Chapter 465
"Barbecue? How about some grilled seafood, like sea cucumber?"
"Brother Murong might not agree..."
As Li Mo stepped onto the carriage, he smiled on the outside, but his mind was lost in thought.
Those noble scions gave him a... strangely discordant feeling.
It was like the picturesque brothel he had seen, beautiful and flawless on the surface, yet emanating a nauseating stench from within...
Was it just an illusion?
In the evening, the lantern market was bustling, and the lively night enveloped him.
The Bu Yun Tower was particularly lively tonight, as the Crown Prince had officially taken residence there, sending invitations to all the prodigies on the Qianlong List for a grand feast.
There was a two-day break between the next rounds of competition, primarily to allow the participants to recuperate from their injuries and regain their strength.
The grand hall of the tower was ablaze with lights, filled with the clinking of cups and laughter.
Outside the Bu Yun Tower, Li Mo had set up a barbecue stall, and the members of Qingyuan Sect were grilling and eating by the roadside.
"Huh? Is that the Little Tyrant of the Divine Hammer?"
"Fairy Han is here too..."
"And that sharp-tongued monk, the fast-running Flying Poison Tortoise, Xie Xuan is here as well... Are they all on the Qianlong List?"
"Why are they setting up stalls here?"
Passersby were puzzled, but Li Mo himself was quite at ease.
However, his skewers smelled so good that they left the onlookers entranced, eager to try some.
"Big brother, how much are the skewers?"
A little girl with horned braids ran over when her parents weren't paying attention.
"Uh... you can have some first, let me think about the price..."
Li Mo handed her a few skewers, but just as he was calculating the cost, the girl's father rushed over, snatching the skewers and tucking them under his arm.
"Sorry, my child doesn't know better; she's being too presumptuous..." The man was flustered and quickly returned the skewers.
Li Mo noticed the man's gaze, awkward and timid, as if he and Li Mo were from different worlds.
"I’m happy to sell them; if she wants to eat, how is that presumptuous?"
"You can't eat what we eat."
"??"
Watching the man hurriedly retreat, Li Mo was left with a question mark hovering over his head.
What do you mean, you can't eat what I eat?
Am I not human? Am I really not human?
"If you keep this up, I won't take you out to play next time," the man scolded the little girl as they blended back into the crowd.
"But Daddy, it smells so good!"
The little girl looked pitiful, and suddenly felt something being slipped into her hand. She looked up to see the brother who had been selling skewers had followed her, raising an eyebrow at her.
She understood; the big brother was letting her sneak a taste.
Ying Bing watched as Li Mo returned from the crowd, still calculating the cost of the skewers, a gentle smile gracing her lips.
Still so naive.
Even though he was now famous far and wide, some things had remained unchanged from the beginning.
"Bing Tuozi, why are you smiling at me?" Li Mo asked, confused as he approached with skewers in hand.
"I just like to smile."
Li Mo: "??"
It was well-known that when Bing Tuozi smiled, she looked beautiful, but even more well-known was that she rarely smiled.
Was she trying to fool an eight-year-old?
After dinner, everyone exchanged stories about the opponents they had encountered in the arena, and Li Mo returned to the top floor of Bu Yun Tower.
On the way, he encountered people from the tower and prodigies from the Qianlong List. Some looked embarrassed, while others pretended not to see him.
But they all avoided him like he was a snake or a scorpion, as if he were a plague.
"Does Brother Li have a smell?" Princess Xiao Jiang curiously leaned in to sniff, only catching the scent of barbecue.
"Those who flatter the powerful will never achieve greatness," Xie Xuan shook his head.
Li Mo frowned, understanding the reason.
Many prodigies on the Qianlong List, after making a name for themselves, would stay in the imperial capital. Today, everyone had witnessed the Little Tyrant of the Divine Hammer clashing with the Crown Prince.
It was one thing if the Crown Prince wasn't around, but now that he had taken residence in Bu Yun Tower...
How could they greet Li Mo and joke with him, knowing they might want to stay in the imperial capital?
As for those wanting to return to their original sects, most had powerful backing, representing their sect's stance.
Naturally, they couldn't engage in sensitive matters.
Well, of course, Li Mo wasn't particularly close to these people anyway; it didn't matter. The ones he was familiar with had just shared skewers with him.
