The morning sun slowly rippled on the clear surface of the river. The breeze blew ripples one after another. The golden river looked so beautiful and dazzling.
At this moment, Yao Yueru, who was squatting on a big rock by the river and washing her family's clothes, was deeply attracted by this beautiful scene.
Yao Yueru was only twelve years old this year. As an only daughter, she had come to the river to wash clothes every morning since she was nine years old. She had been doing this for three years. She used her small body to carry the bamboo basket and used her small hands to wash the dirty clothes in her hands over and over again.
Perhaps, such heavy work was too heavy for a twelve-year-old girl. However, in this small village where farmers made a living, every family was like this. When parents went to work in the fields, the family's work naturally fell on the children, especially for girls.
Yao Yueru had never thought that such a life was hard.
She hummed a little tune and busied herself washing her clothes while looking at the clear and beautiful lake.
"Crescent Moon, I knew you were here.”
At this moment, a boy who was about the same age as Yao Yueru suddenly appeared and hopped in front of Yao Yueru.
His name was Tu Haoxin, and he was one year older than Yao Yueru. He was taller and stronger than the boys of the same age. He was not very handsome with his dark skin, but he was still passable. Now, his black face was wide open with a happy smile, as if he was happy to see Yao Yueru.
Yao Yueru put down the work at hand and stood up. She pouted her little mouth and didn't look happy at all. "Little Bean, didn't I tell you not to call me Crescent Moon? How embarrassing would it be if others heard it!”
"Your daddy can call you Crescent Moon, so why can't I?”Tu Haoxin said righteously. "I just like to call you Crescent Moon.”
" You…" Yao Yueru's face was red with anger."Alright, if you call me Crescent Moon again, I'll call you Little Bean for the rest of my life!”
"This is very good!" Tu Haoxin showed an indifferent expression. Although he got the nickname " Little Bean " because his eyes were as small as beans, compared to his original name that was difficult to write and pronounce, he preferred people to call him Little Bean. It was simple and easy to remember!
"I heard it! I call you Crescent Moon, and you call me Little Bean. We're going to call each other that for the rest of our lives!”Tu Haoxin winked at Yao Yueru and said ambiguously.
"I hate it!" Yao Yueru knew that Little Bean was just playing with her, but she was still angry. Without thinking, she threw the dirty clothes in the bucket at him.
"Aiya, you murdered your husband!" Tu Haoxin shouted as he dodged the incoming clothes.
Just like that, the two of them played a game of throwing clothes.
The two of them had a good time, laughing and fooling around
Only when they stopped fighting did they realize that things were not good! Because they had thrown their clothes everywhere, some on the grass, some in the river.
"Little Bean, help me pick up my clothes!”After Yao Yueru finished speaking, she jumped into the river and hurriedly chased after the clothes that had been washed far away by the river.
"Crescent Moon, be careful!" While Tu Haoxin was picking up the clothes on the ground, he didn't forget to look at Yao Yueru who was in the river. Although she knew how to swim, he still couldn't help but worry about her safety.
Yao Yueru's small body was like a nimble fish swimming in the water. In a short while, she had already picked up all the clothes on the river and in the river.
"Little Bean, look!" Yao Yueru was very pleased with herself as she shouted at Little Bean on the shore.
"I saw it! He saw it! My great aunt, come up quickly!" Tu Haoxin shouted at her desperately.
"Wait a minute!" Yao Yueru seemed to have stepped on something. She took a deep breath and led the group into the river.
" Crescent Moon!" Tu Haoxin, who was on the shore, shouted nervously. He threw away the clothes in his hand and rushed into the river.
Unexpectedly, Yao Yueru's small head had already popped out of the river the moment he stepped into it.
"Crescent Moon!" Tu Haoxin was dumbfounded. He couldn't recover from the shock and could only watch Yao Yueru slowly walk ashore with the clothes in her arms.
Yao Yueru immediately threw the clothes in her hands on the ground as soon as she got on the shore. She ran towards him with something unknown in her left hand and shouted excitedly,"
"Little Bean, look what I found!”
