Tian Yi walked up to a little girl who was sitting on the sidewalk. The little girl had messy hair that was tangled all the way to her knees, her clothes resembling dirty rags that haven't been washed for years. Her face and skin were dirty as if she had just been playing in the mud, her eyes were dim without much light— it was a pitiful sight.
However, despite looking like she was on the verge of rotting, Tian Yi still looked at her the same way he sees Caiyi or any other pedestrians— human.
"Hello, young lady." Tian Yi called out to her in a gentle tone.
The little girl slowly lifted her head to look at him with a blank gaze. It has been a long time since anybody tried talking to her, so long that she does not recall the last time she opened her mouth to speak.
"Do you know of His Highness, Tian Yi?" Tian Yi asked her.
The little girl did not react to his words at first, but after seeing Tian Yi's smile that felt somewhat warming, she shook her head.
"T-Then… would you be interested in… learning more about His Highness…?"
For some reason, Tian Yi felt extremely embarrassed at that moment, his head flushed red.
The little girl slowly nodded, and Tian Yi began telling stories of himself that he heard from Caiyi to her.
"His Highness, Tian Yi, is the son of the Celestial Emperor, Tian Qiang, the ruler of the Universe. There was this one time where I— His Highness smiled at the moon, and that moon gave birth to the Moon Princess one year later…"
From the story of the swan to the birth of the Moon Princess, he repeated everything Caiyi had told him, and the light in the girl's eyes would slowly glow brighter with every story he tells her.
After Tian Yi used up all of the stories he received from Caiyi, the little girl opened her mouth to ask: "Do you think His Highness would be able to share some food with me?"
Hearing so many stories about how gracious and kind-hearted His Highness was, she started believing it too, hoping he'd be gracious enough to give her some food.
"Uhhh…"
Not expecting such a question, Tian Yi opened his mouth but no words came out.
"Are you hungry?" he asked her to which the little girl nodded.
"Good! His Highness shall grant you your wish! Follow me, I'll find you some food to eat," said Tian Yi, his face with a wide smile.
The little girl was baffled for a moment, then, she asked: "Are you His Highness?"
Tian Yi nearly had a heart attack at her question. 'I have been exposed!' he cried inwardly.
He had barely enjoyed his time outside and he's already exposed his true identity, how embarrassing.
"O-Of course, not! I am just an ordinary mortal… His Highness is a very busy person, so I will grant you your wish in his stead," he said, trying his best to keep his identity hidden.
The little girl seemed a bit disappointed after hearing that she would not be able to meet His Highness, but she was finally going to get some food in her stomach, so her mood turned better almost instantly.
The little girl followed Tian Yi who led her to the dumbfounded Caiyi, who was wondering if he actually succeeded in recruiting some homeless child.
"Sister Caiyi! This young lady here is hungry, so I want to give her some food. How about we stop recruiting for now and get some food?" Tian Yi asked her.
Caiyi rubbed her temples, wanting to say something to him, but she was feeling hungry, too. "Alright, let's go get something to eat… I haven't eaten anything all day, anyway," she said.
"By the way, are you going with her like that?" Caiyi looked at the little girl who was so dirty the stink was already reaching her nose.
"Is there something wrong with her?" Tian Yi asked.
"Hah? Is your nose broken? Do you think anybody would accept her into a place where people go to eat?"
"My nose?" Tian Yi was puzzled. Having never smelled anything bad in his life before, he didn't know what a bad smell was. At this moment, he'd at most find her smell to be unique, even funny. And never meeting someone homeless before, he didn't know that the little girl was one.
"We'll stop by my house and get her cleaned up before we get food," Caiyi said, turning to walk the direction her house was in.
Despite being displeased with the little girl's appearance, Caiyi did not look at her with disgust nor say anything about her being homeless that other people usually would, and that made the little girl smile in her heart.
After arriving at her home, Caiyi led the little girl to her bathroom while Tian Yi waited in the living room.
About an hour later, Caiyi returned with the little girl beside her, but the little girl looked way different than prior she had her bath.
The little girl's hair was no longer tangled, but straight and shiny like silk. Her face was no longer muddy brown, but clear white, showing her cuteness. Her smell changed from smelling like rotten eggs to flowers with a sweet fragrance to it. Even her ragged clothes were changed, trashed by Caiyi and replaced with a white robe, the same one every Heaven's Follower wears.
Caiyi who was by her side sighed. "To think she'd turn my bathwater black… I guess it was worth it…"
"Right, here's your robe, too. I forgot to give you one back there."
Tian Yi received the white robes she handed to him with an awkward smile. Wearing this robe would identify him as a follower of himself wherever he went now— there was no going back.
"Umm…"
The little girl wanted to speak, but she seemed nervous, even shy.
"Go ahead; speak." Caiyi urged her.
"T-Thank you…" she said in a mosquito-like voice.
Caiyi smiled and shook her head. "Don't thank me," she said. "Thank him."
The little girl looked at where she pointed, where Tian Yi was.
"Thank you… uh…"
"Shuyi is my name, young lady. What is yours?" he asked her with a gentle smile.
"Umm… My name is— "
The little girl wanted to repay Tian Yi for the warmth he has shown her with her own, so she smiled— brightly.
"Meng Xiang," she said with a beautiful and innocent smile.