"That day, the city lord's mansion was hosting a banquet. The lights were on, there was singing and dancing, and there was music. Suddenly, a woman in a red skirt came walking on the moon. After she finished her colorful dance, she stunned everyone."

The storyteller on the stage slammed the gavel hard, and his voice rose: "This was the first time the city lord and his wife met. Later, according to the city lord, he had often had the same dream since he was a teenager. In the dream, the goddess walked on the moon, her red clothes were like fire, and her figure gradually disappeared in the clouds and smoke, and her whereabouts disappeared in a hurry. The city lord had been searching for her for many years, and finally saw her on that day."

Most of the audience were disciples of the immortal sect who came to participate in the Ten Dharma Assembly. They were very interested in this love story of a flash marriage between a man and a woman with a huge disparity in status. Someone shouted after hearing it: "But I heard that when he married his new wife, the wife of the previous city lord had not even passed away for a year!"

This was a blatant attempt to ruin the party, but many people followed his lead and said, "Yes! How can we be worthy of the spirit of the lady in heaven?"

“This, this——”

The storyteller was obviously a little flustered, and he quickly wiped the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief: "You young Taoist priests, you don't know that the city lord and his previous wife are not only a family marriage known to the whole city, but also a well-known emotional discord. When they appear together on weekdays, although they can be said to be 'respectful to each other', it is easy to see that there is no friendship between them and they are very cold."

He spoke until his mouth was dry, and he drank a cup and a half of cold tea in one gulp. Seeing that many cultivators in the audience showed curiosity, he took the opportunity to continue: "The last city lord's wife was named Song Xianning. She was a young lady who grew up in seclusion. She was in poor health and rarely left home."

The stories passed down by the people in the city were all about the destined love story between Luo Yuanming and Luanniang, and very little was mentioned about Miss Song. Many people heard her name for the first time, and they subconsciously shut their mouths and pricked up their ears to continue listening.

"But what about the city lord? A cultivator who has been training outside for many years, if he had not been determined to inherit the position of city lord, he might still be traveling around the world. The experiences, interests and personalities of these two are completely different. Even if they really want to create sparks, it may be difficult."

The storyteller shook his head and sighed, "In fact, she was a good girl, but unfortunately, she suddenly became seriously ill and passed away... Alas, fate plays tricks on us."

"I have another question!"

The young disciples had been practicing hard in the sect for so many years, and finally had the chance to get in touch with some exciting gossip. They were all very enthusiastic and took advantage of the chaos to say loudly: "I have heard a rumor that the missing girls in Luan City may be related to Luan Niang - I wonder what you think about this, sir?"

There was an uproar in the audience.

This question was quite sensitive, but the storyteller was so excited that he didn't care about anything else for a moment. He lowered his voice and said, "In fact, this story has long been heard by the city lord and his wife. In order to prove her innocence, the lady specially had the bedroom and personal belongings searched thoroughly, but nothing was found."

Ningning sat in the corner and listened quietly, looking at the white paper covered with words on the table, her heart was in turmoil.

Ever since Pei Ji noticed that Senior Sister Zheng was missing, they have been replaying the footage of that night over and over again. People were coming and going in the depths of Baihua, but there was no sign of Zheng Weiqi.

The eyes of the phoenix statue in the City Lord's Mansion are rotating, and it is easy to avoid supervision as long as you control it properly. She disappeared without any warning, and the only possible explanation was that she was abducted by someone with ulterior motives.

He Zhizhou's first reaction was to immediately find the city lord and Luan Niang and confront the latter face to face.

However, what the gentleman said was right. When rumors were rife in the city, Luan Niang thought that as a person of integrity she had nothing to fear, and even asked people to search the study room she often visited, but naturally nothing was found in the end.

The city lord was extremely partial to the lady to begin with, and from then on he trusted Luan Niang even more, and ordered others not to make any comments or link her to the disappearance.

In other words, now that Zheng Weiqi has disappeared, even if they report the matter to the city lord, let alone whether he will believe the one-sided statement of the young disciple of the Immortal Sect without any evidence, even if he really agrees to let them search Luan Niang, they may not find any suspicious clues, but will instead alert her and make her more defensive.

