Something was strange today.

After seeing off the two children, Qiu Qiu and Gulu, Ning Ning and Pei Ji agreed to go to Wangyue Peak to watch the snow the next day. However, when the appointed time came, Ning Ning waited in front of the door for a long time, but did not see his shadow.

The thunderstorm that day was huge, and she knew that Pei Ji's old injury had not healed, so she couldn't help but feel worried for a while, so she went to his room and knocked on the door.

No one answered, and there was only the sound of falling snow in the courtyard, which was almost eerie.

Ning Ning subconsciously realized that something was wrong, took out the key from the storage bag, and hurriedly pushed the door open.

There was no one in the main hall and the study, she looked around, and finally came to the bedroom.

Pei Ji's bedroom was clean and tidy, without any fancy decorations to block the view. Ning Ning could see the empty space at a glance.

No, not "empty".

On the wooden bed in the corner, in the thick off-white quilt, there was a undulating curve.

It looked like someone was lying in the quilt, but the figure was too small, not like Pei Ji, but more like a child.

Ningning frowned and walked quickly towards the bed. Perhaps he heard her footsteps, the person under the quilt shuddered slightly -

Ningning immediately opened the quilt. His eyes were stung by the sunlight, and he curled up even tighter, like a bent shrimp.

This was actually a thin little boy.

And he was... a little boy wearing Pei Ji's pajamas.

His loose black hair was as black as ink, as if it had not been trimmed for a long time, and it was spread out in a messy manner, like a rugged and winding path of flowing water.

Some long hair fell on his face, covering most of his face. Through the gaps between the hair, the pale skin with no blood could be seen.

Like fragile porcelain, it would break at the slightest touch.

For some reason, although his face was mostly covered, this child always gave Ning Ning a strange sense of familiarity. She leaned over and tried to speak softly: "Are you okay?"

The boy lowered his eyes and said nothing.

Pei Ji had a slender figure, and his clothes were inevitably too loose for a child. The boy's slender neck seemed to be covered with only a thin layer of flesh, and his collarbone was exposed outside the lapels, which was too bony.

Even though he tried his best to suppress it, he inevitably trembled slightly.

Ning Ning glanced at the scabbed old scars on his body, and the position of each one was extremely familiar.

A weird thought came to her mind, and she called out inexplicably: "Pei Ji?"

The boy shuddered again and buried his head lower.

...No way.

"Do you still remember who I am?"

Her heart was beating fast. She reached out to brush away the black hair on the side of his face. When her fingertips touched the boy's skin, she could clearly feel him trembling even more violently.

The long black hair fell down suddenly, and as expected, Ning Ning saw a familiar face.

Pei Ji was very thin when he was a child. There was not a trace of excess flesh on his face. He was almost unrecognizable due to hunger.

His facial features had not yet fully developed, but he already had the sharp and cold outline of the future, with sword-like eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and a timid expression. He kept his eyes tightly closed and his thin lips were pressed into a straight line.

So what is the situation now? If this is Pei Ji as a child, the wounds on his body have clearly healed -

Ning Ning was startled.

Could it be that Pei Ji, like the headmaster, has also become a child due to damage to his sea of ​​consciousness and poor spiritual power?

But what about memory damage? Looking at his appearance, it is obvious that he has forgotten Ning Ning's name.

"...Don't be afraid."

Ning Ning saw that he was afraid of being touched, and took back his right hand tactfully: "I won't hurt you, your name is 'Pei Ji', right?"

The boy lying on the bed twitched his eyelashes.

He still didn't understand the current situation. To him, everything that happened today was like a dream.

Last night, his mother scolded and whipped him as usual. His whole body was in pain and cold. Pei Ji lay in the cellar in a trance, shivering in the biting winter air.

He fell asleep in a daze, and never thought that when he opened his eyes the next day, what filled his vision was not the dark cellar, but a long-lost glimmer of light belonging to the winter morning.

