Later that day.
Lin Yuan arrived at the alley, where the stench of dried blood warned him of the worst. He wasn't prepared to see Roman in that state. He had been searching for him all morning until a stone struck the window of his cabin. Attached was a note that read:
"If you don't want to lose one of your children, go to Salomon Street. Be ready. This is just the beginning."
Lin didn't hesitate. He ran out, with Zhenglian insisting on accompanying him. It didn't matter if they weren't warriors. They were guardians.
When they found Roman, his face was swollen, his clothes in tatters. He was barely breathing, lying in a pool of his own blood.
"Roman!" Zhenglian screamed, falling to his knees.
Lin immediately took action. He exchanged everything he had left for bandages, antibiotics, painkillers, and clean clothes. The system left him with nothing. He managed to lift Roman from the blood and assess his condition.
Then, Roman awoke and the first thing he did was... cry. Not from physical pain. He cried because something inside him had broken. Shame overwhelmed him.
"I can't hold on... I'm not like you, Chief Lin. I'm falling apart."
"You don't have to be like me," Lin whispered as he cleaned him. "You just have to be here. Breathe. Recover. The others are waiting for you. With hot soup. With Ben's nonsense. Let's go home first."
Lin gave him a painkiller, hoping Roman could tell him where the worst injuries were. But he fell unconscious after swallowing it. Lin Yuan, without waiting for instructions, started with the arm. His hands trembled, but not his resolve. He said nothing. Only his face, hardened by helplessness, spoke for him.
Lin Yuan carried Roman on his back to the orphanage. Each step echoed in his body like a broken promise. Roman weighed more for what he represented than for his injured body: he was a child, one of his own, reduced to rubble by a world that showed no mercy.
Zhenglian, by his side, kept the bandages tight with steady hands and a face hardened by others' pain. Neither spoke. There were no words sufficient.
When they arrived, Ben and Xiao Lian were waiting in front of the cabin. Seeing Roman's body hanging from Lin's back, they froze. The air grew heavy. Xiao Lian covered her mouth with her hands. Ben said nothing. He just stepped aside, leaving the path clear.
That night was long, endless. Roman screamed in his sleep, amidst fevers and spasms that pulled him from unconsciousness. His body arched as if still receiving blows. No one slept.
Lin Yuan, Zhenglian, Xiao Lian, and even Ben took turns caring for him. Each of Roman's cries was agonizing. Xiao Lian gently changed the cold cloths on his forehead. Zhenglian kept the bandages dry, pressing softly where blood seeped through. Ben tried to apply medicine to the open wounds, failing to hide his own tearful eyes. And Lin Yuan... watched the children caring for each other, staying by their side as a pillar that everything would be okay.
Lin Yuan understood. For the first time, he felt his strength wasn't enough. They called him leader, but he hadn't foreseen this. He had always managed to face common dangers and escape those he couldn't confront, but today he realized that protecting required more; it wasn't just about enduring or surviving... it was about instilling fear so that no one dared harm his people. Protecting meant having power. Real power.
That same night, while changing Roman's bandages, he began to devise a plan.
At dawn, Roman still had a fever but was more stable. The children were exhausted but alive. During the Tranquil Willow breathing training, they learned to use it to regain energy and continue with the day.
When Roman finally woke up, his voice was barely a whisper:
"I'm sorry... I was an idiot."
Lin only asked him to speak. And he did. From the frustration over his ignored art to the disdain of his closest friend and the beating by the gang members along with Falcon's message.
Lin Yuan tensed upon hearing it but didn't let the children notice.
Xiao Lian lowered her head. She couldn't speak. But Lin called her, along with Ben and Zhenglian.
"You say it."
She explained. The fear. The anger. Her loneliness. And her effort not to hurt them, her new family.
Roman looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. As someone who had carried more burden than he had realized. Hearing her hurt more than the blows because it gave him back his sense.
Roman felt that his current state was the best in all the days spent in the cabin. His body and mind ached. But being still allowed him to finally listen and see things clearly.
"I'm sorry... for being an idiot who didn't think about the burden you carried," he murmured.
Xiao Lian shook her head, indicating he had no blame.
That gesture, characteristic of the taciturn Xiao Lian Roman knew from the streets, caused a laugh, and with it a groan of pain from the sudden chest movement.
Ben breathed a sigh of relief and immediately began teasing Roman, fully intending to make him laugh again so it would hurt.
Zhenglian, on the other hand, remained silent, surprised at how blind he had been to his friends' circumstances.
Lin nodded and stopped Ben, who was practically torturing Roman.
"I didn't know how much it affected you not being able to show your art. That's my fault. I promise to take you to the city soon, find a new space, with the commitment that when you have a struggle like this, you tell me. And this goes for everyone, but never go out without telling us again. Okay?"
Roman nodded weakly. He was exhausted. Perhaps from the blood loss. Recovery wasn't easy, even with the breathing technique and medicines. They fed him before letting him sleep. Lin Yuan organized shifts to care for him, and Ben restructured the orphanage's tasks to cover Roman's roles while he was unavailable.
That night, Lin Yuan gave Ben the shift to watch over Roman while he accompanied Xiao Lian.
Xiao Lian slept peacefully that day. Her threads reappeared as she rested. Now they danced not with rage but as if weaving a nest. Lin slept nearby, ensuring no aftereffects remained.
And in that silent moment of the night, Lin thought of Falcon. His name dropped into his mind like a stone in calm water. Falcon. His past. His mistake. The shadow he thought he'd left behind. Now it was here, attacking his family. His child.
Anger mixed with a thick sadness. It wasn't just pain for Roman; it was guilt. Lin knew that not destroying Falcon when he had the chance had cost them this night. He couldn't afford more mistakes like that.
He clenched his fists, knuckles white. The plan forming in his mind made more sense; he had to become someone untouchable, someone not to be threatened, not to be provoked.
Because if Falcon had returned, it wouldn't be with warnings next time.
The next morning, Zhenglian relieved Ben and watched over Roman.
And Roman, upon waking and seeing his friends, felt something new: belonging. One comparable to what his mother had given him.
Ben, for his part, went to his part of the cabin and fell asleep on some boxes painted like a throne. Very ridiculous. Very much like Ben.
And Lin Yuan, at last, could smile and breathe in peace. Although he was still troubled by what had happened with Roman and that Falcon, a mistake from his past on the streets, had returned, he decided to wait until the afternoon to implement the plan he'd thought of all the previous day, as he wanted to enjoy the children's actions a little longer.
Because that night that passed, in each breath of the children, the torrid silence that once suffocated the air gave way to a new reality. There were no cries of terror. Only hope.
Lin Yuan watched them as they slept, eyes red, hands still marked with bandages and dried blood. Each of those small bodies bore scars. Some physical, others invisible. But all, all, deserved protection.
There was something sacred in that nighttime scene. In that fragile peace built with effort. And knowing he had almost lost it... that just one of them had nearly died at the hands of an old specter from the past... pierced him like a spear.
This world—Lin Yuan thought, with a burning resolve in his chest—will learn to value and care for children. Not to see them as waste, nor as burdens, nor as easy prey.
It will learn the easy way...
Or the hard way.
If that meant turning his name into poison in the alleys, he would do it.
If that meant staining his hands again, he would accept it.
Because each child of the Refuge was worth more than his entire soul.
And Lin Yuan, that night, swore it. He would never tremble again.