They have too little information and must not act rashly.

"Not only Senior Sister Zheng, but Senior Brother is missing too."

Ningning stroked the side of her face with her hand and put a question mark next to the two words "Meng Jue" on the paper.

According to Lin Xun, the eldest senior brother collapsed in the restaurant after getting drunk, but when the three went to Tianxiang Pavilion, they learned that he also jumped out of the window last night and was nowhere to be found.

"According to common sense, it should be difficult for a cultivator to get drunk. It's even more outrageous that you got as drunk as you did last night."

Ning Ning pondered for a moment, and said seriously amid the sound of the gavel: "Youxi Master, he has the highest cultivation level, but he was drunk the longest and the most severely, and he has not recovered until now; there is no news from the eldest brother, if nothing happened, he should still be drunk - is it possible that the wine was specially added with drugs specifically for cultivators, so that the higher the cultivation level, the greater the impact?"

"And Jiuzhou Chungui is what Luan Niang specifically asked us to drink!"

He Zhizhou was so angry that his teeth itched: "There is definitely something wrong with that wine. Why did Luan Niang do this on purpose?"

"The method of sacrifice emphasizes the mutual generation of yin and yang, and the exchange of one by one."

Pei Ji said in a deep voice: "If we can find a cultivator with profound spiritual power, the benefits gained from the exchange will be greater. Sister Zheng's cultivation level is rare."

He Zhizhou was shocked when he heard this, and when he looked at Ningning again, he was already sweating profusely without realizing it.

If Pei Ji hadn't gotten drunk last night, and Ningning had just sent him back to the inn to rest, and hadn't drunk Jiuzhou Chungui... perhaps it wouldn't just be Zheng Weiqi who was missing, but her as well.

"But if it is really Luan Niang who is behind this, it is too blatant to cover it up like this."

Ning Ning also felt a little scared, and thanked Pei Ji, who couldn't drink, thousands of times in her heart: "He put drugs in the wine, and kidnapped Senior Sister Zheng right after that. Isn't this clearly trying to tell us, 'I did everything, come and investigate if you can'."

He Zhizhou snorted, "Maybe she just likes this. She looks pitiful, but actually she is already smiling in her heart when she sees us so exhausted and helpless. What's more, she has the support of the city lord, so no matter what she does, it will be difficult to trace it back to Luan Niang."

As he was speaking, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a white shadow passing by, followed by a familiar male voice: "Young Taoist priests, are you discussing the case of the missing girl in the city?"

However, when I looked up, I saw an ordinary unfamiliar face.

Ning Ning recognized the owner of the voice and lowered her voice: "City Lord?"

"It's me."

Luo Yuanming smiled and nodded: "I often disguise myself and go out of the house to investigate the people's sentiments - do you mind if I sit here?"

He Zhizhou couldn't keep his words to himself, and after exchanging glances with Ning Ning, he tentatively said, "City Lord, we drank Jiuzhou Chungui last night and lost consciousness, and our eldest sister disappeared for no reason and hasn't come back yet."

Luo Yuanming's smile instantly faded, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes: "Fellow Daoist Zheng?"

He Zhizhou nodded vigorously and told him everything that happened last night and today. The more Luo Yuanming listened, the tighter his brows knitted. Finally, he said helplessly in a deep voice: "So, the young Taoist priests all suspect that this was done by my wife - but from last night to today, she has been inseparable from me. Now she has gone to the study to read, and she is also accompanied by a maid."

Ningning paused for thought.

"Luan Niang is not from a high family, and many people are prejudiced against her. I am her husband, and I know her best. Although she is a dancer, she has a strong character and lofty ambitions, and she will never commit crimes."

Although his voice was low, his eyes revealed a fiery determination and awe. He clenched his fists while talking and said seriously, "Don't worry, everyone. Luo will do his best to investigate this matter and bring peace to Luan City."

This city lord was well-known for his integrity and diligence. It was said that in order to find out the real murderer, he stayed awake for three days and three nights in front of the image recorded by the phoenix statue.

Although nothing was found in the end.