Pei Ji had not seen the sun for too long.

In that dark cellar, he had longed to see it like crazy, but now that he was really in the sun, the boy actually felt a little scared and confused -

like a mouse in the gutter, he was only fit to sneak around at night. Once he saw the light, he would understand how miserable he was.

He was used to the darkness, and the blinding sunlight made him close his eyes. He could only smell a scent that was suddenly approaching.

The voice did not come from his mother. His mother would never speak to him so gently and tenderly.

- Did she finally get tired of him and abandon him to someone else?

Chengying's voice was no longer there, and everything in front of him was pitch black. All that surrounded him was confusion, panic, despair and endless fear. Unexpectedly, the scent moved closer to him.

Something warm fell on Pei Ji's forehead.

"Pei Ji."

The man's voice was very light and unspeakably soft. It slowly slid down his eardrum and fell directly onto his heart: "Don't be afraid, just open your eyes."

The boy clenched the bed sheet with his fingertips.

In the past in the cellar, his mother would occasionally order him to beg for mercy or apologize, but Pei Ji rarely responded. Most of the time, he just gritted his teeth and endured it.

But this voice at this time was like a temptation, with an indescribable sense of familiarity, which made him want to get closer.

Pei Ji slowly opened his eyes.

The dazzling sunlight before disappeared, and was replaced by a soft dim light that enveloped the entire bedroom.

The window was closed tightly at some point, and the man rested his thumb on his forehead, with his palm tilted downward, casting a dark shadow in front of his eyes, blocking the unbridled light.

"My name is Ningning."

Ningning smiled at him. Because she was facing away from the light, her dark almond-shaped eyes were like a pool of water in the night, with ripples of light, too gentle: "Your mother is not here, I won't hurt you."

She considered her words and asked him in a low voice: "Can I touch you?"

Pei Ji pursed his lips, but still did not answer.

The stranger in front of the bed hesitated for a moment, sighed silently, and suddenly bent down lower, his voice so low that it was almost a whisper: "Come here."

Seeing her reaching out his hand, he instinctively wanted to protect his head and dodge, but unexpectedly, neither the curse nor the slap fell.

One hand held the back of his head, and the other hand gently clasped his arm, and with a little force, he pulled up, and the boy's whole body fell into Ning Ning's arms.

Pei Ji was so nervous that he didn't know what to do, and his heartbeat began to accelerate more than ever.

He was still shaking, his small body was so thin, Ning Ning held him, as if holding a thin skeleton.

Pei Ji looked like this when he was a child, growing up without being loved, ignorant of everything, like a quiet little beast that had not yet grown fangs.

Ning Ning felt stuffy and uncomfortable. She covered his protruding butterfly bone with her left hand and touched Pei Ji's head with her right hand.

The touch was very strange. Pei Ji couldn't tell whether it was comfortable or itchy. This was the first time someone did such a thing to him.

The warm embrace brought a hint of fragrance and gradually soothed his trembling. Pei Ji didn't dare to move. Hearing her voice: "How old are you this year?"

He bit his lower lip.

The boy's voice was tender and clear, with a hoarseness that was inconsistent with his age. It echoed timidly in his ears, so low that it was almost inaudible: "Twelve years old... or thirteen."

*

"Tsk tsk, was Pei Ji so soft and cute when he was a child?"

He Zhizhou looked at the little kid sitting on the stool, and raised the corners of his lips with interest: "Come on, Pei Ji, call me brother."

Pei Ji lowered his head and didn't look at him.

"Don't bully him."

Ning Ning protected Pei Ji: "Be careful that he recovers his memory and draws his sword at you."

After discovering that Pei Ji had become smaller, she quickly found her master for help. Tian Xianzi had a lot of experience in this. After some investigation, he said that it was not a big deal and he would recover after a period of training.

Then, because Pei Ji was too thin, Tian Xianzi insisted on bringing the two to the cafeteria, where they ran into He Zhizhou and Zheng Weiqi.

