Chapter 53 Butterfly
It was a winter night in the fourteenth year of Tianchen.
Outside, everything was covered in white. Li the blacksmith strode into the shop, breathing out warm air and patting the snow off his clothes, still trying to recover.
It was too cold in winter, and the ground was slippery, so Li the blacksmith sent his two apprentices home early and went to Old Wang's place at Xifu Inn for a casual meal.
"father!"
A loud, cheerful voice rang out, and Li Nu'er suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The woman smiled happily at Li the blacksmith.
Li the blacksmith glanced at her but ignored her. He took off his coat and stood by the furnace, ready to light the fire and start forging.
"father!"
Li Nu'er called out again, and Li the blacksmith replied impatiently, "What!"
"Nothing!"
He always had a loud voice because of his blacksmithing work. He even made Li Nu'er cry when she was a child. Thanks to his upbringing, Li Nu'er has developed a good voice over the years, and the father and daughter often shout to each other!
"Then shout it out!"
"I was just joking!"
As Li the blacksmith packed his things, preparing to start forging, the tall and strong man thought to himself while selecting materials, "Old Wang was right about something: if you love your daughter and don't let her get married, she'll never grow up."
"Oh well, if I can't grow up, I can't grow up," he thought.
As Li the blacksmith hammered away, sparks flew everywhere, and a "thump-thump" sound rang out. His daughter stood not far away, playing with a beautiful bow—a gift from Li the blacksmith to Li Nu'er on her sixteenth birthday.
At that time, Li Nu'er was still unhappy, saying that other people's daughters were given gorgeous clothes and hairpins when they came of age, but she was just a stiff bow and arrow.
Li the blacksmith laughed heartily. The man waved his hand and said that all that was just talk. He had been blacksmithing for so many years and only knew that real skill was what mattered, especially for women, who had to protect themselves.
He tried to persuade her, and Li Nu'er accepted it with a frown. When she turned around, the girl smiled and thought the bow was very beautiful.
After that, she would draw her bow and aim it whenever she had free time, but not at people; she treated it like a toy.
It was snowing heavily in the winter, and it was nighttime; it was cold and quiet outside.
The blacksmith's shop was surprisingly warm, with sparks crackling in the furnace and the clanging of Li the blacksmith's hammer.
Li Nu'er drew her bow and aimed it out the window, the arrowhead pointing at the snow, the girl's eyes slightly narrowed.
It looked like a black dot appeared in the vast expanse of snow.
She paused for a moment, but Li the blacksmith, who was working behind her, suddenly spoke up, "Kid, I forgot to ask, when you went to the governor's mansion to deliver goods yesterday, what did the people there say about the kitchen knives?"
Just a few days ago, the governor's mansion had a joyous occasion—the governor's wife gave birth to a big, healthy baby boy. The magistrate of Jizhou finally had a child, and the whole city was happy about it. The governor also hurriedly instructed everyone to take good care of him.
The old steward of the governor's mansion even went to various old shops in the city to order a lot of things, saying that it would bring joy to every household in the city. Old Li also rushed to order a whole row of kitchen knives and had his daughter deliver them to the governor's mansion.
Li Nu'er didn't turn around. She replied casually, "I went there and just in time for the governor's wife to wake up. The whole mansion was bustling with activity."
“Ah,” Li Nu’er suddenly sighed.
Li the blacksmith was sweating profusely, sparks flying everywhere, and he seemed to hear his daughter's sigh.
“That’s great! Join in the fun and add to the festive atmosphere!” he replied.
Li Nu'er pouted, looking out at the heavy snowfall. The woman said...
"Father, you don't know, I even met the governor."
"He was both handsome and capable, and became a prefect in his thirties. He also cared deeply for the prefect's wife."
"Sigh... Dad, when will I ever meet someone like that..."
She's not young anymore, and she hasn't met anyone she likes, so she refuses to get married. Her father loves her and never pressures her about it.
Li the blacksmith only has one daughter, Li Nu'er, so of course Li Nu'er can do whatever he wants—Old Li has been a blacksmith for so many years, he has savings and a shop, and he's still healthy, so what's wrong with raising a daughter?
He stood there with a hammer, hammering away at the blacksmith every day, and no one in the neighborhood dared to say anything.
But Li Nu'er seemed a little anxious today, perhaps because the red lanterns were hanging all over the mansion and the falling snow was full of warmth.
Everywhere, servants hurried along with smiles on their faces, saying that the governor's wife had woken up and the young master was crying loudly; everything was filled with joy.
Or perhaps it was the governor jogging over to check on his awakened wife; the man's expression was so tender that she couldn't help but imagine how happy the governor's family must be—
It is said that the governor and his wife were childhood sweethearts and were betrothed since they were young. They got married in Shengjing. Later, Governor Chen came to Jizhou to serve as an official. He was diligent and honest, and rose through the ranks. However, he was not very lucky in having children. But who would have thought that he would become governor in his thirties and that his wife would finally give birth to a child.
They are such a happy family.
At that moment, Li Nu'er stood in the corner watching the governor rush to see his wife, and she felt genuinely happy and envious.
She and Li the blacksmith had been bickering since childhood, playing with this and that, and no one pressured her to get married until this moment—
She was dazzled by the happiness of those around her, and her heart began to stir.
Upon hearing her words, Li the blacksmith, a tall and steady father, paused in his hammering. He wiped his sweat and turned to look at his somewhat troubled daughter.
"What's wrong? Want to get married?"
"Let me tell you, getting married is not a happy thing. You are still young."
Li Nu'er lowered her eyes, making it impossible to discern her emotions. "I don't know, I was just thinking about it."
