Faced with Ye Jingchen's questioning, the two children remained silent.

"If you don't talk, I'll really send you to the government office," Ye Jingchen continued to threaten.

However, the trick that had worked so well before didn't work this time. The two children remained silent, only displaying expressions of resignation.

“Since we can’t get any useful information out of him, Chenxi—” Ye Jingchen looked at Chenxi and made a throat-slitting gesture.

Dawn: ...

Chenxi looked at him like he was crazy.

The two children looked terrified, their faces turning deathly pale, but even so, they did not beg for mercy.

The atmosphere was quiet.

After a while—

"This is boring, let's go!" Ye Jingchen threw down the knife in his hand and waved to Chenxi.

Chen Xi released the two children who were already terrified and left with Ye Jingchen.

"You didn't really think I wanted you to kill them, did you?" Ye Jingchen asked, somewhat speechless, after moving a little further away from the two children.

Chenxi didn't speak, but gave him a look that was hard to describe.

If it were the old Ye Jingchen, that would be exactly the meaning.

He could murder his own brother, so what was killing two complete strangers who offended him?

"Don't go too far yet. Let's see where they go later and then secretly follow them," Ye Jingchen said to Chenxi.

"What do you want to do?" Chenxi finally asked, her expression complicated.

"Find the organization behind them! They're despicable for instigating such young children to do such dangerous things!" Ye Jingchen said.

"What if it wasn't someone instigating them, but rather they did it voluntarily?" Chenxi asked.

"That won't do either. Stealing or robbing other people's property is illegal. They were lucky today to run into someone with a good temper like me. If they had run into someone with a bad temper, they would have been beaten to death on the spot and there would be no way to seek justice!"

“They are too young and lack the ability to survive. If they don’t steal or rob, they might not survive,” Chenxi said.

"How did you know?" Ye Jingchen asked back.

"Why are you talking so much today?" Ye Jingchen looked at Chenxi suspiciously. "You seem to care a lot about these two children? Do you empathize with them? Have you had similar experiences?"

Faced with Ye Jingchen's barrage of questions, Chenxi shut her mouth.

He now shares the same feelings as those two children.

When did this little rascal become so perceptive? It's almost like he can predict the future!

Ye Jingchen did not press the matter further.

Everyone has their own secrets; there's no need to pry.

After all, bodyguards are also human beings, born of mothers and fathers, and have their own pasts.

Like assassins, bodyguards are required to risk their lives for their masters, and their fates are not in their own hands. If given a choice, few people would be willing to become bodyguards.

He used to be obsessed with novels because he felt that novels were also other people's lives, and reading a novel was like watching a person's life unfold.

He had read so many novels, what kind of plot hadn't he seen? Whether it was Xie Chang'an, those two children, or Chenxi, their experiences were all traceable to him.

The two children seemed surprised that they would be let go so easily. They stood there in disbelief for a while before picking up the knife and hugging each other happily.

Afterwards, they cautiously observed their surroundings for a while before carefully heading in one direction.

Ye Jingchen was led by Chen Xi, following them at a distance, winding through the streets and alleys, becoming more and more remote, until finally stopping in front of a desolate and dilapidated courtyard.

Upon arriving, the two children remained vigilant, observing the entrance for a while before pushing open the old gate, entering the courtyard, and closing it behind them.

Chenxi silently carried Ye Jingchen onto the courtyard wall.

The courtyard was spacious and empty, with only one large house, its walls mottled and its doors and windows broken and old.

In this courtyard that shouldn't be deserted, there were several children, all of whom looked quite young, both boys and girls. The two children from earlier were considered tall among them.

"Xiao Ye, Xiao Cheng, why are you back so early today? Did you have any luck?" asked a girl who was half a head taller than them and was holding a baby in her arms.

"No..." the child named Ono answered softly.

"What happened—something went wrong?" The girl asked quickly when she saw the anxious expressions on their faces.

"Where's my older sister?" Xiao Cheng asked.

“My older sister has also gone out to find food. There are so many mouths to feed. If we can’t find anything to eat, we’ll all go hungry!” another child said.

Several tattered cloths were spread on the stones in the yard, and some things that Ye Jingchen didn't recognize were drying on the cloths. The child was turning those things over.

Two other children were tidying up the scattered dead branches in the yard, organizing them neatly and placing them under the eaves.

“We ran into a very strange kid today and he caught us. He seemed to know a lot about us. Xiuxiu, could we be being watched?” Xiaoye asked.

"Why did that child grab you? Did you steal again?!" The girl named Xiuxiu's voice suddenly rose, and the doll in her arms was frightened by her voice and burst into tears.

"Baby, be good, don't cry! Don't cry—" Xiuxiu quickly went to comfort the child in her arms.

It took a while of comforting before the crying stopped.

"Big sister already said you're not allowed to steal anymore, why won't you listen? Do you want to be beaten to death before you realize the danger?!" Xiuxiu asked in a low voice, her voice full of disappointment.

“But we have no food left. If we don’t steal, everyone will go hungry!” Ono said.

"Big sister won't let us starve to death, but if you steal from someone you can't afford to offend, you'll be half dead, if not killed!" Xiuxiu said, both shocked and frightened.

“My older sister is only two years older than us. She’s a girl, and it’s even more dangerous for her to beg for food outside than for us. What if she runs into bad people?” Xiao Cheng said.

The conversation in the courtyard continued, but Chenxi suddenly led Ye Jingchen away from the courtyard wall and headed in one direction.

In another alley, separated by a few houses and walls, a disheveled little girl with a dirty face was being surrounded by three beggars.

The little girl was about the same height as Ye Jingshu, but the three beggars were all adult men.

The little girl was holding a few dirty steamed buns in her arms. She tried to get past the beggars, but they surrounded her more and more tightly.

Just as the beggars were about to rob her, Chenxi used three pebbles as hidden weapons, forcing all three beggars back several steps at the same time.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Who was the meddlesome person who couldn't see right through it all!" the beggar cried out, clutching the spot where he had been hit by the stone.

Chenxi reached to his waist and pulled out a soft sword as thin as a cicada's wing. He twirled the sword, and the gleaming blade emitted a clear and melodious sound.

"Either get out, or die!" Chenxi said coldly, pointing her sword at the three beggars.