Chapter 108
A snowman’s nose was usually a brightly colored carrot.
But Ling Miaomiao didn’t eat carrots, so finding a carrot in the kitchen became a tricky task.
Mu Sheng walked around the kitchen, bent down, lifted up a box of vegetables, and struggled to find three carrots of different shapes in the corner and put them into his arms.
As he passed the cupboard, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and glanced back, wondering.
Over the years, he had developed a habit of observing his surroundings without making a sound, subconsciously remembering the location and characteristics of things even in places of certain safety.
——There was a small iron lock hanging diagonally outside the third cabinet.
This lock was new yet familiar. He squinted his eyes and thought back for a while and concluded that Ling Miaomiao had taken it out of the drawer in their room.
If he remembered correctly, this cabinet should have been empty.
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It didn’t matter, they had been getting along like this for the past few days.
The moment he saw him, he said, “A’Sheng.” Liu Fuyi, whose nose was slightly red from the cold wind, greeted him in a good mood and was about to pat him on the shoulder when a small wooden pagoda was shoved into his hand.
The young man’s lips contained a warning smile: “Young Master Liu, keep an eye on your weapon.”
“……” Liu Fuyi looked at the Nine Mysterious Demon Restraining Pagoda in his hand and understood—— they must have reconciled and he was using him as a target again.
Being over ten years older than him, Liu Fuyi had always treated Mu Sheng as a teen. As for Ling Miaomiao, it was needless to say. He wanted to laugh, but put a sincere expression on his face: “Do not misunderstand, Miaomiao borrowed it to drive away evil spirits.”
Drive away evil spirits? There was a demon as great as him in the room, was there still any need to borrow weapons from others?
Mu Sheng’s black eyes sank; he glanced at him, and said coldly: “Well, I’m returning it for her.”
Ling Miaomiao breathed into her hands, squatting next to the snowman and shivering for a long time, almost frozen into ice, before seeing someone arrive.
At first, she only saw his boots stepping on the snow, the corner of his cloak raising a very cold wind, and carrying with it, a murderous aura. She looked up curiously to see his face.
Mu Sheng had a somber face as he approached and saw Ling Miaomiao shrunk into a tiny ball next to the snowman. The girl raised her head, her face half buried in her collar, with a pair of almond eyes open, looking at him in a bit of confusion, part ignorant and part surprised.
The heart of that nameless fire instantly flickered out. When he reached her, he returned to his soft and docile appearance.
“You’ve been gone so long?”
“Yes.” He responded vaguely, raised his hem and squatted down, offering the carrots in his hands to her like treasure, with the three carrots of different lengths lying in his palm.
Ling Miaomiao was shocked: “Why did you bring so many?”
Food in winter was scarce, and all the food they had was purchased some time ago. Just because she didn’t like carrots didn’t mean that other people didn’t eat them.
Mu Sheng paused and looked at the palm of his hand a bit helplessly: “……Then you can pick one.”
Ling Miaomiao stared at the three oddly shaped carrots, considered them, picked the longest one, and stuck it in the snowman’s face.
Miaomiao laughed out loud: “This one doesn’t look like a human, it looks like a sharp-beaked woodpecker.”
She said this then took hold of the carrot and pulled it off, replacing it with a shorter one, and laughed even harder: “This one looks like my daddy.”
She pulled it out again and replaced it with the shortest carrot, looking at it for a long time and asking in an exaggerated tone, “Ziqi, who does this look like to you?”
Mu Sheng and the funny red nosed snowman stared at each other for a long time. After staring for all that time, he didn’t come up with any ideas, blinked his eyes and wondered: “Like who?”
Ling Miaomiao’s cold fingers swept over the tip of his slightly red nose with a quick movement, like a feather, frivolously and lovingly, then hugged his neck and jumped into his arms, laughing, a soft and warm ball: “Like you.”
