Thirteenth month of death

Chapter 264 Creating Memories

The morning mist in Qingxi Town had not yet dissipated. Su Moshi stood by the stream, watching the reflection in the water being shattered by the ripples.

The bronze mirror felt slightly warm at my waist.

The two returned to Qingxi Town because Li Daosheng's condition was getting worse.

The memories of the Dao that the five magical treasures brought were far too numerous.

If his body were a bucket of water, the portion belonging to the unprincipled water would already exceed half.

"Li Daosheng?" she called softly.

Footsteps sounded behind me, but there was no response for a long time.

Su Moshi turned around and saw Li Daosheng staring at his palm, the long mark between his eyebrows now fully visible and impossible to conceal.

"Li Daosheng?" she called again.

The other person then looked up as if waking from a dream, their eyes momentarily dazed before focusing on her face: "Fairy Su... I'm sorry, I just now..."

"You saw Wudao's memories again?"

Su Moshi handed over the steamed buns she had just bought.

Li Daosheng took the food but hesitated to eat it. Instead, he frowned as he stared at the steamed bun: "Yun Weizi also likes steamed buns. He always brings them when he goes down the mountain..."

He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, his expression changed drastically, and the steamed bun in his hand fell to the ground.

“That’s not my memory.” His voice tightened. “It’s Yun Weizi, Wudao’s master…”

Su Moshi's heart sank. This was the third time; Li Daosheng was increasingly confusing his memories with Wudao's.

As the power of the five magical treasures reached a delicate balance within him, it also continuously eroded his existence as Li Daosheng.

“Let’s go somewhere,” Su Moshi suddenly said.

Li Daosheng watched with a puzzled expression as she put away the bronze mirror, then took out two sets of coarse cloth clothes from her bag: "Change into these."

“Actually, I’ve been cultivating on the mountain all along and haven’t really traveled around the human world.” Su Moshi had already changed into a plain dress, her long hair loosely tied up with a wooden hairpin, looking like an ordinary farm girl. “Just consider it giving me some new memories, isn’t that nice?”

Li Daosheng opened his mouth as if to refute, but in the end he remained silent and changed his clothes.

As his fingers clumsily struggled with the belt, Su Moshi noticed a subtle change occurring in his hands…

The knuckles were more distinct, and the nails gleamed with a jade-like luster; this was... a stone demon.

Wudao possessed the body of a stone spirit, and not only his memories, but Li Daosheng's body was also changing in the shape of Wudao...

"Let me help you." She took two steps forward, her fingers deftly tying the sash, deliberately ignoring the increasingly obvious inhuman features on the other person.

The two walked downstream along the stream, where wildflowers were in full bloom.

Su Moshi deliberately slowed his pace and pointed to a cluster of small blue-purple flowers in the grass: "Look, this is the forget-me-not. It can be used to make tea to calm the nerves."

Li Daosheng stared at the flower in a daze: "There are also these flowers on the back mountain of Xuantian Palace. Back then, I... no, I, Wudao, once..."

He suddenly fell silent, his face turning pale.

Su Moshi pretended not to notice his lapse in composure, bent down and picked a flower and pinned it to his lapel: "Smell it, it smells very good."

Li Daosheng lowered his head, but the moment the fragrance of flowers wafted over, he suddenly took two steps back, as if he had been stung by something.

"You don't like it?" she asked softly.

“Too… vivid.” Li Daosheng struggled to find the right words. “These feelings are too intense; they will dilute the necessary memories.”

Su Moshi's heart clenched... This was clearly not Li Daosheng's tone.

but……

Necessary memories?
This statement really bothered Su Moshi.

and……

That was also her purpose.

Since Li Daosheng's memories were too few to suppress Wudao's memories.

Then let's try to create as many memories as possible for Li Daosheng; perhaps... it will be useful. At noon, they arrived at the fishing village downstream.

Su Moshi rented a thatched hut by the water with a few copper coins. Fresh hay was laid on the wooden bed, exuding the scent of sunshine.

“We’ll stay here for a few days,” she announced, deliberately ignoring Li Daosheng’s furrowed brow.

“A waste of time,” he muttered, but still sat down by the window, gazing absently at the shimmering river.

In the evening, the village children curiously gathered outside the house, peeking at the extraordinary-looking strangers.

Su Moshi smiled and waved, handing them the candied fruit he had bought. A little girl with pigtails boldly approached Li Daosheng and handed him a crookedly woven grasshopper.

"Here you go!" The child's voice was as clear as a bell.

Li Daosheng was stunned, his fingers hovering in mid-air, hesitant to take it.

Su Moshi noticed that his fingertips were trembling slightly, as if he was resisting something.

"Big brother, take this!" The little girl stood on tiptoe and shoved the grasshopper into his hand. "My dad said we have to give gifts when guests come!"

The rough texture of the grass seemed to startle Li Daosheng.

He suddenly stood up, and the grasshopper fell to the ground.

The little girl was frightened and burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, he didn't mean it." Su Moshi quickly comforted the child, but when she turned around, she saw that Li Daosheng had already rushed out of the house and disappeared in the direction of the riverbank.

She found him in the reeds downstream; the sun had already set.

Li Daosheng stood in the knee-deep river water, his hands immersed in the flowing water, as if trying to wash away some unseen stains.

"Why stay here?" He didn't turn around, his voice as cold as ice. "These meaningless things, the trivialities of mortals."

Su Mo stepped into the water, the icy river water soaking the hem of her skirt: "Because these are things that Li Daosheng would like."

“What’s the difference?” He suddenly turned around, the long mark between his brows gleaming in the twilight. “Whether it’s Wu Dao or Li Daosheng, they will ultimately face the same enemy. These memories will only distract you.”

“The difference is,” Su Moshi stepped forward, water splashing onto her clothes, “that Wudao would sacrifice everything for his goal, while Li Daosheng would not.”

As night deepened, a thin mist rose from the river.

Li Daosheng's expression was blurred in the fog, but Su Moshi saw that he clenched his fists, his nails digging deeply into his palms.

When I returned to the hut, a few lights had already been lit in the village.

Li Daosheng sat silently by the window, looking at the river under the moonlight.

Su Moshi lit the oil lamp, and in the warm yellow light, his profile finally revealed a somewhat familiar outline.

In the middle of the night, Su Moshi was awakened by a series of whispers.

By the moonlight, she saw Li Daosheng standing in the center of the room, his hands forming complex mudras.

"Li Daosheng?" she called softly, but there was no response.

Even more terrifying, a complete magic circle had appeared beneath his feet. As the runes flowed, the temperature inside the room plummeted, and the flame of the oil lamp solidified into ice crystals.

Su Moshi immediately summoned the bronze mirror, its blue light enveloping the entire room and forcibly interrupting the spell.

The moment the magic circle disappeared, Li Daosheng collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Su Moshi caught his cold body and noticed that a trace of blood was seeping from the long wound between his eyebrows.

“I want to… go back…” Li Daosheng woke up in her arms, his eyes filled with confusion and urgency. “Wudao is dying.”

"what?"

Su Moshi seemed to have misheard and looked at him in disbelief.

Li Daosheng propped himself up and sat up, head down, rubbing his head: "Just now, Wudao contacted me. He's challenging [Season 5]."

"Just like when I challenged the [Thirteenth Month] before..."

(End of this chapter)