Grudge Breaker

Chapter 203: Fire and White Hair
"what is this?"

Huang Meiyun remained calm and did not reveal that she was not Song Weichen, simply because she was also curious about when such a thing grew in the tree.

"This is a moth that lives in the Netherworld. It's called the Ghost-faced Whitehead. After death, it will gradually turn into a cocoon. The objects around it will also be automatically wrapped in the cocoon. Although the cocoon shell is thin, it can withstand fire, rain, knives, and axes. Only when it is placed in the open air and allowed to feel the power of thunder, can it be broken and the object inside be obtained. Therefore, there are many people in the Netherworld who use it to store valuables."

"But the ghost-faced white-headed man can only survive in the icy land and never leave the dark sleeping world. Why did he appear here?"

Mo Tingfeng explained carefully, but Song Weichen was distracted. She kept looking at the cracked acacia tree, with a myriad of emotions in her eyes. It turned out to be that thing...

Huang Meiyun already knew what the "precious thing" Mo Tingfeng was talking about.
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At that time, she and Huzi were still young children, and the two families were very close. She was betrothed as soon as she was born - Huang Hu was only four years older than her, but she was instilled with the concept of being nice to Huang Meiyun by adults since she was a child.

This "command" that was engraved in him since childhood has almost become his life creed. Huang Hu always puts Huang Meiyun first and always leaves the best for her. On weekdays, except when they go home at dark, the two of them are almost always together.

When Huang Meiyun was nine years old, one day she and her husband were catching small fish and shrimps in the shallow water of Mianhu Lake. Suddenly, a plump, unfamiliar-looking middle-aged man ran out from the shore, panting, chasing a large, snow-white moth.

When the moth flew near the two of them, it suddenly stopped moving and fell straight into the water. Huang Hu waded over and picked it up. The moth was not dead yet, still struggling with its wings flapping, so he held the moth and walked back to the shore to find the uncle to hand it back to him.

The uncle just shook his head, panting, and said that since they touched it first, it was theirs.

He said that this moth is called "white-headed moth", which means living together till old age, and the person who gets it will have a happy marriage. Moreover, this moth will recognize the first person who touches it as its owner, and even if it dies, as long as the owner's important things are buried with it, it will protect the owner forever.

After all, the two little ones were still children, and they didn't know how precious it was to have a lasting love. They just thought the moth was beautiful and took it home to raise. Unfortunately, it died within half a month. The two of them decided to dig a hole at the root of the acacia tree that had just been planted in the yard of Huang Meiyun's house and put the moth in it.

Just as he was about to bury the body, Huang Hu remembered what the wealthy old man had said, and he untied his hair and cut off a strand with the knife he carried with him.

"Brother Hu, what are you doing?"

"Yun'er, you should cut a strand too. Didn't uncle say that if you bury something important with it, it will be protected? The opera said that hair is the thread of love that is hard to break, and what I want most is for us to be together forever."

Huang Meiyun was still in love at that time, so she didn't react much when she heard this. She just imitated Huang Hu and cut off a strand of hair. He then found a red thread and asked her to braid the two strands of hair into a heart-shaped knot, and then buried it together with the white-headed moth.

Unexpectedly, as the tree grew, the moth wrapped itself in its cocoon and grew into the trunk...
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Huang Meiyun was just about to tell Mo Tingfeng what was inside the cocoon when suddenly there was another thunder. The cocoon cracked open at the sound of thunder, and the red rope-woven hair knot inside came out. Mo Tingfeng was just about to take it out when there was a loud commotion outside the yard.

"Wildfire! Wildfire is coming! Put out the fire! Put out the fire!!"

Mo Tingfeng was shocked. Didn't the fire in the village happen after Huang Hu went to the southern border? How did it happen earlier? Could it be that everything here has changed because of Song Weichen's actions?

There was no time to think about it, the fire had to be put out! If Huangjia Village became a ruin, even if Luanpo Huanghu came back, he would have nowhere to go. Then Song Weichen's original intention of entering the illusion, that precious desire to help others, would be in vain.

Huang Meiyun was a little dazed when she heard the fire. The night decades ago was still fresh in her mind. The fire quickly devoured the houses in the village. The old, young, women and children were crying. The only remaining men were responsible for putting out the fire, while the young women lined up in a line passing buckets to fetch water from Mianhu Lake. They worked all night but it was just a drop in the bucket.

She subconsciously covered her belly. If she hadn't miscarried that night, her and Huang Hu's child would probably be old enough to have grandchildren...

Huang Meiyun was immersed in the memories of the past. Mo Tingfeng called her several times but she did not respond. He thought she was stunned because of the sudden fire.