Junior Brother Pei usually looked like a killer, but now he was well-behaved and shy. Zheng Weiqi was filled with maternal love and smiled like an auntie: "Little Jiji, ignore that uncle and come play with my beautiful sister."

He Zhizhou: "Don't think I didn't notice that you deliberately misinterpreted the generation division!"

"Pei Ji's sea of ​​consciousness has not recovered yet. He must have secretly practiced swordsmanship, causing his spiritual power to be disordered, his meridians to be turbulent, his body to become what it was when he was a child, and his memory to be back to that time."

Tian Xianzi stroked his chin and looked at him: "This is not a big deal. As long as he is allowed to cultivate well, when his spiritual power is back on track, he will be able to recover as usual - come on, Pei Ji, call me Master!"

He was enjoying it more and more as he spoke. He squatted in front of Pei Ji and made faces: "Repeat after me, the best in the world, Master - Master -"

Ning Ning stood beside Pei Ji and did not hear him following Tian Xianzi in reciting "the best in the world", but her sleeve seemed to be suddenly grabbed by someone, with a very light force that was almost imperceptible.

She lowered her head and saw Pei Ji's dark eyes.

He was not used to such a noisy environment, and he felt even more awkward being stared at by so many strangers.

The child's eyes were clear, without any gloomy murderous aura, like unpicked black grapes stained with morning dew. He seemed a little scared, pinching her cuffs with his thumb and index finger, and his face turned red the moment he looked at Ningning, and he lowered his head hastily.

Super cute critical hit.

Ningning's heart burst into a pool of water.

"Damn it, even if he turns into a child, this brat only sticks to Ningning."

He Zhizhou ate lemons crazily, his face distorted by the sourness: "Are our sisters, uncles and grandfather not good enough?"

The jealous grandfather kept hammering him on the head.

"It's the story of a hen, he's unfamiliar with the place, so he'll be particularly dependent on the first person he sees."

Ningning squatted down and looked up at him: "Are you hungry? The porridge will be ready soon."

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Zheng Weiqi shouting: "Hurry up, the porridge is ready!"

Pei Ji didn't like greasy food, and according to his current physical condition, he couldn't stand too spicy taste. After thinking about it, a group of people finally ordered a bowl of sweet rice porridge for him.

"Be careful of the burn, my good disciple, come on, Master will blow it for you."

Tian Xianzi rarely took care of children, and he was very unskilled in feeding porridge with a spoon. When the porcelain spoon touched the boy's pale lips, Pei Ji's long eyelashes trembled slightly, and he froze as if he was hesitant.

Suddenly, someone gently held his right hand. In the reassuring warmth, Ning Ning whispered to him, "It's okay, don't be afraid."

Then Pei Ji opened his mouth and swallowed the sweet rice porridge.

Tian Xianzi was so happy that he seemed to have obtained a peerless sword manual. The corners of his mouth were about to rise to the sky. He laughed wildly in secret voice transmission: "Look, he ate it, he ate it! I fed him!"

The sweet porridge was a little hot, but it didn't make people feel uncomfortable. Instead, it just diffused the heat. The sweet and warm fragrance of white sugar filled the air, making him look blank again.

So warm.

The warm current flowed from the tip of the tongue down, passing through the mouth, esophagus and stomach in turn, overflowing and filling every cold and dry corner in the body.

The pain, suffering, hardship and loneliness were all washed away by this warm current.

Ningning placed his little hand in her palm and asked softly, "How does it taste? Do you like it?"

He must be dreaming.

Pei Ji nodded vaguely, his tongue tip quietly raised, licking the remaining sweetness in his mouth.

How could he dare to expect such fragrant and warm food? In winter, as long as he could eat a steamed bun to fill his stomach, it was enough for Pei Ji.

Not to mention... there were several people gathered here, all of them smiled, and were incredibly close to him.

