
The man screamed in agony as Xiao Hua mauled him.
“Yueying, can we take them with us?” Zi Ying turned to Sun Yueying. The two girls looked at Sun Yueying with hopeful eyes.
“Of course. Little ones, come with us. We’ll take good care of you,” Sun Yueying said, gently stroking their heads. The girls broke into tears of relief and gratitude.
“Sisters, please let him go. Even though he’s treated us badly, he did save us,” Minmin said hesitantly, her voice trembling.
Her words made everyone’s heart ache. Even after all the abuse, this little girl remembered the man’s one act of kindness.
“Xiao Hua, come back,” Zi Ying finally said, her heart softening.
The tiger let out a low growl at the man before obediently returning to Zi Ying’s side, nuzzling her leg affectionately.
“Don’t be scared. Xiao Hua won’t hurt you. Come, pet him.”
Zi Ying gently guided the girls’ hands to Xiao Hua’s soft, furry head. Though nervous at first, they soon relaxed and smiled as Xiao Hua stayed still and gentle.
Tian Fan muttered to himself about the tiger’s “deceptive” behavior, knowing it would snap at him if he tried the same.
“Let’s go. Come, Minmin, Yiyi, follow us,” Zi Ying said.
Sun Yueying held Minmin’s hand, and Zi Ying took Yiyi’s as they walked out of the room. Xiao Hua followed closely, pausing to glare at Tian Fan in passing.
The two girls happily left the shabby cabin, glancing back one last time before departing with their new protectors.
Get More Chapters on Patreon: From now on, FSM Level 2 will become the CN WN Bundle. The price will remain the same which is $10. Also, the price for the KR WN Bundle will also be decreased to $10 to match this bundle.
With this I have gotten rid of the level system. The reason I am doing this, is because I plan to add more chapters to the $5 Patron tiers. Currently the readers get 2 advance chapters when they become a $5 Patron, but I want to increase the chapters they get to at least 5 chapters or more. So the current updated tier system will work like this:
The Individual Tiers ($5) will give you access to 5 chapters or more. The Bundle Tiers ($10) will give you access to all the chapters of CN or KR webnovels. The Supreme Patron ($30) will give you access to all the webnovel chapters on Goblinslate.