Moonlight, Night, Shadow (10)
Hearing this, Xu Xing's smile deepened. He looked at her with special gratitude and said, "Senior Sister is really a good person."
"Neither do...you!" Xu Xing pulled the bracelet off her wrist with such force and haste that it hurt her.
The bracelet slipped into his sleeve, and the smile on Xu Xing's face faded a lot. He glanced at Lou Yao's stunned expression and said softly, "A lot of strange things have happened in Yiziyuan recently. Sister, please pay attention to your safety. Make sure to get a good rest at night."
"This is a potion to stabilize the soul. I made it especially for you, Senior Sister. Drink a little every day and you will sleep better."
After saying this, Xu Xing pulled out a jade bottle from his sleeve and handed it to Lou Yao. She was stunned for several seconds and almost threw the bottle away in excitement.
The subtle mood just now immediately turned into a heart full of joy. Lou Yao clenched the jade bottle in her hand and smiled shyly.
"You must drink it every day, otherwise it will not work." Xu Xing rarely warned her seriously.
Lou Yao nodded rapidly, then after a moment, she rolled her eyes and looked at him hesitantly.
"What's wrong?" Xu Xing asked immediately.
The boy's eyes sparkled in the sunlight, like a piece of fine amber. Lou Yao's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and she blurted out, "Do you feel that I'm different?"
After she finished speaking, she suddenly lowered her head, her heart beating non-stop in her chest. Fear and expectation twisted into a rope, pulling her heart back and forth.
"No."
Xu Xing's answer immediately made her feel relieved.
"Then you should also have a good rest tonight, you still have classes tomorrow." Lou Yao imitated Li Zhaoyue's smile in her memory and said sweetly.
Xu Xing twirled the bracelet in his hand, nodding faintly, his thoughts etched in his mind. Lou Yao, preoccupied with the gift Xu Xing had given her, closed the door and went to admire it, not noticing the boy's suddenly cold gaze.
The sun was hanging brightly in the blue sky, without a trace of white cloud. Xu Xing squinted his eyes and looked at the sky. Suddenly, a trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, which he gently wiped away.
"I wish you a good sleep tonight." He looked at the door in front of him solemnly and whispered.
*
"Hey, you have been sitting on the ground like this since yesterday. Don't you want to go out?" The woman in red sat next to Li Zhaoyue, poked her who was burying her head, and asked.
Li Zhaoyue raised his head weakly and said weakly, "I feel so uncomfortable here. I have no strength left in my body."
It was pitch black here, so quiet that she could hear her own breathing. And there was a strange sound that kept appearing in her mind.
There wasn't a specific sound, just a feeling, as if something was calling out to her. This sense of summons made her feel weak all over, and her fatigue grew stronger and stronger. Especially after the woman in red spoke to her, this inexplicable sleepiness became even stronger.
It was as if something was anxious to get her to sleep.
The vision in front of him became increasingly blurry. Li Zhaoyue wanted to go out, so he struggled to stand up and almost fell down again.
"Is the aftereffect of the medicine given by Xu Xing so strong?" The woman suddenly muttered. Although her voice was very low, Li Zhaoyue still heard it.
"What did you say? Why did I hear Xu Xing's name..." Li Zhaoyue closed her eyes before she could finish her words. The woman quickly caught her and waved her free hand to the side, and the dark space suddenly became bright.
This place was clearly a cemetery, with tall tombstones everywhere. The woman in red dragged the unconscious Li Zhaoyue towards the elevated platform.
In the middle of the cemetery, a huge platform was built of white marble, with an ice coffin placed on top. The woman gently pulled Li Zhaoyue down to the platform and pushed her into the empty ice coffin.
Before closing the coffin lid, the woman looked at Li Zhaoyue deeply and said softly, "Go to sleep."
"Maybe you'll recognize me when you wake up."
