autumn and winter
Cong Mo returned to Wuqing Mountain in the evening. She had been thinking a lot along the way, so she wasted time unconsciously.
He had just prepared dinner for the three of them and was bringing the dishes to the table when he said, "Junior sister is back, the dishes are ready."
"Sent her back? Didn't she cry?" An old man was serving rice.
"You're crying." Cong Mo took the bowl from his hand, "Master, go and have a rest."
"Okay." The old man didn't bother to be polite with her. He sat down at the table and picked up the teapot to pour tea for the three of them.
After Cong Mo finished serving the rice, he went to help Xi serve the dishes. After all the dishes were on the table, Xi came out and picked up some vegetables and meat and placed them on two small plates. "I'll take them to Xiaomao and Miaoya."
Cong Mo nodded, "Well, we'll wait for you to come back before eating."
While he was away, she hurriedly asked the old man, "Master, let's take a closer look at the books we got from the main fairy mountain tomorrow. You were injured, and the demon world can't find anything. Let's rest for two days."
"Well, go to bed early tonight. You didn't sleep last night, and you've been busy all day today. You must be very tired."
"good."
Because of various things, no one slept well last night, so after dinner, the three of them went back to their rooms.
After taking a hot shower and getting dressed, Cong Mo sat on the couch. She became more and more determined about the escape route she had prepared for herself. Amo only gave her three days, and she couldn't make more preparations. If she could find a way, that would be the best. If not, she could also provide a backup plan.
She took out the book about spiritual power and demonic energy that the old man Qingyi gave her that day from the bookcase. She memorized the formation she saw in the forest, but only today did she feel familiar with it, as if she had seen something similar before when she was flipping through this book.
Cong Mo was also feeling a little tired. She hadn't had a good rest for two days, and the burden on her shoulders made it difficult for her to open her eyes. She had no intention of reading the contents of the book carefully. She searched for the magic circle according to her memory, and soon found the same pattern near the end.
Annotations are provided below.
[The Consciousness Formation can transform demonic energy into spiritual power, allowing resentment to enter the body and manipulate the mind, transforming it into a puppet. A large amount of resentment and the bodies of a boy and girl are required as sacrifices to activate the formation. However, there is a high risk of backlash, erosion of the soul, and even demonic possession. Use with caution.]
Turning over the page, the method to crack the magic circle was printed on the back.
"really…"
Cong Mo closed the book, threw it on the ground, and created a talisman to burn it.
This matter can only be known to her.
The flame flickered, and the orange light reflected in her pupils. Because of fatigue, her eyelids pressed down, as if she was controlling the burning of the flame. The paper turned into ashes bit by bit, and the wind blowing from the window blew it up, turning it into gray snowflakes, losing all trace of its existence.
When they woke up the next day, the three of them gathered together to read books after breakfast. Qi, who didn't understand what was happening, ate snacks and read storybooks on the side, under the pretext of keeping them company. The remaining two people looked sad as they read all kinds of thick records and rebellious books. After reading for a whole morning, they really understood why these books were banned.
"My eyes are dizzy." The old man rubbed his brows. "I've been searching for a long time but haven't found anything useful. It was all in vain."
"What do you mean by sneaking around?" Yi raised his head and looked at him innocently.
"I won't tell you." The old man snatched the preserved fruit from his hand and stuffed it into his mouth. "It's so sweet."
"I haven't eaten yet!" Xi immediately jumped up and reached out to put the food into his mouth.
"Hey...I am the Master!"
"You are a scoundrel!"
While they were making a fuss, Cong Mo quickly reached out and grabbed a piece of preserved fruit and put it in his mouth.
After the two of them finished their work, they realized that half of the preserved fruit in the jar was gone. Turning around, Cong Mo's cheeks were puffed up, and his mouth was still moving. Seeing them looking at him, his mouth movements became faster, and he licked the preserved fruit crumbs off his teeth. He gave them a guilty smile and said, "I didn't eat anything."
Cang: "..."
An old man said: "..."
"By the way, I think there's a clue in this book." Cong Mo changed the subject and pushed the book in front of them. "It says it's controlled by consciousness."
"Close-fitting hypnosis? That shouldn't be possible..." The old man flipped back and forth, "With so many people, it's hard for her to sit close to them, and how can she conceal the smell of demonic energy?"
"That's right." Cong Mo took it back, threw it aside, and looked at the pile of books. "I didn't find anything."
"Alas..." The old man sighed helplessly.
After a morning of nothing.
He lay down on the grass, facing the sun, "Lie down for a while..."
Li lay down next to him, "Master, if we can't solve this problem, will we die?"
The old man shook his head, "I don't know..."
"No." Before he could finish his words, Cong Mo interrupted him and leaned against the snack box and lay down next to him. "I will live well."
"How can you make this promise?" the old man asked. "Now, I can't find anything, and I don't know what to do."
"I promise." Cong Mo took a piece of snack from the snack box and ate it. "Even if that day comes, I won't let anything happen to you."
"Trade your life for ours?"
