Lightly wrap the red thread around your fingertips (6)
"Yes," Li Zhaoyue imitated Xu Xing's tone and smiled faintly: "Since you are Wei Zhegu's apprentice, you should be very familiar with Xu Xing, right?"
Fang Yu sensed something was amiss, swallowed, and asked nervously, "So what?"
Li Zhaoyue turned around and shrugged at He Shuyu: "I don't need to say anything else."
He Shuyu crossed his arms, looked at Fang Yu with disdain, and sneered, "I was wondering where this monster came from. Turns out he's in cahoots with Xu Xing."
"No, you just believe everything she says?" Fang Yu pointed at Li Zhaoyue and said in disbelief. He Shuyu raised his head and asked in return, "If I don't believe her, should I believe you?"
"Are you human? Damn, can you have some brains? No matter how you look at it, it seems that she and Xu Xing are colluding with each other." Fang Yu said angrily.
He Shuyu sneered and rolled his eyes at him.
At this time, Li Zhaoyue walked up to Wang Kun, pointed at the compass in his hand, and whispered, "Can you lend it to me?"
Wang Kun quickly handed over his worn-out compass: "I picked this up by accident, but it's not very useful."
"It's okay, I just need a compass." Li Zhaoyue took the compass from him, smiled at him, and sat down on the spot. A faint light emerged from the place where she and the compass were connected, attracting He Shuyu and Fang Yu who were arguing.
Fang Yu rolled his eyes at He Shuyu and walked over to Li Zhaoyue. He Shuyu was too lazy to argue with the idiot and stared at the compass in Li Zhaoyue's hand.
After a moment, the faint light gradually grew larger, eventually forming a glowing path that extended from the trunk of the Destiny Tree back to its original location. Seeing this, He Shuyu's eyes lit up, and he approached Li Zhaoyue, praising her, "I didn't expect you to be able to find a path."
Hearing this, Li Zhaoyue slowly opened his eyes and smiled, "It's just that this road only appears for a short time. If you want to get out, you have to hurry."
"We?" He Shuyu was stunned and asked, "What about you?"
Li Zhaoyue stood up from the ground, patted the wrinkles on her skirt, and looked at her with a smile: "I can't leave yet. Xu Xing has set a restriction on me. If I go with you, you will be discovered."
"Then..." He Shuyu wanted to ask her when she would leave, but Li Zhaoyue waved her hand to interrupt her, pointing to the road not far away and whispered, "Hurry up, this road is about to disappear."
He Shuyu was still in a daze when she suddenly felt a push from behind. She turned around and saw it was Wang Kun. He seemed very anxious and pushed her and Fang Yu forward. The push made He Shuyu's arm touch Fang Yu's. She walked to the side in disgust and said, "You monster, stay away from me."
Fang Yu, like a rooster with its feathers standing on end, started yelling at her. He Shuyu scratched his ears, pretending not to hear. The three of them walked towards the road, walking faster and faster. As they neared the end of the road, He Shuyu turned back and looked at Li Zhaoyue hesitantly.
"What's wrong?" Li Zhaoyue looked at her attentively with a gentle expression. He Shuyu frowned and stared at Li Zhaoyue's big, round eyes.
Her eyes were too calm, somewhat unlike the Li Zhaoyue she knew.
"You, be careful." He Shuyu lowered his head a little awkwardly and said softly. Li Zhaoyue curled her eyes, pointed at her eyes, and said mischievously: "If you do this again, I will think you are going to cry."
"Who's going to cry?" He Shuyu blushed, glared at Li Zhaoyue fiercely, turned around and walked back down the road. As he watched the three people's backs gradually disappear into the distance, Li Zhaoyue's eyes gradually grew colder.
"It's rare to see you so decisive." Yue Jinhuan appeared beside her and said. Li Zhaoyue fiddled with the compass in her hand, her eyelashes trembling slightly: "I didn't expect that I would end up like this today."
"It feels so bad to lie to people." She raised her head with a nostalgic look, obviously thinking about the past.
"If only I didn't think about these things, I wouldn't have to make a choice."
Upon hearing this, Yue Jinhuan snorted coldly: "Don't want to think about this? Are you saying you want to let those who harmed you go unchecked?"
Li Zhaoyue exhaled tiredly and shook his head. "No. I just didn't expect that the emotions that used to be useless to me would hinder me from making a choice."
"The emotional entanglements between mortals seem to have also appeared in me. So I may be able to understand their hatred for me back then."
"And then?" Yue Jinhuan stared at her closely, his eyes as cold as ice.
"I said I understand, not that I can forgive." Li Zhaoyue looked at her with amusement and explained, "I should have listened to you and stayed out of the affairs of the mortal world."
Yue Jinhuan glanced at her and raised his head: "It has already happened. There is no point in saying more."
Li Zhaoyue looked at her helplessly and said, "I know."
She walked towards the Tree of Destiny and placed her palm on the trunk. Stars streamed across the transparent trunk, making her hands sparkle with shooting stars, as if the fate of countless lives was held in her hands.
