"Woaah, so this is what a mortals' city looks like, " With eyes full enthusiasm, Taiyang looked around in wonder. The city was filled with lushed greenery, trees stretching high enough to reach the brick-made houses that floated in the air.

"Now, then, what should I do?" He mutters to himself. Although he had wanted to go and see what this so-called Phoenix Immortal Sect was like, but after conversing with one of the rogue cultivators, he found out that the recruitment session would only begin tomorrow. So to say, he still had a day worth of time left to himself.

Just as he is thinking this, a shrill scream resounds in the area. "Somebody, help! You damned thief, stop!"

An old woman wearing an apron can be seen chasing after a black-robbed figure.

However, the old woman was no match for the robbed figure's speed. In a blink of an eye, the robbed figure slipped into one of the alleys and disappeared.

Seeing this, the old woman falls on her withered butt and starts to pant heavily.

Thinking that he should help, Taiyang calmly walks to the old woman and politely asks her, " Hello, grandma, what happened?"

The woman looks at Taiyang and shouts, "Can't you see?! That little thief stole a dumpling from my stall! That's the third time that little sh*t has stolen from my stall! Aah, how can these old bones do business if it continues like this?"

Ignoring the rude woman's rant, Taiyang confusedly mutters to himself," A thief? But I didn't see any black clouds around that person..."

He looks at the alley where the figure had disappeared into and instantly decides on his next course of action.

"How long are you going to stand there for?! Didn't your parents teach you how help an old—eh? Where did he go?" She looks up and finds out that the young man who had been standing right next to her is nowhere to be found.

******

A figure stealthily makes its way through cramped alleys until it reaches a dark dead-end.

"Qiao, you can come out now. It's me," a girly voice echoes. Immediately another figure emerges from the darkness.

However, in comparison to the black robbed figure, this figure was a lot smaller in height and wore tattered clothes. In a childish voice, the boy asks,"Sis, it is you? "

"Yes, it's me," she replies before taking off the hood covering her face. Underneath it was revealed a girly face containing immature features.

"Come here, I have brought food for you," she took out the dumpling she had stolen earlier and handed it to her brother.

"A dumpling?! Sis is the best!" He said and hurriedly began eating as if he had been starving for days.

Seeing him like this, warm emotions filled her heart.

I will definitely become an immortal! That way I won't have to worry about not being able to feed my brother! She tightly clenches her fists underneath her robe.

As she is thinking of the future, a gentle whisper reverberates in the alley:"As I thought, you are not a bad person."

She shrieks in panic and immediately looks behind. An 'aah' escapes her mouth before she clapses onto the ground.

A person stood aflot in front of her. No, calling him a god would be more suitable. Wearing a golden robe, he floated above the ground in an otherworldly demeanor.

For a moment, she wondered how expensive his clothes would be. Even the emperors she had seen did not wear something as flashy as his clothes.

However, what sent shivers down her spine was a his devilishly handsome face. Even a child like her who did not know much about the matters of heart felt her heart pounding in her chest.

"W-who are you?" She asked in a trembling voice. Did he come here to bring her to the sect's prison grounds? She had heard rumors of the treatment that awaited those listed as criminals by the Immortal Phoenix Sect.

If so, I must do something to protect my brother.

Just as she was about to kneel to beg for mercy, someone rushed forward to stand in front of her and shouted:"Don't come near my sis! Sis is not a bad person!" She saw her little brother Qiao Nan spreading his small arms in front of her, trying to shield her.

"Qiao..." Her eyes started to tear up.

"What do you mean? Of course she is not a bad person; no bad person can be surrounded such bright clouds." Taiyang felt confused by the boy's action before replying with a big grin.

Being the heavenly crown prince, he had the ability to see clouds hovering over a person's head. It is similar to an aura of a person, yet different in a way that only he can sense it.

Bright clouds signified how good a person was and black clouds signified the very opposite.

And right now, he could see lots of bright clouds hovering over the black-robbed girl in front him.

However, the girl, unbeknownst to all of this, responded with a confused expression. Yet, looking at the grinning Taiyang somehow calmed her down. "T-then, who are you, respected immortal?" She got up and softly pushed her brother behind her.

Taiyang smiled and said, "My name is Taiyang Tianshang. What is your name?"

"My name is Yueliang and this is my brother Qiao Nan." She said while pointing to the boy who was inquisitly peeking from behind her.

No one would be able to relate this meek boy with the one who was trying to protect her a minute ago. "If you aren't here to take me to the sect's prison grounds, then what is your purpose?"

"Before that, let me ask you something, why did you steal from that old lady?"

Yueliang flinched.

"I saw how you stole that dumpling from the old lady. Why did you do it?" Taiyang said with an admonishing look on his face.

"T-t-that's because... that's because..." She tried to speak but words couldn't come out of her mouth.

"... of your brother right?"

