"Who are you?"
Li Mingke looked up and saw a young man dressed in coarse linen clothes sitting on a branch with one leg propped up. The peach blossoms were in full bloom, and his simple clothes could not hide his beautiful appearance.
The boy lightly touched the ground with his toes and leaped down from the branch with a "whoosh," landing steadily in front of Li Mingke.
"You've figured out who I am?"
She had never met him before, yet he recognized her as a woman at a glance.
A long spear hurtled toward the boy, but he steadied the tip with just two fingers, and with a flick of his wrist, gripped the cold shaft.
Several silver needles flew towards him, which he parried with his gun. With a few soft thuds, all the silver needles were embedded in the ground.
"Moon!"
Li Pinyue leaped forward, kicking the man in the chest with her short boots adorned with sea pearls. As he dodged, she touched the gun, flicked it, and with a powerful thrust, the spear twirled and landed steadily in her hand.
She stood in front of Li Mingke, a cold glint pressed against the boy's throat.
"State your name!" she said coldly.
"Just because you've discovered your sister's identity, you're going to kill me?" The boy smiled wryly.
A flash of silver light pierced his throat.
"Tsk tsk, how terrifying." He retreated three meters away.
Li Mingke's expression was also not good. Her disguise was almost perfect, and almost no one could tell that the young man knew.
"Do you know me?" she asked.
If it wasn't obvious to the naked eye, then he must have known beforehand. In that case, he was very likely someone who was very close to the Li family, and he immediately revealed the relationship between her and Li Pinyue.
The boy shook his head, and a cherry blossom petal fluttered down as he swayed, revealing a bewildered smile.
"I don't know you, but I know who you are."
He reached out his hand to her.
"I want to be with you, Li Mingke."
A gentle breeze stirred, and snowflakes, pinkish-white as if touched by rosy clouds, danced in the air. Sunlight filtered through the tight gaps, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
The Buddha's light shines on the pagoda, clean and free of dust; the budding branches and shoots are already visible.
The petals hit my face, but it didn't hurt; in fact, it made me feel slightly itchy.
Li Mingke's lips parted slightly, and the people and scenery in front of him seemed to be illusions.
What's going on here? Is this a confession?
"I'm sorry, I can't agree to your request. Although I am indeed a woman, in the eyes of society I am still a man, and I am still young, so I don't have such thoughts at the moment..."
The person on the other end was dumbfounded.
What are you saying?
Li Mingke: "Not a confession?"
The other person countered, "Why did you confess?"
"You don't like me? You want to be with me?"
The boy finally realized what was happening, and jumped up angrily, pointing his finger at her nose, "You think I'd confess to you? Go look in the mirror! The person who's good enough for me hasn't even been born yet!"
Li Mingke got angry too, "Then why did you say such ambiguous things? You scared the scalp!"
This guy is really something!
"So what do you mean by wanting to be with me?" she asked irritably. "Let me tell you, even though I'm rich, good-looking, and have connections, don't even think about getting a single benefit from me! My money will never be spent by you! Even if you go hungry or have no clothes to wear, I won't give you a single thing!"
"Do I need your charity? I have more money than I can spend! I am..." He suddenly fell silent.
"Who are you? You're wearing tattered clothes that even the lowest-ranking servants in my household would despise, and you claim to be rich? Who would believe that!"
Li Pinyue had a headache from the two arguing.
A beam of silver light descended from the sky, cutting between the two men, startling them both into retreating simultaneously.
"If you want to be with my brother, state your name first." Li Pinyue drew her spear.
The boy smiled apologetically, "After talking to you all for so long, I completely forgot to introduce myself."
"My name is Bie Chen. I'm a rogue cultivator who knows some martial arts. I don't have any companions for now, but I plan to join you from now on!"
He enthusiastically put his arm around their shoulders, "You must have other companions, right? Introduce them to me!"
Li Mingke patted his hand off his shoulder. "Why should we let you join us? You only gave us a name, and it's hard to say if it's even your real name. Why should we invite a wolf into our house?"
“Since you put it that way…” He thought for a moment, then took off a bracelet from his wrist.
"Buddhist prayer beads?" Li Mingke flinched as he tried to put them on her wrist.
"This is all I have. You're right, I'm very poor, so I'm giving you my most valuable possessions. Doesn't that show my sincerity?"
Bie Chen eventually persuaded the two of them.
During the day, Shuijian and the other person went out for a while and brought back a handsome young man, which surprised them greatly, and they circled around Biechen.
"Does Brother Biechen like small animals?"
"like."
He likes to eat small animals.
"Then do you want to be with me? We can raise Xiao Cai together."
"Xiao Cai?"
A colorful little bird spreads its wings to show off its beauty.
"No way, birds are very straightforward."
It poops everywhere, it's so annoying.
Last time, he was just walking on the road when a pile of excrement fell from the sky and landed right on his head, which was the first time he had the idea of shaving his head.
Therefore, he didn't have a good impression of this kind of creature.
"Xiao Cai is a spirit beast, not like what you say!"
