IMMFBCG Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Intentions

Yu Qi’s expression could be described as very indifferent. He merely glanced at Bao Wenxuan before quickly averting his gaze.

His sleeves were wide enough to conceal both of their hands, so no one could tell that, at that moment, their fingers were still tightly intertwined.

Because of this, Bao Wenxuan didn’t notice their actions at all.

Ye Xue originally intended to pull her hand away, but it seemed as though her movement was sensed, and it was gently pulled back.

She turned her face to look and saw the young man slightly pursing his lips, his mood clearly not very good. However, when he noticed her gaze, his expression softened back to its usual warmth.

Yu Qi softly asked, “What’s wrong?”

For some inexplicable reason, Ye Xue didn’t want to let go of his hand.

She shook her head lightly, “It’s nothing.”

“Uh, that…” Bao Wenxuan raised his hand, unwillingly interrupting their conversation, awkwardly saying, “Daoist, Mr. Yu, can you hear me out?”

Though he didn’t understand what was going on, the atmosphere at the moment felt quite strange.

However, Bao Wenxuan, who was completely unaware of the situation, only realized that he had been ignored.

Ye Xue, seeing him out of the loop, spoke up, “You were rushing just now—what happened? I think I heard you say something about needing a ghost-repelling talisman?”

Hearing this, Bao Wenxuan immediately came to his senses. “Ah, right! I came to get a talisman. Daoist, do you have any left?”

Ye Xue thought for a moment before answering, “I used up all the ghost-repelling talismans yesterday.”

A ghost that came to steal food had appeared last night, and Ye Xue had thrown several talismans at it, depleting her stock.

Bao Wenxuan responded, “Used up? That’s fine, it’s not a big deal. Maybe we were just overthinking it…”

He trailed off at the end, his voice sounding more like he was talking to himself.

Ye Xue didn’t catch all of Bao Wenxuan’s words but raised an eyebrow, “It’s just a few talismans. I’ll draw some more, it won’t take long.”

Ye Xue tapped the palm of Yu Qi’s hand and wrote a few characters on it, signaling him to let go and let her go back to her room to fetch her tools.

The cool touch against her palm was light, almost like a feather brushing against her skin, creating a slight tickling sensation.

Yu Qi’s breath hitched slightly, and the place where his fingertips touched seemed to be burning, getting warmer by the second.

He gazed at Ye Xue without speaking.

Ye Xue was puzzled. “?”

She thought that Yu Qi hadn’t understood her meaning, so she wrote a few more strokes and subtly gestured with her eyes.

A faint smile appeared in Yu Qi’s eyes, and under his sleeves, their hands gripped tighter.

Ye Xue’s rhythm in writing was disrupted as she looked up at Yu Qi, her eyes questioning.

Yu Qi said, “I still have a few ghost-repelling talismans.”

Though he was speaking to Bao Wenxuan, his eyes never left Ye Xue.

Ye Xue remembered that when they were practicing drawing talismans earlier, Yu Qi had indeed kept a few.

Bao Wenxuan showed obvious joy. “Really? Thank you, Mr. Yu, and thank you, Daoist Ye!”

Yu Qi reached into his pocket and pulled out several pieces of talisman paper, handing them to Bao Wenxuan.

Bao Wenxuan gratefully took them, completely unaware that their hands were still intertwined.

Ye Xue asked curiously, “What do you need the ghost-repelling talismans for? Is there a ghost at your house?”

Bao Wenxuan put the talismans into his pocket and explained, “Well… not exactly. My niece, my sister’s daughter, has been crying non-stop since last night. We finally got her to sleep, but even in her dreams, she was still crying. Then, this morning, she woke up and started crying again. My sister thinks the child is possessed, but she hasn’t been anywhere unusual. Also, isn’t it said that firecrackers can scare away ghosts? It shouldn’t be like this.”

Ye Xue was speechless. “Firecrackers scare away the Year Beast, not ghosts. Who told you firecrackers can scare away ghosts?”

“Ah?” Bao Wenxuan’s expression became awkward.

Ye Xue continued, “Also, from what you’ve said, it seems like the ghost-repelling talisman wouldn’t be useful anyway. By the way, how old is your niece?”

Bao Wenxuan replied, “She’s four and a half, she’ll be five in the middle of the year.”

“Four and a half…” Ye Xue thought for a moment, “It’s possible that she was just frightened.”

Children’s souls are light, and they can easily see things that ordinary people can’t.

Bao Wenxuan hurriedly said, “Then, Daoist, do you have time? Can you go take a look?”

Ye Xue nodded. “I have time. I can go now.”

Ye Xue didn’t have any other relatives in the village, so she didn’t need to visit anyone for New Year’s greetings. However, some villagers whom Ye Yangyun had helped would visit after the first day of the New Year.

Bao Wenxuan was relieved. Then, he carefully asked, “What about the talismans?”

Although they were of no use right now, it was better to keep them for self-defense.

Ye Xue smiled at his eager expression, “It’s fine, just keep them. If I need any more, I’ll draw them.”

After all, it wouldn’t take long to draw a talisman.

The three of them went to Bao Wenxuan’s sister’s house, where both her sister and brother-in-law were still home.

Bao Wenxuan’s sister, Bao Yingying, was holding her daughter. The child seemed to have cried herself out, now quietly sobbing in her mother’s arms.

The couple knew Ye Xue, and when Bao Yingying saw her, she apologized, “I’m sorry to trouble you during the New Year.”