Yueliang timidly nodded.

"But why did you have to steal? Couldn't you do something else to earn lawfully? Why steal? " Taiyang raised his voice in anger.

Yueliang didn't know why, but she felt like something pierced her heart the moment she saw Taiyang acting like this. "T-that's because I didn't have other choice!" She roared. "After my parents died, no one would take us in...those bad guys came and took our house from us... *sob* we had nowhere to go... *sob*... no one cared about me and my brother..." Before long, Yueliang founded herself crying while kneeling on the ground.

"...so I had to steal to get by," her voice was low to the point where it almost sounded like a whisper. Although she didn't see it, but she could also hear her little brother sob like her.

Just as she feels she is about to fall unconscious, something—or someone—embraces her small body. Two arms wrapped themselves around herself and her brother. They felt warm and comforting, almost like a mother embracing her child.

A voice that was as tender as her dad entered her ears," You must have suffered a lot." Although the words uttered were not that many, but they were enough for Yueliang to burst out into tears.

All the grievances and sufferings she had been holding inside her erupted at this very moment. In a dark alley, one could see three figures cuddled together. The sound of crying finally stopped after a long while.

"Are you alright?" Taiyang asked in worried tone.

"Yes, thank you, big brother Taiyang." Yueliang smiled innocently. It had been a very long time since she saw someone worry for her like this.

"Big brother?" Taiyang muttered, somehow not knowing how to feel about this. He remembered his brother Guang who used to address him like this. "Yueliang, what did you call me?"

"Big brother Taiyang…? Did I say something wrong?" Yueliang tilted her head in confusion.

Taiyang hurriedly shook his head. "No, you didn't! Calling me big brother is good—no, you two must definitely call me big brother!" He giggled to himself. It seemed like he had suddenly gained two new siblings.

Yueliang and Qiao glanced at each other and could only nod after seeing Taiyang giggling to himself like this.

"Alright. It's getting quite late now, so we should probably leave this place," said Taiyang.

"We..?" The siblings muttered in bewilderment.

"Yes, we. Didn't I promise that you'll never have to steal again?"

"B-but, big brother-"

"No buts. It's already decided. You two are coming with your big brother."

The two siblings could only nod after seeing Taiyang take the duty of being their elder brother so seriously.

"But, big brother Taiyang, where are we going?" Yueliang questions.

"I don't know."

An 'huh?' leaked out of the mouths of the two siblings simultaneously. Looking at the serious face of Taiyang, it did not seem like he was joking with them.

"What you mean by 'you don't know'? You don't even know where you are going to take us, big brother?" Yueliang unknowingly raised her voice.

"Hmm well, you know, I came from a very far away place and arrived in this city just today, so I have no particular destination in my mind," Taiyang stated while rubbing his chin. "But you don't know to worry, I'll eventually figure something out. I am your big brother after all. Hehehehe." He grinned.

Yueliang and Qiao looked at each other. Suddenly, this otherworldly brother of theirs appeared pretty unreliable.

*****

"Erm…big brother Taiyang, why do you look so different from before?" Yueliang asked after looking at Taiyang's face for the twentieth time. She didn't know why, but Taiyang had transformed into a completely different person.

Before Taiyang had a face that could charm even a young girl like herself, but now his face seemed very normal looking, one that could get lost in a crowd. Even his clothes had changed to more normal looking ones.

"Hmm. I feel more at ease when I am like this," he quickly came up with an excuse. Although Taiyang felt guilty for lying to her, but it was not like all of what he said was a lie. Because if he walked around in his normal appearance, then he'd be quickly found out by his old man.

I miss mother. I wonder how she's doing?

Thinking of his father reminded him of his gentle mother. She would always worry for him.

Humph, if it wasn't for that geezer, I wouldn't have been forced to leave like this.

While he was pondering over these matters, a hand tugged his sleeves lightly.

"Eh?" Looking down, he found Qiao Nan happily strolling beside him. Right now they were just wondering around in the marketplace, looking at the traders pitching their merchandise.

"That's right, we should probably get something to eat!" It had been so long since he last ate. Although his unfathomable cultivation made it possible for him to live without eating at all, but he still missed the feeling of it.

"Ywep! Food! Food!" Qiao Nan happily jumped around while nodding his head vigorously.

"Qiao…" Yueliang felt embarrassed at her little brother's behavior.

"What? Do you not feel like eating, Yueliang?" Not understanding her reaction, Taiyang thought that maybe Yueliang didn't want to eat.

Just as Yueliang is about to reply, a growling sound resounds in the air.

"Yeah! Sis is also hungry!" Qiao gleefully says.

Yueliang's promptly turns red from embarrassment.

"Hahahahahahaha," seeing the funny interaction between two siblings, Taiyang laughs out loud, suddenly feeling that he made the right choice to escape the heavenly realm.