Three Springs

Even Xingwang was somewhat stunned.

Si Mucheng remembered what the old man had said: children are more likely to see things in low-light conditions. Afraid of frightening Xingda, he casually asked, "Hmm? You saw your brother?"

Unexpectedly, Xingda shook his head and touched Si Mucheng's hair: "No, brother, what are you talking about? My brother has passed away, how could I see him? I mean, I remember this road, this road is the road to see my brother, I secretly followed my mother here."

Upon hearing this, Si Mucheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "Why are you still doing this secretly?"

Wen Ya continued walking towards them. Si Mucheng waited until she reached his side before turning around and walking down the mountain with her.

“Because Mom doesn’t let me come along,” Xingda reached out to pick wild fruit from a tree by the roadside. “Actually, Mom misses my brother a lot, I know that even if she doesn’t say it.”

Si Mucheng took the fruit that Xingda had just picked: "Is it good?" He took a bite and his face scrunched up from the sourness. He thought to himself, "This little devil is so clever. No wonder he's not greedy. I'm offering him this fruit, and it's so sour it's making my head ache."

He spat twice: "Does your mother visit your brother often?"

Xingda, having done something naughty, laughed heartily and didn't forget to reply, "Not often, but Mom hides and cries every day."

Si Mucheng didn't know what to say, so he paused the conversation.

But Xingda seemed to have opened up, and he said, shaking his head, "Big brother, actually you like me quite a bit. Mom used to always tell me not to bother you, but actually you don't bother me that much. Why did Mom say you don't like me? They're always arguing."

Si Mucheng raised an eyebrow, glanced at Xingwang, and saw "him" floating around him like he had lice, his expression quite flustered. Si Mucheng laughed: "How do you know your brother doesn't dislike you?"

Xingda, perched on his shoulders, was quite restless. Now he started playing with his ears, pinching them as he said, "My brother even gave me his toy, a remote-controlled car. Dad bought it for him, and he secretly gave it to me, telling me not to tell anyone. I was very good and kept our secret." He finished speaking with a hint of pride.

Si Mucheng couldn't resist teasing him again: "Ah, now that you've told us your secret, aren't you afraid we'll tell others?"

"Huh?" Xingda was like a goose caught by the neck, clearly not expecting this.

After a long while, he bent down to look at Si Mucheng and asked cautiously, "Big brother, can you keep this a secret for me?"

Si Mucheng pretended to consider it for a moment before saying, "I'll only agree to keep it a secret if you show me the toys your brother left you."

"no problem!"

Si Mucheng couldn't help but laugh as he watched Xingwang scratching his head in confusion. Wen Ya looked at him, puzzled.

Noticing her gaze, Si Mucheng winked at her, then, remembering her actions that morning, began to vent his frustrations: "Why did you come alone? You didn't even wait for me."

Wen Ya's morning wasn't entirely fruitless. The formation had been repaired, and she dared not enter, fearing she would be trapped again or alert the enemy. This indirectly indicated that Wen Yongjie was nearby; otherwise, the formation wouldn't have been repaired so quickly.

Wen Ya didn't say it in front of Xing Da, but instead asked, "How did you know I was here?"

Si Mucheng thought to himself, "With your little schemes, I don't even need to guess." He laughed, "Is that even a question?"

Wen Ya paused for a moment before saying, "Anyway, there's nothing to do if you get up. But what about you? Why did you come here? And with a tail."

Si Mucheng squeezed Xingda's leg that was dangling on his shoulder: "I got up and was fine, so I came over."

Xingda looked at Wen Ya first, then at Si Mucheng, and suddenly, as if he had discovered something incredible, he laughed: "Brother, do you like this older sister?"

Si Mucheng was startled and hurriedly said in a panic, "You brat, what nonsense are you spouting!"

Xingda chuckled: "You just like older sisters!"

Unable to bear it any longer, Si Mucheng grabbed Xingda and pulled him down, trapping him between his elbow and body, and strode forward: "Where did you learn this at such a young age!"

Si Mucheng didn't dare turn around to look at Wen Ya's face, but his bright red ears betrayed his nervousness. He gritted his teeth and warned Xingda, "Don't say anything, or I'll spank you!"

Xingda wasn't afraid at all; in fact, he was quite excited about this thrilling game, laughing and shouting, his voice carrying far away.

If Si Mucheng had turned around, he would have seen that Wen Ya was lost in thought and hadn't heard him and Xingda's playful fight at all.

Wen Ya was thinking about her grandfather. If she wasn't mistaken, Xingwang was the last ghost. As long as she could eliminate "his" obsession and exorcise his soul, the Soul-Returning Lamp would be activated. No one could predict what would happen after it was activated.

She looked up at the horizon. The weather was clear today, and the sun had already risen, but she still had a vague feeling that a storm was brewing.

After returning to Yang Yanzhen's house, Xingda took Si Mucheng to his secret base.

It was called a secret base, but it was actually just an abandoned storage room next to the house.

As Xingda walked, he explained to Simucheng, "Actually, my brother told me about this place. He said he used to hide here and play when he was little, and he could find a lot of treasures here!"

