A Legendary Thief

Small. Dilapidated. Rundown. These were the only words suited to describe the wooden house. It resembled an old man cursed by age, one who had experienced a great deal of hardship in his life and who was trying his hardest to survive the coldness of his lingering years. In front of the wooden house was a street made of stone slabs doused in filthy, murky water that flowed in all directions. Not even starving dogs would venture here.

The short wooden door of the equally wooden house squeaked as it was constantly opened and closed by foul-smelling winds. A red-brick wall tilted slightly and was on the brink of collapsing. Only half of it remained, but yet, it remained standing.

However, just because a dog would be unwilling to set a paw onto the place didn't mean it would also be devoid of residents.

The door was soon pushed open with a squeak as a girl of 17 or 18 years of age walked out of the house wearing a white silk shirt. Her jet-black hair tumbled down like smooth black pearls, and it had a jade-like glow. The girl pulled her bangs behind her ears, away from her eyes. She then pulled up a corner of her white silk skirt, which was faded because of multiple washes, and jumped forward. She stood on a clean stone slab and anxiously yelled toward the short wooden door, "Brother, hurry up. You'll be late!"

The voice of the girl was quite pleasant to the ears. It was as crisp as a singing Oriole flying out of a valley.

A tall boy walked out through the short, wooden door. He was about 21 or 22 years old. Since the wooden door to the house was so low, the boy had to bend down to walk through it.

Seeing the boy come out, the girl pulled up a corner of her skirt again and leaped to another stone slab.

The boy wore an old, creased suit. Judging from his stature, he was about 1.8 meters in height. Though he looked a bit thin, his back was rather straight, and he appeared quite tall and handsome.

"Remember to work hard, okay? And don't fight anybody. Because, yeah, if you do… hmph! You can forget about supper," said the girl while waving her small fist and crinkling her nose playfully. Afterward, she smiled, showing a pair of shallow dimples that made her look sweet and adorable. If she were to be seen by a passerby, they would have been startled, and they would have wondered how such a beautiful girl could be living in such a filthy, dirty slum.

"Work? What work?" The boy wondered as an apologetic expression flashed in his eyes. "Work" was merely an excuse he used to deceive his younger sister. He had never held down a job. Someone like him couldn't even find one.

"Hmm," said the boy. His right hand touched his nose awkwardly. His hands stood out against his black cuff, even though the color was faded quite a bit. He had a pair of pale, tender hands with slender fingers devoid of any scarring. His hands were as pale as mutton-white jade. They were not the least bit inferior to the tender hands of those girls who didn't have to do any work. Such a pair of hands didn't belong to a boy at all.

"Brother, your hands are so beautiful," commented the girl while smiling with pursed lips. As she bent down and looked closely at his hands, she felt curious as to why her brother had such a beautiful pair of hands. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, the girl lowered her head to look at her own hands. She hastily hid them behind her back. There were a few scars on her hands, making them look rather coarse.

Seeing her reaction, the boy felt a slight lump in his throat. The girl had been washing all their clothes by herself, regardless of the season. It was harder during the winter, which was a time when the weather was cold enough to crack iron. Any hand would become coarse, no matter how beautiful they were in the beginning. But despite this, the girl would never let him help her, no matter what.

"Hmm." The boy didn't attempt to protest. His heart was touched as he thought the girl's hands were the most beautiful pair in the world. The boy scratched the tip of the girl's small nose affectionately while saying, "I have to go to work, and you have to study hard."

"I know," said the girl. She breathed in and pouted, indicating that she was displeased with what the boy was doing to her.

"Remember to eat lunch and to come back early in the evening," said the boy, his voice indicating worry.

"Okay, okay. I get it. Keep talking like that, and you'll end up sounding like Madam Wu at the Red Cross Hospital." The girl pushed the boy forward from behind.

The boy shook his head while showing a wry smile. He stepped onto the protruding stone slabs and headed toward the end of the street.

"Brother, wait a second," called the girl hastily.

"What's the matter?" asked the boy after spinning around.

The girl scurried to catch up to the boy. As she arrived before him, she pouted and said indignantly, "Look at you! You forgot to turn up your collar for work." She brought her hands up to straighten the collar for the boy, smiling in content after checking it again. "Done. Brother, you're always so handsome. Knock 'em dead! I know you can do it!"

The boy caressed the girl's head as she smiled. The girl's smile could always make him forget his troubles.

"That's my cue to leave then." Having said that, the boy headed toward the end of the street.

After he passed the street covered with stone slabs and walked past a few narrow alleys and pedestrians, he came to an open space. Lying in front of him were numerous high-rise buildings, throngs of pedestrians, and what looked to be a river of vehicles and carriages. In comparison to what he had seen earlier, this place was a totally different world. The two places were as different as that of heaven and hell.

The red lights in front of him seemed so distant.

The boy's line of sight swept over every pedestrian. Every detail and tiny movements of these people couldn't escape the boy's keen eyes. The boy seemed to be in a daze as he strolled forward aimlessly, the pedestrians around him moving like a river.