"I remember something not so pleasant." She lowered her eyes and whispered to the tree.
Rustle——
A transparent leaf fluttered down, landing squarely in Li Zhaoyue's hair. She reached out and took it, gently stroking the blackened edge with her fingers. "I'm sorry, little tree," she said.
The inexplicable sound of the wind became louder and louder, and Li Zhaoyue slowly closed his eyes.
"You——" It was a very light sigh, which seemed to come from far away.
When she opened her eyes again, everything was pitch black. A faint scent of tea wafted through her nose, and something warm touched her arm. Li Zhaoyue heard a faint breathing sound that didn't belong to her.
It’s Xu Xing.
He leaned against her collarbone and rubbed it gently, his voice tired. "Are you awake? Are you hungry?"
Li Zhaoyue felt depressed and remained silent. Xu Xing reached out and gently smoothed her frown, saying softly, "Eat something, or you'll be exhausted."
Li Zhaoyue still ignored him, feeling a surge of irritation and a hint of self-loathing. Xu Xing noticed her mood was off and held her tightly in his arms.
"Don't think about leaving me. Ayue, I can do anything for you except this request." Xu Xing kissed her neck and said in a trembling voice.
Li Zhaoyue's silent look made him feel panicked. He would rather she scold him than see her like this.
Li Zhaoyue gently closed his eyes and his body gradually relaxed, but he still didn't speak.
Xu Xing was clearly panicking. He carefully placed her on the bed and touched her forehead. In just a moment, his expression darkened.
"You smell like someone else." He practically gritted his teeth as he spoke. Li Zhaoyue laughed, then turned over feebly, his back to Xu Xingdao, and said, "I saw He Shuyu."
"Didn't you put them in here on purpose for me to see?"
This sentence was undoubtedly a blow to his head, and his burning emotions suddenly subsided. Xu Xing's lips were tightly clenched, and a trace of panic flashed in his blood-red eyes: "You..."
"You thought I sent them out? You thought I wanted to go out too?"
Li Zhaoyue's voice was very calm. From Xu Xing's angle, he could only see her back. He couldn't tell what kind of emotions she was feeling at the moment, and for a moment he was speechless.
"You guessed right. I did want to leave at first," Li Zhaoyue said calmly. "But then I thought about it." She pushed herself up from the bed, turned around, and instinctively stroked Xu Xing's cheek. She chuckled and said, "If I leave like this, where can I find such a useful lackey?"
"Are you right, Ah Xu?" The sound of her calling out Ah Xu was so beautiful that Xu Xing could even completely ignore the word "running dog" in her previous sentence. He seemed to have lost his mind, and the mere mention of Li Zhaoyue's voice made him tremble with excitement. If Li Zhaoyue asked him to dig out his heart at this moment, he would probably rip open his chest and offer it to her without hesitation.
"Since Ah Xu said he would listen to me, can you take the things off my eyes?" Li Zhaoyue sensed his emotions and deliberately guided him.
On this matter, Xu Xing was extremely firm and refused to take it off no matter what.
He didn't look like he was suitable to be seen by others. If he took off his headband... his eyes gradually darkened. If Li Zhaoyue saw him like this, she would not only be frightened, but would also think he was ugly.
Xu Xing couldn't help but think of their first meeting in Cangyun City. Li Zhaoyue had said he was handsome and offered him gold. And that night in the lotus pond, she had called him a fairy brother.
So many. Memories kept flooding back into his mind, making his breathing quicken and making him more and more afraid of Li Zhaoyue seeing him now.
Now I am so ugly.
Seeing Xu Xing's hesitation, Li Zhaoyue felt a little uneasy. She had just tried to stimulate Xu Xing with another method, which had been quite effective, so she couldn't help but say a few more words. Did she end up making things worse?
Her hands at her sides unconsciously clenched the quilt. A moment later, a soft and warm touch came from her cheek. Li Zhaoyue was stunned for a moment, and it took a while for her to realize that it was a kiss.
Speaking of which, Xu Xing's mood had been very unstable in the past few days. He was always afraid that she would run away, so he almost stuck to her side all the time. She was also forced to accept his passionate kiss.
But the previous kisses had always been on the lips. This time, the kiss landed on the cheek, and she actually felt a sense of loss. It was as if...
It's like... this kiss should have landed somewhere else...
Li Zhaoyue was frightened by the sudden thought that came to her mind. She pushed Xu Xing aside and wrapped herself in the quilt, curling up into a ball. Xu Xing did not force himself to come forward like he had done the previous times. He stood up in the same position that Li Zhaoyue had pushed him away.
There were footsteps in the room. Xu Xing seemed to move away from the bed, go to the table, and pick up something. Li Zhaoyue hid in the quilt, listening attentively to the movement outside.
A sweet aroma slowly permeated the air, a refreshing sweetness tinged with the intoxicating fragrance of osmanthus. The bulging quilt on the bed shifted, and Li Zhaoyue's furry head poked out.
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