Chapter 335
"Let's go," Ying Bing said, turning her face slightly.
The two of them strolled through Qinghe County, where they had grown up, moving from the clamor to the quiet, gradually finding that the crowds around them had thinned.
Li Mo's gaze flicked to the delicate hand that swayed slightly, and he suddenly felt it resembled the moon in a well, something he wanted to reach out and grasp.
But unlike the moon in the well, which could never be caught, this little hand was within reach.
Not quite.
Just as he reached out, that small hand slipped away to the other side, evading him.
"Huh?"
Li Mo looked up to see her flawless profile, but all he could read was an expression of nonchalance.
Was it a coincidence?
Little Li Mo tried again to catch the moon, but each time he was just a hair's breadth away, that small hand would slip away.
"?"
Li Mo took a deep breath.
He steeled himself, flexed his fingers, and waited for the right moment...
But this time, before he could even reach down, the 'moon in the well' found its way into his palm.
"????"
"Childish."
Ying Bing felt the warmth of his palm, and the corners of her beautiful mouth lifted slightly, no longer suppressing her laughter.
Li Mo stood there, stunned, realizing he had fallen victim to the mischievous little ice dumpling's ambush.
How could he endure this?
Yet the soft, jade-like touch made his hand develop its own ideas.
What a troublesome situation!
So the two of them held hands and walked along the riverbank for a while longer. The buildings around them had noticeably thinned out, and the atmosphere had grown much quieter, allowing them to clearly hear the sound of the flowing river.
"Li Mo? Ying... Ying family girl?"
"You guys..."
A voice suddenly rang out from across the way, filled with surprise.
Li Mo looked up and saw a familiar figure.
"Fengzi? You've put on some weight."
Zou Yongfeng was a childhood friend, someone he had climbed trees with to steal bird eggs and set off firecrackers to blow up neighbors' water tanks. Although they had later sold each other out, their bond remained strong.
But after Li Mo was sent to a private school by his family, their meetings had become rare.
Now, seeing each other again, Zou Yongfeng appeared a bit awkward, standing up with a flustered demeanor.
It was like one day you suddenly heard that a childhood friend, with whom you once shared innocent mischief, had become a wealthy tycoon and was now standing before you—it felt surreal and strange.
"Quick, call me brother."
Zou Yongfeng tugged at the girl beside him, who hesitantly called out, "Brother."
He glanced at Ying Bing and tentatively added, "Sister-in-law?"
Li Mo felt the small hand in his palm tighten slightly. He chuckled and bantered, "Fengzi, looks like you're getting serious. Planning to get married?"
"Married? I got married at the beginning of the year! I'm about to become a dad soon!"
"Ah?"
Li Mo noticed that Zou's wife's belly seemed to show a slight bulge...
Though Zou Yongfeng called him brother, he was actually a year older.
In Li Mo's memory, Fengzi was still that snot-nosed kid who was disliked by both people and dogs, and now, in the blink of an eye, he was about to become a father.
It was quite a shock.
"What brought you guys to this side?" Li Mo remembered that Zou Yongfeng hadn't lived on West Street before.
Zou Yongfeng hesitated for a moment and said, "Mo Ge, are you and your sister-in-law planning to visit the Ying family old residence?"
The small hand in his grasp suddenly tightened.
Seeing that the side of Ying Bing's face had turned a shade paler, Li Mo realized what was happening.
Further down West Street lay the edge of Qinghe County.
And also the Ying family old residence.
Many years ago, on a New Year's Eve just like this, his father had gone out unexpectedly and returned from the ruins, soaked in blood, carrying the only survivor, Ying Bing.
Chapter 366: The Nightmares of the Past Strike Back
Since that New Year, Qinghe County had sold more firecrackers than any other county, as the townsfolk claimed the Ying family had been cursed by a beast of the year.
Some adults would scare children by saying, "If you don't behave, the beast will come to eat you."
Zou Yongfeng had clearly been frightened by such tales. He glanced around and lowered his voice, "A few months ago, I passed by the Ying family old residence and saw a huge, dark shadow."
"It looked a bit like the beast of the year that the adults used to scare us with. As the New Year approached, my family hurriedly moved away."
"The beast of the year?"
Li Mo frowned, feeling the small hand in his palm grow colder. He gently rubbed it, but it wouldn't warm up.