"What is this?" Little Bean looked left and right, but she couldn't figure it out. "It looks like a mirror. Can you see anything through it?”
Tu Haoxin saw a mirror in Yao Yueru's hand that was as big as a person's face. It should be a mirror, but the mirror was very blurry and couldn't reflect any image. Even if it was held under the sun, there was no reflection. It was really strange.
"But this mirror is very beautiful, isn't it?”Yao Yueru said excitedly.
"She is very beautiful!" Tu Haoxin agreed with Yao Yueru. Although the mirror was blurry, the black jade used to set the outer edge of the mirror looked quite beautiful.
"It's really beautiful!" Yao Yueru kept touching the mirror. It seemed that she really liked it. "I wonder who threw it into the river? Why did he throw away such a beautiful mirror? Or did someone drop this mirror, but he didn't know if it fell into the river?”
Tu Haoxin shrugged. "Maybe both are possible! Crescent Moon, since you like this mirror, take it back!”
Yao Yueru's eyes lit up." Can I?”She shook her head again." No, I can't. What if I bring it back and someone comes here to look for it but can't find it?”
Tu Haoxin tilted his head and thought hard before saying,""But if I leave it here, wouldn't it be even worse if someone else picked it up? I think you should bring it back. Anyway, you come here to wash clothes every day. Maybe one day, you will meet the owner of this mirror. Then, you can return the mirror to him.”
Yao Yueru nodded, thinking that Little Bean was right. "You're right! But if the owner of this mirror doesn't appear, then…"
"Then you are the new owner of the mirror!”Tu Haoxin smiled at her. "Anyway, you like this thing very much. Just treat it as a gift from the heavens!”
"The heavens gave it to me." Yao Yueru looked at the bronze mirror and smiled.
She didn't know why, but she liked the mirror the moment she saw it. She didn't know why, but at such a young age, she had a feeling that there seemed to be an invisible force pulling her and the mirror, making her like it and unable to turn a blind eye to it.
Perhaps, she would only realize that this mirror was not just a mirror after many years. It would change her life and the lives of the people around her…
three years later
Under the same bright morning sun and by the same clear river, Yao Yueru and Little Bean Tu Haoxin stood completely different from three years ago.
The sixteen-year-old Tu Haoxin was already a small adult. He was tall and strong. If it weren't for his childish face, people would definitely treat him as an adult.
He had grown taller and stronger, and had changed a lot. Compared to Little Bean, the fifteen-year-old Yao Yueru didn't look like a fifteen-year-old child at all.
Because she was small to begin with, three years did not make her grow much taller or fatter. Coupled with her baby face, it was already good enough that people did not think she was only twelve, let alone fifteen!
"Sigh!" Tu Haoxin let out a long sigh. He looked at Yao Yueru, who was sitting on a big rock, and said with a depressed expression,""What should you do? Crescent Moon!"
Yao Yueru, who had been lowering her head, didn't look up. She said slowly,""I don't know."
She did not know. Ever since her only relative, her father, passed away half a month ago, she had been in this state of confusion.
The year before last, it was her grandmother. Last year, it was her mother. This year, it was her father. In three years, she had lost three of her closest people. Now, she was all alone.
"Crescent Moon!" Looking at Yao Yueru's thin shoulders, Tu Haoxin had to restrain himself from hugging her.
Yue Ru was so pitiful! First, his grandmother died of illness. In less than a year, his biological mother also died of illness. His only biological father actually encountered the same misfortune. A healthy person inexplicably died of illness! Everyone in the village said that the Yao family was cursed. Some even said that Yue Ru's life was so tough that her relatives were all cursed to death!
"Now that you're the only one left, what should you do?”he said worriedly.
Yao Yueru raised her pale face and forced a smile on her pitiful lips. "Little Bean, don't worry. Didn't I tell you that my father told me that he had an aunt in Chang 'an before he died? She's my mother's sister, I can go and seek refuge with her.”