*
Warm sunlight shone through the branches of the trees, and pear blossoms fell from above. The shade of the trees swayed in the wind, hitting the girl's tender cheeks.
A rusty sword swiftly slashed across the pear tree, stirring up a rain of flowers, followed by a strong smell of blood.
Li Zhaoyue woke up in shock, and the first thing he saw was a young man covered in blood.
He has been like this for the past few years.
He, once young and naive, had become a silent, gloomy and cruel killing machine. Li Zhaoyue sighed inwardly, got up from the ground, picked up the sword, and threw it to him.
"Wash the blood off it, it looks dirty." She said deliberately.
The boy looked at her silently, picked up the sword obediently, and went to the backyard.
Li Zhaoyue sneaked into the kitchen and was rushed out a moment later with a face covered in black charcoal. He roared, "I told you not to eat until you wash your hands!"
As Li Zhaoyue was ejected, the young man came out after washing his sword. Seeing the charcoal stain on her face, he froze for a moment. She immediately covered her face with her hands and said stubbornly, "Yue Jinhuan is deliberately picking on me."
He didn't know whether to believe it or not, so he lowered his eyes and said the first sentence of the day: "Do you want to go wash up first?"
Li Zhaoyue was delighted by this and quickly said, "Go wash, go wash. You go eat first, I'll come after I'm done."
Inside the kitchen, three people sat together at a small wooden table. Li Zhaoyue kept picking up meat and commenting as he ate, "Your cooking skills have improved. This chicken is fried well."
The woman in red sitting next to her rolled her eyes, knocked her chopsticks aside, and said, "It's good to have something to eat. It's so chaotic out there now, when are you going out to work and help with the family income?"
"Don't we have Ah Xu here? Besides, if I go out, I may not be able to come back safely." Li Zhaoyue muttered.
"Who made you make so many enemies?" Yue Jinhuan said irritably.
"No," Li Zhaoyue put a piece of meat into Ah Xu's bowl and cleared his throat. "I just made an exchange with them and told them the consequences of exceeding the transaction time limit. They couldn't accept it and wanted to retaliate against me. What's my fault?"
The boy silently swallowed the piece of meat and took several mouthfuls of rice.
"You think too simply of people. Those people..."
"Hey, we're having dinner, why are you bringing up something so depressing? Every time we talk about this, you always argue with me for a long time. Ah Xu finally came back today, and I don't want this dinner to end in a sour mood again."
Li Zhaoyue interrupted her and said with a smile. Yue Jinhuan glanced at the silent boy, then at Li Zhaoyue, and sighed, compromising.
Li Zhaoyue happily picked up a large portion of food for her and said happily, "Let's celebrate today!"
The meal lasted a long time. Li Zhaoyue had a very low alcohol tolerance, and she even forced the two of them to dig out the wine buried under the pear tree. As a result, she got drunk after drinking only one glass, and in the end, Ah Xu had to carry her back.
After settling Li Zhaoyue, Ah Xu walked out of the room and saw Yue Jinhuan standing at the door, holding a pot of wine, and gestured to him to leave.
A moment later, the two lay side by side on the roof. Yue Jinhuan took a sip of wine, looked at the bright moon in the sky, and whispered, "The world is becoming increasingly unstable. We may have to move again."
He didn't say anything.
Yue Jinhuan was used to his silence and continued, "On the surface, she stayed at home from morning till night, but I knew she was secretly going out to do that so-called exchange. But people are not as simple as she thinks."
As if he thought of something unhappy, Yue Jinhuan's eyes dimmed for a moment and he took a big gulp of wine.
"The conflict between humans and demons is getting deeper and deeper, and the balance of the entire human world is about to be broken. If she does these things at this time, she will only become the target of public criticism." She whispered.
"So you want me to persuade her?" Ah Xu finally spoke.
Yue Jinhuan didn't answer his question, but simply asked, "Do you still hate her for what happened back then?"
