Chapter 020 Li Xiao's Independent Side Story - Obsession (Part 5)
Li Xiao has two weapons: a flexible long whip and a long sword sheathed in its sheath.
One item he acquired himself, while the other's origin is unknown.
The longsword was originally without a sheath, but a longsword without a sheath is obviously inconvenient to carry, so Li Xiao has been looking for a suitable sheath all along.
"It's either too big or too small, too wide or too narrow."
"Since we can't find a suitable one in the existing ones, why not forge another scabbard? There are so many skilled craftsmen in the world; it shouldn't be difficult," the Taoist asked.
—Really? Why is that?
Li Xiao thought it was probably because he always felt that there must exist in this world a unique scabbard that could match this sword.
But he didn't believe he couldn't find it.
After all, the demon's life is long, and Li Xiao doesn't have anything else he particularly wants to do, besides...
"If another scabbard were forged, wouldn't the world then have just another scabbard without a sword?"
Li Xiao blurted it out subconsciously.
After much thought, the ending is ultimately imperfect.
It's like a fragmented memory in your mind, winding and turning, ending in the middle, with a precipice on the left and a sea of mist on the right.
They keep going around in circles, but they can't seem to find the answer.
"I didn't realize you were so thoughtful," the Taoist priest said with a smile.
I don't know if it was a genuine compliment or if there was something more to it.
Li Xiao wasn't good at pondering such trivial matters, so he simply put them aside.
Then he casually tossed the cloth bag containing food and vegetables he had brought back from outside onto the table—the same small wooden table with peeling paint—which then creaked open.
There were two injured wild rabbits lying on the ground nearby. They were big and plump, and Li Xiao planned to roast them for dinner that night.
He was not a Buddhist or Taoist practitioner, nor did he like to eat vegetarian food. Even eating cooked food was a habit he developed in recent years—not a necessity, but simply to satisfy his appetite.
Over there, Yu Qingzhou lowered her eyes to examine the tiny creature lying prostrate on the ground, lost in thought.
Li Xiao guessed that the other party was probably moved by pity.
—But so what?
He was determined to get his hands on that rabbit.
He was in debt, not sold himself. At worst, they'd really fight—Li Xiao had disliked this Taoist for a long time, and even if he lost, he'd lose decisively.
Li Xiao pondered for a moment, then went into the kitchen and found some suitable spices. When she came out, she found Yu Qingzhou reaching out to tease the ingredients for dinner and even taking out vegetable leaves from her pocket to feed the rabbit.
Li Xiao glanced over and noticed that the rabbit's broken hind leg bone seemed to have been straightened. It was twitching its nose from side to side, tilting its head back and chewing on the vegetable leaves, making a crisp crunching sound.
The Taoist priest smiled, gazing almost tenderly at the tiny fluffy ball bobbing beside him. A faint dimple appeared at the corner of his mouth, making him look like a child who had just found something amusing.
Seeing this, Li Xiao couldn't help but purse his lips.
However, once he made up his mind, his determination would not change.
“It’s so cute…isn’t it?” Yu Qingzhou said softly, her head lowered, as if talking to herself.
Li Xiao disagreed with this, and snorted coldly, saying, "Cuteness is not a standard for judging ingredients."
"Really? So it doesn't increase your appetite?"
As she spoke, Yu Qingzhou suddenly looked up at the boy, her smile undiminished, but the sincerity in her words left the latter momentarily stunned.
There was a strange sense of unease in my heart.
To be able to say such things without blushing or skipping a beat... is this person really a Taoist priest?
"Are you really a Taoist priest?" Li Xiao asked bluntly.
Upon hearing this, Yu Qingzhou laughed, a hearty laugh tinged with a hint of slyness.
Then, as if to verify the boy's guess, the Taoist—or perhaps just a man who looked like a Taoist—suddenly smiled and said, "Actually, besides grilling, braising is also a good way to cook them. Or we can try both, after all, we have two rabbits, don't we?"
"..."
Li Xiao's gaze shifted from Yu Qingzhou's face to her hands.
Even as he uttered these words, the latter's slender fingers continued to gently interact with the hare.
The fingertips, lightly scratching the chin, moved slowly and deliberately among the fur.
Despite not being restrained, the wild rabbit, which had regained its ability to move, seemed to gradually lose its desire to escape under the lure of food and the man's gentle caresses, and became docile and tame.
Wait until...you truly...become friends before you act...because betrayal always doubles the pain.
The things the other person had said before came to mind, and now it seemed that they weren't all just made up.
What followed was that familiar feeling of restlessness in my chest.
The next moment, Li Xiao walked straight forward and grabbed a rabbit in each hand.
After two crisp cracking sounds of broken neck bones, the two rabbits and their four bouncy hind legs all slumped down limply.
Yu Qingzhou, who had witnessed the entire process, did not show any sadness, only a faint regret.
"I'm really anxious. I thought there was still some time before lunchtime."
"Since we're going to have to take action sooner or later, why bother pretending?"
Li Xiao said dismissively.
"After all, there was a period of happiness."
Yu Qingzhou lowered her eyes and smiled gently: "Everyone says that life is short, but in the end, only a minority of people are really so desperate as to commit suicide. That's human nature. The shorter life is, the more we should enjoy it while we can."
"A self-righteous jerk."
Li Xiao snorted again, then tossed one of the rabbits to Yu Qingzhou's side, its body hitting the wooden board with a dull thud.
The boy's behavior was really rude and even seemed like a deliberate provocation, which made Yu Qingzhou frown.
"What are you doing?" he questioned with displeasure.
Li Xiao smiled, forcing a smirk.
"It's nothing, but the Taoist priest speaks so eloquently, he must be quite skilled in cooking. Since the Taoist priest is so compassionate, why don't you personally send them off on their final journey?"
"...It's alright."
Yu Qingzhou didn't refuse, but sighed, "It's a pity I don't have the right tools."
Li Xiao answered readily, "I'll find it for you."
"Anything is fine?" Yu Qingzhou asked.
The boy crossed his arms and nodded readily, saying, "Of course."
"What if I said—"
Yu Qingzhou stared into the boy's eyes and asked softly, word by word, "What I want is the sword at your waist. I wonder if you would be reluctant to part with it?"
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