"Brother?..." Zi Yurou looked at the five feet tall boy in front of her. The boy lifted what looked like a long spear in his right hand. His face, clothes, and weapon were painted with blood. He proceeded to clean himself and the weapon with nearby snow before walking closer.

"Here." A hand was extended in help to the girl.

"Thanks." Zi Yurou grabbed it and got on her feet. She was still in a state of shock and fear.

"I thought I was a goner this time." She said as she sighed in relief.

"Luckily I came to look for you." The boy said with a trace of worry and a loving look.

"Sorry. I..." The girl felt somewhat awkward.

"Don't mention it." The boy prevented her to say more. Their relationship wasn't that trifling.

"Right, Brother...I came upon this before the savage boar ran after me."

The girl took out a luminescent piece of grass from her pouch. The plant was plasma red but showed shiny tinges of yellow at its roots.

The girl proceeded to recount the misfortunate adventure leading to her present predicament. The boy was first surprised when she showed him the valuable grass, then horrified as he listened to her narration.

As she finally explained how she fell from the tree, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. His own antics could have cost his dear sister her life.

He loved to brag to girls and exaggerate the details of his exploits. It happened that he'd also met such ferocious boar as he explored the forest last year. However, he was nowhere near able to take it on by himself at the time. The creature had the strength of Body refinement level five while he was stuck at level three.

Worried over his poor life, he escaped quietly. The tale was recounted in the village, but he somewhat magnified and distorted the details.

"The chances of sneaking around alone or in small groups are higher." Zi Ming said over the campfire that day, as he took a two-year-old grass from his pocket. His sister seemed to be among the young group of hunters who listened.

He couldn't help but wonder if the reason for her to start hunting alone in the morning was for this reason.

"Brother?" Zi Yurou was perplexed. The guy had been dazing off for the past five seconds.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something. Hm, the truth is..." Zi Ming was conflicted. He needed to tell the truth to his sister about that day for her own sake. Her life was in the balance after all. What would have happened if he had come two seconds late?

Zi Ming proceeded to explain in detail how he had been lying this whole time to the entire village. As he waited for his sister's reaction, he had a grim smile. There went the mighty facade that he put in front of her for so long, he thought.

"So you're basically not as strong as you've pretended to be all these years?" Zi Yurou frowned and asked.

Zi Ming shook his head in embarrassment.

The next second her reaction threw him off. She turned her back to him and walked some steps away before muttering something in a low voice.

"Brother still has no clue how imperfect Yurou is either..."

"What was that?" Zi Ming couldn't make sense of the bunch of unintelligible words.

"Don't mind me." Zi Yurou quickly changed the subject. "Teach me the spear for the next three months, or I will tell aunt Qian what you've been doing around her hut at night ever since the new year."

"You brat! how did you?..." Zi Ming was horrified.

"I'm your sister after all. I got my own methods." The lass grinned as her face became more sinister. "So?"

Zi Ming contemplated his options in silence before he recalled this demoness was only weaker than he was, not slower. She went so far as to put some distance between them before she even started to threaten him.

"Deal!" Zi Ming clenched his teeth and agreed in a hurry. "Don't come back crying later if you can't handle the training."

"If you renege on your promise I will also tell Mom you've been sneaking around our house bath," she added in a merry tone.

Zi Ming lost his footing when he heard these last words. The shock was so great he almost coughed blood in frustration.

His sister kept laughing and poking his sore spots as they made their way back home. He was first infuriated, but anger was soon replaced with a sense of shame and fear.

His sister was a "hidden expert" all this time, but he had not even picked the slightest clue after twelve whole years.

This scenery of two black-haired teenagers bickering and fighting side by side would bring about a storm of changes and legends in the years to come.