"But you've never met that aunt, have you? If you suddenly go to her now, will she keep you?”Tu Haoxin's worries were not without reason. Yue Ru's family and her aunt's family usually did not have much contact. Now that they suddenly said that they wanted to seek refuge with her, he wondered how the situation there was. Would they be willing to take in Yue Ru if they could raise another child?
"Why wouldn't my aunt take me in? No matter what, she's my mother's sister. She's my aunt, isn't she?”Yao Yueru said with a smile.
"Crescent Moon!" Her smile made Tu Haoxin feel uneasy. He couldn't help but grab her hand.
His action caused Yao Yueru to exclaim.
"Little Bean, what are you doing?"
"Crescent Moon, stay!" Tu Haoxin held her hand tightly and said forcefully,"Stay at my house! Although my house isn't big, I can still live in it if you squeeze in. I won't be unable to survive if you eat alone. Don't worry, I will work harder to earn money from now on. There will be no problem for you to live with us!”
Yao Yueru looked at Little Bean gratefully and shook her head. "Little Bean, I appreciate your kindness.”
"Crescent Moon!"
"I can't be your burden." Little Bean had elderly parents to take care of, as well as younger siblings. For a child who was only sixteen years old, his burden was already heavy enough. No matter what she said, she could not agree to it.
"Are you afraid that I won't be able to support you?" Tu Haoxin asked her in disappointment and anger.
"Don't be angry. That's not what I meant.”Yao Yueru forced a smile at Little Bean. " I'm very touched by your kindness. I think I'm an outsider to your family, but my aunt in Chang 'an is my family! No matter what, I should go and seek refuge with her. Don't worry about my aunt. I'll let her take me in. Even if she wants me to be her maid, I'm willing.”
Tu Haoxin clenched his fists and gritted his teeth."If that woman dares to make you her maid, I will go to Chang 'an City and serve her with my fists.”
Seeing Little Bean's serious expression, Yao Yueru hurriedly said,""I was just joking. Why do you take it seriously?”
" Of course I'm serious, because I..." Tu Haoxin stopped halfway because he was afraid that he would say something he shouldn't.
Perhaps it was something he shouldn't have said, but it was something he wanted to say but didn't dare to say. "You can stay! You're not an outsider. You're my family because I've always liked you. I've liked you since I was young.”
At this moment, he even had the urge to ask her to marry him. As long as Yue Ru agreed to marry him, she would definitely stay and he would not lose her.
However, he couldn't say these words. Although he didn't study much and wasn't smart enough, at least he knew what it meant to be in love.
It was true that they had grown up together and that their relationship had always been very good. However, they had never talked about the relationship between a man and a woman when they were only fifteen or sixteen years old. He liked Yueru and wanted her to be his wife, but what about Yueru? He knew that Yue Ru had never thought of him that way. She was so innocent and naive. She adored and loved him as if he was her older brother. If he were to confess to Yue Ru now, she would definitely not accept it.
"Little Bean." Yao Yueru saw Little Bean's sullen face and thought that she had made him unhappy.
"Don't be angry with me, okay? Although we won't be able to see each other every day in the future, I'll definitely come back to see you if there's a chance.”She grabbed his hand and said softly.
Tu Haoxin didn't say anything. He just kept looking at Yao Yueru.
If he wasn't sixteen years old and had grown up, he would have forced Yue Ru to stay. He would never let her leave!
However, he was only sixteen years old and he was not capable enough. Even though he did not want Yue Ru to leave, he was in no position to ask her to stay.
"Do you really have to leave?" he said sadly.
Yao Yueru nodded, her eyes glistening with tears.
" Then…" Little Bean sniffled and said with difficulty,""Then let me send you to Chang 'an! I'm worried about you, a girl, going to such a faraway place alone.”
"I think it's okay. I heard that it only takes a month to get from here to Chang 'an. It's not as far as you think.”
"Crescent Moon!" Tu Haoxin called out. " I can only do this for you. If I can't personally send you to your aunt, I..." His voice was choked with sobs.
