Chapter 77

Late at night, Chu Jinglan lay on his side on the bed and fell asleep. He only practiced for an hour tonight and used the rest of the time to get a good night's sleep.

Xiao Mo was organizing his memory and doing cloze exercises with the system.

It is known that he was also a modern person in his previous life, and then traveled through time and space into a book. Xiao Mo picked up a pen to write, drew a horizontal line behind it, and directly asked the system: "So why did I travel through time and space at that time?"

The system is like a reference book: "You were chosen to be a world modifier. The world of cultivation is your first mission. When you came here, you were also seventeen years old."

Xiao Mo: "Were they with you at that time?"

"Yes." The system's tone was slightly sighed, "In order not to interfere with your actions this time, I actually locked some of the emotional panels. Otherwise, I might not be able to help but tell you everything on the day you turned into a demon."

Xiao Mo picked up his pen and filled in the answer on the horizontal line, saying, "No wonder you are always proud of your emotional module, but I feel that it is still a little lacking."

System: "I set the unlocking time to when you reach the level of distraction and fully recover your memory. However, even if some modules are blocked, my simulated emotions are still enough to be a good helper to humans."

When Xiao Mo was about to write the second sentence about "Heaven's Way", he thought for a moment and then omitted the two words, leaving no record on paper.

His conversation with the system could not be heard by others, so the room was quiet, with only the sound of Chu Jinglan's breathing and the slight rustling of the pen on the paper.

Xiao Mo sorted out his current train of thought and knew that the key points he needed to fill in the blanks were what went wrong with Tian Dao and how he lost last time. Once these two questions were solved, many other blanks could be filled in. Obviously, the amount of information and memory related to the two should be huge. In order to avoid overloading his own knowledge at once, he could ask the system little by little later.

Xiao Mo held the paper in his hand over the lamp on the table. The spiritual lamp in the room went out, leaving only an ordinary candle. The flame licked the paper and turned it into ashes.

When the last bit of ash disappeared, Xiao Mo closed his eyes, half sank into the depths of consciousness, and came to the door that was locked with layers of chains.

The Dongqingzhu in his chest sent out spiritual power, allowing Xiao Mo to remain conscious in a very clear state.

He raised his hand and tried to break a chain.

After the chain broke, another memory came into his mind.

[The system in the memory is talking to Xiao Mo: "I provide two plans for the mission. The one with the highest success rate is to cooperate with an important cornerstone figure. The best candidate: Chu Jinglan."]

The inner demon Xiao Mo was receiving memories and analyzing intelligence at the same time. He was both a witness and a bystander. It felt magical, like he was in a lucid dream.

Judging from the dialogue, it should be when he first crossed into the book in his previous life. He was seventeen at that time.

[Of course, he would choose the one with the highest success rate, so Xiao Mo chose Chu Jinglan.

When he found Chu Jinglan, it was on a mountain road in the lower world. Chu Jinglan's cheeks were abnormally red, and his lips were also abnormal in color. He was running a fever.

But next to him, there were two foundations lying down.

The dagger in Chu Jinglan's hand is dripping with blood. 】

Xiao Mo nodded, worthy of him.

In this life, the inner demon Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan cooperated to kill the two foundation builders. When Xiao Mo was not around, Chu Jinglan left the Chu family, still penniless, and his storage device was confiscated. However, he secretly hid a poisoned dagger that could kill with one blow.

When the two Zhuji masters underestimated the enemy and were not in a hurry to kill him but wanted to torture him instead, Chu Jinglan took the opportunity to take their lives.

[Chu Jinglan could not even stand steadily, but he looked coldly at Xiao Mo who suddenly appeared.

It had been a long time since Xiao Mo had seen Chu Jinglan stare at him like this. He heard himself in his memory speaking politely, "Nice to meet you, Chu Jinglan. I know you and I can help you."

Chu Jinglan looked at him in amazement but said nothing.

Xiao Mo: "If you are worried, you can sign a blood contract with me."】

Wow, the inner demon Xiao Mo couldn't help but blinking when he heard this, it turned out that this was the beginning of their relationship in the previous life. He was also decisive enough, with a blood contract, in order to lower Chu Jinglan's guard, he directly handed over his life.

Although the relationship didn't seem very good at first, it was still much better than the hostile start of the inner demon itself.

Xiao Mo commented on his memories in a serious manner, and became more and more convinced that their friendship in this life was definitely not inferior to their comradeship in the previous life!

The inner demon and the true self are indeed enemies, but after they are separated, they become inseparable. With such closeness, the disadvantage becomes a unique advantage.

