83 The Demonic World (IV)
◎ Gently picked her up by the waist◎
"Hurry up, don't even think about slacking off!"
A guard was holding a whip and when he saw someone stop, he immediately whipped the person.
After a while, several people with different appearances came from one direction. They all hung their heads and there was no life on their faces.
Li Jintang leaned against the window, her hands resting on her cheeks, and watched the strange group of people. She heard footsteps behind her and asked without turning around, "Xie An, what are they doing?"
The person came quietly behind her, raised his hand and pulled the curtain, blocking her view.
"Nothing," Xie Changyan smiled softly, tucking a strand of hair that had drifted across her forehead behind her ear. "You said you were bored yesterday. How about I walk around town with you?"
Li Jintang's eyes lit up, and he took the initiative to hug him: "Wait a minute, I'll go clean up."
Before he could reach out to hug her back, she had already let go and turned back to the couch, groping for something. Not long after, she brushed past him, clutching her small purse, without taking the hand he extended.
"..." The young man silently withdrew his hand, a moment of disappointment flashing across his face.
The carriage stopped by the roadside. People were coming and going on the street. She moved cautiously, afraid of bumping into anyone, and looked around curiously.
"Why does this place look familiar to me?" This was the first thought that came to her mind.
The hazy memories seemed to be about to flood back into her mind, but she couldn't see clearly. She rubbed her forehead, her steps stumbling a little.
"If you can't remember, then don't think about it." He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his arms. As a speeding carriage passed by, he instinctively raised his hand to block the dust raised for her.
"Okay, okay, I don't want to think about it anymore." She looked away, trying to divert her attention. Finally, her eyes fixed on a dessert shop crowded with people. "I wonder if they sell Qingtuan there, but there are too many people. I can't squeeze in..."
Xie Changyan glanced towards the door and said, "I'll go buy it. You wait here."
She nodded and watched him disappear into the crowd.
A vendor nearby shouted, "If the candied haws are not sweet, you don't have to pay." Li Jintang turned around, tightened his purse, and walked over to ask for a string.
She took a bite of hawthorn, turned back against the flow of people, and searched the crowd with a blank look. Suddenly, she felt a pain in her shoulder. She stopped and turned her head to look, and saw a child smiling and making a face at her.
Li Jintang was stunned for a moment. Before she could say anything, another woman came running over, holding the child in her arms. She turned around and glared at her: "Why are you fussing with a child? You're so petty." Then she gently coaxed: "Good girl, no need to apologize. You didn't hurt her."
She didn't respond, having no intention of arguing with a child. Turning her gaze, she saw the young man holding the qingtuan, his face gloomily gazing at the two people walking away. Noticing her gaze, the coldness in his eyes immediately dissipated, and a gentle arc appeared on his lips.
Li Jintang took the Qingtuan and naturally handed him the purse, which was filled with some silver and felt a little uncomfortable to hold.
"Did it hurt?" he asked, looking at her shoulder.
She shook her head: "It doesn't hurt." Seeing that his eyes were still on her, Li Jintang hesitated for a moment and handed him the candied haws. "Do you want some too?"
He had never been interested in such brightly colored and sticky things. Just as he was about to refuse, his eyes suddenly dropped to the white wrist that the girl stretched out in the sunlight.
As if possessed by a magic spell, he leaned over slightly and gently bit off a hawthorn from her hand.
“…”
Li Jintang stared at the candied haws for a while, then stuffed the rest of the string into his hands.
He was a little confused: "What's wrong?"
"I have Qingtuan," she said generously, "I'll give them all to you."
She bought too many qingtuan (green rice dumplings) and was tired of them after eating just two. He noticed her tying up the bag of qingtuan and chuckled, "There's mung bean cake over there. I'll go get some."
She hadn't even swallowed the green dumpling in her mouth yet, so she shook the bag and said, "I can't eat any more."
"It's okay," he said with a gentle smile, "I have money."
“…” She was speechless, but didn’t say anything else. If he was willing to buy it, then let him buy it.
The hawkers' shouts rose one after another, and fallen leaves fell from the eaves, mixing with the smell of soil and filling the air.
The young man stood behind the wall, his hands behind his back, a candied haws in his hand. The woman had disappeared somewhere. He smiled faintly and waved to the child: "Come here."
When the child saw the candied haws in his hand, he immediately ran over and said, "Give it to me, give it to me!"
Xie Changyan raised his hand slightly, causing the child to miss and fall to the ground with his body tilted.
He bent down and handed the candied haws to the other person before he could burst into tears.
The child stopped crying and unceremoniously took the candied haws and stuffed it into his mouth. Xie Changyan suppressed his smile and stared at him coldly.
However, within a few moments of putting the candied haws into his mouth, the child burst into tears: "Mom, mom! I'm dying from the spiciness!"
Xie Changyan frowned slightly, took two steps back in disgust, and brushed aside his robe that almost reached the ground, fearing that he would be splashed by the saliva.
"Child, who is bullying my child?!" The woman hurried over and glared at the boy. But she was afraid that he would hit her, so she simply sat on the ground with the child and shouted to the side of the road: "Come and see, someone is bullying a child..."
As expected, more and more people gathered around him. He became annoyed and didn't want to waste any more words with these people. Just as he was about to leave, suddenly, a touch of goose yellow caught his eye.
"Please make way, please make way..."
Li Jintang pushed through the crowd and ran in, standing in front of the people surrounded. "Xie An, what are you doing?"
After she asked, she saw the old man and the child sitting on the ground wailing, and the candied haws covered with chili powder lying on the ground, and she suddenly understood.
"Why are you so childish?" She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She had never expected that this person would "retaliate" for her in this way.
However, the young man looked at her sideways, his eyes full of innocence, as if the current mess was not caused by him.