She wasn't unaware of her father's thoughts. Her mother had died in childbirth when she gave birth to her. Aunt Wang said that her mother was too young and weak at the time, and childbirth was an insurmountable obstacle for her.
Uncle Wang said that his father cried like a baby at that time, kneeling on the ground and saying that he was a bastard and almost hit his head with a hammer to go with his mother.
Fortunately, Li Xianyue cried desperately at the time, crying with her father, and managed to bring back his spirits. But in the future, Li the blacksmith felt that Li Nuer should not get married at such a young age. She should exercise more and preferably get married in her twenties. She must be healthy and live a long life.
"Oh, I was just saying."
"Dad! You don't need to worry about me all the time. With you here, who in this city would dare to bully me!"
"Look at this bow and arrow, how beautiful! I won't need my father anymore, I can protect myself."
Li Nu'er brandished the black longbow in her hand, her expression smug and arrogant.
Snowflakes filled the sky outside the window. The girl looked at her elderly father and even made a bow-drawing gesture, saying, "I can shoot arrows now, so I can protect you!"
"Ouch, I need your protection!"
Li the blacksmith shouted silently, but a smile appeared on his dark face. He turned around and picked up his hammer again, banging away.
Upon hearing the name Li Nu'er, she knew her father was happy again, and she smiled.
My father has been wielding a hammer for half his life. People from the Demon Suppression Pavilion even came to order weapons for him before, saying that Li the Blacksmith could be considered a hammer master.
With a father as powerful as her, she has no desire to get married.
snort.
Li Nu'er smiled, turned around and drew her bow. In an instant, the snow outside the window blinded her, and amidst the swirling snowflakes, Li Nu'er actually saw a strange black dot.
She squinted, looking closely—
It was a black butterfly with white spots on it, standing out beautifully against the white backdrop.
Li Nu'er paused for a moment, then put down the arrow and gently stretched her fingertips out the window.
A butterfly landed lightly on her fingertips.
"you……"
She spoke softly, her eyes widening involuntarily. How could there be butterflies in such a cold winter?
In an instant, a cold wind whipped up snowflakes, and Li Nu'er blinked.
It was winter, and a little girl insisted on going hunting in the mountains with her father. Her father couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he could only take her to watch the snow in the outermost part of the mountain. The little girl was very happy.
She ran around in the white snow, her father following behind to protect her. The little girl felt safe and ran happily until she saw a small black dot.
It was a very small, flying bird?
It also looks a bit like a moth?
It looks quite pretty.
She tilted her head and picked up the small black dot.
It looks like it's about to freeze to death... Don't worry, I'll warm it up for you.
Thinking this, she put it in her sleeve, patted it gently with delight, and warmed it with her body heat. She chuckled foolishly, her face turning red from the cold—
She turned around and chuckled, and her father saw her little red face and flew into a rage. In a panic, he grumbled and picked her up and rushed down the mountain. She bounced around in her father's arms, giggling and laughing all the way down.
It was like a dream, in which the black dots grew huge and could even talk.
It said, "Little mortal girl, you saved me, and I will repay you. What do you want?"
The little girl plopped down on the ground, terrified, and burst into tears, unable to speak—then she woke up.
That was just a dream, just like right now.
When Li the blacksmith called her, the butterfly vanished in the wind the instant Li Nu'er turned her head.
On a cold winter day, the father and daughter bickered in the shop, discussing all sorts of things, from the weather to food, and about tomorrow, accompanied by the soft crackling of the fire.
The black butterfly stood quietly in an unknown corner, listening intently.
Then another gust of wind blew, and the candlelight in the shop flickered and went out.
The butterfly fluttered its wings and flew to the locust grove outside the city.
In the darkness, Liu Ruonv admired the snow falling under the moon, while the handsome young man waited for his stubborn son to return.
Liu Nian looked at his father with a cold face, "I want to repay your kindness."
How do I report it?
“She likes that governor. I saw him at the governor’s mansion that day, and I heard her say it today—I want to become that governor.”
"You like her?"
"That's not important, please help me."
"Liu Nian, that's a prefect, not an ordinary person."
"I have a way to transform into a human, and no one will be able to tell, not even the Demon Suppression Pavilion."
"oh?"
I will bear all the consequences myself.
"Can."
...
As Liu Nian watched his father leave, he lowered his head in the vast snow, and a black and gold array flashed in his hand.
His father didn't care about him; his father only cared about his mother.
He could no longer remember what his mother looked like, only that she seemed to be a kind-hearted array cultivator who loved his father very much and was willing to marry him even though it meant overcoming the barrier between humans and demons.
It's just a pity that my mother left us too early, leaving them to live a bland and laughable life as father and son.
Before she passed away, she gave her father a jasmine flower with all her heart, and in her last moments, she taught him a simple spirit-absorbing formation—just as the jasmine flower was only used to preserve her father's youthful appearance, the spirit-absorbing formation was only to make it easier for Liu Nian to kill demons and obtain their spirits.
It's a pity and a shame that, although he was a demon, he inherited his mother's talent in array formations and personally improved upon them, making the spirit-absorbing array usable by mortals.
Using the spiritual energy of mortals, they transformed demons into humans.
He wanted to become Chen Huai, to truly become him, to don human skin, to merge with demonic bones, and to commit heinous acts—
Mother, I'm sorry.
Father, if one day you learn the origin of this formation, and know that the future killings will implicate Mother, this kind-hearted person, you will surely be angry…
Just as you might get angry, your son simply wants to be with the person he likes.
This life is utterly meaningless.
He was just a little curious about the girl named Li Xianyue.
Just a little bit.
I only like it a little bit.
But he wanted to try and see if this feeling was really as good as his father said.
He wants to give it a try.
...
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