novelhk Page 187
Page 187
"Mommy, Little Lucky Butterfly... is so pretty," the girl with pigtails said happily.
"I'm glad my little one likes it," the one-armed mother replied gently, one of her sleeves tied in a knot halfway down, leaving it hanging empty.
Then, the little girl, who was about five or six years old, carefully held the sugar butterfly, stood up on tiptoe, and first put it into her mother's mouth.
"Mother, is it sweet?" Her voice was sweet as honey.
The mother, in her thirties, looked tired but had gentle eyes. She chewed slowly, her eyes slightly red, and nodded vigorously: "Sweet! The sweetest thing my daughter gave me."
"Lick it slowly, it'll be sweet for a long time." With her only hand, she pushed the sugar butterfly to her daughter's lips, a simple, warm smile spreading across her face. She whispered to her daughter, and also to herself:
"May the God of Flying Light bless you, my little girl. Once we reach the earth and see your father, life will be much better. I'll buy you lots and lots of these beautiful sugar figurines."
The little girl licked the sugar butterfly, looked up, and asked with longing, "Mommy, is Daddy really waiting for us? Is there... really a sun on the ground?"
"Yes, yes!" The mother's voice trembled slightly with excitement. She knelt down and hugged her daughter tightly with her only hand. "Your father is waiting for us in the mining village above ground!"
"His injury should be healed enough to get out of bed... We'll go find him after the temple fair ends and we get our wages."
"Then, we'll rent a bright little house under the sun, and have your dad build you a swing by the door..."
The little girl's eyes lit up: "I want to go to school! Dad says that girls who can read will have a bright future!"
“Yes, my little one is going to school, secretly,” the mother said with a smile, tears welling in her eyes. “When summer comes, we’ll go to the river and let your father go in and catch fish for you. The river water is so clear and bright; the sun shines on it, making it so dazzling you can’t open your eyes. It’s much warmer than here on the ground…”
"That's so nice..." Tifa leaned against Lip, a rare smile on her face, and awkwardly grabbed the boy's hand from beneath her.
She's already starting to imagine what names she should give her future daughter...
The two strategists hidden in the shadows—Hetifa Bahamut and Nyotengu—remained silent.
Just then, "Clang clang clang—!" The sound of gongs and drums was extremely penetrating, instantly attracting everyone's attention.
The crowd began to surge toward the makeshift stage.
"Listen, little one! The play has started!" The little girl's mother's face lit up with joy, her empty sleeve swaying gently with her excitement. The weariness on her face seemed to vanish with the deafening drums and gongs, replaced by pure joy. "Come on! Mother will take you to see the play! Let's soak up some of the god's good fortune, and our luck will truly come!"
She hurriedly said goodbye to the old woman, carefully picked up her daughter, and walked briskly into the crowd surging towards the stage. Her figure was quickly swallowed up by the lively crowd.
Li Pu lowered his eyes and remained silent...
Chapter 202 Where the Lights Are Dim
"Won't you go to see a play together?" Tifa tilted her head and smiled, gently leaning closer, her warm breath brushing against Lip's ear.
"After all, I am also a 'Flying Light' chosen one. In the Eastern Continent, she is called the Flying Light Goddess, right? I really want to hear the stories of the previous chosen ones."
As she spoke, she unconsciously rubbed her soft belly against the boy's arm, like a cat seeking warmth.
She was unaware of the oppression and corruption in Dongzhou.
In Tifa's view, since the slave laborers would soon regain their freedom and receive a silver severance payment, there was certainly no need for her to "uphold justice."
Although she was greedy for money, she did keep it because she was eyeing that little bit of silver—even a fly is still meat.
She plans to break away from Emma's agency as soon as she returns to Earth.
After all, how can I possibly steal their little cabbage when I'm being watched and managed by those two old ladies, Chunli and Emma, every day?
Ever since Chunli revealed that she actually liked the little pervert that night, she has been hesitant and conflicted.