"Tsk, they all look at me strangely when I use the hammer. Why do they still look at me like that when I use a sword? Whatever, I’m used to it; after all, I’m the Little Tyrant of the Divine Hammer..."
Li Mo grumbled as he climbed the stairs.
Ying Bing cast a serene and gentle glance at him: "How others see you has nothing to do with what you use."
"What about our own people?"
"They see you as a pretentious child trying to act tough."
"......"
Li Mo was momentarily speechless, then suddenly became serious and said:
"That child needs to recharge in your room."
"Just recharge? Then there's no need to go to mine."
"No, I mean I’ll recharge you. You’ve been standing for so long; your feet must be tired." Li Mo declared earnestly.
"I'm not tired..." Ying Bing's gaze dropped slightly, looking away.
"Impossible. Stop pretending to be tough. I can’t sit for long without feeling like my backside is dying. That’s when I need to use my special method to revive it."
Ying Bing pursed her lips, her eyes dimming:
"I'm afraid you can't control the Hammer Treasure."
"Who says? The Hammer Treasure listens to me the most!"
A quarter of an hour later, Li Mo regretted his earlier assertive tone, having to admit that he had spoken a bit too loudly.
Inside the room.
The sound of water splashing came from behind the screen. Li Mo hunched over, adopting a special posture of a gentleman.
The Hammer Treasure was being too unruly!
He wanted to control it, but the splashing water seemed to have a magical quality, conjuring all sorts of inexplicable images in his mind!
Damn it, he never expected that Bing Tuozi would take a bath today!
What are you doing, Bing Tuozi? Why are you taking so long? Aren't you afraid of turning into a puddle?
After a while, a clear voice came from behind the screen, laced with a teasing tone:
"Do you want to wash?"
...
P.S.: I hope to write the plot of Tianren City better; recently, I've been weighing the storyline and settings back and forth. This is my first time writing fantasy, and I’ve been careful so far, digging many pits and leaving threads that can’t get tangled as the story progresses.
I seek your support for recharging, muah-3-
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Chapter 520: Just Do What You Do
"I, Li Mo, have always acted with integrity... Here I come."
Little Li Mo was already a bit dazed; not only had the Hammer Treasure developed its own ideas, but so had his mind.
However, as he stepped through the screen, he saw that Bing Tuozi had already put on her nightgown, her dark hair adorned with frost-like flowers. With a gentle shake, they turned into sparkling starlight. She sat on a low stool, her snow-white legs crossed, her eyes narrowed in a dreamy smile.
"??"
Little Li Mo leaned back slightly.
"You finished washing?"
"Yeah, I called you after I was done."
Ying Bing tilted her head, feigning innocence.
"Bing Tuozi, you've turned bad." Li Mo clicked his tongue.
"No, I'm a very serious person; everyone says so."
Ying Bing squinted her eyes, trying to look serious.
"Then why didn't you call me after you came out?"
Ying Bing looked away: "The water is getting cold, and you don’t like changing water..."
"....."
Little Li Mo found himself unable to retort.
The bathwater scented with Bing Tuozi's essence could last three years if diluted for others.
Was he supposed to pour it all down the drain? He couldn't do that, so he had to trust Bing Tuozi.
"I’ve improved my massage skills recently; just wait a moment, Bing Tuozi." Li Mo tossed his shirt aside.
Having already walked out and seated herself at the head of the bed, Ying Bing quietly lowered her eyes to gaze at her delicate, white toes, instinctively curling them slightly.
"Something's off... something's not right."
Li Mo noticed the clothes Bing Tuozi had changed out of, which surprisingly had a hint of southern style...
But he quickly remembered.
When Bing Tuozi came in to bathe, she hadn’t brought her big-headed doll or a change of underwear...
So what was she wearing under her nightgown now?!
Li Mo gasped, nearly inhaling the bathwater scented with Bing Tuozi.
"Martial arts comprehension, boost me!"
It turned out his finger technique talent was quite good; after forty years of martial arts comprehension, the "Nianhua Finger" had already reached a transformative state!
This became one of the few martial arts he had mastered to such a level, aside from his hammer techniques...
Li Mo dressed and stepped out.
Ying Bing was sitting on a soft couch in her pearl-white lotus silk nightgown, her legs together, gazing out at the moonlight, seemingly lost in thought.
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