Could other good brothers do what he and Chu Jinglan did throughout their lives, going in and out together, eating and sleeping together, sharing the same knowledge storage device, and basically never being apart? No way, I guess the last time they did that, they couldn't.

The memory continues.

Chu Jinglan's dark eyes finally moved, and he spoke in a low voice: "What do you want?"

It is easier to talk to smart people, but I cannot bring up the Heavenly Dao at the moment to avoid being looked at. Xiao Mo said, "You will definitely be able to rebuild your cultivation. I can help you on this path. When you have achieved great cultivation, you must also do me a favor. It is a major matter related to the world."

The blood on Chu Jinglan's dagger dried up, and he understood: "You need me to fight for my life."】

At that time, Chu Jinglan wanted to find a way to go to the middle realm and take revenge, so the more help he had, the better. Since the cultivator came to him and was willing to make a blood contract, there was no reason for him not to use him.

It was just an adventure. Chu Jinglan, who had no worries anymore, was not afraid of anything. Everything would have to wait until after revenge. Nothing was more important to him at this moment than recovering his skills and killing the Chu family.

Xiao Mo was very decisive, and Chu Jinglan was also very decisive, and they made a blood contract with him.

The inner demon Xiao Mo couldn't help but touch his forehead. In the previous life, they had signed a blood contract as the seal of master and servant, but in this life, they drew a couple seal on each other's foreheads.

Xiao Mo, half of his consciousness was looking at the memory, and the other half was controlling his body. He turned around and looked at Chu Jinglan lying on the bed.

The Taoist couple seal would only be hidden from outsiders. In Xiao Mo's eyes, the night lily on Chu Jinglan's forehead was in full bloom, quietly blending into Chu Jinglan's handsome face.

The last scene in this memory is that Chu Jinglan couldn't hold on any longer after branding the blood contract and passed out from the burns.

Xiao Mo walked to the edge of the bed and looked at Chu Jinglan's real sleeping face.

They were already very familiar with each other's breath, so when Xiao Mo approached, the usually vigilant Chu Jinglan did not wake up.

It has been almost two years since they met. Thinking back to when his inner demon first emerged, the look Chu Jinglan gave him was even colder than what he had just recalled.

Xiao Mo raised his hand and gently sketched the flowers on Chu Jinglan's forehead. They met each other without any memory of the past, and it was another first meeting. This time, after some bumps and bruises, they could still trust each other with their backs.

The relationship is even closer.

Xiao Mo put down his hand, feeling somewhat moved: no matter how they met, they could become close friends, and this friendship was truly worth cherishing.

Chu Jinglan was sleeping soundly and had no idea about Xiao Mo's feelings tonight.

*

The next day, Caidie Town began to make intensive preparations early in the morning, with every household contributing to make the Lantern Festival a lively event.

The mayor had the old lanterns moved out of the warehouse. There were also large lanterns inside, enough to support the venue. Merchants also took out the lanterns they had in stock, and skilled craftsmen were helping to make more new lanterns to add a new look.

Xiao Mo was going to go out again in the evening and go directly to the lights. When he changed the bandage on Chu Jinglan's arm, he found that his wound had recovered well. With Yuan Ying's cultivation and Jingui's medicine, he could recover such a large piece of lost flesh in two or three days.

Fortunately, I recovered quickly.

Xiao Mo tied the bandage around him. Chu Jinglan held the sword in one hand without drawing it out of the sheath, and went to the yard to check the practice results of Yan Chun and the other three children.

Yueming and Xitie went out for a walk first, and when they came back they found out what arrangements were on which streets and what performances were going on, and they told Xiao Mo about them in detail.

"You can guess lantern riddles when you enter the East Street entrance. There are also some lantern-grabbing tricks further ahead. The large lantern team will parade back and forth twice. You can watch it whenever you see it."

In order to celebrate the return of peace to the town, it is naturally festive. People always like to bring their best wishes to various occasions worth celebrating, so they also prepared river lanterns for praying by the small river in the town.

"The river lanterns everywhere claim to be very powerful," Yueming said, "but now that we are here, we must join in the fun."

Xi Tie nodded, and then he thought of something and said to Xiao Mo, "We just came back and ran into two disciples from Ling Xiao Sect."

Xiao Mo felt that there was more to the story: "Hmm?"

"That Su Baimo said he wanted to travel with Yingyue Sect," Xi Tie looked at Xiao Mo's expression and shook his head, "but I said that the town's lantern festival is mainly about seeing the street scene, not finding a place to have tea and wine. Everyone has their own place to go, and too many people will disperse, so I declined."

