Life is a dream (9)

Li Zhaoyue propped up her chin, closing and opening her eyes. Xu Xing found her expression amusing, reached out and gently tapped her forehead, and said softly, "Why are you so listless?"

This action was somewhat intimate, and Xu Xing's tone was too gentle. Both of them were stunned for a moment. Li Zhaoyue rolled her eyes and moved away hurriedly.

"I'm a little sleepy, but it's okay, I..." She tried to find something to say, but got stuck.

Xu Xing seemed unhappy, his lips were tight and his eyes were drooping.

Li Zhaoyue opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but finally closed it.

"Go to sleep, I'll watch over you." Xu Xing whispered.

Li Zhaoyue looked out from the crack in the window. The night outside was getting darker and darker, and the moonlight was dazzling, like a sign of impending danger.

She wanted to say it was okay, that she wouldn't fall asleep, but a heavy weight weighed on her eyelids, and she had never been so sleepy as she was now. It only took a moment for her to fall asleep on the table. Xu Xing looked at the sleeping woman, gently touched her eyelashes, and then stood up.

The boy on the bed seemed to be fast asleep, his even breathing rising and falling in the silent room. Xu Xing walked to the bedside and just as he stretched out his hand, he was restrained.

Loudaoyan's eyes were still confused as if he had just woken up, his clothes and hair were messy, but he moved quickly.

"What?" His voice was filled with irritation from being woken up.

Xu Xing stared at him quietly, his black pupils suddenly flashing with a golden light. Lou Daoyan seemed bewitched by the light and struggled to remain motionless.

"Tell me, what is her purpose?" Xu Xing's voice was so soft, so soft that it sounded like a whisper in his ear.

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of laughter rang out in the room. Xu Xing slowly turned around and saw Li Zhaoyue, who had just been sleeping on the table, standing up with a lazy look and a smile in his eyes.

"If you want to know anything, just ask me. Why are you bullying a child?"

Xu Xing noticed her unusual behavior and immediately understood the situation. He said coldly, "Is this disappearance your fault?"

Li Zhaoyue smiled faintly, neither denying nor admitting.

"What I'm going to say next is not for you to listen to." She smiled and waved at Lou Daoyan, and the boy fell asleep immediately.

In the small room, Xu Xing crossed his arms and Li Zhaoyue smiled, their eyes meeting, full of suspicion.

"You really have forgotten so many things." She looked him up and down, her tone full of regret.

"Get off her." Xu Xing didn't say much to her and swung out the sword that had been hidden behind him. However, this sword that had been with him since he was born was forced to stop when it was about to stab Li Zhaoyue.

A rare look of surprise appeared on his usually calm face.

Li Zhaoyue's fingers lightly touched the tip of the sword and he laughed twice with an ambiguous tone: "I even recognize the sword, how can you not recognize it?"

"What should I recognize? You?" Xu Xing loosened the hilt of the sword, listened to the sound of the sword hitting the ground, and sneered.

"The disappearance case was indeed my doing, and aren't you using it to achieve your goal?" she said with a smile.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Xu Xing said coldly.

"Aren't you looking for something in Yiziyuan? It's just that this thing is related to Zhu Ming. To gain their trust, you need to use this missing person case to reveal your background."

She spoke slowly, but every word made Xu Xing frown.

The two had fought once before, and their strength was evenly matched. Since there was no conflict of interest, they simply pretended that the other party did not exist. But what she said now seemed to be crossing the line of peace.

Li Zhaoyue shook her hair gently, and the tassels on the golden hairpin swayed, making a crisp sound.

"The silver thread on your wrist was given to you by your master. Didn't he tell you that as long as you carry this thing, you will be able to find what you want?" She smiled brightly.

"What exactly do you want to say?" Xu Xing frowned.

"The missing case is very complicated. I suggest you don't get involved, otherwise..." Li Zhaoyue's eyes changed, the softness faded away, and she glanced at him coldly.

"I'm not sure if I can keep you."

"Why do you think I'm afraid of you?" Xu Xing said slowly, playing with his fingers.

He stood very relaxed, but his eyes were looking down at her from above, a very typical posture of a superior.

It was as if he didn't take her seriously at all.

"You haven't changed. You're still the same person I hate the most." Li Zhaoyue licked his dry lips and said something meaningful.

Cold, white moonlight streamed through the dark room. Xu Xing calmly fiddled with the hydrangea hairpin in his hand, watching the golden bells weave between his fair fingertips. He chuckled softly and said, "If you thought this missing person case was foolproof, you wouldn't have appeared before me. So, you should be the one asking me for help."

After saying this, he pointed at her with the base of the golden hairpin, his eyes full of disdain.

Li Zhaoyue looked back with the same disdain: "You're right, I do need your help. But don't you also need a favor from me?"

"What can I ask of you?" Xu Xing found it funny and asked back.

"Your identity." Li Zhaoyue glared at him with a gloating look. "Zhu Ming is a person who gets to the bottom of things. If she knew what you said that day, the first thing she would do would be to investigate you instead of trust you. Then your clumsy lies would be exposed."

"So," she cleared her throat and continued, "you have to make a deal with me."

Xu Xing put the golden hairpin back into his clothes on his chest, shook his hands, and said calmly, "Okay."

She was very surprised. She didn't expect him to agree so quickly. The countless threats and inducements she had racked her brains to think of were all stuck in her throat.