He was clearly a disgusting monster that was neither human nor demon. How could anyone be willing to smile at him and be so nice to him?

Tian Xianzi fed Pei Ji spoonful by spoonful, and Pei Ji ate mouthful by mouthful. Zheng Weiqi probably knew Pei Ji's childhood experience, and whispered: "His mother is really... Junior Brother Pei is so thin, I wanted to touch him before, but he subconsciously retreated to hide, how many times must he have been abused?"

He Zhizhou sighed: "After his mother passed away, Pei Ji also had a hard time."

Both of them were born in a family of cultivators. It was like they had a golden key in their mouths. They grew up smoothly and never suffered any hardship.

Ning Ning listened silently, and held Pei Ji's hand more tightly with her right hand.

It was all bones, covered with scars and knots. Novels and TV dramas always say that children feel "soft and tender" to the touch, but he was not like that at all.

Pei Ji didn't like crowded places. He was too reserved to speak in front of everyone. Tian Xianzi and others were very understanding. After feeding the porridge, they said goodbye to the child in a gentle voice.

Zheng Weiqi loved children the most. Before leaving, she gave many instructions and glanced at Junior Brother Pei's pale face from time to time: "Ningning, you must take good care of him. It's cold, remember to add clothes and quilts for him, and tell him to drink more hot water."

Ningning smiled and replied "Okay".

After they left, she and Pei Ji were the only ones left in the cafeteria.

The boy seemed uneasy and raised his eyes to look at her quietly. When Ningning turned to face him, he lowered his head in a hurry.

He heard footsteps getting closer and closer, and his heart was hanging in the air with the sound.

Ningning said: "It's time to go. Is there any place you want to go? Well... read a book, drink tea, sleep, etc."

Pei Ji didn't know.

In the past, he spent almost every day in the cellar, either falling asleep due to pain, or being in a daze or talking to Chengying.

"Anything... is fine."

He responded clumsily, annoyed by his hoarse voice. While considering his words, he tried to jump off the stool: "I--"

The word was stuck in his throat.

Before Pei Ji could leave the wooden stool, his waist and back were suddenly pressed down. The soft touch made his mind go blank, and when he reacted, he was already hugged by Ningning.

His whole body was stiff, and he dared not move.

This was a very close hug.

When he was younger, Pei Ji had longed for this action. The children of the neighbors were always easy to get, and every time they were held in the arms of their parents, they would smile from the bottom of their hearts.

But his mother never bothered to give it to him.

Even the simplest touch with him would make her feel disgusted.

"Let me think, this action should be..."

Ningning's breath fell on his neck, accompanied by her smiling voice: "You have to put your hands around my neck, otherwise you will fall off."

So Pei Ji raised his hand timidly.

The skinny little hand passed over the clothes and came to the girl's fair and slender neck. When his fingers touched the skin, he was so nervous that he held his breath.

So this is how it feels to be held gently by someone.

The hard thorns on the body disappeared completely, and he didn't want to think about anything, let alone make any resistance, and was willing to drown in it.

Pei Ji took a breath quietly.

It smells so good.

"Where should we go?"

Ning Ning thought for a long time, and finally asked him with a smile: "Pei Ji, do you want to see the mountains and snow?"

*

Ning Ning brought Pei Ji to Wangyue Peak.

They had agreed to see the snow here. Although a smaller version of Pei Ji was with her today, at least they both kept the appointment.

Wangyue Peak is high and the temperature is extremely low. After arriving at the destination, Ning Ning put Pei Ji down from her arms, and her right hand tightly held the palm of his left hand, continuously transmitting warm spiritual power.

"Come with me."

She was very familiar with this place. She walked through a bamboo forest with overlapping branches and leaves, and took Pei Ji step by step forward to the highest and steepest peak.

The cold winter wind howled and rushed in hastily. In the snow, the boy opened his eyes in surprise.

He had lived in the dark underground for a long time. The only place he had seen was the mountain village where he had lived for many years.

