I don’t know what kind of ink Wei Yun used, but Xie Tao washed her face several times and still had a bit of a mark left.
If you looked closely under the light, you could still make out the outline of a pig.
Xie Tao stared at herself in the mirror, so angry that she messed up the hair bun Wei Bo had combed for her.
After changing out of that set of clothes and redoing her hair into a ponytail, Xie Tao went out to the vegetable market to buy groceries.
Today was another day she was cooking dinner for Old Xi and Xie Lan.
After buying the groceries, Xie Tao stood by the roadside, and then everything around her began to gradually blur.
She stepped on the bluestone road, walking up the stairs in front of the small tavern.
“Here you are.” Old Xi was sitting at a square table, drinking wine warmed on a brazier.
The fragrance of the wine came out with the steam, smelling a bit like rice, and even mixed with some other indescribable scents.
Strangely fragrant.
“Uncle Xi, where’s Xie Lan?”
Xie Tao looked around and didn’t see Xie Lan.
“He went out to deliver takeout,” Old Xi said with a smile while drinking.
“Deliver takeout?” Xie Tao didn’t understand and put the bag of vegetables on the table, sitting opposite Old Xi. “What takeout?”
“Some people who have done bad things here before, if they offend again, we need to give them a warning.”
Old Xi put the wine cup on the table and explained.
“I see.”
So this was what he meant by “delivering takeout.”
Xie Tao gave a dry laugh.
Through the hazy smoke coming out of the wine jug, Old Xi looked at Xie Tao for a long time, then suddenly called her, “Tao Tao.”
“Hmm?” Xie Tao poured herself a glass of water and took a sip.
“Why do you like that person from another world?”
Old Xi’s question was so sudden that the water Xie Tao had just drunk almost sprayed out, and she choked on it, coughing for a while, even her eyes became a bit moist.
She looked at Old Xi, speechless for a long time.
“Tao Tao, the distance between him and you spans two different times and spaces. Have you ever thought about how difficult this gap is to cross?”
Old Xi’s expression became very complex, as if he was looking at her, yet also examining his own reflection in her eyes.
“…I know.”
Xie Tao lowered her eyelids, taking a while before she spoke.
“But Uncle Xi, difficult doesn’t mean impossible, does it?” Xie Tao looked up at him, as if reminded of Wei Yun, she suddenly smiled, bending her eyebrows, “I have already met him, and I want to see him every day from now on…”
Human nature always harbors greed.
This is something unavoidable for everyone.
Before, she was content with just meeting him, even if it was just once.
But now that they’ve met, six hours seemed so fleeting.
“You young people…” Old Xi laughed, shaking his head.
He could tell that the girl in front of him truly liked that young master from another world.
But what separated them was not as simple as just two different timespaces.
Yet at this moment, Old Xi chose not to say more.
He simply said, “When you go there, you must not do anything that might change history, otherwise, the consequences will be unbearable for you.”
Xie Tao nodded quickly, “I understand, Uncle Xi.”
“You, with so many boys in this world, why must you like someone from another timespace?” Old Xi sighed softly.
Like Xie Lan.
Old Xi thought this naughty boy was also good-looking, but just a bit lacking in the brain.
That was something unavoidable.
“Wait, who did you say Tao Tao likes?!”
As soon as Old Xi finished speaking, Xie Lan’s loud voice came from the door.
Xie Tao was startled by his sudden voice and turned to see him walking over briskly, wearing a thin shirt and torn jeans.
“Ah, you’re back?” Old Xi tried to ease the awkwardness with a smile.
But Xie Lan didn’t want to change the subject, “Hurry up! Tell me, who does Tao Tao like?”
“…”
Old Xi silently took a sip of his drink.
“You’re so young, and you’re already in puppy love?! How can you be in puppy love? Were you deceived? There are many scammers out there nowadays, targeting naive… oh no, I mean, innocent girls like you. You must not be fooled!”
He said a lot, but Xie Tao only caught one main point—he called her “naive.”
She elbowed Xie Lan in the waist.
“You’re the naive one!”
Xie Lan grabbed her ponytail, intending to say something, but suddenly stared at her face for a long time.
Xie Tao felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze and stepped back.
“What have you painted on your face, Tao Tao?” Xie Lan pointed at her face and asked.
Xie Tao widened her eyes, feeling stiff all over.
…She had been found out.
Xie Lan raised his finger, traced the faint contours on her face in the air for a moment, then suddenly realized, “It’s a pig…”
“…,” Xie Tao was speechless.
“What are you randomly painting on your own face?” Xie Lan suddenly expressed disdain.
While he was expressing disdain towards Xie Tao, the old Xie across from them was also thoroughly disdainful of his thought process.
See?
This is the typical mindset of a single man who is left to his own devices.
He really doesn’t understand the hobbies of young couples.
“Alright, Xie Lan, it’s time for you to teach Tao Tao some martial arts,” Old Xie timely stopped the conversation.
“I’m not in the mood until I figure out whether Tao Tao has a crush or not,” Xie Lan’s attitude towards this matter was very firm.
“I’m an adult now… it’s not a crush,” Xie Tao softly retorted.
This time Xie Lan hit the nail on the head, “So you indeed have a crush, right?!”
“… I already said it’s not a crush,” Xie Tao didn’t feel like talking to him anymore.
