The two of them walked one after the other into the urban village.
Beside them were narrow alleys, and overhead, crisscrossing power lines hung like spiderwebs. The air was a mix of the aroma of cooking food and a hint of dampness.
It felt like a completely different world from the spacious and brightly lit streets outside.
Over the past few days, Lin Mo had been taking her wandering all over the place, so Ning Qingcheng had long lost her initial unfamiliarity with this kind of grassroots environment.
Her steps were steady, easily avoiding the puddles on the ground and the oncoming bicycles. Her pant legs did not catch a single stain. That innate noble elegance seemed out of place amidst the surrounding noise, yet it blended in strangely well.
Lin Mo led Ning Qingcheng, opening a door and heading straight upstairs.
"Where is this?" Ning Qingcheng's small leather shoes stepped on the patterned stone steps, making crisp tapping sounds as she looked around curiously.
"The place where I usually live." Lin Mo did not stop walking. "From now on, from Sunday to Thursday, you will live here too."
"What about the weekends?"
"That depends on whether you want to go back or stay here."
The little girl immediately raised her small chin, a hint of unaccustomed pride in her tone. "Then I will definitely go back."
"Is that so?" Lin Mo chuckled lightly and said no more.
He walked upstairs, returned to the door of his rented apartment, and took out his keys to open it.
When the door opened, Ning Qingcheng stood at the entrance, poking her head in to look.
"So during regular school days, I have to live here?" Ning Qingcheng's small face didn't show any resistance or disgust.
Even though this place was obviously much smaller than Lin Mo's home and only had one room.
Lin Mo nodded with feigned seriousness. "Yeah, right here."
He pointed to the one-and-a-half-meter single bed. "The bed is mine. You can just sleep on the floor. It's summer anyway, so it won't be cold."
Ning Qingcheng's eyes widened instantly.
Sleep on the floor?
Make her share a room with a boy? And she had to sleep on the floor?
This was simply...
The little girl's cheeks flushed bright red. For a moment, she didn't know whether to be angry or to find it absurd.
She looked up at her senior brother. "I am your junior sister, you know."
Seeing her like this, Lin Mo finally couldn't help but laugh out loud and reached out to close the door.
"I was just teasing you. This is where I live."
He turned around and continued walking upstairs. "As for your place, we have to see if Aunt Zheng has any empty rooms left."
Ning Qingcheng froze in place. After realizing what happened, she stomped her foot angrily, quickly followed him, and muttered softly, "Boring!"
She was one hundred percent sure that this senior brother of hers was a demon with a terrible taste in jokes!
Lin Mo had already informed them in advance, so Aunt Zheng and Xie Yuling were both at home.
He knocked on the door.
"Aunt Zheng! Yuling!"
Inside the house, Xie Yuling, who was sitting on the sofa reading a book, involuntarily curled her lips into a smile when she heard the voice.
She put down her book and walked briskly to the door, her divine sense having already seen the two people behind it.
As soon as the door opened, Ning Qingcheng saw the beautiful and gentle older sister from that day.
Lin Mo directly patted the back of the little girl's head.
"Say hello to your big sister."
Ning Qingcheng covered the spot where she was patted and glared at Lin Mo, but she still turned to Xie Yuling and called out earnestly, "Hello, big sister."
Her voice was crisp, carrying a bit of reluctance, which only made her look even more adorable.
Xie Yuling had already raised her hand and lightly smacked Lin Mo's arm.
"Don't bully the child."
She gave Lin Mo a reproachful look, then bent down and reached out her hand to Ning Qingcheng, her smile so gentle it could melt snow and ice.
"Come, let's go inside. Just ignore him."
Ning Qingcheng hesitated for a moment, then placed her small hand into that warm, large hand.
Her intuition told her that she could trust Xie Yuling.
A wave of warmth traveled up from her palm. As she was led through the door by Xie Yuling, she didn't forget to turn her head and shoot Lin Mo a triumphant look.
With that, Xie Yuling had already pulled Ning Qingcheng inside.
Lin Mo helplessly rubbed his nose and followed them in.
"Little Mo is here."
Zheng Yuan, wearing an apron, walked out of the kitchen wiping her hands. An enthusiastic smile hung on her face, making her look just like an NPC who always spawned punctually in the kitchen.
"This child must be your cousin, right? She's so cute."
"Yes, Aunt Zheng."
Lin Mo pursed his lips toward Ning Qingcheng. "Greet her. This is Aunt Zheng."
"Hello, Aunt Zheng." Ning Qingcheng immediately gave a slight bow.
"Oh my, no need for that, child."
Zheng Yuan took Ning Qingcheng's hand and made her sit down next to her. That level of affection actually made Lin Mo stare blankly for a moment.
But it made sense. Lin Mo had explained some of the situation beforehand, especially the part about her parents being dead. Zheng Yuan truly felt heartache for her.
"Oh dear, Little Mo, your timing is really unfortunate."
Zheng Yuan sighed with feigned regret. "All the rooms here have been rented out. There isn't a single one left."
For some reason, Ning Qingcheng's clear eyes instantly dimmed a little, and she subconsciously looked toward Lin Mo.
Originally, she thought she wouldn't care about these things, but she had genuinely felt the warmth Aunt Zheng gave her.
Lin Mo was also taken aback for a moment, but he didn't think much of it. At worst, he could just settle Ning Qingcheng in the house where Liu Zheng and the others used to live.
Yes, the very house from which Ning Qingcheng had been abducted.
"However, our own home still has an empty room."
Zheng Yuan's gaze swept over Ning Qingcheng, her heart aching more the longer she looked. Her eyes were practically looking at her own child. "This child is so well-behaved. How about she doesn't rent outside and just lives here with Auntie!"
Saying so, she gently patted the back of Ning Qingcheng's hand and asked softly, "Child, what is your name?"
Ning Qingcheng was somewhat overwhelmed by this sudden enthusiasm. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and her voice was quiet. "I... My name is Ning Qingcheng."
"Qingcheng, what a beautiful name." Zheng Yuan continued gently, "Then Auntie will call you Qingcheng from now on, is that okay?"
Ning Qingcheng nodded obediently.
Seeing this, Lin Mo breathed a sigh of relief, but still added uneasily, "Aunt Zheng, won't this be too much trouble? This child... how should I put it, she lacks a lot of basic life skills."
"What trouble!"
Zheng Yuan waved her hand dismissively, completely unbothered. "Whatever she lacks, we can just teach her! Besides, Qingcheng is a big girl now. There are some things that are inconvenient for a grown man like you to teach. It's perfect for Auntie to do it."
These words struck a chord in Lin Mo's heart.
As a grown man, there were indeed many inconveniences. Leaving Ning Qingcheng with the experienced Aunt Zheng, with Xie Yuling acting as an older sister on the side, was much better than having her follow him around, no matter how he looked at it.
Now, he could finally put his mind completely at ease.
After all, Aunt Zheng had quite a bit of experience raising a daughter. Entrusting Ning Qingcheng to her, along with Xie Yuling, meant the girl surely wouldn't be raised poorly.
Once the decision was made, Zheng Yuan called everyone to eat.
A large table full of dishes.
It was safe to say that most of them were things Ning Qingcheng had never eaten before.
Faced with unfamiliar dishes, Ning Qingcheng ate them with great delight.
However, she still maintained the elegance taught by the Ning family. She didn't pick at the food randomly and happily accepted the food that Zheng Yuan and Xie Yuling placed in her bowl.
This delicate, jade-like, and well-behaved appearance made Zheng Yuan like her very much.
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