*
Liu Fuyi returned to the room and was overwhelmed by the concentrated incense. He hurriedly pushed open the window, turned his back on Mu Yao and laughed: “It’s best not to light this incense Miaomiao gave us, it’s quite strong.”
“……”. From behind came an ambiguous response.
“Fuyi,” Muyao called him, her voice soft, “You hide the Nine Mysterious Demon Restraining Pagoda in your sleeve every day, don’t you feel tired?”
Liu Fuyi thought her question today was so childish it was cute, so he walked over and touched her face. Mu Yao didn’t avoid it, but lowered her eyes as if she was shy, and didn’t say a word. This soft and gentle look was particularly endearing.
He had the desire to tease her: “I don’t carry it with me every day, either.” When he noticed her looking up at him, he winked and said with a deliberate smile, “When I wash, I can’ t hide it in my sleeves, can I?”
Mu Yao’s eyes looked at him brightly for a long time, and her eyes seemed to be sparkling with stars. After a hesitation, she lowered her head and pursed her lips to laugh.
*
“Ah-choo…”
“Ah-choo…”
Miaomiao patted her chest which was painfully shaken, sucked in a breath through her nose, a layer of moisture surfaced in her eyes, and she felt a dizzy and dull pain at the back of her head.
The day after she made a snowman, she caught a cold, and this time the cold was so fierce that her whole body weakened quickly, and even drinking three to four bowls of hot water a day did not help.
She was sick for the first time since coming to this world. Every cell in her body was clamoring in discomfort, and her whole body was so sluggish that she could bump into a pillar even when she walked.
The steam coming up and steaming hotly over her face. Miaomiao held the bowl and blew carefully, drinking the hot water in the bowl little by little.
From Mu Sheng’s perspective, she looked like a kitten holding a bowl with her mouth. He reached out to stroke her back.
“Ah-choo!” She was caught off guard and sneezed, her body shaking greatly. The water in the bowl splashed her face. She closed her eyes tightly, water droplets still hanging from her eyelashes, Mu Sheng was quick to snatch the bowl out of her hand.
“……” Miaomiao blew her nose and wiped the table along with her face clean with a sullen look.
“Are you feeling better?” Liu Fuyi sat beside her, his eyebrows scrunched up in worry.
It’s been a few days since we last met but you’re so sick now. It’s not even past the fifteenth, I am afraid the doctor hasn’t even begun opening their places yet.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Ling Miaomiao smiled, her eyes as red as a rabbit, her voice hoarse.
Mu Sheng looked at her appearance, his heart was in turmoil. Filling the bowl with hot water, he gently placed it in front of her. After a brief pause, turned his head towards Liu Fuyi and asked irritatedly: “What is the smell on Young Master Liu?
The strong fragrance was annoying him.
Liu Fuyi lifted his hand and sniffed his sleeve innocently: “Isn’t it the incense from Miaomiao? I also said that it was too strong.”
“……” Miaomiao’s gaze was confused, her tone of voice was soft, “Me?”
Liu Fuyi paused: “The incense you gave Yao’er……”
Miaomiao thought for a while and then murmured in a nasaly voice: “I do not believe I have given Sister Mu anything ……”
Before she finished speaking, Liu Fuyi’s smile slowly disappeared. He looked at her for a few seconds without moving, as if his soul was leaving his body, which scared Miaomiao.
A cold feeling slowly came creeping up Liu Fuyi’s back, and as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on him, he stood up quickly, striding towards his room.
“Hey, what’s wrong with Brother Liu?” Before anyone could answer her, the girl’s eyelashes lowered, seemingly growing heavier and heavier, and her body lurched, falling off the chair unawares.
“Miaomiao!”
Mu Sheng jumped over almost simultaneously and reached out to catch her. The person in his arms had her eyes tightly closed and her cheeks were unusually red.
The moment he touched her with the back of his hand, her forehead was boiling hot, and the hair at the corners of her forehead was soaked. It was as if he had touched a piece of red-hot iron.