"Aren't you going to ask my purpose?"

Xu Xing glanced at her, turned around and sat down, poured a cup of cold tea, took a sip and said, "No need to ask. You just need to tell me what you want."

Li Zhaoyue looked at him, was silent for a while, and suddenly sneered: "You have really changed a lot."

Xu Xing just drank his tea, feeling the bitter tea leaves slowly dissolving in his mouth, and finally repeated: "Tell me, what do you want?"

"I need a sword. It's in the pond in the back garden of the Lou Mansion. I will help you solve your identity problem," she said.

"Let's solve this problem before Zhu Ming investigates me." Xu Xing had finished the tea in his hand. He casually put the cup on the table and said.

Li Zhaoyue nodded, then suddenly laughed.

"You seem to care a lot about this little girl." She shook the silver thread that suddenly appeared on her wrist and said.

Xu Xing threw this silver thread when the hairpin was pointed at her. In order to prevent her from noticing, he talked to her for a long time.

No wonder he agreed so readily just now. It turns out that his tricks were successful and he doesn't want to pretend anymore.

Li Zhaoyue glanced at him with contempt.

"You think you can pull me off her with just a piece of silver thread? Dream on." After saying this, the black mole between the girl's eyebrows flashed, and the evil in her eyes quickly faded away, slowly changing into another look.

"Don't forget our deal."

The strange smell disappeared and her smell returned.

Li Zhaoyue rubbed his eyes and looked at Xu Xing, bewildered, "Why am I standing up?"

Xu Xing lowered his eyes, twirled the teacup with his fingers, and said nothing.

Li Zhaoyue leaned over to look at Yan in the corridor and found that he was sleeping soundly. He yawned again.

"I'm getting sleepier and sleepier lately," she complained as she returned to her desk and sat down. But after a while, she fell asleep again.

Xu Xing's gaze fell on her closed eyes. After looking for a while, he stood up again, walked slowly to the window, and looked at the huge bright moon hanging in the sky.

His shadow was stretched very long by the moonlight.

*

There has always been a legend about midnight in Cangyun City: as long as you draw the correct formation at midnight on a full moon night, offer blood as a sacrifice, and count to five, the mysterious man in black will arrive.

After experiencing countless failures, Lou Daoyan finally waited for the man in black.

"What is your wish?" The man in black arrived as promised, floating in the air, looking at the young man with a tired face.

"I... I want to become stronger. My talent, my talent is not enough to support me to become the most powerful genius." His mind was already crazy, and his speech was a little incoherent.

"I will exchange your most precious thing for it, are you willing?"

"What do I have left now? Let's exchange it if it's valuable to you." The young man looked listless, without the pride and vigor that he should have at his age. Instead, he looked like a pool of stagnant water.

"Okay, I hope you don't regret it."

The blood color melted into the blurry bronze mirror, the candle suddenly went out, and white light flickered in the dark room.

At this moment, Li Zhaoyue suddenly woke up, still in that room, still midnight.

The pale moonlight shone on her face, clearly illuminating her frightened expression.

The dream just now... She was sure it wasn't hers. It seemed to be Lou Daoyan's. But why did she have his memories?

Li Zhaoyue rubbed his eyes in confusion.

After a while, she woke up from the aftermath of the dream, only to find that Xu Xing was gone.

She stood up suddenly and searched the entire room but couldn't find the green figure. Just as she was at a loss and panicked, Lou Daoyan rubbed his sleepy eyes and said impatiently, "What's wrong? Why are you making such a noise?"

Seeing that he had woken up, Li Zhaoyue hurriedly ran over with her skirt lifted up and asked hurriedly, "Have you seen the man who came with me? I haven't been able to find him since I woke up."

Lou Daoyan didn't say yes or no, just looked at her coldly.

"Have you seen him?" Li Zhaoyue's eyes turned red with anxiety, and he asked again.

"Maybe your friend wandered off and was eaten by the monsters outside." He yawned and shrugged.

Eaten by a monster?

Li Zhaoyue was shocked and tears immediately came down.

Thinking that Xu Xing asked her to sleep first and he would watch over her in such a dangerous place, she felt that she had harmed him.

If I think about it any more, I can't stop my tears from flowing.

Lou Daoyan originally just wanted to scare her, but she actually believed him. He couldn't help but soften his tone: "I was just lying to you. Xu Xing is fine, really fine."

But Li Zhaoyue didn't believe it.

She wiped her tears and was about to rush out.

Squeak——

The door was opened from the outside.

Xu Xing held a wooden compass and caught Li Zhaoyue who was about to fall due to inertia.

There were still tears hanging on her eyelashes. She looked at Xu Xing in shock and fear. Her lips pursed and tears flowed down her face.

Xu Xing's face, which originally had a faint smile on it, instantly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot, and his eyes shot towards Lou Daoyan who was watching the show on the side.

"She's overthinking it. It has nothing to do with me." He yawned and turned away.

The girl in his arms was shaking. Xu Xing hesitantly reached out his hand and patted her on the back gently, and the sobbing became much quieter.

"I thought something happened to you." Li Zhaoyue choked and subconsciously hugged Xu Xing's waist tightly.

Xu Xing's body stiffened, he lowered his eyes unnaturally, and the tips of his ears turned red.