Chapter 339
Xiao Bing Tuozi had a blank expression, her cold gaze flickering towards Xiao Li Mo.
A child of the same age as her—how good could his brushwork be?
With that thought, Xiao Ying Bing's enthusiasm suddenly waned.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you call me ‘brother’ for nothing.”
Xiao Li Mo smiled, dipped his brush in ink, and began to draw on the blank paper. At first, his smaller hands felt a bit awkward, but as he continued, he gradually found his rhythm, exuding an air of grace as if his brush was dancing like a dragon.
Xiao Bing Tuozi’s eyes sparkled brighter.
“This is the main street of Qinghe County.”
“When the New Year comes, there will be lion dances, candy sellers, and firecrackers...”
As he spoke, he painted, and with each word, a lively scene of the New Year came to life.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t use his spirit essence right now; otherwise, he could have learned from Brother Ouyang’s technique to make the painting come alive, immersing them even more in the scene.
But even so, for Xiao Ying Bing, who had never seen the outside world, it was already a captivating new realm.
“How is it?”
Xiao Li Mo raised his brows, resembling a silkworm baby.
“So lively…”
Xiao Ying Bing’s face was momentarily stunned, then she averted her gaze, her small face quiet as she softly replied, “It’s okay, I guess.”
“It’s… okay… I guess?”
Xiao Li Mo’s eyes widened slightly, doubting his own painting skills. Although this wasn’t a divine vision painting, it was still quite good for a meticulous piece, right?
After all, he had painted so many martial arts insights.
But Xiao Bing Tuozi didn’t clap and say, “Brother, you’re amazing.” Instead, she merely found it passable?
“Just wait, I was just warming up!”
Xiao Li Mo, undeterred, picked up the brush again.
“Look, this is Qingyuan Sect. Do you know about Qingyuan Sect? It’s the largest sect in Ziyang Prefecture, and the masters inside are quite interesting.”
“This is Elder Xue; he’s a genius alchemist who once took a lantern to the toilet to find a pill…”
“This is Elder Qian; when you eat with him, don’t say a word. I suspect he has two mouths—he can eat and talk at the same time and still finish a whole table of dishes…”
The landscapes and characters sprang to life on the paper.
Xiao Ying Bing’s eyes shimmered with frost and snow, appearing somewhat dazed.
“Hmm, not bad… I guess.”
“?”
Xiao Li Mo sensed something was off. Xiao Bing Tuozi had clearly pursed her lips, her eyes sparkling, yet her little mouth kept saying things like “it’s okay,” “not bad,” and “could be better.”
He suspected Xiao Bing Tuozi was doing it on purpose!
She was deliberately downplaying his art to make him paint more, like a little troublemaker.
So she hadn’t suddenly turned into a bad ice dumpling; she had been a little rascal all along…
“Forget it, since it’s embarrassing to show, I’ll just let it go.”
Xiao Li Mo pretended to sigh, starting to slack off.
“?”
Seeing that Xiao Li Mo had caught on to her thoughts, Xiao Bing Tuozi lowered her eyes, the sunlight casting a rainbow hue on her long lashes, a hint of lively red blooming on her fair cheeks.
“Brother… draw another one.”
“!”
Xiao Li Mo felt a jolt, his mind nearly spinning, and the brush slipped from his fingers, clattering to the ground.
How could she start with such a bold request, right up in his face?
Was it even legal to be this cute? Was there no law against it?
This was a foul play—definitely a foul play!
For such an outrageous act… of course, he had to satisfy her.
The little artist couldn’t resist this challenge, so he fumbled with his uncooperative hands and continued to draw.
Brother… brother?
Ying Xu Liang, who had just come to check on the two little ones, felt a shock run through him, as if struck by lightning.
The mindset he had just adjusted shattered into pieces.
Why? What right did this kid have to make his daughter so adorable?!
Just because of a painting that wasn’t even that great… huh?
Xiao Li Mo held the brush, and a serene world gradually unfolded beneath his strokes—a small courtyard bathed in moonlight, the river flowing quietly, and the banyan tree lush and green…
The plaque at the entrance read:
‘Qiu Shui Ge’ (Autumn Water Pavilion)
Was this the level of skill a child could possess?
