With a stiff neck, he turned his head and saw a familiar steamed bun shop in front of him. Ji Mofan even felt that his steps were a little stiff.
Pushing through the crowd, he saw the tall, burly man chopping filling while wielding a cleaver and cursing.
"What are you looking at? If you don't leave, I'll really chop you up!"
Ji Mofan was startled, but upon closer inspection, he realized that the steamed bun shop owner wasn't cursing him.
Or rather, not the person I am now.
Not far from the steamed bun shop, a child lay sprawled on the ground, seemingly having twisted his ankle, and was left behind for a long time, unable to get up.
Although the boss kept threatening the children in a fierce manner, he never actually hit them.
The child struggled to his feet and wiped his dirty little face. His features were made even more scrawled by the dirt on his hands, but Ji Mofan still recognized those familiar eyes and brows.
How could I not recognize it?
This is him at seven years old.
The child limped away, and the boss slammed his fist on the cutting board, startling him so much that he stumbled.
Ji Mofan didn't know what he was thinking, but by the time he came to his senses, he had already bought two steamed buns from the shop and was holding them in his hands.
He didn't remember the street very well anymore, but his body seemed to have muscle memory, knowing where he should go without having to think about it.
Ji Mo Fanming knew this was just an illusion; what he saw wasn't his past self, but rather memories sealed in his mind. But the impulse surging from the depths of his heart was irresistible, driving him forward until he stood at the entrance of that deserted alley.
But now it was crowded with a group of children.
The tallest and strongest-looking boy inside was naturally the leader of the group. They had just stolen a basket of fragrant steamed buns from the bun shop, and he was breaking them apart to share with the other children around him.
However, there were quite a few children, and one basket of buns was clearly not enough to fill everyone's stomachs. Furthermore, the buns were not distributed equally among the children, which caused the children around to quarrel in dissatisfaction.
"What are you yelling for?" The leader of the children kicked the one who was yelling the loudest.
The small, thin child crashed into the wall with a thud, wincing in pain, but dared not say anything more.
"You saw someone running the fastest with a kitchen knife, but now you're all excited about eating!" the child cursed, only giving him a little bit of a dumpling skin that wasn't even oily.
Even with such food, he devoured it greedily.
Xiao Jimo Fan lagged behind, and when he followed her in while holding onto the wall, there were only steamer baskets left on the ground.
Even the corn husks used to line the buns were removed, leaving only the fragrant aroma on top.
Little Jimo Fan squatted there for a while, sniffing, and his stomach growled even louder.
Half a moldy steamed bun was suddenly thrown into the steamer.
"If you run this slow again next time, you can go to the moat and fill yourself up with water." The leader of the kids grumbled as he walked over and then walked away to pick up the kids who were fighting over a small bun.
Instead of taking sides, he gave each person a punch equally.
Even a moldy, hard steamed bun is a good thing among beggars. Little Ji Mofan didn't dare to utter a sound, hiding the bun, which was no bigger than his fist, behind the straw and slowly munching on it.
He was still hungry after eating, but there was nothing left to eat, so he could only rub his stomach and keep drinking water from his water bag.
Soaking the steamed buns in water will make you feel fuller.
A fragrant aroma suddenly wafted out in front of me.
Xiao Jimo Fan looked up and saw a tall, thin young man bending down in front of him and handing him a bulging oil paper package.
"Here, have some," the other person said.
Xiao Jimo Fan looked at him very warily.
Although I found the person in front of me strange, my stomach couldn't resist the temptation of the aroma of the steamed buns and started rumbling like thunder.
He reached out and took the oil paper package—or rather, he practically snatched it—then quickly tore open the paper, swallowed the whole package in one bite, and chewed until tears streamed down his face.
This wasn't something I was moved to tears about.
Because he hadn't been able to eat anything good for years, his nutrition was inadequate and his body wasn't developing properly. Xiao Jimo Fan's gums were fragile, and he often had ulcers in his mouth for various reasons. These tears came from the pain.
After finally managing to swallow the bun, Xiao Jimo Fan looked at it and, for some reason, didn't put any more in his mouth. Instead, he hesitated and looked at the handsome older brother he didn't recognize.
"Can I share this with someone else?" Xiao Jimo asked him.
The handsome older brother nodded to him.
Xiao Jimo Fan quickly wiped away his tears, picked up the oil paper package, and ran towards the child leader who was violently mediating the conflict between the children.
After delivering the steamed buns, Ji Mofan stood up straight, put his hands together, and watched as the group of children started arguing again over a new steamed bun.
"The sect leader said to send the elders here to find a child?"
"Yes. The sect leader only described the child's features, but didn't say why I should take him back."
Faint voices could be heard coming from the direction of the street.
Ji Mo Fan didn't need to turn around to know who was speaking.
Shen Yun, and the Yuncang Sword Sect disciples who came with him to do the demon-slaying commission.
"Since the sect leader knows what the child looks like and even his approximate location, why doesn't he come here in person?"
"I've been thinking about this question myself... Perhaps he has something more important to do."
Ji Mofan had no recollection of these words. It was likely that he had heard them but hadn't paid attention to them. Now that he had fallen into the array trap, he had been lured out by the illusion.
Shen Yun and his disciples soon appeared at the alley entrance.
"Ugh... what's that smell in here?" The accompanying disciple couldn't help but frown, fanning himself in front of his face for a long time, trying to drive away the strange smell lingering around his nose.
Although Shen Yun didn't speak, the expression on his face wasn't very pleasant either.
Ji Mofan didn't want to criticize him for this, after all, no normal person would like the smell of a garbage dump.
He didn't want to have anything to do with Shen Yun anymore and had already turned to leave. However, before he could take more than a few steps, Shen Yun suddenly called out to him from behind.
"Excuse me, please wait a moment," he said.
Ji Mo Fan's steps really stopped.
Nothing else, except that Shen Yun had never spoken to him in such a polite tone before.
He turned around. "What is it?"
Not knowing what rules governed the construction of this illusion, Ji Mofan refrained from making any rash moves, fearing that his actions might lead him into some other trap.
So far, he hasn't figured out how to break this formation.
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