Si Mucheng asked with great interest, "What treasure?"

Xingda, having probably heard it from Xingwang, said in a serious tone, "My brother said he found a slingshot and even made a water gun out of a discarded bamboo tube!"

He went inside, pulled open a drawer on a table with a broken leg, took out a toy car, and waved it at Si Mucheng: "Look, it's this toy car! My brother gave it to me without even opening the package; it's brand new!"

Si Mucheng stood at the door of the storage room, his gaze falling on the little imp peering in their direction from a distance.

Surprisingly, Xingwang didn't actually hate his younger brother as much as he claimed.

Si Mucheng looked at Xingda, who was still bent over in the storage room searching for something, and asked, "Are you and your brother very close?"

Xingda scratched his head upon hearing this: "Be close? What do you mean? But my brother doesn't play with me often. He only talks to me for a few words when Mom and Grandma aren't around."

Si Mucheng didn't really understand this awkward mentality. He mostly followed the principle of "speaking his mind" in his life, and he was grateful to his family for always saying what was on their mind. He had also had a very smooth adolescence, so Xingwang's left-brain struggle couldn't make sense to him. But who can say that this isn't a teenager's inner turmoil? Who can criticize a teenager trying to find self-consistency on their path to adulthood?

Si Mucheng sighed silently: "Why didn't you tell your mother?"

Xingda's toes twitched aimlessly: "My brother said that if Mom finds out, he'll never talk to me again..."

Yes, feelings that can't be expressed, mixed with other emotions, are something no one can accept, or rather, there's a fear of not being accepted, so there's always an avoidance. It seems most people don't know how to love.

Si Mucheng suddenly had an idea. He bent down, supported himself on his knees, and leaned closer to Xingda: "Hey, do you want your mother to stop being sad? It's also a way of helping your brother."

Xingda blinked his big eyes and sniffed, "What is it?"

In the countryside, meals are eaten early. It was only a little past ten o'clock, and Yang Yanzhen had already bought groceries and gone into the kitchen to prepare lunch. Outside the house, Si Mucheng was still giving Xingda repeated instructions. Wen Ya stood aside and waited for Si Mucheng to stop before asking, "Will this be useful?"

Si Mucheng looked up at her and smiled: "Whether it works or not, let's give it a try first."

Xingwang floated by, silent, yet his expression held a hint of unease.

Si Mucheng patted Xingda's head: "How is it?"

Xingda looked at him and said seriously, "If I do this, will Mom really stop crying?"

“Hmm,” Si Mucheng thought for a moment, “I might still cry, but at least I won’t be as sad.”

Xingda nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Si Mucheng said, "If you're ready, then go."

Xingda immediately ran into the house.

Si Mucheng and Wen Ya followed.

Yang Yanzhen was picking vegetables when she saw Xingda run in. She smiled and said, "You're back? Where did you go with your brother Xiaosi?"

Xingda shook his head and whispered, "Mom, I just fell asleep and had a dream."

Yang Yanzhen asked curiously, "What kind of dream was it?"

Little Xingda was probably lying for the first time, and having firmly remembered Si Mucheng's instructions, he recited the whole thing in one breath, as if reciting a book: "I just fell asleep, and then I had a dream. I dreamt about my brother. In the dream, my brother told me that he really wanted to drink the fish soup that Mom makes. Mom, my brother looked so pitiful. Can you make fish soup for him?"

Upon hearing this, Si Mucheng, who was standing outside the door, couldn't help but facepalm. Something didn't sound right; who would believe that?

But Yang Yanzhen believed it. The cabbage in her hand fell into the basin of water because she lost her grip, and her hands began to tremble involuntarily: "You...you said you dreamed about someone?"

Xingda didn't understand why his mother was like this, just as he didn't understand why his mother and brother always quarreled. With the innocence typical of a child, yet with a certain unseen cruelty, he said, "Brother, he said he wants to drink fish soup."

Yang Yanzhen took a deep breath, but couldn't hold back her tears.

If it were just a dream about Xingwang, she wouldn't have reacted so strongly, but the mention of that bowl of fish soup that held such a heavy weight in her heart made her lips tremble: "Xingwang appeared in my dream... but why won't he come to see me in the dream... he's still blaming me..."

Xingda couldn't hear his mother's mutterings; he was only thinking about the task his older brother had given him. He tugged at his mother's sleeve and asked, "Mom, are you making fish soup?"

Yang Yanzhen was pulled back to her senses by his tug, and she quickly wiped her face: "Yes, yes, we'll do it. As long as Xingwang wants to drink it, we'll do it."

Si Mucheng paused, his hand resting on his forehead. Had it worked?

Yang Yanzhen indeed went and bought fish, then killed it and made soup.

Xingda secretly went to find Si Mucheng and asked curiously, "Big brother, is this all you need to do?"

Si Mucheng looked at the dazed ghost Xingwang. He had been watching his mother busily making soup, as if trying to etch this scene into his mind.

Si Mucheng said softly, "It should be alright, isn't it?"