Free Web Novel...The copper coin was lodged perfectly between the stone bricks.
Silence fell over the Wind-Catching Hall.
"Oh dear, there's nothing to be done. It seems this is Heavenly Dao's will."
Li Mo slapped his thigh and sighed helplessly, "To actually be chosen for this... I guess I have to go."
Pojun frowned as he looked at Li Mo. He hadn't expected him to be chosen, so he could only look at the others beside him:
"Do any of you have objections?"
Everyone exchanged glances, and Dong Changtian was the first to speak:
"Alas, since things have come to this, we can only offer our meager assistance."
Pojun brightened, but then heard Dong Changtian say:
"Bring everything out."
Executioners carried over a large box filled with various items: carefully prepared dry rations, stirrups, fine wine, and even a meticulously crafted urn...
"Little Brother Li, go with peace of mind."
"Wuwuwu..."
"When you return alive, we'll go climb trees and dig for bird eggs together..."
Everyone tearfully bid farewell to Little Brother Li.
"What are you all getting so emotional about? Do you want me to come back or not?!"
Li Mo's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Looking at that box of items, he felt like it would be impolite for him to return alive.
"Alright, stop bickering amongst yourselves."
Pojun rubbed his forehead. They said the people of Mo City were united and fearless of death.
Now it seemed, Mortals were Mortals after all; fundamentally, there was no difference.
He walked to the door and said impatiently, "Report to me tomorrow when the sun is high."
...The bright moon hung high.
On a late evening at the end of the year, light snow began to fall. After leaving the Wind-Catching Hall, everyone, hearing that Li Mo was leaving early tomorrow, suggested going to his house for a hotpot.
Li Mo also had some things he needed to tell them, so he agreed to their request for a meal.
After all, who knew when he would return from this trip. Old-timers like Dong Changtian and Qi Tiezhu were already old. Though they seemed energetic now, without breaking the boundary between Heaven and man, the decline of Qi and blood was a swift matter.
"Hey, that candy shop is gone?"
"That was Wang Mazi's shop, opened after he returned from Earth City. Many people used to queue up back then. The first time I ever tasted candy was when Little Brother Li bought it for me."
"Now it's a shop selling roasted goods, run by Wang Mazi's grandson."
Walking through this ever-changing land with a group of old men, listening to them reminisce about the past, Li Mo realized there was another 'Little Brother Li' in their stories.
Perhaps someone with the same surname as him?
He had asked the old village chief for his name before, but Dong Changtian would always wave his hand, saying the old village chief didn't want to be remembered after he was gone.
But it was clear they had a very close bond.
"Why is that river gone? The fields are gone too..."
Dong Changtian had excitedly suggested catching some fish for the hotpot.
But when Li Mo took him to the place from his memories, he found that the river and the fields had become a brand-new, bustling street, full of people coming and going.
"Now, water is drawn using the waterwheels outside the city, which Little Brother Li created. Who still carries water?" Dong Ge Yu said, shaking his head.
"It's changed so much..." Dong Changtian suddenly seemed a little dejected.
"Everything is changing for the better, and it will only get better in the future."
Li Mo smiled, casually picked up a stick from the ground, and waved it a couple of times:
"I've written down all the upcoming plans. You just handle things as they come. The future will only get better."
"It should get better and better, good."
Dong Changtian nodded, then smacked his lips: "Little Brother Li, the stick you picked up is really straight."
"Then you can play with it."
"Hmph, I'm an old man. If this stick wasn't so straight, I wouldn't be interested."
Everyone laughed. In the end, they didn't catch any fish, dig up any bird eggs, or unearth any potatoes. They could only buy vegetables from the market and go home.
They say that when things change and people are gone, everything is over.
But conversely, when things change but people remain, it is still the same beautiful time.
However, while other places had changed, one place remained the same.
The blacksmith shop where Li Mo was first born.
This shop had been preserved by Dong Changtian and the others in its original state; nothing had been touched.
After moving back, Little Brother Li Jianhao would occasionally indulge in his hobbies, such as blacksmithing, working from sunrise to sunset.
Ying Bing accompanied him, day after day, year after year, peacefully.
This place seemed untouched by the passage of time.
Everyone used to wonder how an ordinary blacksmith and a Celestial Being, whose very existence made even the Heavenly Clan deeply apprehensive, could possibly be related. Yet, they had lived together for so long without any sense of incongruity.
How could he do it?
But later, they gradually understood.
Little Brother Li possessed a brilliance that could only be discovered over many years, growing brighter with time.
Squeak—
The heavy wooden door opened, and upon entering, the aroma of hotpot, carried by the light snow, wafted in.
"I'm back."
"Mm, we can prepare to eat now."
Ying Bing's dark hair was tied into a braid, resting on her shoulder, and she wore a plain, washed indigo dress.
Her vermillion lips were stained with a touch of red. She might have just tasted the hotpot base. Although the base was left by Li Mo, and she only heated it up, she was still a bit unsure about her own cooking skills...Seeing the group enter, Ying Bing nodded, inviting them in.
When she saw Li Mo rub his hands and reach for the peanuts, her chopsticks lightly tapped his hand.
"Wash your hands first."
"Oh..."
Little Brother Li sheepishly went to the water cylinder.
At this moment, Dong Changtian, Qi Tiezhu, and the others, despite having been here countless times, still felt a strong sense of unreality.
Who could have imagined that the person before them was an existence who, by her own power, ended the last Heavenly Disaster and transcended into sainthood?
Every time they saw her like this, it was hard not to wonder if the world had gone mad.
"You all need to wash yours too."
"Oh, oh."
After she gave them a look, the group of old men became as prim as children who had misbehaved, lining up at the water cylinder.
Subsequently, everyone took their seats. There were four benches; Li Mo and Ying Bing sat on one, and the others squeezed onto the remaining three.
The snow was falling heavier now. Everyone ate hotpot and drank a little wine, feeling quite content.
Li Mo took a sip of wine and sighed, "I hope you're all still hale and hearty when I return. Don't let me go to Otherworld to fight and be fine, only for you to have already {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} passed on."
"That won't happen."
"I might be gone for two or three years, of course, in the worst-case scenario..."
Before Li Mo could finish, his instep was lightly stepped on.
Ying Bing frowned at him: "You say 'Bah, bah, bah'."
..."Bah, bah, bah."
"Little Brother Li, you don't actually have to spit that hard. I haven't eaten any vegetables yet."
Qi Tiezhu looked troubled.
Dong Changtian waved his hand: "Alright, let's not talk about unhappy things. Next time we meet, we'll give you a big red envelope, as a wedding gift." freewebnøvel.coɱ
Li Mo was startled: "A wedding gift for what?"
"For getting married."
"Right, right, right. If everyone is doing well next time we meet, you should really get things done."
...
"Or, you can consummate the marriage first and have the wedding later, that works too."