According to the conventional rules, this type of people are no different from the police in domestic movies. They are clueless when something happens, and by the time they rush to the scene, the incident has already been completely resolved by the protagonist.

Ning Ning had a headache, and with the little hope left, she asked him, "City Lord, the Criminal Court has been searching all night in recent days. Have you come to any conclusions?"

"We considered a number of motives, the most likely being the use of human sacrifice."

Luo Yuanming said: "Most of the missing women are sixteen or seventeen years old, which is the best age to be used as sacrifices. The one who kidnapped them should be a cultivator, but the purpose is unknown. The evil ways are treacherous and unpredictable. There are countless ways to use living people as guides, such as refining souls, stealing spirits, taking over bodies, and even using furnaces for gathering energy. All of these are possibilities."

Well, it’s almost the same as not saying anything.

"Besides that, I have another secret. It is said that the city lord is gifted and an outstanding cultivator, but few people know that his sea of ​​consciousness has been damaged since birth and his spiritual power is meager. Fortunately, he traveled around and found an unexpected opportunity in the border city of Shazhang."

The storyteller on the stage was unaware that the city lord himself had arrived, and he continued talking to himself. Ningning glanced at Luo Yuanming and received a gentle smile from him, indicating that she should continue listening.

"The desert is a place of great danger, but it also hides countless treasures. At midnight, the sky is covered with sand like snow, and the moon is like a hook. Under the looming Crescent Moon Spring, where the water ripples, a red lotus blooms——"

Another wooden gavel rang out: "That is actually a rare spiritual plant that is rarely seen in a hundred years, the Lone Moon Lotus!"

Someone in the audience asked curiously: "What is the connection between this lotus and the sea of ​​consciousness?"

"For cultivators whose sea of ​​consciousness is damaged, their path to immortality is cut short. Ordinary people say that even immortals cannot save them. However, if a pill is made from a few rare medicinal herbs, it can change one's fate and reshape one's bones."

Ningning's heart skipped a beat.

The original novel did say that the reason why Wen Hemian was able to recover his cultivation was because the other elders of the Xuanxu Sword Sect took great pains to find medicinal herbs, but there was no mention of what those spiritual plants were.

The most regrettable thing is that it will take many years to collect all the medicinal materials. By the time Wen Hemian recovers, he is already full of old illnesses and is depressed all day long. Even if his sea of ​​consciousness recovers, it will be difficult to reach the level of the past.

After all, the two of them were pen pals who still maintained correspondence. If she could do her best to look for him carefully, perhaps Elder Wen could recover sooner and he wouldn't have to suffer so much unnecessary pain.

Ning Ning thought of this and raised her eyes to look at Luo Yuanming. The latter noticed her gaze and frowned and whispered, "Miss Ning Ning, are you interested in this matter?"

Ning Ning was not reserved when facing him, and nodded in response: "I know someone whose sea of ​​consciousness was also destroyed... I have been looking for a way to restore it."

"Someone you know?"

He was slightly stunned, then smiled and said, "Could it be Elder Jiang Xing?"

Ningning nodded.

Pei Ji, who had been silent all the time, moved his fingertips when he heard the words. He raised his eyelids and glanced at her quickly, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

"To repair the sea of ​​consciousness, a total of five medicinal herbs are needed. The elders of the Xuanxu Sword Sect are also trying their best to find them for him, and now there are only two left."

Luo Yuanming said: "One is the Lone Moon Lotus, and the other is the Lingshu Immortal Grass."

Ningning memorized the two herbs in her heart and nodded slightly.

"The Solitary Moon Lotus is the hardest to find. It may grow on cliffs, on the top of a volcano, or it may just be a red lotus by the pond of an ordinary person. It all depends on fate to see it. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Seeing the serious look on the face of the little girl in front of him, he couldn't help but let out a low laugh from his chest: "As for the Lingshu Immortal Grass... there are rumors that there happens to be one growing in the secret realm of your next trial."

Ning Ning couldn't help but breathe heavily after hearing these words: "The next trial?"

"There are two rounds in the Ten Dharma Assembly. In the past, the second round was for the disciples to fight one-on-one. This year, it has been changed to a more dangerous method."