The scene in front of him was majestic and vast, with thousands of mountains and valleys stretching endlessly, like a deafening morning and evening drum, shattering his small world.

Looking along the top of the mountain, the hills stacked up like a flying dragon, outlining a magnificent momentum that swallowed the sky and blocked the sun, and the huge tail swung straight into the sky.

Between the mountains, there were vast smoke waves, flowing water, and white mist wrapped in flying snow, like a tide, surging and endless. Looking from afar, it looked like layers of snow waves raised by the strong wind. The sky and the earth were all white, boundless and without end.

In such a scene, everyone seemed particularly small.

Ning Ning and Pei Ji sat on a rock. She turned her head and looked at him: "Have you ever been to the top of the mountain?"

He shook his head.

"Is that so."

She paused and said in a light tone: "Do you like it?"

Pei Ji looked at her in a daze.

The strong wind on the top of the mountain lifted her skirt and long hair. Ning Ning smiled and stared at him, as if she would disappear with the wind at any time.

That unreal, dream-like feeling came again.

He was out of breath and responded with a low "hmm".

"As long as you like it."

She smiled more deeply, and suddenly said to him: "Pei Ji, do you see the cluster of flowers on the opposite hill?"

Pei Ji did not understand the purpose of this question, and followed Ning Ning's gaze and looked into the distance.

Under the goose-feather snow, everything was covered with a layer of moonlight-like white, except for a cluster of small flowers on the opposite hilltop that was different from the others, showing a light pink color.

He was looking at it carefully, and suddenly saw a streak of white light suddenly pass by, coming from the horizon, cutting off one of the small petals.

What was even more incredible was that in a flash, the white light appeared in front of him with the petals.

"Catch it."

It was Ning Ning who spoke.

He extended his hand as he was told. The sword energy was cold and sharp not long ago, but when it approached him, it was as gentle as the spring breeze.

The petals swirled and floated down, and when they fell into the palm of his hand, they brought some new snow from the distant mountains.

"A little gift for you."

Ning Ning laughed out loud at his shocked look: "I'm awesome, right?"

Really awesome.

Pei Ji thought, although they were separated by a long distance and she hardly made any movements, everything in the distant mountains and rivers seemed to be completely controlled by her.

He was about to respond when he heard Ning Ning say, "You will become so powerful in the future."

The boy was stunned and looked into her eyes blankly.

He wanted to say no.

He had been growing up in a small village isolated from the world since he was born. He knew nothing and his body was covered with diseases and scars.

He was useless. The only thing he had was a bloodline that was so low that even he hated it.

But Ningning smiled, her eyes were gentle and serious. She raised her hand to brush away the snow on his head, and said to him slowly: "The mountains and rivers of Xuanxu seem unattainable, but in the future, you will be able to fly far above these mountains and rivers, and will not be blocked by any distance or obstacles-just like now."

Pei Ji was stunned where he was.

The mountains were filled with howling winds, but he could only hear his increasingly heavy breathing.

"Your blood is not despicable. When you grow up, you will become a very good person."

She smiled and touched his head randomly: "No, Pei Ji now is already a very good child-everyone likes you very much."

Like.

This strange word weighed heavily on his heart. Pei Ji was at a loss. He spoke without thinking: "What about you? Do you like me too?"

The words fell in a hurry. The boy knew that he had said something wrong. His bloodless face suddenly turned red. He bit his lip and lowered his head.

His head was touched again, and a clear and pure girl's voice soon rang in his ears: "I am the one who likes you the most."

The wind was harsh, but everything was silent.

The small, thin boy held the petals in his hand tightly, and an imperceptible arc appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The heart that had been numb for a long time began to beat at this moment.

In the cold winter, Ningning gave him a handful of fresh snow from the distant mountains, a soft petal, or a stretch of mountains and rivers, a small world that made him feel at ease

, and an unknown and hazy future full of hope.