The events of the Lou Mansion had a profound impact on Ah Xu. He had always resented Li Zhaoyue, believing her indifference was the reason for her failure to save his mother. For this reason, Li Zhaoyue always felt an inexplicable sense of guilt towards him, and she would do her best to meet Ah Xu's requests.
If he were to speak up, the chances of success would be greater.
"I should have hated it, but..." The boy looked at the night sky, a rare look of confusion appearing on his face.
In the past, a monster appeared in the Lou Mansion. To seal this monster, the master of the Lou family found a method that harmed others and benefited himself: to find someone with a close blood relationship with the monster master and force him to exchange his life. The master of the Lou family and his wife had been in love for many years. They had only one son and no concubines in the mansion. However, the wife had a poor sister who happened to have a son of the same age as the master.
He and his mother were tricked into going to the Lou Mansion.
The Lou family was considered a prominent family in the human world, enjoying a glorious past. They hosted the Spring Festival Banquet at the request of the Emperor. That day, he was tortured beyond endurance and quietly escaped, stealing some food while no one was watching.
That monster young master was truly terrifying, actually feeding on human flesh. He had been locked up with that young master for the past few days, leaving him covered in wounds.
He forced himself to clear the bloody and ferocious expression of the man from his mind, but he saw Li Zhaoyue among the many gorgeous girls.
I haven't seen her for two years, but she hasn't changed at all, except for her expression, which is obviously very sleepy.
The Lou Mansion was not a good place. He wanted to find an opportunity to remind Li Zhaoyue to leave, so he secretly observed her movements, preparing to find a time to recognize her and tell her the truth about the Lou Mansion.
Li Zhaoyue had left a jade pendant before, telling him and his mother to use it in case of emergency. He had been locked up for the past few days, and Li Zhaoyue suddenly appeared in the Lou Mansion. It was likely that his mother had used the jade pendant.
But the Lou Mansion was in dire straits. If she was dragged in by force...
Ah Xu had already made a secret decision and was hiding in the dark, thinking about how to find the opportunity.
Finally, perhaps unable to bear the noise around him, Li Zhaoyue rubbed his eyes and left the pavilion, apparently looking for a quiet place to rest, so he followed her.
There is a large bamboo forest in the mansion, which is the only quiet place in this luxurious place. Li Zhaoyue is indeed walking towards that place.
But there seemed to be someone else in the bamboo forest. He hid behind the bamboo shadows and quietly peeked out, only to see the master of the Lou family and... the young master of the Lou family.
"That bastard actually sneaked away while I wasn't paying attention. Today is the day the Lou family is hosting a banquet. This little bastard really knows how to pick a good day." Young Master Lou's face turned an abnormally pale blue, and he swallowed his saliva as he spoke. The movement subconsciously reminded him of the damp and sticky feeling in the closed room, as well as the disgusting smell of blood.
Ah Xu looked at Li Zhaoyue with an uneasy look in his eyes.
"My lord, there are too many people in the mansion today, so we can only talk here." Master Lou said to Li Zhaoyue with a smile on his face.
Immortal? Ah Xu's hand suddenly tightened around the bamboo leaf. The sharp edge of the leaf scratched his palm, and a streak of blood oozed from his pale skin.
Young Master Lou, who was sitting on the stone bench, seemed to have noticed something and swallowed more eagerly.
Ah Xu bit his lip and put his hands behind his back.
"This is the immortal I invited to save your life." Mr. Lou pointed at Li Zhaoyue and said.
The young master's eyes suddenly widened when he saw Li Zhaoyue's face. After a long moment, he squeezed out a word with trembling lips: "It's you?"
It turned out that Li Zhaoyue had just come to the Lou Mansion that day and was accidentally attacked by the hungry Young Master Lou, who finally beat him up severely. The people in the mansion did not allow him to eat human flesh, and the wounds healed very slowly, so that he felt a dull pain in the wounds whenever he saw Li Zhaoyue.
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