Luo Yuanming said: "You will enter the secret realm——"

Before he could finish his words, he frowned suddenly, bent over and let out a suppressed cough. When his right hand covering his lips moved away, Ningning could still see a hint of blood even though he tried to conceal it.

"I've been feeling unwell lately, and this happens all the time. I don't know what's going on."

Luo Yuanming wiped the blood off his hands and smiled awkwardly: "It's just a minor illness. Maybe it's due to the recent overwork. It will be healed soon."

As soon as Ning Ning finished speaking, before she could continue to ask about the second round of trials, she heard the storyteller on the stage burst into laughter, completely breaking the solemn atmosphere:

"These are all meaningless. Since the young Taoist priests are so enthusiastic, I will tell you a wonderful story about the city lord fighting the female cultivators of the Ten Thousand Demon Cave for three hundred rounds at the border! It was so vivid, wow!"

Luo Yuanming's face instantly turned red, and he waved his hands to explain: "Adaptation is not making up stories, and drama is not nonsense... This has never happened! Believe me!"

"Slave over there! Go and close the gate!"

The gentleman was extremely excited and kept laughing slyly: "If the criminal envoy comes in, it will be over. Let's talk quietly in private."

Someone laughed and said, "Sir, you also know that you will be locked up if you spread rumors, right?"

"This is not a rumor!"

He said with a serious face: "Even if I am really arrested and taken to the Criminal Court, the charge will be 'leaking the city lord's important secrets' - quick, quick, do you want to listen to "Yuan Ming Playing in the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons" or "The Demoness Playing with the Orioles and Swallows"? "

Luo Yuanming: ...

Luo Yuanming stood up with a stiff face, his voice as cold as iron in the cold winter: "I would rather listen to "The Storyteller's Execution"."

He had a strong aura and took off the mask on his face as he walked forward, giving the impression of walking out of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

The teahouse was in chaos. The storyteller thought that this was just a plainclothes criminal envoy and begged for mercy with a bitter face: "Sir Criminal envoy, I have no choice but to do this for my livelihood. Please be merciful and don't tell the city lord--"

Halfway through his words, he saw the man's extremely familiar face after he took off his mask.

The storyteller died with a smile on his face, babbling nonsense: "Oh, haha."

Oh, it turned out to be the city lord himself.

That's okay.

=====

No more useful information could be obtained from Luo Yuanming. Considering that Tian Xianzi and others all ran to Baihuashen after getting drunk, Ningning deduced that in addition to the drugs that make people unconscious, the wine might also contain incense that can attract souls.

Therefore, the most likely destination for Meng Jue is still the red-light district with numerous alleys.

Ning Ning was afraid that something might happen to him, so she went into Baihua Deep again with Pei Ji. As for He Zhizhou, he was too ashamed to set foot in this place, so he took on the responsibility of gathering intelligence and collecting relevant clues from the people in the city.

"The previous city lord's wife died of a mysterious illness, and the city lord coughed up blood today," Ning Ning was anxious, and forced herself to calm down and analyze, "This is obviously not right. Does the person behind this want to kill us all?"

Moreover, the city lord's own reaction was also quite strange. Even though he was vomiting blood, he still trusted Luan Niang wholeheartedly, as if he was possessed by a poison.

Now that evening is approaching and the sky is gradually getting darker, the famous Baihua Deep has quietly revealed its true appearance amidst the flickering light and shadow.

The numerous buildings were illuminated by the lights, shining like jade. The colorful lanterns were connected into pieces. The dark red candlelight filled every corner of the air. The wind was filled with the laughter of men and women, accompanied by the crisp sound of bells on the eaves, like the tinkling of a stream.

She was always worried about Zheng Weiqi and had no interest in enjoying the scenery. She was thinking about how to find Meng Jue when she suddenly saw two figures arguing not far away.

The man seemed to be drunk and pulled the sleeve of another girl without saying a word. The girl looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old. Her face turned red and she tried desperately to break free.

"Let go!"

The girl was so angry that her voice was shaking: "I called for help!"