"Xiao Yu." A crisp voice rang out behind him, sounding a little surprised.

The boy turned his head around and fixed his sight on the person coming up to him. He was a young boy of about 10 years of age, and he wore a ragged shirt and a pair of tattered jeans. It was unclear where he had picked up these jeans, but they were still fairly clean.

"It's you," said Xiao Yu nonchalantly. His eyes turned toward the street again.

"Are you looking for sheep?" asked the young boy as he looked at the pedestrians traversing the street.

Xiao Yu shook his head a few times, then nodded. He really didn't know what he was doing.

Looking at the young boy's face, Xiao Yu recalled the first time they met. The young boy was almost beaten to death after he was discovered stealing on the street. Xiao Yu carried him to Red Cross Hospital, and from that day on, they became acquaintances.

"You're so good at what you do, yet you don't take any chances. What the heck are you waiting for? Or just teach me how to do it. If you're willing to teach me, I'll share half of my earnings with you," said the young boy in a pleading voice.

Xiao Yu shook his head while saying, "Monkey, you'd be incapable of learning even if I were willing to teach you."

"Why?" said the young boy indignantly, whose name was indeed Monkey. His eyes were fixed on Xiao Yu's pale, slender hands. It was hard to imagine that someone making a living on the streets could have hands like that. His hands would be more suitable for playing the piano. After giving it some thought, Monkey seemed to have figured something out.

"Fine, I'm not going to learn from you," said Monkey after sighing heavily. If it were someone else who had such skill, he would have tried his best to get them to teach him. However, Xiao Yu was different because Xiao Yu was his friend. Even though Xiao Yu didn't consider him as his friend, the young boy still regarded him as one, and one he would actually sacrifice his own life for.

Monkey's eyes turned away from Xiao Yu and were fixed onto a wonderfully-shaped woman who had just passed by. The slim woman was tall and wore a short skirt. Her long, slim legs and jade-colored stockings could evoke a fatal attraction. However, it was not her beautiful legs but the fashionable black bag she was carrying that grabbed his attention.

"Sorry," said Monkey in a low voice before he headed towards the woman.

Monkey was a thief. What he intended to do was steal what he wanted in her bag without being discovered by the woman.

There was no need to say "sorry" since it was for the purpose of living. An uncomfortable expression flashed in Xiao Yu's eyes. He smiled wryly since he knew he was the same as the young boy, someone who was making a living from other people's pockets.

Xiao Yu was also a thief. His way of stealing was basically the same as Monkey's. However, Xiao Yu believed that his way of stealing was somehow different from others.

Xiao Yu walked ahead in disappointment. He spent three or four hours traversing a larger part of the city. Rabbits didn't eat the grass near their homes, and so Xiao Yu didn't dare to steal anywhere near his home.

He sometimes squatted in a corner for a while, and sometimes walked about. But he still hadn't found any "fat sheep" that could satisfy his requirements. Xiao Yu was used to the fact that he might not catch any "sheep" for most of the month. Based on his skill, Xiao Yu could easily catch many sheep on one street alone, but he didn't want to do so.

Xiao Yu moved the fingers on his right hand slightly, and a cold glow flashed between his pale, flawless fingers before it vanished without a trace just as quickly as it came.

Xiao Yu lifted his right hand and opened all five fingers with the sunlight streaming through them. What a pair of perfect hands. Unfortunately, this pair of hands was being used to steal. Looking up, Xiao Yu saw his fingers gleam red under the rising morning sunlight. All of a sudden, he felt disgusted with his hands.

Xiao Yu walked and stopped on the street for another hour. Sometimes, he would walk like this for the whole day and then go home empty-handed.

As Xiao Yu came to the corner of a street, he was approached by two misbehaving men more than 30 years of age; one of them had dyed white hair, and the other wore a button-down shirt and tattered jeans that were similar to the ones worn by Monkey.

These two had to be making a living on the street.

"As a thief, I'm better off not messing with them," Xiao Yu thought. If he stole from regular folks, he would be scolded after being discovered, but if he stole from these guys, he might end up being beaten half to death.

"That broad is really freaking stubborn. I didn't do anything to her and still got in trouble. I'm really out of luck," said the white-haired man after spitting on the ground.

"Don't mention it again. It'll make us feel more frustrated. I'll make that broad beg for her parents next time," swore the man wearing the tattered jeans.

The two of them walked over while cursing and swearing. The pedestrians didn't dare to look at them, and they hastily walked past them, afraid of offending them.

Xiao Yu's line of sight swept over the two men. He lowered his head and headed toward them after eyeing them for a few seconds.

"You little son of a b*tch, what are you looking at?" the white-haired man asked. His eyes were fixed on Xiao Yu's old creased suit. The corners of his mouth curled up into a smile, and he let out a laugh upon thinking that Xiao Yu was probably some kind of escort since he was good-looking.

Xiao Yu didn't respond and continued walking forward in a hurry.