Zhao Rong and his party traveled for a whole day. At dusk, they arrived at a lake ten miles long. Willows were swaying by the lake, and the surface of the lake was covered with golden fragments.

Zhao Rong looked at the orange sunset and suggested spending the night there. The three of them found a slightly open place by the lake, set up a few cowhide tents, and built a simple stove.

Liu Sanbian went to the lake to fish, while Zhao Rong took Su Xiaoxiao to pick up branches.

After a busy period, Liu Sanbian returned with a big fish weighing more than ten kilograms and a pheasant with colorful feathers in his hands. He glanced at the two people who were still playing and fighting in the distance, smiled and shook his head.

Miss Su was of a weak and somewhat foolish nature. She was often bullied by Brother Zhao and became tearful and angry. However, as long as Brother Zhao coaxed her a little, her anger would subside after a while. Then she would happily continue to pester Brother Zhao, chat with him, or ask him to tell stories. Brother Zhao had her completely under his control. It was true that scholars were powerful.

Thinking of the scholar, his eyes suddenly wandered. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on his cheek, and the face that originally looked particularly harsh because of his hooked nose and sinister eyes softened at this moment, but soon it was all restrained again, with frowns and pursed lips, and a firm expression.

Zhao Rong came back leisurely, the two jade plates on his waist knocking against each other lightly, making clear and melodious sounds. Following behind him was a bullied man who was carrying a pile of wood and branches and walking unsteadily.

At this time, he was lowering his head, weaving the willow branches in his hands seriously. He stretched out his hand to pull out the sword at his waist and trimmed it again. Then he wrapped some leaves and inserted a few flowers. A beautiful wicker wreath was completed.

He turned around and saw Su Xiaoxiao behind him, holding a pile of wood that was a head taller than her, and walking forward without stopping. Zhao Rong hurriedly turned sideways and almost bumped into him.

"How stupid."

Su Xiaoxiao's little head popped out from the side of the wood pile in her arms and looked at Zhao Rong innocently.

"Xiao Xiao is not stupid, you are stupid!"

Zhao Rong casually put the wreath on the little fox demon's head, looked at it carefully, nodded with satisfaction, then took out two wild fruits from his arms, took a bite of one himself, and handed the other to the little fox demon's mouth as he had no hands free.

Su Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth and almost bit the bad guy's finger next to her.

"Why did you scare them away just now?"

"Silly girl, are you talking about those stupid fish? They are hindering me from practicing my magic skills."

"Well, they are just innocent little goldfish. What did they do to offend you? Why are you throwing stones at them?"

"I've already told you that they're getting in my way. I'm practicing the water-skiing skill, and they're so blind that they're really annoying. I can't perform well, and the farthest one only sailed fifty-one times. It's a great shame. If it weren't for you, a stupid girl, I would have used my sword to evaporate all the water in the Ten Mile Lake, turning those goldfish into black fish as a snack for you tonight."

"Bad guy, you lied again. You don't have any magical skills. You are not as strong as Xiaoxiao..." Su Xiaoxiao turned her head away, not looking at Zhao Rong angrily, and muttered. "It was Xiaoxiao who jumped fifty-one times, and you only jumped fifteen times. Well, this is Xiaoxiao's first time."

Zhao Rong raised his eyebrows, took a bite of the fruit, and found it tasted a little bitter. He said leisurely, "Alas, my practice was not going well today, and the weather was very hot. I was very worried. Look at my memory. The Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio I remembered this morning is a little fuzzy now."

"No, no, don't be vague. I haven't finished telling Jiaoniang's story last night. Did Jiaoniang go to find Kong Xueli who was going to Beijing to take the imperial examination?" Su Xiaoxiao was very anxious. "Well, next time they get in the way of your practice, Xiaoxiao will chase them away. Don't throw stones. Xiaoxiao will fan you to keep you cool at night. Don't be vague again. You've been vague several times today. If you blur again, it will be gone."

Zhao Rong nodded seriously, "That's great."

After saying that, he handed a fruit to Su Xiaoxiao's mouth, and Su Xiaoxiao happily took another bite.

“Is it sweet?”

"Mmm, sweet."

"Then yours is mine, you can eat mine."