The man laughed in anger: "Still pretending to be noble? What good stuff can there be in this red-light district? I think highly of you, that's why -"

Before he could finish his words, a sharp sword energy suddenly flashed behind him, like a star or lightning, drawing a silver-white light in the air and hitting the back of the man's neck directly.

Ningning was in a hurry and didn't have time to waste talking to this kind of person. This blow was merciless, and he instantly lost consciousness and fell to the ground, causing the girl to step back in panic. After she recovered, she hurriedly looked up and saw the two of them: "Thank you..."

She had no spiritual power and could not tell who had used the sword technique just now.

"You're welcome, girl."

Ningning lowered her eyes and glanced, only to see that the other person was holding a stack of scrolls and brushes and ink.

The girl was dressed simply, and she probably wasn't born in a wealthy family that could send their daughter to school to paint. She took the scroll on the busy street, probably to sell it to make money.

People who sell and paint paintings will always pay attention to the actions of everyone on the street. She understood and asked immediately, "Girl, have you ever seen a tall and handsome young man in a white shirt with a sword hanging from his waist? He seems to be drunk and not sober."

She didn't hold out much hope.

Unexpectedly, the girl opened her eyes wide when she heard this, and quickly looked at her and Pei Ji: "Who are you to him?"

=====

"My name is Ah Hui, and that young man was found by my grandmother at the door of our house."

The girl led the two men through the long alley, walking quickly into the depths of the flowers. The further they went in, the dimmer the dazzling firelight beside them became, like a grand fireworks display gradually extinguished, leaving only a few scattered halos of light, swaying above the houses.

Ningning couldn't help but take a deep breath and slightly opened her lips, but she couldn't speak.

Deeper than the flowers, there is a scene completely different from the revelry and extravagance.

The high walls collapsed, the houses became shorter, the dragon-like eternal lamps disappeared, and only a few lonely lights remained, vaguely outlining the contours of crowded and cramped houses. All of them were hunched and short, like dying giants crawling on the ground.

Going further, there was no more extravagance and laughter. The air around them was filled with the smell of cooking fumes, potholes in the gutters and dust peeling from the walls. Someone sitting in front of the door looked up at them, his eyes dark and deep, as if in a quagmire.

It's like a slum.

The house that Ah Hui brought them into was not outstanding. It was just one of the houses submerged in thick dark shadows. When the door creaked open, five or six shadows came into view.

——The room was narrow and dim, and there were several girls of different ages sitting around the dining table inside. When they saw Ah Hui pushing the door open, they all showed a look of surprise.

When he saw her and Pei Ji, he became silent again out of fear.

"They are all children adopted by their grandmothers, just like me."

Ah Hui explained softly: "Girls are often abandoned on the roadside after they are born."

She said as she turned her attention to the girls at the table: "Where is the brother who came to our house today?"

A little girl who was less than ten years old answered softly, "He is asleep and resting in his room."

"A visitor?"

While the two were talking, a white-haired old woman walked out from the room next door. She seemed to be ill, her thin face was as dry as a piece of firewood, she walked weakly with the help of the wall, her eyes were cloudy and empty, like a pool of dirty water, reflecting a dim shadow.

Ah Hui quickly stepped forward to support her: "Grandma! Why did you get out of bed?"

Ningning smiled politely and said, "Grandma, we are from the same sect as the man you took in this morning, and we have come here to look for him."

"Oh—the child."

She nodded suddenly, still standing against the wall, and curled her lips in a low voice: "You guys follow me."

The house is not big, and since it is full of women, the beds are naturally small. Meng Jue was tall and had to curl up into a ball when lying on the bed, which made him look inexplicably well-behaved and cute.

And this is exactly the temperament that is most incompatible with him.

"Thank you very much!"

Ning Ning's heart finally settled down for him, and she heaved a long sigh of relief: "Grandma, are you raising all those girls outside the room by yourself?"

The old woman seemed to be unable to hear clearly. She opened her mouth and thought about Ningning's meaning for a long time before she raised her lips and smiled softly, "Yes."

As she spoke, she glanced out the door and lowered her voice so that the girls wouldn't hear: "Girls, you may not know that people in our area are so poor that their daughters are not welcomed. If you walk deep into the alley, you can often see abandoned baby girls. I don't have any ability, and I can't be called 'raising' them. I just sell paintings on the street every day to make some money to feed them."