She was already burning this high……
Mu Sheng’s fingertips were trembling, the corners of his eyes were red, he picked her up by the waist and walked back to the room.
Ling Miaomiao woke up in a daze, only to feel a splitting headache, her breath burning hot, but her body feeling cold enough to shiver. With the thick quilt on her body, it pressed on her so could hardly breathe.
She hadn’t felt this kind of dizziness in years.
There was something cool on her face, she opened her eyes and saw it was Mu Sheng’s hand.
When she moved, Mu Sheng immediately reacted, supporting her waist and helping her sit up. After having her lean against him, he brought a bowl of hot water to her mouth.
Miaomiao was dehydrated and had no strength. Just as she was about to drink the water in his hand. She was startled as she looked down into the bowl. His face was reflected in it and he looked even paler than her.
She paused, pushed away the bowl, looked back at him with amusement and pinched his face: “What’s wrong, Ziqi?”
The young man looked at her with unblinking eyes, his eyes were like jade, so black they seemed to shine: “I shouldn’t have let you play in the snow.”
Ling Miaomiao was speechless, this world’s medical science is probably not very advanced, which made him think that even a fever can kill people.
In her drowsy brain, a little bit of pity emerged.
“It’s just a cold, I’ll just bundle up and sleep a little longer.” She cleared her throat, the end of her voice was still a bit hoarse, patted him on the shoulder a few times and smiled, “Remember, I was stabbed by the illusion demon……”
Mu Sheng’s tense body slowly relaxed. He helped her lie down, supported himself over the bed and leaned down, his lips hesitating over her forehead. Finally, he left a kiss, stroked her face, and said softly, “Sleep, I’ll stay with you.”
*
The incense seal in the incense burner had finished burning and only a tiny spark could be seen.
“Yao’er?” Liu Fuyi pushed open the door and walked in quickly.
The curtains were half open, and Mu Yao was lying with her back to him, her hair hidden in the bedding.
“Yao’er, haven’t you been sleeping a little too much lately?” He slowly approached the bed and grabbed her shoulders, turning her over.
As he did so, the person’s hair, head and body separated, and a white face was facing him, with only a blood-red mouth painted on it, and the lips split its face to the roots of its ears, as if it was looking at him and laughing.
On the bed was a mannequin of a similar size to Mu Yao.
He took two steps backwards, and his body seemed to fall into a cave of ice. He thought of something and felt at his cuffs, what came out was a puppet where the Nine Mysterious Demon Restraining Pagoda was originally kept, with the same bloody mouth painted on it.
“Puppetry ……”
The room was extremely quiet for a while.
To think that he had been responsible/dilligent/confident for half his life, but he ended up being tricked by an impostor and was fooled by this little spell?
Mu Yao, Nine Mysterious Demon Restraining Pagoda, Seven Killing Formation, Duanyang, resentful banshee…… As the keywords lined up, Liu Fuyi’s face suddenly turned pale.
He stared into space, silent for a few seconds where he stood, and quickly returned to his senses. Three talisman papers in his sleeve were shaken out and lined up midair. He bit a wound on his forefinger, wrote in the air, prompting a sword made of golden light to condense in the air.
He tugged down the tent easily, using the sword to strike. As if the bed base was burnt by something, it cracked open and emitted a puff of smoke, and then the bed immediately broke in half and smashed to the ground with a bang.
The bed base was like a coffin lid. After pushing it open, the sunlight penetrated into the shadows and he immediately spotted the person underneath.
“Yao’er!” He picked up the unconscious Muyao from the floor and squatted down on the ground. He trembled and placed a finger beneath her nose, checking for signs of life and pinched the web between her thumb and forefinger.
The person in his arms frowned and mumbled: “Forma……”
After opening her eyes and seeing him, Mu Yao’s light-colored pupils filled with despair, “She came……” grabbed his sleeve, her fingers crushed the fabric, and she struggled to speak, “Fuyi…… Forma……”
Liu Fuyi held her hand in turn and looked at her steadily: “I know.”