Chapter 99 City of Mist (13)

“Shengsheng, be good, drink water.”

Mu Sheng turned back, silently watching Ling Miaomiao carrying a cage and holding a long, slender piece of dog tail grass, preoccupied with teasing the birds.

He looked at her raptly, listening to her crisp call of “Shengsheng,” a complicated expression on his face. It was unclear whether it was from pleasure or jealousy.

The bird in the cage dipped its head and drank water at her behest, seemingly reluctant in accepting the fact that it was being kept.

When the bird entered their door, Ling Miao Miao declared she wanted to give it a name. After thinking for a while, she nodded at the cage and said very happily, “Lets just call it Shengsheng.”

Mu Sheng was suddenly stunned in place, staring at the bird in the cage in amazement: “Why are you calling it Sheng……” he paused for a moment, unable to spit out the two repeated words. His eyelashes fluttered and an unusual faint flush of red appeared on his face.

Ling Miao Miao turned her face to look at him, deliberately looking for a long time, almond eyes shining, seemingly silently stifling her laughter. But there was still a serious look on her face: “Because you caught it, and it always makes sounds; it’s noisy.”

He was speechless but could only accept it, and was very unhappy to find that after Ling Miaomiao had the bird, all her attention was poured onto it, and the share that belonged to him…… was also lessened by a lot.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Tkp tygl qlzz sd vbl rynkdt ckae, nsdvykdkdt y vaynl sq nsze bspvkzkvu, cwv obyv nyxl swv olal nyzx osaep: “Ebld okzz usw aykpl kv wdvkz?”

“Bdvkz prakdt.” Nkdt Ykysxkys zssjle yv kv okvb kdvlalpv yde pyke nypwyzzu, “Ebld vbl olyvbla kp oyax, ol nyd plv kv qall.”

“Yx.” Tl calyvble y pzktbv pktb sq alzklq yde zssjle yv vbl ckae okvb y xwnb psqvla tygl.

Mbl qkapv pdsoqyzz sq okdvla pvsrrle clqsal kv nshlale vbl caydnblp, yde yqvla vbl pdso xlzvle, vbl vlxrlayvwal vwadle nszela cu vbl eyu, yde lhld vbl qst vbyv nshlale vbl Ewqydt vsod nyaakle y nbkzz vbyv rldlvayvle vs vbl xyaaso sq vbl csdlp. Gde sdnl sdl zlqv vblka assx, vbl nsze yka oswze cwaaso kdvs sdl’p dlnj.

Ebld rlsrzl bye ds kxrsavydv cwpkdlpp, vblu pvyule kd vblka bsxlp yde eke dsv ts swv, vbl eyup olal prldv hlau kezu.

Rd qynv, vbkp oyp rascyczu vbl xspv kezl rlakse sq vkxl vbyv Nkdt Ykysxkys byp prldv pkdnl pbl fskdle vbl rasvytsdkpv taswr.

Mblu nswze dsv vyjl vbl kdkvkyvkhl. Ysal sqvld vbyd dsv, vblu oykvle qsa vbl aycckv, fwpv yp Yyeyx Fbk bkdvle, ryvkldvzu oykvkdt qsa vbl ckt elxsd vs qkdyzzu alvwad vs Ewqydt vsod, oykvkdt qsa bla vs jdsnj sd vblka essa.

Rd vbl rasnlpp sq oykvkdt, vblal oyp dsvbkdt vs es. Nkdt Ykysxkys qlzv y qllzkdt sq alvkalxldv—— vbl saktkdyz oasvl vbyv Nkw Wwuk yde Yw Zys lhldvwyzzu alvwadle byde kd byde vs vbl alvwadle bsxl, bye vos psdp yde y eywtbvla. Fbl vbswtbv vs blaplzq vbyv vbkp oyp rascyczu vbl jkde sq zkql vblu zkhle.

As they entered winter, the small animals loved to hibernate, and Ling Miaomiao became more and more sleepy. But the black lotus seemed to be completely undisturbed, always waking her up when she was drowsy.

In the early morning, the sky was covered in white, the windows were covered with cold frost, exactly the coldest time of the day.