Yue Ming also laughed: "You don't know how much effort it took for him to finish this sentence in front of outsiders with a red face and stammering."

Xitie smiled embarrassedly.

After the auction house incident, Yueming and Xitie were willing to associate with Jun Bushu, but Su Baimo and the Jindan disciples were another matter, and they had no interest in attending the lantern festival with the two of them.

Xiao Mo discovered that Yue Ming had no interest in Su Baimo at all. Su Baimo was probably not as interesting to him now as the lights at night. It was Xitie who refused, but Yue Ming obviously thought so too.

Xiao Mo tapped the flute lightly with his fingers, making a small note in his mind.

After Chu Jinglan finished instructing the three children, Yue Ming picked up his sword and started to fight with great interest: "It's my turn, I also use one hand, we don't need spiritual power, let's just practice sword moves!"

The three children sat next to Xiao Mo, still thinking about Chu Jinglan's instructions just now. Xiao Mo beckoned at them, and the three of them curiously moved over and saw Xiao Mo take out a pile of spirit stones and other things.

"Your pocket money has increased again." Xiao Mo divided the things into three parts, "Here."

In the past, when they gave pocket money, the three of them were happy to accept it, but this time, they stared at the spirit stone in a daze. Mo Zhi and Chu Xia were stunned, and Yan Chun swallowed his throat and said, "Brother, isn't this a bit too much?"

"Don't worry, this is also Chu Jinglan's idea. I prepared it with him." Xiao Mo smiled, "He is rich now, so you should have more pocket money."

Yan Chunchuxia and Mo Zhi were not in Yingyue Sect, but they had heard of Chu Jinglan's reputation from their fellow disciples a long time ago. However, it was not until this moment that they felt that Chu Jinglan and Xiao Mo indeed had a very high status and lived a good life in Yingyue Sect.

The three of them no longer felt any burden and happily accepted it: "Thank you, Senior Brother!"

Chu Jinglan was still sparring, so they didn't want to disturb him. After they finished sparring, they would go and thank their master.

Both of them held the sword with one hand, but it did not affect the outcome at all. Chu Jinglan won as usual, and Yue Ming also maintained his losing streak record at the hands of Chu Jinglan.

In the evening, the sky gradually darkened, and the lights in Caidie Town began to light up one by one. Everyone packed up and went out to watch the lantern show.

Xiao Mo was wearing a smoky-colored dress, just like the sunset in the sky, splendid in the silence, gorgeous and eye-catching. His hair was tied up with a hairband, neatly into a ponytail. Both the clothes and the hairband were new styles prepared by Chu Jinglan. He had previously thought of taking out the prepared clothes at the right time, and today he just happened to put this set on Xiao Mo.

Fits well.

Chu Jinglan was wearing a silver-blue robe with wide sleeves and a silver crown on his head. It was clear that his clothes were also picked by Xiao Mo.

The two of them were very beautiful. As soon as they appeared in the town, they immediately attracted a lot of attention. Some were struck by their beauty and looked at them openly; others blushed and looked at them furtively. Their ways of looking were different, but they all praised them in their hearts: They are truly like gods, and so beautiful!

Not long after they left the house, Yueming pulled Xitie away from the two of them and said, "They are trying to steal the spotlight. Let them go on their own for a while and we can have fun."

Xitie nodded and understood: "They are a Taoist couple. We shouldn't disturb them at this time."

So when night fell completely and the jade pot began to glow, Yueming and Xitie said goodbye and went their separate ways, while the three children also went off to play by themselves, leaving only Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan.

The town was bustling with people coming and going. Xiao Mo was staring at the lanterns of various colors with great interest. He walked to a lantern riddle stall and looked at the note on it.

Chu Jinglan followed him and stopped whenever Xiao Mo stopped.

The puzzles were not difficult, but there were no particularly good-looking lamps. Xiao Mo was about to leave when he was stopped by the boss.

"My benefactors, I know that you are the benefactors of Caidie Town. How can you leave empty-handed after passing by my door?" He handed over two lamps with a smile, "These two lamps are given to you two as a gift. I hope you will not refuse them."

It was a common butterfly lamp in Caidie Town. It was not elaborately decorated, but the boss was enthusiastic and sincere, so the two of them accepted it. Since he said it was a gift for good luck, they couldn't keep the spirit stones, so they put a bottle of nourishing medicine in it as a return gift.

The two of them carried the lanterns and walked past a stall. Chu Jinglan was surprised to see a red lotus lantern and paid for it with spirit stones. The stall owner didn't want money, but they insisted on paying. They walked past another pot-throwing stall and Xiao Mo took a fancy to a silver-blue flower lantern.

