Chapter 540
He pondered, wondering if there was anyone nearby whose voice resembled that one.
It seemed not; none of the voices around him were as melodious.
Could it be that his young ears had gone awry, leading him to hear things that weren’t there?
After walking for a while, he still hadn’t figured it out when he suddenly bumped into something cool and elastic.
A veil fluttered down with the wind.
It was accompanied by a refreshing fragrance that lingered, refusing to dissipate.
“Did I bump into someone?”
Li Mo instinctively reached out, but the playful veil danced away with the breeze, swiftly blown into the river.
“Sorry…”
“It’s fine.”
That voice?
Li Mo instinctively looked up, but found himself at a loss for words.
He discovered that the owner of the veil was a cool and ethereal woman.
Dressed in a simple indigo skirt, she stood in the night, her plain attire exuding an extraordinary aura.
Yet, adorning her waist was a cute, oversized doll, adding a touch of warmth to her otherwise celestial presence.
At that moment, Li Mo deeply understood what it meant to be at a loss for words; he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her exquisite face, and his heart raced.
Was it because she was breathtakingly beautiful?
And why was his neck suddenly so itchy?
His hand, seemingly with a mind of its own, reached out toward her.
“Han Yue Xian…”
“What?”
“No, I meant this.”
Li Mo raised the veil in his hand.
“I accidentally knocked your veil off. Would you like to take this back?”
Her narrowed eyes sparkled with delight: “Sure.”
Li Mo watched as she put the veil on, perfectly fitting her features, revealing only the lower half of her face, with delicate vermilion lips.
“Is it pretty?”
“Though I’m a gentleman, I must say, Han Yue Xian is not as extraordinary as one might think.”
“Giving such a precious gift on our first meeting, and speaking so sweetly…”
She smiled, appearing aloof yet radiant, like a moon that couldn’t hide its brilliance, shining solely for him:
“Did you prepare this line before leaving home, planning to charm beautiful women during your travels?”
---
**Chapter 613: Crossing the River**
“I… I…”
Li Mo’s tongue stumbled, his thoughts tangled. He had indeed fantasized about rescuing a damsel in distress and walking hand in hand with her.
But when faced with the question, his mind went blank.
He hadn’t expected the beauty he encountered to be so stunning, nor did he anticipate that his usually articulate mouth would fail him at such a moment.
“You don’t need to be nervous; it’s just our first meeting,” Ying Bing said, her eyes twinkling with amusement, as if she were looking at a silly goose.
“I feel like this isn’t our first meeting…”
Li Mo couldn’t shake the sense of familiarity that stirred deep within him.
It was as if her smile had appeared countless times in his dreams, a fleeting glimpse that he could never quite grasp upon waking, until today when it finally took shape.
“By the way, why did you secretly tell me the answer to the riddle earlier?”
“It wasn’t me.”
Ying Bing glanced away.
She feared Li Mo wouldn’t figure it out, not realizing it echoed in his heart as a shared thought.
Really? Li Mo didn’t believe it.
But he had no proof; after all, he was the only one who had heard her voice.
He still couldn’t understand why no one else could hear it.
“Are you preparing to travel far?” Ying Bing asked casually.
Tsk, she had actually been waiting here for quite a while.
It was because Li Mo had mentioned that if someone else accompanied him on his adventures, what would he do?
Though it was said in jest, Li Mo, even if he hadn’t forgotten the past, likely wouldn’t take it to heart.
But the speaker was careless, while the listener was attentive.
She cared deeply.
“Oh right, it seems the city gate is about to close!”
Li Mo snapped back to reality, cupping his hands in a bow: “Sister Fairy, my name is Li Mo, from the Li family in the city. Let’s meet again next time!”
He feared that if he spoke any longer, he wouldn’t want to leave.
Unexpectedly, Ying Bing furrowed her brows, sulking as she handed the veil back:
“Here, take it.”
“This…”
Seeing her climb into a carriage and lift the curtain, her gaze turned distant.
Li Mo was momentarily stunned, not understanding why her mood had suddenly shifted from sunny to cloudy.
But perhaps it was true that Li Mo was a genius.
