"I've lost my family; life is worse than death."
"It's always better to be alive than dead. The child is still so young; he shouldn't die like this, sir. Please think it over."
"Sir, what is death?"
"Everyone has to die. Even if I burn down my ancestral home, I'll still be incredibly wealthy in the underworld, and you can continue to enjoy your good fortune."
"Father, Father, the child is still young, he shouldn't die."
Xu Nuo felt the light in front of her gradually disappear, and the cold water rushing into her mouth and nose was like a life-giving worm, gnawing at her flesh and tearing at her mind.
In a dark and cold world, she was all alone, being pulled, tugged, and torn apart by countless unseen forces.
She gradually gave up struggling.
It's worse than death, it's too painful.
She slowly closed her eyes, but it seemed as if she saw a beam of light suddenly fall into the void of darkness, heading towards her.
Li Xian led the man out of the water.
Duan Laosan was already waiting on the shore, and was about to come over when he saw people coming ashore.
"Wait." Li Xian suddenly spoke, then quickly took off his coat and wrapped it around her before forcing her to stop choking on the water.
"Wow." Xu Nuo spat out a few mouthfuls of water with her eyes tightly closed.
But the person didn't wake up.
Li Xian called to her in a deep voice, "Comrade, comrade, wake up."
"He's vomited all the water, why isn't he awake?" Duan Laosan asked curiously. Cai Laotou, who was standing to the side, knelt on the ground tremblingly and said, "Amitabha, God protect us, Amitabha, God protect us."
Li Xian reached out to check her breathing. She was still breathing and her heart hadn't stopped. He quickly picked her up and said, "I'll take her to the county hospital."
It's an hour's walk to the county, but if he runs fast, he can finish in twenty minutes.
Li Xiancai carried the person a short distance away when the person, who had been unconscious, suddenly coughed, spat out a small mouthful of water, and then, as if feeling extremely cold, leaned against Li Xiancai, facing inward.
He was already holding her, and when she leaned in, there was almost no way to avoid her.
Li Xian's usually expressionless face stiffened slightly.
They almost threw the person out.
…
Xu Nuo felt as if she were in an ice cellar one moment and roasted over a fire the next.
Her face changed from deathly pale to flushed, her eyebrows furrowed tightly, and tears kept welling up in her delicate and beautiful eyes.
Sobs and murmurs escaped her slightly reddened lips: "Cold, so cold."
Although he didn't wake up, he was responsive, so it seems that the water didn't damage his organs.
It must have been frightened and had a nightmare that kept it from waking up.
Li Xian stopped and tried to put her under the tree. Xu Nuo, still trapped in a nightmare, thought that the lifeline she had been holding onto was about to drift away. Her murmurs suddenly turned into sobs and cries, and she reached out to hug the lifeline tightly.
Li Xian frowned, gritted his teeth, and tried to push her away, but she burst into tears as soon as he pushed her, as if she had suffered a great injustice.
His cries were as weak as a newborn kitten's, but the hands holding him were so tight that he almost suffocated.
He glanced around with a cold, sharp gaze.
With the dual identities of landlord and rightist weighing heavily on him, no one dared to associate with him.
Although there was no one around now, someone might pass by. Li Xian gritted his teeth, reluctantly picked the person up, and walked towards the back of the woods.
He found an open space and tried to put her down, but she refused to let go.
He pushed her twice, and she cried out in fright both times. Afraid that her crying would attract attention, he dared not push her again. Instead, he reached out and held her chin, pressing down on her lower lip, which she had bitten until it bled, and coldly said, "Don't bite, let go."
This time she actually let go.
Her face was deathly pale, her lips were red, and her black hair was completely wet.
They're so pitiful.
Li Xian turned his face away and awkwardly patted her shoulder: "Comrade, it's alright, let go of me."
Xu Nuo still didn't let go.
Li Xian took a deep breath and reached out.
He was about to push the person away when, before he could even exert any force, the person in his arms seemed to sense something and started to sob.
