"Little one, what’s your na?"
The woman in the white dress stood outside the courtyard, her hands behind her back, smiling at the little boy who was gathering dried fish.
Xiao Mo gazed at the woman in white, an indescribable emotion stirring in his heart.
’For ,’ he thought, ’this second life has passed in the blink of an eye.’
But for Bai Ruxue...
...it had been a three-thousand-year wait.
"I... My na is Xiao Mo..." Xiao Mo said slowly. "Xiao, as in desolate, and Mo, as in ink. The village chief gave the na."
Hearing the little boy say his na, Bai Ruxue’s eyes trembled slightly, and beneath her long sleeves, her small hands couldn’t help but clench.
But she quickly regained her composure. "Xiao Mo, huh? That’s a very nice na."
"Thank you for the complint, Big Sister. Is there sothing you need?"
"Oh, it’s nothing much," Bai Ruxue said, shaking her head. "It’s just that I was passing by and got a little thirsty. Could I trouble you for a drink of water?"
"Of course. Please wait a mont, Big Sister."
Xiao Mo, acting just like a helpful little boy, hurried back into the house. He drew a bowl of water from the cistern and carefully carried it to Bai Ruxue. "Here’s so water, Sister."
"Mhm, thank you, little brother." Bai Ruxue took the clay bowl and sipped the clear water.
After she finished, Bai Ruxue handed the bowl back to Xiao Mo. "Little brother, may I co in and sit for a while? I’ve walked for a very, very long ti and haven’t had a place to rest."
"Of course, Sister."
Xiao Mo opened the wicker gate and let Bai Ruxue into the yard.
"Please, sit wherever you’d like, Sister. You must be tired after walking so far. I’ll go get you sothing to eat."
Xiao Mo ran into the kitchen again and brought out the dry sesa cakes that Aunt Niu had given him the day before yesterday.
’In truth, a few suspicions were already forming in Xiao Mo’s mind.’
’It’s highly likely that the Three Lives Array allowed Ruxue to know I had been reincarnated, and even to pinpoint my location.’
’Otherwise, how could Ruxue have so coincidentally co to this fishing village and found so precisely?’
’And why would a Demon Emperor of the Immortal Realm ask a little boy for a drink of water?’
"Sister, these cakes were made by Aunt Niu. They’re very good."
Xiao Mo held up the sesa cakes, which were still wrapped in oil paper.
"Thank you, little brother." Bai Ruxue didn’t refuse. She took the sesa cakes from the boy’s hands, broke one in half, and handed a piece back to him. "I can’t eat this much. Let’s share."
"Mhm."
Xiao Mo sat down beside Bai Ruxue. The two of them, one big and one small, ate the dry cakes with cool water.
"Little brother Xiao Mo, do you live here all by yourself?" Bai Ruxue asked, looking gently at the little boy beside her.
"Yes, Sister." Xiao Mo nodded.
"Then what about your parents?" Bai Ruxue asked again.
"My parents passed away..." Xiao Mo lowered his head. "When I was five, my mom and dad went out to sea to fish, but they ran into a tsunami..."
"Oh, little brother, I’m sorry... I made you rember sothing unpleasant..." Bai Ruxue’s voice was filled with deep apology.
"It’s okay, Big Sister." Xiao Mo raised his head and shook it, looking very strong. "Aunt Niu and Uncle Xiao are both very good to , and the village chief cares about a lot too. Sotis I help the aunts and uncles with chores, and they pay . It’s enough to support myself."
"I see." Bai Ruxue reached out and ruffled the little one’s hair, a trace of heartache showing in her eyes.
"What about you, Big Sister? Where are you from? And where are you going?" Xiao Mo changed the subject, asking curiously.
"...?"
Bai Ruxue held the dry cake in her hands and looked up at the vast, azure sky.
"I co from a place very, very far away. As for where I’m going... I don’t know either. For all these years, I’ve just been looking for soone."
Xiao Mo’s eyes flickered, but he quickly suppressed the emotion in his heart and asked with childlike innocence, "Is that person very important to you, Sister?"
"Mhm." Bai Ruxue nodded without the slightest hesitation. "Very, very important. More important than my own life, you know~"
Xiao Mo tilted his head. "Then, Sister, did you... did you find him?"
Bai Ruxue turned her head and looked at Xiao Mo gently, her eyes curving into crescents. She reached out a delicate finger and lightly tapped his nose. "What do you think...?"
Xiao Mo: "..."
"I’m full."
Bai Ruxue finished her cake and stood up. She laced her fingers, raised her arms above her head, and stretched on her tiptoes. The white dress clung to the undulating curves of her figure.
"Little brother, I think this place is quite nice. And I’ve been looking for a place to rest my feet recently. Since you live alone, could I... could I maybe stay with you for a while?"
Bai Ruxue asked Xiao Mo.
Within her pair of peach-blossom eyes was a plea that was hard to refuse.
"Huh? You want to live with , Big Sister?" Xiao Mo said, surprised.
"Is that not okay?" Bai Ruxue’s eyes flickered with a hint of disappointnt. "I’m very capable, you know. I can do laundry, I can cook, and with here, the two of us can catch lots and lots of fish."
"Well..." Xiao Mo’s eyes darted about, a hint of hesitation on his face.
Bai Ruxue smoothed her dress, crouched down, and said in a pitiful tone, "Little brother, I really have nowhere else to go. You can’t take in, really? Could you bear to see living on the streets?"
"Well... all right, then..."
After hesitating and wrestling with the decision for a good while, Xiao Mo seed to reluctantly agree.
"Since you’ve put it that way, Sister, you can stay here. But my ho is very rundown. I hope you don’t mind."
"I won’t mind at all. I’m just happy that you agreed, little brother." Bai Ruxue reached out and patted Xiao Mo’s head again. "From now on, you can call Sister Bai. And I’ll call you Xiao Mo. You’d better not find annoying in the future, okay?"
"I won’t," Xiao Mo said, shaking his head very seriously.
"Hehehe..."
Bai Ruxue let out a light, pleasant laugh. Her voice was clear, like the sound of a conch shell being blown.
"Xiao Mo, you gave water to drink, sothing to eat, and even a place to stay. Of course, I have to give you sothing in return."
Bai Ruxue lowered her head, tucked back a strand of silvery-white hair, and untied the red string around her neck with both hands. She gently pulled the pendant out from the high, undulating collar of her dress.
Bai Ruxue opened Xiao Mo’s palm and placed the pendant inside.
The pendant still carried a faint warmth from her body.
"Xiao Mo, this Snake Scale Pendant is for you.
You must take good care of it.
Don’t you dare lose it, okay?~"
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