There was a crisp white plum cold fragrance; the fragrance inside the tent was especially heavy; it was the smell of Mu Sheng’s clothes.

The tightly wrapped quilt lifted off Ling Miaomiao’s bare arms raised a layer of goosebumps. She shivered, backhandedly picked up the quilt, wanting to cover up, but he moved himself over her.

“Cold.” Miao Miao looked at his face, her voice still had the charming manner which came from not being fully awake.

“Mmm.” He squeezed her waist and kissed her delicate neck, leaving kisses which felt like ice shards interspersed within a fluffy shaved ice, occasionally nibbling, and carefully leaving traces on her. A red flush rose at the corners of his eyes due to his restraint, “Very soon…… it won’t be cold.”

His tone was very soft, almost like a deceptive promise.

“……” Ling Miaomiao wanted to turn over and throw him off. She did not succeed. After some struggle, she ended up with a back covered in sweat.

The blood vessels on her neck suddenly throbbed under the feel of his sharp teeth, like walking the knife-edge for the thrill of it. Miaomiao instinctively shrank back: “Are you a puppy?” Gently pushing his face away, she quickly pulled up her collar, smiling at him: “even biting people.”

“Chirp!” “Kiki!” The hanging bird cage swayed from side to side, and she glanced at it in astonishment. The bird was fluttering its wings and jumping up and down inside, dropping a few feathers. She was so surprised that she couldn’t hold back her laughter, which shook her body: “See, Sheng Sheng is laughing at you. Hurry and get up.”

Mu Sheng grabbed her and didn’t let go. He ran his hand through the string of beads hanging from the canopy and pulled a bead off, without raising his face, he flicked it over with a “whoosh”.

There was a thump, followed by a screech from the bird and instantly, there was no more sound. Ling Miao Miao was startled, stretching her neck out to take a closer look, the beads merely hit the bottom of the cage and bounced out again. It was only a finger’s breadth away, and the bird shrank into a corner, hiding its head in its wings, shivering, and turning itself into a ball of feathers.

“……” Miao Miao did not know whether it’d be appropriate to laugh, “Why’d you hit it?”

Very quickly, her face was forcibly wrenched back so she was facing his dark eyes, his eyelashes half closed, and his tone slightly cool: “What are you looking at it for?”

His fingers skillfully undid her collar and he dipped down, listening to the girl’s humming, kissing her earlobe. Then he repeated, as if gently flirting, “Don’t look at it, look at me.”

“Fwoosh—— bang!”

“Fwoosh—— bang bang!”

On the night of New Year’s Eve, fireworks were in full bloom over Wufang Town, with the display of fireworks and lanterns, the whole sky was filled with light, sparks, and smoke.

The window was half-open, Ling Miaomiao stuck her head out the window, entranced by the sight. Her cuffs were pulled up to her elbows, her white, flour-covered hands supporting her, bursts of bright light reflected on her fair cheeks.

“Miao Miao, don’t look at it.” Liu Fuyi reminded while rolling out the noodles, “hurry and get back to work.”

Mu Yao was close to him, received the dumpling skin, carefully picked a chopstickful of filling and put it on the wrapper, glanced at Miaomiao who was reluctantly closing the window with her elbow. In a low voice, she told him, “Let her watch, I’ll wrap them.”

Liu Fuyi drew close to her ear and smiled softly, “I’m afraid she’ll get a cold.”

Mu Yao placed the dumplings in the bamboo basket and bowed her head without saying anything, her cheeks reddening.

Miao Miao slowly walked back to the divine couple and raised her eyes to survey them: the dashing Liu Fuyi was now wearing a comical apron that didn’t quite fit, rolling out dough, and the iceberg goddess Mu Yao was nestled next to him, her hands covered in flour, carefully peeling apart two pieces of dumpling wrappers that were stuck together, her pretty hands as hideous as chicken claws.

Miao Miao couldn’t help but laugh.

Before, she could never imagine how these two people lived their lives, but only today did she understand that everyone in the world really lived in such an extraordinary and ordinary way.