She was crying and hiccuping at the same time.
Li Xian's face stiffened, his face turned red to his neck, and he clenched his teeth, silently putting his hand back.
Xu Nuo had a dream, but it wasn't entirely about falling into the water.
The night was pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
But she saw the Lian family's ancestral home.
From the mountain village on the other side, a line of people, men and women, young and old, walked away slowly.
The leader was an old man in his sixties, with a long braid reminiscent of the last century, and his eyes were as gloomy as snakes, staring intently at the wooden box in his hand.
"My family's most precious treasure, our family heirloom, will accompany me to the underworld, to bless my family for thousands of generations to come."
A child behind them innocently asked, "Mommy, where are we going?"
The woman holding her child wept uncontrollably, crying, "Tiger, we...we..."
The old man turned around, his voice fierce: "We're going to a good place, I'll take you to enjoy a life of luxury."
In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the Young Dragon Pool. The old man knelt down, holding the wooden box, and the people behind him followed suit, all while weeping filled the air.
Someone was still pleading: "Sir, please reconsider!"
The old man looked displeased: "Stupid woman, lowly servant, those petty people are getting ahead and trampling on my head, Lian Zhende. I am Master Lian, and I will die as Master Lian. I have the Lian family's most precious treasure, so I am not afraid even in the underworld."
Then, holding the wooden box, he gave a fierce command: "Jump."
Xu Nuo woke up crying.
She vaguely saw someone approaching, and she threw herself into their arms.
They were so scared they were trembling.
Li Xian frowned deeply, as if he were choking on his breath, and his ears turned red.
Xu Nuo's fever had subsided a little, but she was still delirious. Her face was flushed an unnatural red, and her open eyes were misty with tears streaming down her face.
He muttered to himself, "Don't jump, you'll die."
A moment later, she cried pitifully, "I want to go home, sob sob, I miss my mom."
After crying for a while, she whimpered softly, "I miss my dad too."
He took a breath, reached out and nudged her, his voice cold: "Comrade, wake up..."
Xu Nuo gave a soft hum, and Li Xian pushed her away again. The person in his arms immediately let out two unhappy whimpers.
After a while, Xu Nuo realized that the person she was holding was neither her grandfather nor her father, but a handsome but fierce young man.
She felt that this person looked somewhat familiar.
Who are you?
After asking, she remembered that the familiar-looking person was Li Xian, whom she had seen at the hospital.
Li Xian stood silently outside the door, pointed to the cotton blanket he had just placed by the bedside, which he had taken from someone else, and said to Xu Nuo, "Cover yourself with it."
Xu Nuo then realized that it was a very dilapidated mud house.
She was lying on a kang (a heated brick bed), with a thin cloth under her and a faded quilt covering her.
Her mind was still a little muddled. She blankly reached out and picked up the blanket, wrapping it around herself: "Did you save me?"
Li Xian stood far away with his back turned, nodded, and Xu Nuo asked him again, "Is this your home?"
Li Xian shook his head.
Xu Nuo was the kind of person who would ask any question she had, and she asked sincerely, "Whose house is this? How did we end up here?"
"The house of the mute woman."
Who is the mute woman?
Li Xian suspected she was doing it on purpose, so he turned to look at her, only to find her wrapped in a blanket, looking completely innocent.
Her innocent eyes blinked at him twice, completely unsuspecting.
What an innocent little girl! Li Xian turned around, thought for a moment, and awkwardly explained to her, "An old man who can't speak."
Xu Nu blinked, realizing she still had something to ask, but seeing Li Xian's fierce expression, she changed her question: "Where's my sister?"
"Duan San went to look for him."
"Oh." Xu Nuo felt a headache coming on, but when she raised her hand, she found something in her palm.
It is a broken jade ring.
She looked up at me with a pitiful expression: "I'm hurt."
Li Xian was originally going to the kitchen to check on the mute old woman as she prepared her medicine, but upon hearing that she was injured, he turned back, his brows furrowing slightly: "Where?"
