Chapter 323: Brother is not dead!
From the black bramble trees, came the hoot of a night owl.
Li Muyang waded through a swamp, raised his head and gazed into the distance, where there was an endless darkness.
The trees were dense and the river had a strong stench of fish.
Li Muyang"s lower body was drenched, and he could hear the sound of water filled boots squelching with his footsteps as he treaded through the swamp.
His face and body were muddy, his clothes were ragged, and his face was dirty. It seemed he had gone without bathing for a long time.
CAW CAW CAW-——
A group of night spider crows fluttered past him, dropping lumps of mud.
Just then, Li Muyang suddenly stopped.
His expression became extremely strange, his eyebrows deeply furrowed.
He swung his hip, swiveled his right leg in a circle.
Then he bent down with a puzzled expression on his face and reached into the dark, icy water.
When he pulled his hand back up, there was a white object gripping and twisting around his hand.
White Snake!
A white snake with a completely snow white body and an extremely ugly face!
Cha！
Suddenly the white snake broke free of Li Muyang"s hand, and opened up its jaw, revealing its long, sharp teeth and pouncing over to Li Muyang"s face.
"Ah——" "
Li Shinian sprang up from the bed.
When she saw the mosquito net above her head, she realised that she just had a nightmare.
Hearing the loud noise, Luo Qi came darting over holding a lamp, looked at Li Shinian sitting in the corner in a daze, and asked with a concerned look on her face, "Shinian, what"s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
"Mother, I dreamt of my brother." Li Shinian looked seriously at her mother. "I dreamt that he was walking alone in the woods, the river flooded up to his knee. He reached into the water and felt a white snake, and the white snake suddenly opened its mouth to bite his head——"
"It"s just a dream." Luo Qi comforted.
"The white snake was so huge, no, the snake"s mouth was so big that it swallowed brother"s entire head——"
Luo Qi"s face was scrunched up in worry, but still comforted her, "Silly child. It was just a dream. Anything can happen in a dream. In the past, you often dreamt of becoming a powerful warrior, flying above the houses——your brother will be fine."
"If he"s fine, then why hasn"t he come back?" Li Shinian asked.
"That"s because it"s not vacation time yet."
"He should still write a letter back. I heard from Tianyu that the young lady of the Lu family is also at Starry Sky. She often writes letters back home." Li Shinian refuted her mother"s weak argument. "Has something happened to big brother? Last time I went to see Grandpa Lu, I asked him to help me to bring a letter to brother. He smiled and agreed, and took my letter. But why hasn"t my brother returned my letter yet?"
"What?" Luo Qi exclaimed. "You went to find Master——Lu to help you send a letter?"
"Yes. I thought that as long as he was willing to help, he would be able to do it. After all, he is such a powerful figure."
"Shinian——"
"Mother." Li Shinian persistently stared at her mother. "I just want to know how brother is, if he is living well or not——I really miss him."
Luo Qi opened her mouth, but in the end could not say anything.
Her husband Li Yan had heard some frightening rumours, and they were now trying to hide it from Li Shinian.
But how could such things be concealed?
She needed to attend school everyday. She goes to school every day. There are many children of officials in the school, if they asked Li Shinian about this matter——how would Li Shinian respond? Unprepared, Li Shinian might not be able to withstand this blow?
"Shinian——" Luo Qi uttered softly. "Would you stay at home for a few days and spend some time with your mother?"
"Mother——" Li Shinian studied Luo Qi"s expression. "You"re not hiding something from me, right? If everything is all right, you never let me abandon my schoolwork."
"Your brother——may not come back." Luo Qi sobbed, choking up as tears began falling.
Li Shinian"s face went blank for a moment, and then smiled shaking her head. "Impossible. It"s impossible——Mother, you mustn"t lie to me. Brother is so strong, he definitely will come back."
"Shinian, I also hope this is not true. I don"t want to believe it either. But there are rumours all over Tiandu, saying that Muyang has went to a place that he cannot come back——" When Luo Qi said these words out loud there was a sharp pain at her heart like it was being torn apart.
Although Li Muyang was not her real son, he was a child who she had devoted lots of time, energy and affection.
She regarded him as her own son.
Ever since he had left Jiangnan for study, Luo Qi had always been feeling uneasy.
Later, she heard all kinds of news, all unfavourable to Li Muyang. It was only when the lady went to Jiangnan to collect them to Tiandu, that she realised that Li Muyang may have offended a very terrifying person——
Whatever the worst news was, she still had hope in her heart and prayed to the deities every day.
Now, someone finally told her not to wait, no need to have hope, and no need to pray anymore.
Li Muyang will never come back.
The eyes of Li Shinian was red, tears streaming down her cheeks.
But she silently wiped away the tears with her sleeve, placed her arms around her mother"s trembling shoulder, and softly said: "Mother, don"t be upset. It"s okay, I"m sure my brother will be fine. Tell me what"s going on. Brother, how"s he doing?"
Luo Qi knew that her daughter was intelligent and extremely anxious about her brother"s situation. She no longer concealed the truth from her, explained to Li Shinian everything that had happened in Tiandu these two days.
After listening, Li Shinian smiled, "Brother is not dead."
"Shinian——" Luo Qi was worried about her daughter. She had lost a son already, she could not lose another daughter. Otherwise, she couldn"t continue living.
"Has anyone seen brother being killed?" Li Shinian asked. "
Luo Qi shook her head, "Don"t think so."
"Has anyone seen brother"s body?"
"——Never heard about it."
"So, brother is not dead." Li Shinian said in an incomparably firm voice. She stroked her chest, "Mother, I feel it, my brother is alive. I could sense his breathing and I could feel his heartbeat. He has not fulfilled the promises he made to me, so he will not die."