A thought suddenly popped into his mind:
‘True departures often happen quietly; if she says she’s leaving, she’s really waiting for you to ask her to stay.’
“Are you leaving the city too?”
“…” Ying Bing didn’t laugh or respond.
Li Mo felt more certain than ever, so he climbed into the carriage as well:
“Sister Fairy, take me with you. I was so focused on solving the riddle that I didn’t buy a horse. The place I need to go is far away, and if no one takes me, who knows when I’ll arrive.”
“But I don’t even know where you’re going.”
Ying Bing pursed her lips, still clutching the oversized doll.
“Mo City, is it on your way? If not, taking me to Yinma Town would be fine too…”
“It’s on the way.”
Ying Bing tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, just as she agreed, but then her gaze fell, lost in thought.
It seemed she was reminiscing about something.
“What’s wrong?” Li Mo asked.
“I don’t know how to get there.”
Ying Bing said coolly.
Li Mo: “?”
So he had to drive the carriage?
No, wait…
If she didn’t even know the way, how did she know it was on the way?
...
Venturing out into the world, sword in hand, was not as exciting as Li Mo had imagined.
They say heroes help those in need, but the opportunities for Li Mo to act never seemed to arise.
On the first day, he encountered someone selling themselves to bury their father, and Li Mo handed over ten taels of silver. The next day, passing through a village, the villagers’ biggest problem was the lack of a bridge to cross the river. On the third day, he met a fellow villager whose fruit was unsellable and would rot in the fields…
This was not what Li Mo had envisioned.
It seemed that the greatest injustice everyone faced was poverty…
There was no room for him to act; it was all about spending money.
So… he should have brought more silver with him.
“Why do the heroes in the stories always have fine wine and meat, spending money like water, and they don’t even work? Where does their money come from?”
Sitting in the swaying carriage, Li Mo still couldn’t figure it out.
“Up ahead is Yinma Town.”
Ying Bing’s voice reached his ears.
Thinking back, Li Mo had initially been curious.
How could a woman dare to venture out of the city alone and travel such a distance?
But then he thought, she could transmit her voice secretly, so perhaps her skills exceeded his imagination.
When Li Mo asked her, she claimed it wasn’t a secret transmission.
Li Mo assumed she didn’t want to reveal her depth, so he didn’t press further.
As the carriage swayed, the wind blew open the curtain.
Before his eyes lay lush waterside grass, and ahead was a wide river, the sound of rushing water audible even from here, while across the river stood an ancient, quaint little town.
Several boats awaited at the riverbank, some large, some small.
“Are you planning to cross the river with your carriage?”
A large boat’s captain called out to a group that looked like a convoy of bodyguards boarding the ship. Upon seeing Li Mo drive up, he inquired.
“Indeed.”
“If you don’t mind, you can board together; the price is negotiable.”
The captain glanced at Li Mo’s attire, noting his distinguished background.
“Captain, you’ve already accepted our order; it wouldn’t be right to take on extra passengers at the last minute.”
A middle-aged man stepped out from the convoy, dressed in short attire, with a long breath and sharp eyes.
He was likely the leader among the bodyguards.
The captain clasped his hands: “Captain Dong, you didn’t pay for a charter, and it’s getting late. Why not make it convenient? You won’t suffer any loss, I’ll earn a bit more silver, and this young hero won’t be delayed.”
“Um…” The captain wanted to say more.
But from the carriage behind him, a woman’s voice interrupted:
“Since that’s the case, let’s do as the captain suggests.”
“Excuse me.”
Li Mo fished in his pocket and counted out the fare for crossing the river from his limited silver.
As he entered the cabin, the middle-aged captain, Dong, said abruptly:
“Young man, your skills are impressive, but the river is turbulent, so please be careful.”
“Hmm?”
Li Mo was puzzled, but the other party had already left.
He could only shrug, securing the carriage with ropes on the deck before returning to the cabin.
“What do you want to eat tonight?”
He didn’t know how that question came out so smoothly.
Well, it was definitely not because he had just eaten her cooking not long ago.
“I’m craving fish.”
Ying Bing withdrew her gaze from the flowing river.
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