Miaomiao leaned against the table, wrapping the dumplings very slowly, only pressing the edges lightly once, pinching them into flat semicircles, unable to stand upright in the basket. She supported them for a while, but they still collapsed.

Liu Fuyi watched her struggling through the whole process, shook his head and sighed: “Miaomiao, that won’t do.”

Ling Miao Miao took a deep breath, looked at the plate of dumplings in front of Mu Yao that were also falling left and right. Just as she wanted to give a retort……

Liu Fuyi pointed with a smile at Mu Yao’s hand that also shook like a chicken claw. Completely serious, he told her: “Look at how well Yao’er is wrapping it.”

Ling Miaomiao: “……”

Coincidentally, Mu Sheng came back from his outing. In a flash, Ling Miaomiao jumped to her feet and shouted, “Ziqi!”

Mu Sheng was called into the kitchen and stood beside her. Liu Fuyi glanced at him, stared at the basket again, and laughed: “Give up, A’Sheng has always told the truth.”

Ling Miaomiao pulled the black lotus to the sink and replied without looking back, “Who’s telling him to tell the truth.”

She pointed to the basin, her eyes shining brightly, and said briskly, “Wash your hands.”

The young man looked at her and obediently washed his hands. Then he was pulled by Ling Miaomiao and brought to the kneading board, his hand was quickly filled with a dumpling wrapper and a pair of chopsticks, “Here, come and wrap one.”

“……” He blinked his long, fine eyelashes and looked back at Ling Miaomiao. His lips moved, a faint flush of red slowly emerged on his face to her surprise, “I……don’t quite know how to.”

Mu Sheng with his many years of experience in taking care of his sister, was almost a life all-rounder, from building houses to catching demons, down to fetching water and cooking, there was almost nothing he didn’t know. After spending all this time with him, Ling Miaomiao almost thought he was omnipotent.

But he couldn’t even wrap dumplings.

“It’s not his fault.” Mu Yao answered, glanced at Mu Sheng, and quickly wiped the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand, “Our family…… doesn’t really eat dumplings.”

They didn’t even really celebrate New Year. They had such a big family, frenetic and assiduous, but also cold and unsympathetic, with hardly the slightest hint of mundane bustle.

“We only had them once.” She thought out loud, “That was when Rong……”

She suddenly stopped her mouth, looking gloomy and shook her head.

Ling Miao Miao was stuck behind Mu Sheng. She peeked out from his side with difficulty, her left hand holding the back of his hand, right hand half holding his other hand, guiding him over to pick up a ball of dumpling filling from the basin, placing it on the skin: “This is to put in the filling.”

Liu Fuyi looked amused: “Miaomiao, you only know a little, and yet you still teach others?”

Ling Miaomiao coughed, ignoring Brother Liu’s teasing. She let go of Mu Sheng’s hand and gestured with her hand, “Seal it, it’ll be done after you seal it.”

Mu Sheng slowly folded the dumpling skin in half.

“Yes, yes, yes, seal it.” Ling Miao Miao looked at his hand with bated breath.

He pinched the edge firmly, with a gurgling sound, the dumpling filling leaked out from the back and fell down, Ling Miaomiao nimbly reached out to quickly catch it, holding the fallen dumpling filling. By then she was laughing uncontrollably, her elbow resting on the kneading board, and squatting down.

Mu Sheng was originally a little nervous, but as he saw her unusually happy appearance……

……Then, it wouldn’t hurt to incorrectly wrap a few more.

After Ling Miaomiao finished laughing, she supported herself on the kneading board and stood up. Very smugly, she said to Liu Fuyi: “There’s finally someone who does it worse than me.”

Mu Sheng lowered his eyelashes, grabbed her clothes, pulled her to his side, and suddenly saw a small amount of flour smeared on the side of her face.

The tip of his nose drew close to her face, paused for a moment, and moved to the side.

Ling Miaomiao was used to being kissed by him, so she did not dodge. But who knew that though he looked as if he would give her a kiss, he would instead lick her cheek.

With this, Ling Miaomiao jolted in shock and turned back to look at him dumbfounded, almond eyes flooded with water.