"Excuse me," she squatted down, took out a green dumpling from the bag and handed it to the crying child on the ground, "Eat something sweet, it won't be spicy."
"How is this possible? You must give me..." The woman was halfway through her words when suddenly a cold gaze came over. The young man lowered his eyes and looked at them with a half-smile.
"This... never mind. We are unlucky today." She swallowed, stood up in embarrassment, and pulled the child away.
Fortunately, nothing serious happened. Li Jintang turned around and immediately changed his expression. He spread his hands with an innocent look on his face.
"You just said you wanted to buy mung bean cakes just to find an excuse to leave, right?" The crowd gradually dispersed. She looked up at him, her tone somewhat helpless. "Why are you still lying?"
There was no hint of blame in her words, but he seemed to have been touched in a sensitive spot. His five fingers shrank noticeably, and even the look in his eyes when he looked at her was a little evasive.
And...guilt.
"Atang, I..." Panic surged in his heart, and his drooping eyelashes hid the thoughts hidden in his eyes. "I didn't lie to you, no, I didn't mean to lie to you..."
"What are you talking about?" Li Jintang heard the intermittent mumblings. She didn't hear the whole thing, nor did she notice anything was wrong with him. Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared before her eyes, and a figure flashed by. She stopped suspiciously and looked into the alley.
That figure just now...why does he look a bit like Brother Qu?
But didn't Xie An say that they had all returned to the fairyland? Why were they still here? Moreover, he seemed to have turned around just now. Since he saw me, why didn't he come and say hello?
Thinking of what Xie An had said before, that they were not good people, she felt inexplicably sad - it was true that she was being hunted down by people sent by the Immortal Lord, but did Brother Qu and the others know about this?
"Atang, what are you looking at?"
Li Jintang came back to her senses and said, "I seemed to see Qu..." Before she could finish her words, she paused and stammered, "No, nothing, I must have seen it wrong."
Since Brother Qu is unwilling to show up, it seems that he doesn't want to see them either, so there is no need to tell Xie An.
He didn't question it, just smiled at the girl beside him. She walked slowly, so he slowed down his pace too, always walking beside her. As the two intersecting streets in front of him gradually became parallel, he suddenly thought, if he could just keep walking like this, it wouldn't be such a bad thing.
No, it should be said that it was something he could never hope for.
*
The sun was setting in the west, and the dim light cast shadows of the trees, and the numerous chaotic footsteps disturbed the shadows.
This time, Li Jintang didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he walked straight to a table and sat down, curiously sniffing the wines of different colors on the table.
These colors are so pretty, I wonder what they taste like...
"Miss Li, this is not ordinary wine. Be careful not to get drunk if you drink it."
She quickly put down her wine glass, turned around and saw the person leaning against the back of the chair. She hesitated for a moment and said, "Are you... Tian Heng?"
Before the man could answer, another person came out from behind him, frowned and pulled his ear: "Are you slacking off here? Have you arranged the puppets in the side hall?"
The voice seemed familiar. Li Jintang stared at him for a long moment before speaking uncertainly, "Fellow Daoist Nangong?"
The moment the other person saw her, his pupils trembled noticeably, as if he saw someone who shouldn't be here.
"Miss Li?" Nangong Xiu frowned, leaving two deep furrows in his brow. "You are not dead, and you are not injured at all?"
Before he could finish his words, Tian Heng, who was standing beside him, kicked him hard in the thigh.
"Am I... injured?" Li Jintang pointed at himself and looked at him puzzledly. "What do you mean by puppets?"
"Nothing," Tian Heng smiled awkwardly and pulled Nangong Xiu away, "We two won't bother the girl anymore."
She watched the two men go away, still feeling strange, but soon the table was full of people and the wine glasses in front of them were filled with wine.
In the past, her father was strict with her, so she rarely drank. She stared at the wine glass and remembered what Tian Heng had just said.
Drunk? She couldn't hold her liquor so badly. Besides, wouldn't it be better to stop when she was almost drunk?
Thinking of this, she followed the encouragement of the others at the table who clinked their glasses, then took a sip, and the sweetness immediately spread in her mouth.
Stopping was impossible for the time being. After a few glasses of wine were finished, the people sitting in front of him disappeared one by one. Li Jintang rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was really drunk.
"Atang, Atang..."
There was a voice calling her in her ear, but her mind was confused and she forgot to respond.
"It's me, I'm Brother Qu..."
"Brother Qu?" Her eyes lit up when she heard the name. In her blurry vision, the figure wearing a straw raincoat gradually became clear.
"Brother Qu, is it really you..."
Qu Lingfei quickly reached out to cover her mouth: "Keep your voice down. Atang, that demon... when did he bring you here? Did he do anything to you, or say anything to you?"
"He didn't do anything to me. I can't remember when he came..." She paused for the third question, unsure whether to continue. "He...he said...eh?"
There was an empty space in her palm, the wine glass had been snatched away easily. She raised her face and met a pair of deep eyes.
Li Jintang was stunned. When he looked in the direction he had just been, he was surprised to find that there was no one sitting on the chair.
What’s going on…was I hallucinating just now?
"Atang, come back with me to rest." The young man's gentle voice rang in his ears, more intoxicating than the wine.
She blinked slowly and raised her hand to grab the wine glass: "No, it's not over yet..."
"What are you trying to do?" Xie Changyan put down his cup and supported her leaning body. "Atang, you can't drink anymore."
Li Jintang looked at him complainingly: "You are so stingy that you won't even let me drink."
"..." Without saying much, he gently picked her up by the waist and carefully let her lean her head on his shoulder. He found a position that he thought would make her more comfortable. His movements were clumsy and a little mechanical.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