Su Xiaoxiao: “…”

…

Zhao Rong and the other two started a fire to cook. After dinner, they cleaned up and sat around the fire to rest and relieve themselves from the fatigue of the journey.

The moon hangs high in the sky and the lake is sparkling.

Zhao Rong sat closer to the fire, spread a piece of paper on the bookcase, and leaned over to write and draw in the light.

Liu Sanbian held the black stone pendant in his hand, supported his head with his fist, and stared at the burning flame in silence. Occasionally, he tilted his head to glance at the dark forest in the distance, which was the direction they came from.

Su Xiaoxiao, who had just finished listening to Zhao Rong's story after dinner and was so anxious by the words "If you want to know what happens next, please wait for the next chapter", moved a small stone and sat next to Zhao Rong, with her feet together, her hands on her face, and her knees supported. At this moment, she was quietly staring at the focused profile of the bad guy who bullied her every day.

Her hands were originally very small, but her pretty face was completely buried in her hands. It was indeed a small face the size of a palm, and only a pair of lively eyes were revealed from between her fingers.

Well, from this angle, the bad guy's profile is quite pleasing to the eye. My grandmother said that men look best when they are serious. It's true, even this bad guy is like this. Well, it would be great if he didn't bully Xiaoxiao. However, the stories he tells are really nice to listen to, much more interesting than the ones in the books. Those stories about fox spirits and scholars, I heard him say, are called "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio". Xiaoxiao has read so many books but has never seen one. Well, I don't know how he came up with it. No, Xiaoxiao's future husband must be better at telling stories than this bad guy. Well, that's it. He must learn a lot of knowledge, be better at telling stories, and be more serious than him, be more... smarter than him. Yes, he must be smarter than him, otherwise he will laugh at Xiaoxiao for being stupid and find a stupid husband. Finally, he must not bully Xiaoxiao, and treat each other with respect as the books say. Well, that's all Xiaoxiao requires~

Thinking of this, Su Xiaoxiao smiled happily, her fox eyes became more charming, the tails of her eyes were long and narrow, slightly upturned, and the tail of her eyebrows was slightly pink, which was very captivating.

“Does it look good?”

"nice."

A voice suddenly came out, and Su Xiaoxiao responded subconsciously.

After a few seconds of silence, he finally reacted. When he looked again, the bad guy had put down his pen, rubbed his wrist, and glanced towards him with a playful look at his lips.

Su Xiaoxiao's shoulders trembled, and she quickly closed her fingers and buried her face in her hands, trying to prevent anything from happening.

But a white hand holding a book has reached out.

"sneaking."

"Hmm."

"No good intention."

"It hurts~"

"You can tell a person by looking at his fingers."

"Stop it."

"Do you think too highly of me?"

"Woo woo, no, you are the best."

"No, I have to knock it again. It feels good."

“Woo woo woo.”

Zhao Rong chuckled and withdrew his hand, put down the book, picked up one of his royal silk fans from the side, threw it to the little fox demon who was rubbing his head with a look of grievance, and gave him a look.

A cool breeze blew on his face. Zhao Rong put down what he was doing and took out two pots of osmanthus wine from his bookcase. He had bought it from a tavern near green mountains and clear waters. He threw one pot to Liu Sanbian, who was staring blankly across from him.

The latter took it steadily, without any hesitation, took a sip, and drank it down in one gulp.

"Brother Sanbian is worried."

"Everyone has worries in life."

"No, there are different levels of worries. Most people's lives are filled with countless trivial things, while a few people are burdened with a few heavy things. The former is too heavy to bear, because you can never escape from those repetitive trivialities; the latter is too light to bear, because once you make up your mind to do it, no matter you fail or win, in the end you will leave without weight."

The young scholar finished his words slowly, took a sip of wine and let out a light breath.

"Brother Sanbian has something important to tell you."

The sinister man who had concerns but cut them off smiled brightly.

"How do you know?"

"Because Brother Sanbian's home is in the south, that's the direction he often turns back to, and Dawei is in the north, which is where Brother Sanbian is going now."

"Does leaving home have to be a serious matter? Isn't the young master also leaving home?"

"No, it's different. Although I'm not very old, for some special reasons, I can understand a person who has experienced half a lifetime of ups and downs and already has a home. If he abandons all ties and travels thousands of miles away from home, then he must do something he thinks he must do. As for how to tell the importance of it." The young man, who was also a wanderer, took another sip of wine. "I understand that look of someone who thinks it's hard to go home again."