The appearance is not as delicate and beautiful as Youye Tan, but it is very similar.

Lanterns were hung on the wall, and in front of each lantern was a small pot. Whoever hit the lantern would win it. The owner of this shop still wanted to give it away for free, but Xiao Mo said, "Shop owner, we come to the Lantern Festival to have fun. It would be boring if we were given away for free. You can't stop us from having fun, right?"

The shopkeeper thought to himself that this was the case, so he handed over the arrow with the head cut off, thinking secretly that if the benefactor missed the target, he would send another one.

But the shop owner didn't understand. They were all monks who could deal with evil cultivators, so how difficult could a small pot-throwing technique be?

Xiao Mo took the arrow: "I'll do it."

As soon as the words fell, an arrow flashed past and landed steadily in the pot in front of the indigo flower lamp.

It was so fast that the shop owner was stunned for a moment. After coming to his senses, he hurriedly congratulated: "You are so great, this lamp is yours!"

Xiao Mo brought the flower lantern over, and the two of them swapped the butterfly lanterns in their hands, with Chu Jinglan holding the red lotus lantern and Xiao Mo holding the silver-blue flower lantern. The glow of the two lights intertwined, enveloping them both in the light.

Xiao Mo held the lamp in front of his eyes, admiring the lamp he had won, and said with satisfaction: "It looks good."

Chu Jinglan looked at the light and the person, and said softly, "Yeah."

They continued walking forward side by side, the bustling and lively city and the bright lights were all within their sight. When they reached the river, there were already many prayer lanterns floating on the river. Many people on the shore were praying devoutly and then putting down their lanterns.

Xiao Mo saw Yue Ming and the others on the other side of the river, and was just lighting a lamp into the water. The monks had good eyesight, and Yue Ming and Xitie saw them and waved.

Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan bought a wishing lamp, but when Xiao Mo was about to write his wish on the lamp, he was in no hurry to write it.

Make a wish, make a wish. To whom can a mortal pray? To God? To the Way of Heaven?

But he seemed to have offended the way of heaven.

To his surprise, Chu Jinglan did not hesitate, finished writing quickly and put down his pen.

Xiao Mo couldn't help but blink: "So soon, have you already thought of your wish?"

Chu Jinglan paused for a moment before answering, "Yeah."

Xiao Mo sighed: "I'm a little confused."

Chu Jinglan was shocked: "I wonder what wish I can make?"

Xiao Mo shook his head: "I don't know which god to make a wish to."

Chu Jinglan had not expected this to be the reason. He and Xiao Mo stood on the river bank and looked out. Every person who was praying had a focused and pious look on their face. When they put down the river lanterns, they had tenderness and kindness on their faces. It was clearly just a wish, but it seemed as if at this moment, their beautiful wishes had all come true.

Their piety and the warm aura emanating from their bodies wrapped in the wind, Xiao Mo was slightly dazed.

In the perception of the inner demon, these thoughts are not sweet, and do not have alluring fragrance, but... no one will doubt their tenderness and beauty.

People are like floating dust, insignificant, but their hearts are full of myriad things, creating countless landscapes in the world.

There were children, smiling sweetly, skipping and bouncing past him; there were young boys and girls, who were just beginning to fall in love, brushing shoulders with him; there were young people supporting the elderly, and there were elderly people supporting each other...

May all living beings wish this in life.

Chu Jinglan stood beside him and watched with him.

Xiao Mo's hand holding the river lamp moved, he turned around and looked into Chu Jinglan's eyes: "I think I understand."

Chu Jinglan also stared at him in the light: "I seem to understand it too."

Xiao Mo: "The best wishes should not be limited. They should be given to the legendary gods and Buddhas, to all beings who wish to protect the world, and to all living beings—"

Chu Jinglan: "To me, and to yourself."

Pray for a wish to come true and cast a thought.

Xiao Mo was relieved: Even if the heavens were indifferent, he could still have his own wish.

Xiao Mo picked up the pen and wrote the words.

The two men lowered the lights into the water and watched them float away.

Xiao Mo's handwriting is elegant, while Chu Jinglan's handwriting is like iron marks and silver hooks.

In the elegant handwriting, it says: May he walk on the moon and ascend to the clouds, free from dust and disturbance, and have leisure to watch the snow and pick flowers.

The iron painting and silver hook outlined: May he have no worries in his life, taste all kinds of food, see the wonders of the world, and sleep peacefully.

I wish to have him with me day and night.