“So who are you dating?!” Xie Lan felt he must clarify this matter today.
Old Xi adjusted his expression and said, “Alright, Xie Lan, let’s focus on the main task for now.”
Xie Lan could always tell when Old Xi was joking and when he was serious. This time, he smirked and reluctantly extended his palm.
A red string wrapped in gold thread appeared out of nowhere in the palm of his hand.
He handed the loop of red thread to Xie Tao and said, “Here, from now on, this will be yours.”
As he finished speaking, another loop of red thread appeared in his other hand.
Xie Tao took the loop of red thread, handling it somewhat cautiously.
“Come on, brother Lan will teach you how to create a bridge.” Xie Lan said, as he connected the ends of the red thread and deftly formed the shape of a bridge with his fingers.
In that instant, Xie Tao saw golden threads shimmering on it, streaming out inch by inch, forming the shape of a bridge in mid-air.
“What’s the use of this?” Xie Tao looked at the golden streams in the air and asked.
“It looks nice,” Xie Lan said matter-of-factly.
“Uh…”
Xie Tao found herself unable to retort for a moment.
In reality, the main purpose of this red thread was to control people.
So, if one wanted to control a person, they had to quickly simulate the form of that person with the red thread. Then the golden threads could stream into the person’s body, controlling their actions.
But this wasn’t the most commonly used technique.
Because the red thread had its own spirit, to control it, one had to play with it.
And the way to play with it… was to flip the thread.
Once a connection was established with the red thread, it could become the source of all your spiritual power, helping you to use other techniques.
So, this red thread generally wasn’t shown easily.
Xie Lan thought he had practiced enough to show off in front of Xie Tao, but when it came time for him to check Xie Tao’s progress, he found out she could do more tricks than him?!
Xie Lan slammed the table in anger and glared at Old Xi, “Actually, this thing was prepared for her from the beginning, right?!”
Otherwise, why would a grown man need to activate a spiritual weapon with a flipping rope?!
Old Xi shrugged.
Obviously, that was the truth.
This spiritual weapon was originally prepared for Xie Tao when Old Xi was still trapped in the bottle. Who would have known that later Xie Tao would lose him?
In the end, it was this clueless teenager who opened the bottle.
But there was no other way.
When Xie Tao returned, she tied the red thread around her wrist.
After finishing her evening routine, Xie Tao lay in bed, set up her phone stand on the bedside table, and opened a video call on WeChat.
When Wei Yun’s figure appeared on the screen of her phone, Xie Tao pointed at her own face and accused him, “Wei Yun, look! I can’t wash it off!”
At that moment, Wei Yun had just finished showering, his long hair still wet.
He held a book and sat on the bed, watching the girl in the screen move closer to her face.
Sure enough, under the light, there was still a trace of paleness on her fair cheeks.
He heard her annoyed voice, “I have to go to school tomorrow… It’s all your fault.”
“It will disappear by tomorrow, don’t worry,” his voice carried a faint smile.
Xie Tao looked up, “Really?”
“Yeah,” Wei Yun nodded.
Xie Tao carefully examined his face and suddenly burst into laughter, “Hahaha, you haven’t washed it off from your face either, hahaha!!”
“…”
Wei Yun’s smile froze for a moment.
He remembered he had to attend court early the next morning.
If those in the court, both civil and military, were to see the marks on his face… Wei Yun couldn’t help but rub his brow.
“Xie Tao.”
Wei Yun suddenly called her name.
Xie Tao coughed and dared not laugh again.
“Anyway, with you by my side, if they see it, they see it…” She covered herself with the blanket, picked up her phone, looked at him on the screen, and whispered again.
Her voice was soft, gently reaching his ears.
Xie Tao suddenly placed the phone on the bedside table stand and showed him the red thread wrapped around her wrist.
“Wei Yun, look, this is the talisman Uncle Xie gave me today!”
She said, then took off the red thread, wrapped herself in the blanket, sat on the bed, and flipped the rope in front of the phone screen.
She flipped it into the shape of a goldfish, and then the golden thread scattered and gathered in the air to form the shape of a goldfish, even swimming.
“Is it fun, Wei Yun?” She asked him eagerly.
Wei Yun didn’t quite understand the significance of this technique, so he frowned slightly.
“The significance of this technique is?”
Xie Tao, imitating Xie Lan, said confidently, “It looks good!”
“…”
Wei Yun pulled his lips slightly without speaking.
Xie Tao continued to change various shapes with enthusiasm. Finally, she flipped out a flower with the red rope.
Then the golden light scattered, forming a gradually blooming flower in the air.
Xie Tao smiled at him again, “This one is for you!”
The flower formed by the gathering golden light in the air bloomed petal by petal, while the smiling face of the girl in the light screen was even more captivating than the flower.
It’s the same old routine of giving flowers.
Wei Yun chuckled softly.
Xie Tao heard his laughter, not knowing what was going on, and her cheeks inexplicably turned red.
Just as she was about to say something, his figure on the phone screen suddenly disappeared, replaced by a call from Xie Lan.
Xie Tao was stunned for a moment.
Then she quickly reached out and picked up the phone, sliding down the answer button.
After the call connected, before Xie Tao could speak, she heard Xie Lan yelling on the other end:
“Tao Tao, you’re actually in an online relationship?!”