However, how much money can be made from buying and selling calligraphy and paintings?

Ningning lowered her eyes and looked at her thin shirt full of patches, feeling a little disappointed.

"It's a pity that I'm old, my eyesight is blurry, and I can't remember anything. Now I'm sick, so I can only let Ah Hui go out to sell paintings... I don't know what these girls will do after I'm gone."

Ah Hui gently held her wrist and said softly, "Grandma, no."

Ning Ning hesitated: "Don't they have anywhere else to go?"

“Where in the world is it not like this?”

A trace of sadness flashed across the old woman's cloudy eyes: "Women are born lowly, and are nothing more than vassals of men. If they were boys, they might be able to go to construction sites and docks to help out, but places that require physical labor don't want weak girls. Life is like an ant, life is like an ant, my miserable life——"

She coughed heavily a few times after she finished speaking. When she raised her eyes again, she looked at Ningning with a bit of confusion in her eyes, and said to Ah Hui beside her: "Who are these two...?"

"They are friends of the brother from this morning."

Ah Hui explained patiently, then turned to Ning Ning and said, "I'm sorry, grandma often forgets things."

This is the condition of Alzheimer's disease.

"oh oh."

The old woman nodded blankly and coughed a few times: "Wait for grandma to go back to her room and continue painting... While I can still see, I will make more money for you. If I am gone in the future, you won't even have food to eat, what will happen then?"

The girl subconsciously tightened her grip on her arm.

Ah Hui remained silent because she didn't want to tell her grandmother in person that her eyesight was getting worse day by day. The things she drew were already crooked and she couldn't see the brush strokes clearly. She couldn't bear to let her know that those strange paintings had not been sold for many days. Even though she endured the pain and worked night after night, it was all in vain.

Having a hard time and being powerless seems to be the destined fate of most poor women.

In Luancheng, murders occurred frequently and several girls disappeared, and no news has been received so far.

Deep among the flowers, prostitutes spend their lives selling smiles, most of their words are insincere and their lives are like flying catkins.

Deep in the mud, with no way to retreat, and no way to resist, the only thing I can do is to be forced to accept this life that I can see the end of at a glance -

But is it really impossible to resist?

"grandmother."

Ningning sighed: "Can you let me see your painting?"

Ningning wanted to use all her own pocket money to buy these paintings.

She originally just wanted to appreciate the paintings, so she followed Ah Hui's lead to her grandmother's room and started flipping through the paintings one by one. But when she saw one of them, she couldn't help but stand there in a daze.

It was an old painting, depicting a man and a woman walking side by side under the moon.

Both of them were wearing men's clothes. The boy on the left only showed his thin back. The girl on the right had her hairband blown away by the wind. She hurriedly turned around and stretched out her right hand, wanting to hold it again.

Her black hair was flying high, her eyes were beautiful and her pair of slender upward eyes were like an abyss. Others would fall into them willingly at one glance.

She recognized this face.

Looks exactly like Luan Niang.

"Do you like this painting?"

Grandma smiled hoarsely: "I used to see two young men walking side by side on the red-light district late at night. Today I realized that one of them was actually a pretty girl."

"They are both—"

Ningning's heartbeat unconsciously quickened a lot.

In everyone's narration, no one mentioned this young man who was very close to Luan Niang. If he was the one who sent letters to her via carrier pigeons,

"Grandma, do you know what the relationship between them is?"

"I have never spoken to them."

The old man shook his head. "One of them is the current mayor's wife, right? I drew two portraits of them. One day, the lady passed by the stall and stopped for a long time. She bought one of the portraits on purpose. That portrait showed them all wearing men's clothes, sitting by the river and talking at night."

After so many years, when Luan Niang saw the painting again, she would still stop and buy it. This shows that the boy holds a high position in her heart. Perhaps...

Even far surpassing Luo Yuanming.

Ningning softened her tone and continued to ask, "Do you know the name or identity of the boy in the painting?"

The old man was stunned for a moment.