“There’s flour.” The young man innocently wiped his mouth.

Miao Miao was surprised: “Raw flour……”

“Hm.”

“Can you eat it?”

Miao Miao saw his calm face, somewhat doubtful of her perception of common sense, she thought for a long time, and then tilted her head, foolishly asking, “Is it delicious?”

Mu Sheng’s dark eyes looked at her, looking unusually focused, and a slightly dangerous smile emerged from the bottom of his eyes, “Sweet.”

His overly sweet, poppy-like expression lasted only two seconds, and before he could stop her, Ling Miaomiao had already dipped a finger into the flour on the counter and put it into her mouth suspiciously.

Mu Sheng opened his mouth and failed to say anything.

Ling Miao Miao: “Yuck!”

“Liar!”

The table was filled with stacks of plates. They were soon all laid out. There were braised pork shoulders, steamed bass…… some of the vegetables they cooked themselves. Their appearance naturally could not compare to that of a restaurant’s, but to make all this, took the protagonist group an entire day, and when they finally ended up putting the food on the table, there was a particular sense of accomplishment.

A pot of hot wine filled her cup, Ling Miaomiao took a small mouthful, the hot and spicy taste burned through her chest, going to her head, and causing tears to well up in her eyes.

After coming to this world, it was the first time she had a sense of home.

“Don’t drink too much.” Mu Sheng saw her eyes tearfully looking at the table, not speaking. After hesitating, he snatched the cup and stuck some vegetables into her mouth, “Fill your stomach a little.”

“A’sheng…… don’t be so nervous.” Liu Fuyi smiled and waved his hand, evidently a little drunk, completely ignoring Mu Sheng’s displeased gaze, full of excitement, “It’s a happy day today, it’s okay to get drunk. Come Miaomiao, Brother Liu offers you a toast.”

Ling Miaomiao happily clinked cups with Liu Fuyi, turned over and took the initiative to also clink glasses with the cup Mu Sheng had in his hand before drinking.

The cup in the young man’s hand rang and some of the liquor spilled out. and his expression shifted slightly. It was as if someone had sharply struck a gong, and the little bit of jealousy that had built up was instantly dissipated.

He slowly rubbed the wine spilled on his fingers over his lips.

“Brother Liu, what were you like as a child?” Ling Miaomiao propped herself up on the table and asked him.

She was genuinely curious, the leading man who appeared like a divine figure seemed as if he hadn’t had a childhood.

“When I was a child?” Liu Fuyi seemed to hear something interesting, a smile bloomed on his lips and he glanced back at Mu Yao beside him, “There’s no harm in telling you.”

“I’m not like Yao’er, who grew up in a family of demon catchers. I was born in the streets, and my family wasn’t very well off.” He laughed, “When I was young, I spent my days climbing trees and pulling out bird’s nests, hiding and not going to school, and following an idle Taoist priest to learn how to draw talismans, leaving my father chasing after me, holding a stick, and trying to hit me.”

Ling Miaomiao listened in amazement.

“Of course, my old man couldn’t hit me.” Liu Fuyi laughed, showing a rare teenager-like smug and boastful look, “Because I could climb up the trees.”

Even Mu Yao couldn’t help but laugh, covering her mouth with the back of her hand and turning her head to the side, “Get to the point.”

“Then the idle Taoist became my master, he began to formally teach me to draw talismans, but I was only able to draw them for a few years before he died. Before he died, he gave me a pagoda and let me go off on my own.” He fiddled with the Nine Mysterious Demon Restraining Pagoda in his arms, smacking his lips, “and then things became what you see now.”

He took advantage of the fact that everyone hadn’t reacted yet and tapped the edge of his plate excitedly with his chopsticks: “Yao’er, what about you?”

The author has something to say: Miao: Peh peh peh peh! I’m afraid Ziqi is a fool.

Sheng: ……What to do if I mess up while messing with my girlfriend QAQ

Liu 【drunk: I’ve gone up the tree~ Dad, you can’t catch me~ hehehe~

Mu Yao 【facepalm: D*mn, why is this person so careless about maintaining their character……