But after going through so much, she finally understood:
This little slut always acts like a wronged little wife, bullying her without any restraint.
Is it really considered revenge to just make a "hand-whipped lemon tea" once?
She's going to marry him! Spend his money without a second thought! Have his child! Then, while spending his money, she'll beat up his child! That's the cruelest revenge!
This isn't about proving how great I am, but about letting this little brat know clearly that she, Tifa, will definitely get her revenge with interest for the humiliation she suffered!
That's real backbone!!!
At this moment, she regarded this divine drama as an indispensable "movie theater segment" in their date.
I've gone to such lengths to accompany him to see a "movie," in the dark... surely he should take advantage of the atmosphere and say something to me, right?
When you wanted to drag me to the temple fair while I was taking a shower, didn't you just mean you had something to tell me?
Thinking of this, her ears felt slightly hot, and she subconsciously moved closer to Li Pu's side.
It's a pity that the audience seating under the stage is open-air... It would be better if it were darker and quieter like a real movie theater.
But what if... what if he keeps refusing to say anything...
I'll just... I'll just say it myself!
Faced with Jerusalem's unfamiliar yet gentle advances, Lip's Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.
The girl's faint body fragrance, mixed with the fresh scent of soapberry, was gently wafting into his nostrils.
Although he was "soaked" in the same body scent because Tifa acted as a "human" showerhead and soap while taking a bath, Tifa's scent was still unusually strong.
In response to Tifa's suggestion, he glanced at the female tengu beside him.
"Just keep exploring the temple fair, and whatever you want or are curious about will naturally be revealed."
He received the same answer as before, and at one point he even suspected that he had a broken record next to him...
He had no interest in the play anymore; the mother and daughter's conversations about sunshine and river water were echoing repeatedly in his mind like a tide.
She turned her head away from that alluring gaze. "Let's go look somewhere else, Tifa."
Tifa, who had already been "Tifidad-ized", was stunned, her cheeks flushing red.
Is this... skipping the "watching the movie" segment altogether?
Just then, a familiar little figure, like a chick sneaking out of its coop, crouched down and emerged from the bustling crowd below the stage.
It was the little girl I'd seen before!
She stood on tiptoe, her two pigtails bobbing with each movement, her big, round eyes darting around alertly, while she clutched the glittering sugar butterfly tightly in her arms.
Li Pu raised an eyebrow and looked at the small figure.
At this moment, apart from the stage, the temple fair was still bustling with activity.
Lion dances, stilt walking, dragon dances, and fish lanterns—laborers from all over the world brought their respective hometown customs for the Lunar New Year and other festivals.
Many people even carried various lanterns, their lights creating a warm glow in the night.
This mischievous little girl probably found the babbling opera too boring.
But getting separated from your mother in this crowded place is not a good thing.
at this time--
[Zzz... Detected... &%#@~... Region perception anomaly... Abnormal entity behavior, divine interface resonance...]
A sharp, static-like crackling, like an old radio suddenly switching frequencies, exploded in his mind without warning. The already unstable information system interface flickered violently, its fragmented information stream mixed with a large amount of gibberish.
[Warning: wM0nNcknxPg豐_bZ%...『？？？』Factor concentration exceeds limit...]
Error #00400: Abnormal attraction field strength...
The jumbled characters flashed wildly, finally settling on a line of blood-red warning text:
[Divine attraction confirmed... This area is a source of abnormal attraction... Behavioral anomaly]
Li Pu frowned.
He was babbling on and on, what was he saying?
can't read.
"That child is..."
Tifa, however, immediately recognized the small figure that had sneaked out from the crowd.
The kind-hearted and gentle Tifa immediately put aside her date when she saw the little girl separated from her mother.
In Li Pu's eyes, he clearly noticed that whenever the little girl briefly appeared in his field of vision through the gaps in the surging crowd at the temple fair, the chaotic noise and garbled code in his mind would suddenly intensify!
Once might be a coincidence, but twice, three times... that's definitely not an accident!
Abnormal entity...abnormal behavior?