Shui was initially captivated by Bie Chen's face during the day, but now she has no good feelings towards him at all and stormed off in a huff.
Wang Jingyuan quietly pulled Li Mingke aside and asked her, "Cousin, this person has an enchanting appearance, and although he's dressed in plain clothes, he has an elegant demeanor. He doesn't seem like an ordinary person to me, and he insists on following you. Could it be that he's deliberately setting a trap for you?"
Li Mingke whispered, "I thought so too, but he doesn't mean us any harm. Yue'er said that although he doesn't fight often, he is very powerful, so we thought we shouldn't make enemies. He's with us, and since there are more of us, we can respond quickly if anything happens."
“That’s true,” Wang Jingyuan nodded. “But I don’t believe him when he says he’s a rogue cultivator.”
Li Mingke expressed his agreement.
As they walked, Bie Chen insisted on staying close to Li Mingke.
"Mingke, I've noticed you've been looking around. What are you looking for?"
"A mirror." She didn't want to say more.
"A mirror?" Bie Chen's eyes widened. "I told you I looked down on you and told you to look in a mirror, but you actually did it?"
He suddenly leaned very close, his face almost touching mine. "So obedient? Could it be that you've fallen in love with me at first sight?"
Li Mingke punched him in the nose and yelled, "Get lost!"
Ma Gege stared at Bie Chen's figure, her eyes filled with a melancholy.
"This person's origins are unknown; we must be extra careful."
Chen Zifeng nodded slightly, "They're after Mingke. Maybe some force is targeting the Li family, or even Immortal Venerable Jinyun."
Bie Chen covered his nose and asked, "What kind of mirror are you looking for?"
Li Mingke: "Do you know about the Xuanfang Mirror? It's similar to that."
"I don't know, but there aren't many mirror-type magical artifacts to begin with, so the one that's here must be the one you're talking about."
He looked her over. "You've brought quite a lot of life-saving gear." Then, after a moment's thought, he added, "I really couldn't tell you were a woman!"
Li Mingke covered his mouth, "Keep your voice down!"
Are you so loud that you're afraid others won't hear you?
"Why are you dressing up as a man?" he asked.
"If I don't dress up as a man, my life will be full of misfortunes, and I might even die, so I have no choice but to do this." She shrugged.
Bie Chen was silent for a moment, then asked, "Did a mysterious old man come to your house and say something?"
"I think so? I remember my mother saying that an old man wanted to take me away, but she refused to let him, so I stayed."
She put her hands on her hips and said, "Luckily, my mother insisted, otherwise I don't know which mountain I'd be running around on now! How can outsiders compare to your own parents!"
Bie Chen slowly let out a breath.
"Your mother is so good."
"I think so too."
Bie Chen was no longer as lively as before, and seemed to be lost in thought.
Seeing him instantly transform into a melancholy little prince, Li Mingke didn't know how to comfort him, so she could only say:
"Why don't you come to my house after we leave the island? My cook is amazing, and I'll get you a nice new outfit. You're so good-looking, with a little dressing up you'll be just as good as those rich young masters!"
Li Mingke's eyes crinkled with laughter, her pupils pure and untainted, gleaming slightly in the sunlight.
Bie Chen was momentarily stunned.
"I don't know why you're suddenly sad. Here, have a piece of hibiscus shortbread. I only have two left in my purse, so you can only have one. Eating something sweet will make you feel better."
Sure enough, she poured out two small, lotus-shaped pastries from her purse, held them in a handkerchief, and presented them to him.
"Eat!"
His family is so poor, he probably has never eaten such snacks before.
Fearing to hurt his pride, Li Mingke said nothing.
Bie Chen took the snacks, slightly taken aback.
When was the last time I ate something like this?
It's a memory from so long ago.
Back then, he was still nestled in a woman's arms, snuggling and enjoying the pleasant scent emanating from her. She would break off small pieces of the mixture and feed it to him, wearing pure gold nail polish inlaid with gemstones.
Seeing that he didn't eat, Li Mingke folded the handkerchief a few times and put the wrapped pastries in her bosom.
Why aren't you eating?
"Such good food should be eaten at the most appropriate time!"
It's a bit pitiful.
Seeing this, Li Mingke gave him the other piece as well, saying, "I originally saved it for Yue'er, but I'm giving it to you now."
"Oh? I'm more important than your sister?" He tilted his head, a charming smile playing at the corners of his eyes.
"Don't flatter yourself! How can you compare to my sister!"
"Then why give it to me?"
"Because even if my sister doesn't eat it now, she can eat it every day in the future!"
The air suddenly became quiet, and although the two were looking at each other, they remained silent.
"I...I'm sorry," Li Mingke began, "I didn't mean that..."
Young people have the strongest sense of self-esteem; isn't she just reopening his wounds?
He gently patted her head and said, "It's okay, I don't mind."
He wrapped the hibiscus shortbread together with the previous one.
"Thank you," he said.
"You're welcome..." Her gaze drifted to the side.
She heard him chuckle softly.
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