Don't mess with that Miao boy, he's sickly and perverted.

The clan chief was taken aback: "Isn't this the medicine man he brought back before? He's still alive?"

He had assumed that Wu Li had already used it to feed the Gu worms, or that it had become food for the tomb bats.

The high priest glanced at the shaman, who was slumped on the ground, still shaken, then looked up at the girl tightly bound by black tentacles, and sneered: "Like a moth to a flame, overestimating herself. Since she chose to die, consider yourself lucky."

The malevolent energy seemed to have sensed this; this was the final step in its devouring process. Once it had completely drained the living creature, it could devour the boy's soul and become the true master of this body.

The tentacles tumbled and rolled wildly in a frenzy, while the ones wrapped around Chai Xiaomi tightened their grip.

Her neck was being strangled so tightly she was almost suffocating. Her face turned bright red, and she was forced to open her mouth to gasp for breath, but air could not enter her compressed trachea.

As her consciousness faded, in a daze, she seemed to see that small, dirty, lonely figure...

The malevolent energy will mimic the evil spirits that died at its hands.

At this moment, it is imitating a tree spirit.

It will use the tip of one of its tentacles to burrow into the girl's mouth, draining all her life from the inside, turning her into a withered human skin.

"Millet--!"

Jiang Zhiyu and Song Yueyao screamed at the same time.

Song Yueyao's crescent blade was already drawn, its cold light gleaming in her hand. She gritted her teeth, preparing to leap over and cut off the tentacle.

However, just as she took a step forward, a swaying bird feather blocked her way.

It was the white cat's whisk.

"Ji Fangshi! Why are you stopping me?!" Song Yueyao's voice trembled with anxiety. "This monster isn't Wu Li at all! If this continues, Xiao Mi will die!"

The white cat didn't look at her.

Those amber cat eyes were fixed on the scene in front of them, the pupils narrowed into two thin slits, the whisk still held steadily horizontally, showing no intention of backing down.

"I trust Xiao Mi."

Its voice was old, and something trembled in its cat eyes.

"More trustworthy..."

"That brat."

With the whisk held horizontally in front of him, the white cat's gaze pierced through the fierce black wind and landed on the boy.

A scene from my memory suddenly surfaced—

That was half a month ago, on the ship.

The sea was shrouded in mist, and he was teaching Wu Li the incantation for drawing qi into his body.

The boy sat cross-legged at the bow of the boat, listening absentmindedly, his eyes constantly glancing towards the stern.

A little girl, about seven or eight years old, was squatting at the stern, crying. She was the ship's helmsman's daughter, and she was wiping away tears because her beloved doll had fallen into the sea.

White Cat: "Draw your Qi to your Dantian, focus your mind on the Xuan Guan (a point on the back of the head), are you even listening?"

"I heard you." Wu Li responded lazily, then suddenly raised his hand, a thin wisp of killing intent condensing at his fingertips, hooking onto the tattered rag doll floating on the river, and gently pulling it.

The doll landed steadily in the little girl's arms.

The little girl was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter through her tears.

The white cat, seeing this, said with great satisfaction, "Oh, not bad, not bad at all, you even know how to care for the young."

"Tch, why should I care about that brat?"

The boy scoffed coldly, his voice indifferent: "I just pity that ugly rag doll."

"If it were to sink to the bottom of the sea, it would probably never be retrieved or remembered for all eternity."

.......

black.

Endless darkness.

The tiny child, as small and thin as a tattered rag doll, lay submerged in the deep sea, enveloped by the icy water.

So he swam.

Upstream.

I don't know how long I swam or how far I swam.

He gradually lost his sense of direction, unsure whether he was going up or down. All around him was endless darkness, and he couldn't find the surface of the sea. It seemed that swimming in any direction was wrong.

Suddenly, a distant voice rang out from the darkness.

"Li Li".

The boy's childish voice was filled with utter wariness: "Who are you?"

"I am your wife, the one who loves you the most."

"......wife?"

"Yeah, you stinky Lili, you promised to take me to eat all the delicious food in the world, are you going to renege on your promise?"

"When did I ever agree to that?"

"Hehe, you haven't said yes yet, but you will in the future."

The voice paused, then suddenly became very soft and gentle.

"Little Lili, how old are you now? Five or six?"

"My sister told me not to drink the water from the stinky ditch anymore. That water smells awful, doesn't it? I'll teach you a trick. You can pick a lotus leaf and collect dew or rainwater. That way you can drink clean water."

Did the bad guys burn down your little haystack where you used to sleep? Don't be sad! We can find a big, sturdy tree and build a treehouse to shelter you from the wind and rain. Remember to hang a sign with your self-portrait outside the treehouse so it's yours!

When the sun is shining, you can pick some flowers to put indoors. They'll smell wonderful, look beautiful, and brighten your mood. Daisies are plentiful in the mountains; they're the easiest to grow. Just water them and give them some sunlight, and they'll thrive.

"By the way, do you know the meaning of daisies?"

The voice asked softly and answered softly.

"It is a love hidden deep in my heart."

A silence.

There was only endless blackness and an endless sea.

Then the voice rang out again, softer than before, yet more resolute:

I know you're going through a tough time right now, and it's painful for you.

"But wait for me, just a little longer, okay?"

I will rush to your side.

"I will no longer leave you alone."

......

A thin, small figure searches aimlessly in the deep sea.

"Don't go...where are you?"

There was no reply.

Something warm flowed out of those innocent, clear heterochromatic eyes and melted into the cold seawater.

He knew it was just a fleeting dream.

The happiest dream he'd ever had since he was born.

When you wake up from the dream, nothing is left.

He slowly closed his eyes.

Tell yourself that no one will salvage a tattered rag doll.

Just when he thought everything would fall silent and his soul would eventually perish—

"Li Li".

The familiar voice pierced through the endless deep sea, surging into his ears like a tide.

"Look up, you see, the sun has already risen."

He suddenly opened his eyes.

In the pitch-black sea, amidst the shimmering ripples, there is a round, sparkling point of light.

He found the sea!

Finally, I no longer have to wander aimlessly.

In order to find that sound, he swam desperately toward the sea and toward the beam of light.

The moment the water broke through the surface—

The dark aura in the boy's eyes suddenly dissipated.

The malevolent energy that had materialized into tentacles instantly turned into a cloud of black mist, which disappeared in a moment when a gust of wind blew by.

The malevolent energy dissipated.

The monster, who had gone mad with rage, had vanished.

Tears welled up in Chai Xiaomi's eyes and finally spilled out.

She met those heterochromatic eyes, a blend of deep purple and amber, which were no longer those of a cold killing machine, but rather shimmered with a gentle, watery light, as if she had finally awakened from a long nightmare.

He looked at her.

Then, she smiled and curled her eyes.

That was her familiar, languid smile.

Wu Li opened his arms.

The tentacles wrapped around her suddenly turned into nothingness and black smoke. She fell from mid-air like a ray of light, finally plunging into the long-awaited darkness.

She was gently pulled into his arms.

The two embraced tightly.

She felt him trembling, like a drowning person finally grabbing onto a piece of driftwood, like a lost child finally finding their way home. She didn't say anything, just put her arms around his back and gently patted him, one pat at a time.

It's like comforting someone who's had a nightmare for a very long time.

"That stinky Lili, she left without telling anyone."

She buried her face even deeper, her voice muffled and trembling with tears: "I'm going to punish you. You have to eat all the delicious food in the world with me from now on."

A very soft, nasal reply came from above:

"it is good."

I promise you.

original.

A dream left behind from a childhood night—it wasn't a dream...