Something's wrong! There must be something on this child that's intensely interfering with, or rather... attracting, something!
"Go!" Without further hesitation, he gripped Tifa's wrist tightly, pushed through the crowd, and hurried after the direction in which the little girl had disappeared.
……
After passing through the noisy dragon dance troupe and layers of lanterns and shadows, the two finally spotted the small figure by a secluded arched bridge far from the stage.
The bridge railings were covered with lanterns and trinkets of all kinds, casting a warm yellow glow in the night and stretching the little girl's lonely shadow long.
Lipra and Tifa quietly crouched in the shade of a willow tree not far away; the little girl was really strange.
“This child…we have to take her back to her mother…” Tifa said in a low voice, looking at the little girl with concern.
Li Pu turned around and made a shushing gesture, his gaze fixed on the little girl on the bridge.
Just then, the evening breeze carried the child's tender voice, trembling with tears:
"Sister, Mother and the adults are becoming increasingly strange..."
"Grandma Sugar Man, and Mother... I can't even remember that Father is dead."
"My little girl... I guess this is the last time she'll see you..."
The little girl whispered to the empty bridge railing, still clutching the melting sugar butterfly tightly in her hand.
A gentle breeze carrying flower petals swept across the bridgehead, and a soft, melodious voice echoed in the air: "Don't be afraid, everything will be alright."
Li Pu's pupils suddenly contracted—Alice's phantom appeared before the little girl, her familiar translucent figure now shimmering under the lantern light.
The silent and composed female tengu phantom suddenly trembled.
Wait a minute... how could this little girl...?
Chapter 203 Alice's Sudden Appearance
The little girl looked up at Alice's illusory figure, her face still wet with tears, and sobbed uncontrollably. Her thin shoulders trembled slightly in the night wind.
The female tengu and Black Tifa both frowned and fell silent.
“Don’t be sad,” Alice’s fingertips gently stroked the girl’s hair. “Your persistent longing has been answered.” She suddenly looked up, her gaze piercing through the dim light, landing precisely on the deep shade of the willow trees where Lip and Tifa were hiding.
Although he didn't understand why Alice was there, Lip still got up and walked towards the center of the bridge. Tifa followed closely behind him.
“Look,” Alice whispered to the little girl, “the hero who will save everyone has arrived.”
"Alice, how are you now?" Li Pu didn't hear her words, but just frowned and asked with concern.
After all, it was because she couldn't keep up with the rapid pace of her own leveling up that the beautiful "sugar daddy" Alice suddenly fell into an abnormal state.
Alice silently stood up upon hearing this, raised an eyebrow and glanced at him, responding with a mischievous grin:
"I never expected that the rough man who tormented me to the point of spasms last night would now be acting all considerate?"
She deliberately dragged out the last syllable, her eyes slightly upturned, her fingertips gently twirling a strand of hair: "Back then, some people were really reckless... Not only did they not come to my rescue, but they also made me stick out my tongue and roll my eyes~"
Li Pu: "..."
Alice was telling the truth, but that was after Li Pu had caused an abnormal disruption to the divine interface.
Her chosen one really wore her out, making her convulse and have a massive flood in bed...
She could clearly perceive Li Pu's every move at that time, and the disorder of her divinity caused Li Pu's every move to make her feel like she was in heaven or death, just like a human-shaped "Purple Mood"!
Even so, she had to cover her mouth so as not to disturb Chun-Li and Emma, making it seem like she was having an affair with him from afar.
For a goddess to go to such lengths is really beneath her dignity...
Tifa's eyes widened suddenly upon hearing this, her gaze sweeping back and forth between the two of them.
Rough? Exhausted? And sticking out his tongue and rolling his eyes?
Why do I feel like I'm being cuckolded?
She immediately gripped Li Pu's arm tightly, her nails digging unconsciously into his skin. She looked up at him, her lips pressed pale, her breathing becoming noticeably rapid.
Li Pu felt a tightness on his arm and turned his head to meet Tifa's burning gaze.