The chill made Li Mo shiver.
He glanced over and noticed Ying Bing's gaze had become unfocused, her pale face devoid of color.
Distant memories suddenly began to assault Li Mo.
It was little Bing.
When she had first come to the Li residence, she would lock herself in her room all day, only coming out occasionally to eat. If she heard a loud noise, fear would flicker in her eyes, and her expression then mirrored the one she wore now.
Not just cold, but also hollow.
During that time, the Li residence felt particularly frigid, even the snow melted later than in other homes.
"Ice dumpling, let's go home."
"Mm... okay."
Li Mo exchanged greetings with Zou Yongfeng, smiling as he bid farewell to the family of three, promising to come back for the baby's full moon celebration, before turning back with the ice dumpling.
Looking back, he saw the riverbank of Qinghe, where a long-abandoned wall stood, cold and desolate, starkly contrasting with the New Year festivities.
...
Once home, Ying Bing had dinner and retreated to her room, not coming out again. Although she had softly told Li Mo that she was fine and just needed to rest for a while, he couldn't shake off his thoughts during dinner.
What had really happened to the Ying family back then?
She was silent, and he spoke little.
This scene puzzled Gu Xueqin: "Son, what's going on with you two?"
Li Mo shook his head. "Nothing. We went out today and ran into Fengzi."
"Did he say he saw something at the Ying family old residence?" Li Dalong chimed in.
"You know about it, Dad?"
"Your dad's job involves this. He went to the county office to report it that day, reeking of alcohol—he must have been drunk."
Li Dalong replied irritably, "That Fengzi is acting like a madman. I took people to check it out, and there wasn't even a ghost there."
Was Fengzi just seeing things because he was drunk? But that didn't explain why they moved...
Actually, Li Mo had already used his Tianming Shenyang (Heavenly Fate Divine Eye) in the afternoon and found nothing unusual in Fengzi's recent experiences.
He didn't ask his father if he had seen anything that day; Li Dalong had mentioned his encounter several times during meals, and by the time he took people there, it was too late.
The one who had truly witnessed everything was still the ice dumpling.
Li Mo looked up at the room across from him, where tonight there was not even a flicker of candlelight, not even a glimmer.
Was the ice dumpling not cultivating?
...
In the dead of night.
In the pitch-black room, the door creaked open.
Little Li, who had been sneaking around for days, quietly entered the room.
As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Ying Bing lying on the bed, her expression troubled in her sleep, her delicate brows tightly furrowed.
Sweat beaded on her forehead, and her hair clung to her snow-white neck.
She... was having a nightmare?
He activated his Tianming Shenyang.
[Name: Ying Bing]
[Age: 17]
[Root: Taiyin Yuehuang Body (Moon Phoenix Body).]
[Realm: Observing the Five Senses.]
[Fate: Red (Bearing the imperial bone, with Xuanbing as her fate, and Qiushui as her spirit, possessing the appearance of a phoenix).]
[Evaluation: A life filled with tribulations, always able to turn misfortune into fortune. At this moment, her feathers are not yet full; when the winds and clouds change, she will surely soar high in the skies, a phoenix gracing the six realms.]
[Recent Experiences: Haunted by nightmares.]
Li Mo attempted to release the calming moonlight of the Taiyin, but it couldn't smooth the girl’s tightly knit brows.
"What to do?"
Little Li, the genius, frowned, suddenly recalling that the Phoenix Ming Tianze's second layer allowed for spiritual connection and merging of minds.
The ice dumpling had once used this method to help him break through.
What if he tried it now?
Could he enter the ice dumpling's dream?
But that also meant they would have to face the nightmare together. If the ice dumpling couldn't wake up, he wouldn't be able to either...
"All causes and effects, life and death intertwined..."
Li Mo murmured to himself, grasping her icy little hand.
Phoenix Ming Tianze, activate!
In the next moment, he fell asleep in an instant, collapsing into the ice dumpling's embrace, but he had no time to enjoy the softness and fragrance; he was already breathing evenly.
Li Mo's consciousness cleared, and he caught the scent of firecrackers in the air.
He opened his eyes and found himself in a wide ancestral hall, where the stone steps led down to a flowing river, bustling with people.
But the sky seemed to be filled with ashes, coating everything with a layer of gray, like snowflakes.
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