"As for names," her light grey pupils rippled slightly, and she frowned in confusion, "I remember a boy and a girl. The girl sometimes called him 'Zhou', and sometimes added the word 'Yun'..."

Zhou, cloud.

No matter how the pinyin tones were arranged and combined, they were all names Ningning had never heard of.

This painting was a pleasant surprise. She was just about to tell her grandmother that she wanted to buy all the paintings when she suddenly heard the sound of footsteps behind her.

When I turned around, it was one of the girls.

Ah Hui smiled and leaned forward: "What's the matter?"

"Outside," the girl looked very scared and lowered her head aggrievedly, "The brother outside..."

She was talking about Pei Ji.

It was inconvenient for Pei Ji to enter the women's bedroom, so he waited in the hall for Ningning to see the paintings. He often had a stern face and held a sword in his hand, and it was not the first time that he scared children.

Ning Ning inexplicably found it funny. She squatted down, propped up her cheeks and looked at her, smiling with her eyes squinting, "Do you think he's fierce and scary?"

The girl pursed her lips and nodded.

"He's actually a very nice guy, very gentle, but he doesn't like to talk."

She pinched the little girl's face, only to feel a layer of soft skin. "If you come in like this, he will definitely be sad and feel that he is hated. Please, can you not be afraid of him? You can pretend not to be afraid."

Ningning lowered her head and took out a few candies from the storage bag and handed them to her. The little girl had never eaten candy since she was a child. She blinked her big eyes, thanked him and took it carefully: "Really?"

"Of course it's true!"

Ning Ning replied seriously, "Actually, he's also very cute when he has a serious face. Think about it, does he look like a silly big dog? He's still very lovable."

"Hmm."

She finally nodded slowly, and very sensitively caught the last words of this strange older sister: "Sister, do you like him?"

Ningning's expression froze instantly.

She had just said that Pei Ji was "likable" not long ago. If she denied it at this time, all her kind words of advice would have no persuasive power. How can she expect others to like someone she doesn't even like?

But if she were to admit in person that she liked Pei Ji, that would be -

"I like this kind of thing—"

She stuttered for some reason, but considering that Pei Ji was not there and she was coaxing a child, she simply nodded in one go: "Yes, you see, that brother is actually not scary at all, I like him very much. It would be great if you could like him a little bit and not let him think of himself as an annoying guy."

This was Ningning's true feelings. She didn't want Pei Ji to always be excluded by others and become the lonely one who was feared and hated.

He has been instilled with all kinds of wrong values ​​by his mother since he was a child, and he hates his own existence from the bottom of his heart. If he continues like this, his self-loathing and self-abandonment will become more serious over time.

She spoke seriously, gave the candy, and explained the reason, but she didn't expect that the little girl would purse her lips after listening, as if her evil plan had succeeded, and pointed behind her while holding back her laughter.

Wait, no way.

Her head buzzed at that moment, Ningning sensed something and turned around stiffly.

Pei Ji had arrived not far from the front of the house at some point, and the moment his eyes met hers, he subconsciously held the sword tighter, revealing for the first time an expression of obvious panic.

"Alas--"

The girl happily ran out with the candy in her hand. When she passed by Pei Ji, she quickly looked up at him and said, "Brother, your face is blushing."

Chengying rolled over with laughter, and imitated the little girl's tone in a mean way, whispering in a soft voice: "Hey, brother is blushing~"

After it finished speaking, it suddenly stopped moving and turned its gaze to the other side.

The little girl holding the scroll in the house suddenly lowered her head, and the crimson color spread from her ears to her white neck.

Pei Ji should be able to understand what she means, right? That so-called "like" was just pure liking... He is so smart, he definitely wouldn't think too much, right?

——But if I really think too much, then what should I do?

Ning Ning did not dare to look at him. She just wanted to find a quiet corner and close her eyes peacefully. After a long while, she quietly changed the subject, trying to ease the extremely ambiguous and gloomy silence around her: "I plan to... sneak into the City Lord's Mansion tonight to have a look."

Pei Ji stared at the sword and responded in a muffled voice: "I'll accompany you."

Whoosh.

Chengying grinned quietly.

My sister's face seems to be a little redder.