Translator: Scrya
Editor: Faith
The sound of the unceasing rain seemed near yet far.
Mo Chen opened his eyes and glanced at Xiaodong who was drooling in his sleep. This child’s sleeping posture in the beginning was pretty decent. He would lie with his back straight on the bed, and his two hands would be placed neatly at the side. After sleeping for about the time to take to drink a cup of tea, he would turn to the side. The blanket, which covered his body at first, was now hugged in his embrace. A few moments later, he turned once more, and the blanket was now underneath him.
Mo Chen pulled the blanket out and covered Xiaodong again.
Though the weather had turned warm, spring rain continued to fall and chilly winds blew in the night. With the martial capabilities that Little Junior Brother had, he still could not defend against the cold well.
With the blanket properly covered over Xiaodong, he would most likely stay still for a few hours. Though he would definitely toss and turn again later.
In the past, Mo Chen did know that Little Junior Brother was restless in sleep, but Mo Chen had never seriously watched Little Junior Brother like this.
Because, in the past… sleep was sleep. He couldn’t possibly do something in his sleep, right? However, things were different now.
Mo Chen still couldn’t feel at ease, even now while he was watching over Xiaodong.
His body was sleeping here, but who knew if his soul had already run off to somewhere else? He might even be enjoying a walk all over the mountains and plains right now.
This description might sound strange, but it was the only one that Mo Chen could currently think of.
It sounded like Little Junior Brother was very disobedient, but this matter was not something Little Junior Brother could control either. Bad habits can be changed if one is determined enough, but the dreams one gets during sleep? That couldn’t be changed, as it was completely out of anyone’s control.
Though, it might possibly be controllable.
What if Mo Chen let Xiaodong stay indoors more often? He wouldn’t think much of the matters outside if he were to stay indoors more, right? That way he might not think of running outside in his dreams?
No, no. This was a bad idea. How would it be possible to stop a child his age from going outside? Little Junior Brother was already one of the most, most obedient types there was. If he were to be shut inside his room and unable to leave, it might instead be counterproductive. Since he couldn’t head out physically, he would joyfully run out several times at night in his dreams.
Then Mo Chen could only think of improving his situation from another angle.
Changing the pillow might have an effect? He recalled that in the past, he once heard from a doctor that the height of a pillow greatly influenced people’s slumber. However, Mo Chen was not really concerned about this matter back then, and so he did not ask for details. Could pillows influence the possibility of having dreams too? He could give this a try tomorrow… Let’s find a pillow that’s twice the height of Little Junior Brother’s current pillow then.
After Master headed down the mountain, Mo Chen was afraid that Little Junior Brother would be targeted and so had him move to Mo Chen’s compound. Mo Chen initially thought that things had settled down and it was about time for Xiaodong to move back to his own compound, but the situation had now changed.
Unless he could find a way to solve this problem, Mo Chen would not feel at ease letting Little Junior Brother sleep alone.
Sure… he couldn’t help out when Little Junior Brother was in a dream, but safeguarding him would give Mo Chen a slight ease of mind. If Little Junior Brother were to receive some unexpected injuries, then he could discover them at a moment’s notice and provide support.
In any case, with Mo Chen’s level of martial arts, he no longer needed to sleep. A single circulation of his energy and a single seclusion training could already last ten days to half a month at the very least. He could make time to watch over Little Junior Brother.
The rain fell the entire night, and even when dawn broke, there was still a continuing drizzle. Xiaodong wanted to head out for sword practice, but after Eldest Senior Brother gave him a look, he unwilling submitted and meditated in the room instead.
Wasn’t there a saying, one must not be afraid of pain when practicing martial arts, and one must practice even in the best of days? Mn, something seemed to be wrong with the saying. But in short, one should not be afraid of rain and wind, and those who are will never make it big. Senior Brother and the rest of his siblings did not take even snowstorms and strong winds as something serious, but when it came to Xiaodong, he actually didn’t have to practice his martial arts with just a slight drizzle. It sure was a complicated feeling.
However, Xiaodong understood Senior Brother’s intentions.
Because his aptitude was bad and he didn’t have much foundation in martial arts, if he were to risk having sword practice in the rain, he might get sick from being soaked in the rain instead of making any progress with the sword. Or, he might slip and fall from moving about, giving his senior siblings trouble.
However, Xiaodong was not the only one who was stuck in his room. Ning Yu also could only stay in his room. His body was in even worse shape, so he didn’t dare to risk getting soaked in the rain. Putting aside going out, he didn’t even dare forget to take his medicine for a day. If he really were to get wet from the rain, the consequences would be… something that no one would want to know.
“Junior Brother Yun?”
Xiaodong hurriedly stood up. “Senior Brother Ning, why are you here at this hour?”
Ning Yu placed his umbrella next to the stairs and stepped through the door. “Brother Mo isn’t here?”
“Eldest Senior Brother is rather busy.” Xiaodong was still a little anxious looking at Ning Yu. He hurriedly moved the chair over. “Senior Brother Ning, sit.”
Ning Yu sat down. Seeing that Xiaodong was hurriedly about to pour a cup of tea, Ning Yu waved his hand and said, “I’m not thirsty, and you don’t have to treat me as a guest. You’re making me look like an outsider. Just treat me the same as your other senior siblings.”
Xiaodong responded in agreement, but… he couldn’t see Senior Brother Ning as one of his own senior brothers at all!
“It’s boring when it rains. What are you doing alone in the room?”
Ning Yu came over purely because he had nothing to do, and he was bored in his own room. The array diagrams he drew were useless, and he couldn’t check on the spiritual pulse in the rain, either. He was so bored it felt as if weeds were growing in his heart. He came to Mo Chen’s place because it was the easiest to reach, all to find someone to talk to.
Xiaodong was currently flipping through the pages of his book.
It was a record of miscellaneous rumors, and contained inside was some bizarre knowledge. Though Xiaodong might not be able to find anything similar to his circumstances inside, there was nothing wrong with looking through it to while away his time.
However, he did not expect that Ning Yu would visit, and he didn’t manage to keep the book in time…
Ning Yu had great eyesight and he knew what Xiaodong was flipping through with a single glance. Seeing Xiaodong’s uneasy appearance, Ning Yu instantly misunderstood.
“Haha, so you were bored and was reading a book. Don’t worry, I won’t let your senior brother know. There’s nothing to do on this rainy day, what’s wrong with finding a bit of fun by reading a book? Let me tell you, I like to read these books too when I’m bored. Though some are purely baseless nonsense, some are actually based on facts and not just false rumors. If you like to read such things, I have several of these books on hand too. I can lend them to you if you want.”
Xiaodong sweated buckets, and simply let out a dry laugh.
He was reading this to investigate the ins and outs of his own circumstances. Eldest Senior Brother said it well. With how big the world was, Xiaodong couldn’t possibly be the only one who experienced this, right? There might be someone else in some other place that had similar circumstances.
In the beginning, Mo Chen wanted to start his investigation from the Yun family members. After all, Xiaodong’s blood came from his parents. Whatever capabilities one could have, they were usually passed down from parents or ancestors.
The problem was that, except for Xiaodong, everyone in the Yun Family had died. However, the Yun Family was just one of the many large and small aristocratic families, and he had never heard of the Yun family members possessing any unique ability or talent. This line of thought was not going to bear any fruit.
Since this route of obtaining clues had been cut off, then all he could do was find clues somewhere else.
Finding clues from books was also one possible method. Returnflow Mountain had a few books stored. The pages of these books were mostly yellow and torn, and no one could remember where they came from either. Most of the books were handwritten, and most of the time, it would take quite a bit of effort to discern the words.