He originally wanted to leave her alone in the yard while he went to put out the fire, but it was not safe to separate them, and the timing of the thunder that started the fire was also very strange. It was not the dry season, and there was still enough moisture in the woods and meadows, so it should not have caught fire - but the huge smell of smoke coming from the direction of the woods was enough to show how terrible the fire was!
There was no time to lose. Mo Tingfeng wrapped the hair knot in the cocoon into cotton cloth and stuffed it into his lapel. He stepped forward, grabbed "Song Weichen's" hand and went to put out the fire together.

On the way, Huang Meiyun tried to tell Mo Tingfeng several times that she was not Song Weichen, but she couldn't say it in the end. She also had her own selfish motives. She was also hoping that if she could put out the wildfire with everyone else, would the subsequent disasters not happen? Would her and Huang Hu's child... be saved?

The two soon arrived at the junction of the north of the village and the meadow and woods. At this time, most of the young and middle-aged people in the village had gathered there. Uncle Liu, the village chief with difficulty walking, was leaning on a crutch and directing everyone to dig the soil desperately on the meadow near the village, as if trying to dig a ditch.

Although the lightning-struck fire was in the dense forest, it was quickly swept towards Huangjia Village due to the strong north wind. It had already burned through most of the meadow and would soon approach the village! It was clearly late at night, but the entire sky seemed to be at sunset, and the fire in Huang Meiyun's eyes was burning.

"Meiyun, Huzi, you are here! Quick, dig the canal!"

When Uncle Liu saw them, he pointed at a row of hoes placed in the corner and called out to them.

Huang Meiyun didn't understand why they wanted to dig a canal.
But seeing that everyone seemed to have a clear purpose, and were doing everything in an extremely urgent yet orderly manner, she took two hoes from the wall without saying a word and joined in. Since Mo Tingfeng had a rope tied to her hand, she also dragged him to join the canal digging team.

Another team of young men lined up to fetch water from Mian Lake and quickly poured the water into the dug ditch in order to increase the humidity inside the ditch.

The excavated soil was carried by a group of young boys in bamboo strips to the five houses in the north of the village closest to the fire. They then mixed the soil with water and mud and smeared it on the wall near the north.

Huang Meiyun watched as she dug, and was secretly surprised. How come everyone not only seemed to know that there would be such a natural disaster, but also made full preparations and plans for the fire in advance? Could it be that the little girl did something...?
Thinking of this, her heart felt warmer and she worked harder.

If Mo Tingfeng paid a little attention, he would be able to notice the clues of Huang Meiyun's skillful technique of turning the soil and digging the canal, but he was too busy to care at the moment.

Although he seemed to be digging the soil, he was actually concentrating all his attention on casting spells to contain the fire. However, the power of nature was beyond human power, and everyone had their own expertise. Therefore, even Mo Tingfeng, the strongest fighter in the world of sleep, could only slow down and reduce the speed of the fire, but could not extinguish it.

...Unless he is the Dragon King himself, the Lord of the Four Seas.
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The fire eventually reached the dug ditch - this was one of the "fire prevention skills" that "Huang Meiyun" had repeatedly instilled in the village chief Liu Dabo, euphemistically called a "firebreak", but I don't know if it works. Everyone retreated to the base of the wall of the houses in the north of the village, their hearts hanging in their throats. Sure enough, the flames "stopped" the moment they touched the ditch. A wall of fire was blazing, with a bloody mouth that seemed to devour the village, but it was helplessly isolated outside the ditch and could not get in. Everyone was overjoyed! If the current state can be maintained and no accidents occur, the fire will definitely be stopped!

Just as everyone was rejoicing, the north wind suddenly became stronger, and a ball of fire leaped from above to the junction of the outer wall and the eaves of a house in the north, spreading to the surroundings.

The fire was controlled downwards because the lower edge of the wall was covered with a lot of wet mud beforehand and did not burn. This was the second fire prevention skill of "Huang Meiyun", euphemistically called a "firewall", and it was indeed useful.

However, the flames did not follow the rules. The remaining part had already reached the roof in the blink of an eye and spread rapidly!
"Put out the fire! Put out the fire with all your strength! Control the fire and don't let it spread to other rooms! Children, leave and young people, come forward!" Uncle Liu shouted until he was hoarse.

Fortunately, every household had two large water jars in the yard, so it was an advantage for a group of people to focus on putting out the fire in one house. The men were responsible for putting out the fire, while the women were still responsible for lining up to get water from Mianhu Lake. Although the wind almost hit another house, fortunately, the fire was finally suppressed without any danger.