"Because, there's a good chance that I'll never be able to go back."

The sinister man said nothing and did not ask him why he couldn't go back. Everyone has their own secrets, he has one, the scholar in front of him has one, and the little fox demon next to him also has one.

He picked up the jug and took a sip.

He actually felt the spiciness from drinking the wine from a roadside bar.

After that.

The two remained silent.

There is only the wine in front of me and the moonlight at the moment, in my hands and on my brows.

The little fox demon was fanning quietly, looking at two men, one big and one small, who were clearly drinking together by the fire, but seemed to be drinking alone.

Although she was simple-minded and innocent, she was confused by the conversation between the two men just now, but she could roughly understand some of Zhao Rong's words, because she also had her own little worries. She was also a traveler away from home. Although because of her young age, she did not have many concerns about Qiantang Mountain where she grew up, and even couldn't wait to escape from it, but she left to find her grandmother, to find someone who could be good to her, the right person.

Who would leave home without knowing who they are unless there is someone they really want to see or something they really want to do?

Su Xiaoxiao actually missed home a little. She even secretly tried to write a poem. She had already thought of the first line, which was "I originally lived on Qiantang Mountain. Flowers bloom and fall, regardless of the passing years."

This is what she dreamed of one night. She had been thinking hard before but couldn't figure it out. As a result, she dreamed that she and her lover were in a wooden house in a bamboo forest. He was reading and writing, and she was reading with her lover, grinding ink. Although she couldn't see her lover's face clearly, he must be handsome. She was also very talented in the dream. She was very shy. Under her lover's gaze, she wrote the lyrics with her bare hands. As a result, just after she wrote the first sentence, a strange vision suddenly appeared. She saw her lover's face next to her, revealing his true appearance. It was Zhao Rong who had been bullying her during the day. And this was not the most surprising thing. What caught her off guard was that the bad guy actually came over and blocked her mouth, making her unable to breathe for a while. She stared blankly at the face so close to her... Suddenly, she woke up from her dream in the middle of the night and found that her face was covered by a book, making it difficult for her to breathe. She turned her head blankly and saw Zhao Rong's sneaky figure not far away.

I'm so angry, you bad guy, it's fine that you bully Xiaoxiao during the day, but you also come into Xiaoxiao's dream at night to bully her. It's fine that you bully her in the dream, but you don't sleep in the middle of the night and insist on waking Xiaoxiao up. Now, Xiaoxiao's words are gone and she can't dream of them anymore. I can't think of any good sentences from now on, woo, you have to compensate me for my words!

Zhao Rong, who had shattered a little fox demon's dream of becoming a talented woman, was feeling a little depressed at the moment. He didn't realize that he owed someone a poem. He shook the wine jug, which was empty. He looked up at Liu Sanbian and found that his brother Sanbian had no wine either. The two looked at each other in the air for a while and suddenly smiled.

"Brother Zhao, I have something to ask of you."

"Brother Sanbian, I have something to talk to you about as well."

"You speak first." Zhao Rong spoke first, reached out and picked up the piece of paper on the bookcase with Gui Suo's improved "The Secret of Ants' Ascension to Heaven", waiting for Liu Sanbian to speak.

Liu Sanbian paused, staring at the flickering flames in front of him. The night wind blowing from the lake made his shadow sway.

"We are still some distance away from the Great Wei. If you need anything during this period, I will definitely help you. I just hope that when we are separated from the Great Wei, you can help me bring some things back to Yunshui Cave and bring them to my Qingshan. I don't force you to deliver them immediately, as long as you can deliver them to my Qingshan, it will be fine. No matter how long it takes, you can make your own arrangements according to the situation."

The man paused, as if he was recalling something, perhaps the child named Qingshan in his family. A smile appeared on his face, and under the reflection of the orange-yellow firelight, the hard edges of his face seemed to melt, and he became gentle.

"I haven't formally introduced myself to my brother yet."

"My name is Liu Sanbian, I am from the Great Wei, currently a cultivator in the Yunshui Cave of the Lihuo Nation, and a sixth-rank warrior!"

A cave surrounded by green mountains, clouds and water, this place is my home.