“By the way, do you want to see what you’ll look like when you grow up?”
After finishing the painting, Xiao Li Mo sneezed. Xiao Bing Tuozi was leaning in too close, almost bumping heads, her hair brushing against his nose in the breeze.
“What I’ll look like when I grow up?”
“Yeah.”
“I want to see.” x2
Before Xiao Ying Bing could speak, her parents, Ying Xu Liang and his wife, chimed in unison.
Xiao Li Mo was startled by the voices behind him.
Just a moment ago, he had been thinking about sneaking away with the little girl, and now he was caught holding her hand while drawing. How terrifying!
But it seemed that Uncle and Aunt’s attention was currently focused on the “big ice dumpling.”
With that thought, Xiao Li Mo suddenly fell into a daze.
What parent doesn’t fantasize about their little ones growing up when they look at their small beans at home?
But Uncle Ying and Auntie would never see that…
Ying Xu Liang went to fetch his treasured drawing paper and ink stick, preparing everything anew for him.
“Alright.”
He rolled up his sleeves, taking the brush with utmost seriousness.
He employed the technique used for divine vision paintings, though his current spirit essence wasn’t strong enough to create a true divine vision painting.
Under the banyan tree, the four of them—drawing and watching—held their breath.
After a while.
Sunlight filtered through the tree shadows, casting a patchy golden hue on the paper.
The image of a young girl leaped onto the page, bright and cool, light and shadow intertwining.
As if through the painting, she was gazing back at you.
“Is this what Bing Er will look like when she grows up?”
Ying Mu stared at the girl in the painting, dazed, her emotions complex and joyful, tears shimmering in her eyes.
“Hahaha, our daughter has grown up to be so graceful and beautiful, truly beautiful…”
Ying Xu Liang laughed heartily, feeling that this was how his daughter should look in the future.
“This is… me?”
Little Ying Bing was extremely puzzled.
This painting gave her a sense of crossing time and space, gazing into the future self, an inexplicable familiarity lighting up the mist over her heart…
“It’s not finished yet.”
“What’s missing?”
“Of course, it’s me! I’ll grow up too. Aren’t you curious what I’ll look like in the future?”
Little Xiao Li, smiling, pointed at himself.
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Chapter 371: Ancestor Worship and the Year Beast
“What you’ll look like when you grow up…”
Xiao Bing Tuozi turned her gaze, looking at his chubby baby face.
She furrowed her little brows, reached out to pinch his face, rubbed it, and tugged at it, causing Xiao Li Mo to grimace, but she pouted, clearly unsatisfied.
“Hey… don’t rush! You’ll know when I draw it.”
What kind of image would he have of himself?
Little Xiao Li, the artist, fell into deep thought, gently poking his cheek with the brush’s end. After a moment of contemplation, his bright eyes lit up.
That day, he was also painting.
And he had accidentally gotten ink on his face…
The scene from that day, not belonging to this time, gradually appeared on the paper.
Thus, the sunset at Qiu Shui Ge illuminated today’s drawing.
In the painting, a young boy was drawing a girl, his bright and handsome face speckled with ink…
“His brows and eyes do have a certain charm,” Ying Mu nodded.
“Where’s the charm? Li Ge is all brawn; Xiao Mo must have intentionally made himself look better,” Ying Xu Liang grumbled, feeling a mix of emotions.
Seeing the boy from the Li family grown up, why did he feel even more annoying?
“Boys grow up to resemble their mothers.”
Ying Mu smiled gently, not allowing her husband to nitpick.
As everyone knows, the more a father looks at his son-in-law, the angrier he gets, while the mother grows fonder…
Wait.
Was it really appropriate to say their feelings were complex? These two little ones were so young; it was just a childhood betrothal…
“…”
The sunset illuminated the sunset in the painting and also brightened Xiao Ying Bing’s mirror-like eyes, breaking through the frost within.
She couldn’t help but reach out, gently touching the boy’s face in the painting, letting her fingertips be stained with a hint of ink.
“How is it? Isn’t it well drawn?”
Little Xiao Li, the artist, tilted his head, feeling a bit proud.
Then he suddenly felt a chill in his philtrum.
“?”
That little hand, stained with ink, poked at his philtrum.
“Hmm, now it looks even more like the painting.”
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