But Mo Tingfeng had no time to take care of this side. He was concentrating on using magic to suppress the flames on the other side of the ditch to prevent the flames from "going astray" and entering the village again.

The fire in the village was finally put out and Uncle Liu breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, the north wind was gradually dying down, and the flames outside the ditch were also weakening, but after all, there were hidden dangers if the fire was not completely extinguished, so we quickly organized everyone to go back and put out the fire with all our strength.

Finally, at dawn, the wildfire was successfully put out and Huangjia Village was saved!

The old people clapped their hands in celebration, while the children and young people cheered and laughed. Everyone's face and body were covered with black marks from smoke and fire, and their hair was greasy and shiny, but they could not hide the joy in their eyes.

Uncle Liu was tossed up and caught by a group of people for a long time. After he was finally put down, he was old and his legs and feet were not convenient. He almost fell to the ground and was supported by a group of young people with a smile.

With his dizzy head in his hand, he looked everywhere for "Huang Meiyun" to thank her. If she hadn't repeatedly warned him, taught him how to build a "firebreak" and a "firewall", and told everyone tirelessly how to deal with a wildfire, Huangjia Village would have been doomed last night!
"Huzi, where's Meiyun?"

Uncle Liu saw Mo Tingfeng squeezing in the crowd.

Mo Tingfeng's magic power was greatly consumed overnight, and he really needed to practice to make up for it. Besides, it was not suitable to cast magic in the crowd at this moment, so he just relied on his naked eyes to find her in the crowd of people celebrating, and followed the rope in his hand to find her - but the person on the other end of the rope seemed to be deliberately avoiding him, dodging left and right in the crowd. He finally caught her, but it was not Huang Meiyun, but tied to the arm of a boy of about twelve or thirteen years old.

Mo Tingfeng was startled and pulled the boy, "Where is Meiyun?"

Seeing Mo Tingfeng coming, the boy smiled and untied the rope on his hand, "Brother Hu, Sister Yun asked me to play a game of catching people with you. Before you catch me, I will try to avoid you. If you catch me, you win, but I can ask her for the reward."

"Where is she?!" Veins bulged on Mo Tingfeng's forehead.

The boy looked around, scratching his head in confusion, "She was here just now... Did she hide away because she didn't want to give me the reward?"

Mo Tingfeng untied the rope in a few seconds and squeezed out of the crowd. Something must have happened, something that he didn't realize!
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He ran towards his yard, but after a few steps he suddenly felt something was wrong behind him. He turned around and looked at the villagers who were still celebrating on the meadow in the north of the village. They were clearly laughing with their mouths open, but he could not hear any sound!
When I was distracted again, everything there seemed to be seen through ripples, spreading out in circles, and the crowd gradually became unreal.

I smelled the scent of burning fire in my nose again, and this time it came from the village!

Mo Tingfeng felt a great sense of uneasiness. To be honest, Song Weichen had hardly spoken to him since arriving at the fire scene. This was very abnormal considering her personality. Could it be that...she was no longer herself? !

Without caring about anything else, he turned around and rushed towards the village! Before he reached Huang Meiyun's courtyard, he saw the flames rising into the sky - the acacia tree in the courtyard was on fire!
It was already bright outside, and there were clearly people walking around in the village, but they showed no reaction to the fire. It was as if it was an illusion that only Mo Tingfeng could see.

The scorching wind had already touched his cheeks, the smell of wood fire was getting stronger, and the crackling sound entangled his eardrums - but as soon as he entered the courtyard, everything changed. Except for the acacia tree that was still burning, the surrounding houses, walls and even the entire Huangjia Village had disappeared!

There was only an endless expanse of frozen snow, with shocking pools of frost-red blood ice. Under the snow, piles of iron-gray armor, chariot wheels, broken flags... and body parts were faintly visible.

He finally saw her.

But Mo Tingfeng hesitated, he didn't dare to recognize him.

"Song Weichen" stood with his back to him, facing the burning acacia tree, and his clothes were completely different from before.

It was no longer the coarse cloth skirt that Mo Tingfeng bought for her in town, but a thin skirt of blood-red gauze with a very long tail, like a red carpet stretching out on the snow. She wore a pair of red embroidered shoes on her feet, and her long hair was half tied and half loose, fluttering in the falling snow and wind.

"slight……"

Mo Tingfeng called out softly. That figure had been engraved in his heart for thousands of years, and it was impossible for him to mistakenly recognize the person.

But "Song Weichen" had no reaction to this. She just repeated something and slowly walked towards the burning tree, as if she was going to walk into the fire.

Mo Tingfeng finally heard it clearly. The voice seemed to come from nowhere. What she said was -

"Brother Tiger, I'm here..."