Her husband, Deng Lecheng, brought over some melon seeds and snacks. He had wanted to bring drinks to entertain them, but Yu Qi shook his head, signaling that they didn’t need to be so polite.

Ye Xue crouched down, extending her hands toward the child, and asked Bao Yingying, “Can I hold her?”

Bao Yingying replied, “You can, but she’s not very willing to interact with others…”

Before Bao Yingying could finish her sentence, the little girl heard the sound, slowly looked at Ye Xue, and sensed a reassuring aura from her. Seeing Ye Xue open her arms, she reached out her little hands and hugged her.

Bao Yingying was surprised. This was the first time she had seen her daughter主动亲近别人.

Ye Xue expertly held the child and noticed a piece of red paper in her clothing. She brought it to her nose and smelled it— it was filled with the scent of gunpowder, obviously remnants of firecrackers.

Ye Xue seemed to understand something. She made a hand gesture, gently rubbing the little girl’s back, then slowly moved down, eventually pulling something out and tossing it to the ground.

Everyone present saw a round, red object fall to the ground.

The uncomfortable aura that had weighed on her dissipated, and the little girl’s crying gradually quieted until it stopped completely. She leaned against Ye Xue’s arms, exhausted, and fell asleep.

Ye Xue gently handed the child back to her family.

When Bao Yingying saw what was on the ground, she was shocked and exclaimed, “What is this thing?”

Ye Xue stepped forward and pressed her foot down on it, speaking calmly, “Come on, you tell me, why would you scare a child?”

Bao Wenxuan, seeing the strange appearance of the thing, couldn’t help but comment, “How ugly…”

Already in immense pain from being stepped on, the firecracker spirit became even angrier upon hearing Bao Wenxuan’s words. It cursed, “Open your dog eyes and take a good look! Where am I ugly? Do you know how rare it is for a firecracker to become a spirit? I’m a precious being! According to your human standards, I’m a rare animal!”

Bao Wenxuan stared blankly, speechless.

The others also fell silent.

Ye Xue replied, “Oh, it’s a firecracker spirit.”

Firecracker spirits are different from other beings. They rarely see the sun, and the only time they can appear is just before they’re about to be lit. Once they burn, nothing is left of them, so they rarely become spirits.

She applied more pressure on the firecracker spirit, then asked, “A rare animal, huh? And what’s the reason you came here to scare a little child?”

The firecracker spirit answered, “I didn’t mean to scare her. I was looking for that guy to settle a score, but my leftover piece of cloth got on this little girl.”

The cloth the spirit mentioned was the shredded paper, which acted as a medium that attached itself to the child. The child, being sensitive, felt the negative energy and became uneasy, crying day and night.

Suddenly, Yu Qi asked, “Who is ‘that guy’?”

The firecracker spirit, unable to exert any strength with Ye Xue stepping on it, stretched out its tiny hands, angrily pointing at Bao Wenxuan. “Him!”

Bao Wenxuan was stunned and pointed to himself, “Me?”

The firecracker spirit cursed, “Yes! It’s you! You ungrateful guy!”

Bao Wenxuan panicked, “I’m innocent! What did I do?”

The firecracker spirit spat and cursed, “You bought me and even bargained with the vendor to lower my price. I’m a rare item! Now, how am I supposed to face anyone after this?”

Bao Wenxuan suddenly remembered that the night before, he and his sister had taken the child out, and the firecracker vendor had been eager to pack up and sell him all the remaining fireworks at a discount.

“…So that’s it…” Bao Wenxuan was even more speechless now.

The firecracker spirit grew angrier, “What do you mean ‘so that’s it’? You don’t understand the dignity of us spirits!”

Bao Wenxuan muttered, “Didn’t you just say you’re a rare animal? Now you’re admitting you’re a spirit…”

The firecracker spirit threw a tantrum, “I don’t care! If you don’t buy me at full price, I’ll make your family’s life a mess!”

Hearing this, Bao Yingying’s face turned pale, and her husband held her hand to comfort her.

Ye Xue stepped harder on the firecracker spirit and asked, with an expressionless face, “Who are you threatening?”

The firecracker spirit writhed in pain, crying out pitifully.

After everything was settled, Ye Xue made the firecracker spirit clean up the house for Bao Yingying’s family as a way to atone for its actions. Bao Wenxuan also agreed to make up the price difference at the vendor’s to satisfy the “rare item’s” vanity.

On their way back, the wind grew stronger, and the weather became colder. The streets were almost empty.

Once they got home, Ye Xue went to the backyard and placed the items in her room.

Yu Qi followed behind, helping her put her bag down.

As they stepped out of the room, Ye Xue suddenly felt something cold touch her face. She reached up and looked at the sky.

It had started snowing.

Ye Xue happily caught some snowflakes and turned to look at Yu Qi, smiling, “Yu Qi, it’s snowing!”

Yu Qi’s gaze fell on her slightly red nose. He smiled softly and gently took her hand. “Mm, it’s snowing.”

Snowflakes fell all around them, but Yu Qi didn’t care for the beauty of the scene. His eyes were fixed on Ye Xue, and she was the only one in his view.

A cold gust of wind blew by, and Ye Xue instinctively tightened her grip on Yu Qi’s hand.

Yu Qi’s heart warmed as he looked down at her.

Her cheek, kissed by the cold wind, turned a rosy pink. When she met Yu Qi’s gaze, she smiled at him.

Yu Qi took a few steps forward, slightly lowered his head, and couldn’t help but place a kiss on the crescent-shaped curve of her eye.

He continued the words he hadn’t finished earlier that morning. “Ye Xue, I like you.”