Cong Mo stared at the sky and did not answer.
The old man did not ask any more questions. The answer to this question was too obvious and meaningless. He only cared about the present.
The existence of "if" was like bullshit to him. He closed his eyes and began to think lazily. He was wrapped in warm clothes. The cool but slightly biting wind blew on his body, causing him to shiver. Beside him were his apprentices chatting.
"If Junior Brother were here, it would be great for the four of us..."
"The weather in the human world below the mountain is changing, and it's time for crops to mature. He should eat more and gain weight."
"Junior brother, aren't you going to help harvest the wheat?"
"Um... I've never seen him work."
The old man listened to their conversation with a smile on his face. He almost wanted time to stop at this moment, but a cold dampness suddenly fell on his eyelids, interrupting his fantasy. He heard a voice filled with surprise, "It's snowing. We can build a snowman. It's a pity that my junior brother is not here. Junior sister, can you accompany me?"
"Of course, we can compete to see who can pile the biggest pile."
"I'll join in too." The old man sat up, brushed away the snowflakes that had long since melted into water from his eyelids, opened his eyes and looked at the two of them, "I'm definitely better than you."
"How could that be? I'm really amazing! It turns out that when you were asleep, in winter, the entire Wuqing Mountain was covered with snowmen made by me and my junior brother."
The old man teased him, "Why don't you go practice and be lazy and make snowmen?"
"Who said that? We tried our best." Li curled his lips. "It's just... at that time, only my junior brother and I were awake at Wuqing Mountain. You were not here. Yanhuo and Muxue went into seclusion to practice when winter came. Black Cat and Miaoya don't like the cold either. It was too lonely for the two of us. We would be scared at night. Building a snowman is like having more people to keep us company. It's all because you... weren't here."
The last sentence was tinged with tears, and he lowered his head, unwilling to look at them awkwardly.
"I was wrong. I won't fall asleep again." The old man realized that his joke had gone wrong. He grabbed Li's arm and hugged him, patting his back gently. "Cong Mo and I will always be here, and so will Leng Can."
Then he raised his eyebrows towards Cong Mo, "Cong Mo, come here and comfort me."
Cong Mo moved towards them, and just as he was about to raise his hand, he retracted it because he thought of something, and quickly dropped it. He only said, "Brother, don't cry."
"I didn't cry." Yu rubbed his eyes and gently pushed the old man away. "If everything is settled, will Junior Brother come back?"
"If he wants, Wuqing Mountain welcomes him anytime."
"Yeah." Cong Mo also said, "Even if he can't cultivate the ruthless way."
At this moment, Leng Can was just as Cong Mo said, staying at home, gnawing on chicken wings and fighting crickets. His father and mother went to the fields to watch over the harvest, and the other went to the shop to watch over the business. His two younger brothers also went to school. In the huge yard, he was the only one left, with chicken bones piled on the paper in front of him and crickets fighting in the box.
"What are Xiaomo and the others doing now?" Leng Can turned over, and the cricket fight was no longer interesting. "It's already this late, why hasn't mom come back yet? Why are my two younger brothers studying so hard..."
Speak of the devil, and here he comes. As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of children quarreling came from the yard, and soon they ran to his yard.
"Brother!" The skinny boy pointed at the fat boy. "Today, the teacher told me an anecdote, and I clearly gave the right answer. The teacher also praised me, but he insisted on arguing with me and said I got it wrong."
"Bah!" The little fat man bumped into him, "You just answered wrong."
"Then why don't you expose me in class and argue with me after school?"
"I was just worried that you'd lose face!"
"I'm not afraid!"
Leng Can's head hurt from their quarrel. He didn't know what he was thinking just now. He actually wanted them to come back quickly. "Stop, stop, stop..."
He went up to separate them, "Put down the books. Whoever brings mom back first is right, okay? Just say I'm hungry, and I feel embarrassed to eat first without them coming back."
As soon as the two kids' eyes met, they didn't even have time to say a word before they ran out and disappeared without a trace.
"Tsk... stinky kid!" Leng Can curled his lips and continued to tease his cricket.
————
By noon, the snow on Wuqing Mountain had piled up to their ankles. The three of them put on thick clothes and gloves, and started to make snowmen in an open area of Wuqing Mountain. At first, they were able to make snowmen of various shapes and sizes seriously, but after the old man Qingyi slipped and accidentally stepped on the snowball that Xi had worked so hard to make, they started a snowball fight. Cong Mo silently hugged his head and hid from the battlefield. He was not paying attention to his feet and accidentally crushed the three cat snowmen side by side created by the old man Qingyi, turning them into snow cakes. The snowball in his hand also flew up and happened to hit Xi's head, knocking him to the ground in the snow.
Cong Mo patted his butt and stood up, pointing at the snow cake on the ground, "I didn't mean to do that."
An old man said: "..."
With his face covered in snow, he said: "..."
The three of them were in a mess, and no one would give in. In the end, all the snowmen were destroyed, and the three of them sat on the ground gasping for breath.
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