Upon seeing her "wound," Li Xian paused for a moment, remained silent for two seconds, and then said, "I'll go find some herbs."
He walked out quickly, and returned a while later with a small handful of crushed herbs: "Give me your hand."
Xu Nuo frowned and reached out her hand, asking him, "Does it hurt? If it hurts, I don't want to... Ah!"
It feels cool and doesn't hurt.
Her tearful eyes were now filled with curiosity as she held up her little hands and looked around.
Li Xian applied the herbs to her wound and then stepped outside. He stood with his back to her, waiting for Duan San to notify her family to come and pick her up. Thinking of something, he didn't turn around and said calmly, "Don't run around alone in the future."
In today's situation, regardless of whether she was rescued or not, it was a devastating blow to her as a young woman.
Fortunately, there was no one else there today, and he brought the person to the mute old woman without being seen by anyone else.
I thought she would take this as a warning, but unexpectedly, her innocent and soft voice came from behind me again: "Li Xian".
A woman's voice and appearance are naturally delicate, but she was even more delicate, like the soft chirping of a nightingale, lingering and entwining, reaching straight to the heart.
Li Xian frowned and turned to look at her.
"Come here." Xu Nuo held up the broken ring for him to see.
Li Xian stood by the door and asked her, "Isn't this yours?"
Xu Nuo shook her head: "No, it was in my hand when I woke up, but it broke and cut my hand."
Xu Nuo puffed out her cheeks, and her spoiled complaints fell into Li Xian's ears as if a small brush had gently brushed against him.
Li Xian walked in helplessly, picked up the ring and looked at it. There was a word engraved inside: "There is a word."
Xu Nuo leaned closer to take a look and was stunned.
even.
She suddenly remembered her dream, in which Lian Zhende jumped into a pool while holding a wooden box. The box opened in the water, and inside it seemed to be a jade ring.
Xu Nuo asked softly, "Wasn't there a lot of people with the surname Lian who died there before?"
Lian Zhende's case occurred in the early stages of the land reform in the 1950s. Back then, during the anti-black five categories campaign, landlords, rightists, and bad elements were all dragged out and made an example of.
From the time Li Xian was old enough to understand, children would always ride on him and beat and scold him. Anyone could spit on him and call him a "black five categories," a "landlord's son," and a "rightist."
It's been a long time, and perhaps the villagers have forgotten, but he won't. His gaze was icy as he coldly asked, "What? You look down on the 'Five Black Categories'?"
Xu Nuo's face was pale, and she looked like she had been scared to tears. She said pitifully, "No, I, I dreamed about them."
She not only dreamed of dead people, but also took their belongings.
In the past, Xu Nuo wouldn't have believed much in these superstitious beliefs.
But now that she has transmigrated, she naturally believes in some mysterious things that ordinary people don't know about.
She remembered how many cold hands reached out to pull her out of the water; the touch was eerie and slippery, and she couldn't help but tremble.
Li Xian glanced at her and, realizing she was just timid and afraid, softened his voice: "Don't overthink it."
Xu Nuo, wrapped in a blanket, still felt it was unlucky to remain invisible. She had fallen into a pool full of dead people, and her palm had been cut by the jade ring. What if there was something unclean in the ring that would haunt her?
Her face was pale, her eyes were wet, and her voice was incredibly pitiful as she said to him, "I'm scared."
Her eyes were glistening with tears, and her voice was so soft it made one's heart tremble.
Li Xian stood up abruptly and took two steps back to the door.
Xu Nuo was still scared. She pouted, looked at the ring on her hand, and hummed rather aggrievedly.
Li Xian pursed his lips, a hint of annoyance in his eyes. He sighed, walked over, and spread his hands at her: "Give it to me."
Xu Nuo quickly tossed the ring into his hand and whispered, "Take good care of it, or you'll have nightmares."
Finally, tilting his head back, he added, "Thank you."
Li Xian stuffed the ring into his pocket and clenched his fist tightly.
I turned my head away, not daring to look at her again.
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