Yao Yueru felt terrible. She couldn't bear to go against his wishes anymore, so she quickly said,""Alright, alright. I'll let you follow me to Chang 'an.”
Tu Haoxin finally smiled.”
Yao Yueru smiled when she saw Little Bean smile.
"Little Bean, we will always be good friends, right?”she asked.
"Of course!" He looked at her affectionately. "Crescent Moon, I will never forget you.”
"Me too!" Yao Yueru smiled at Little Bean, but she was thinking about something else.
Little Bean, I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me." If we have the chance to meet again, I'll apologize to you properly! She whispered to Little Bean in her heart.
Early the next morning, before the sky was completely bright, Yao Yueru had already left the small village she had lived in for fifteen years.
She had to do this. She had to leave Little Bean without saying goodbye!
She didn't let Little Bean know. She didn't know where her aunt lived in Chang 'an. Her dead father only told her her aunt's name before he died. That was all. After not contacting her for more than ten years, it was possible that her aunt no longer lived in Chang 'an and had moved elsewhere.
How could she let Little Bean know about this? If Little Bean knew, he would never let her leave. She couldn't do that. She couldn't harm Little Bean!
She didn't believe that the villagers said that she was a jinx to her family, but Little Bean's parents believed in such things. If she stayed, Little Bean would definitely get into a fight with his parents because of her. Little Bean was her best friend, and she couldn't drag him down.
Therefore, her only choice was to leave this place and find her aunt who might not be in Chang 'an anymore. She had no other choice.
She was very lucky to meet a kind couple on the first day of her journey and gave her a ride. She had been in the carriage for several days, which greatly shortened the distance to Chang 'an. She didn't have to worry about Little Bean catching up with her.
After bidding farewell to the kind-hearted couple, she began her journey alone.
The only thing she could do now was to keep on hurrying. She didn't know where she got her courage from, but she walked through densely populated towns and wilderness. When she ran out of dry food, she would eat wild fruits picked along the way. When she was thirsty, she would drink from the river. When she was sleepy, she would find a dilapidated temple or an empty house to sleep on. If she was in the wilderness, she would climb a tree to sleep to avoid being attacked by wild beasts. Under such hard work, she was only about three days away from Chang 'an.
Because she had missed the town she could stay in, Yao Yueru had to spend the night in the wilderness again.
It was already the last few days, and she had run out of money to buy food and water. It was late at night. She planned to climb up a tree and endure the pain of an empty stomach for the night.
She had just climbed up a short distance when she suddenly heard an old voice from under the tree.
"Little girl, if you climb too high, you will fall!”
The sudden sound startled her and she almost fell off the tree.
"Eunuch, are you talking to me?”She looked down at the old man in white standing under the tree.
"There's only you and me here. Of course I'm talking to you. Come down quickly, little girl.”The old man in white said with a smile.
"Alright." Yao Yueru quickly climbed down the tree. The old man's kind voice made her forget that this person was a stranger.
"Grandpa, how old are you this year?”Yao Yueru had been staring at the old man since she got off the tree. What an "old man"! The man's hair and eyebrows were white, and he had a long white beard. He looked much older than her deceased grandmother, but he looked better than her. The old man's face was rosy, and his eyes curved when he smiled. He looked really kind.
"Hehe, this old eunuch is already so old.”The old man patted Yao Yueru's head and said lovingly,""Little girl, you must be very hungry, right? Come, let's sit down. The old man has some buns here. Let's eat together!”
Yao Yueru swallowed her saliva." Thank you, Grandpa! But how did you know I was hungry?”
"I know." The old eunuch stroked his beard and smiled. Alright, let's talk after eating. Here, take it and eat, okay?"
Seeing the white and fat bun in the old man's hand, Yao Yueru couldn't help but take the bun and eat it.
The old man gave all the buns to Yao Yueru and even thoughtfully fetched water for her.
After Yao Yueru finished her bun, she drank all the water she had left. With a bulging stomach, she burped and said to the old man,""Grandpa, thank you for treating me to so much food. My name is Yueru. What's your name, Old Eunuch?"
"An old eunuch is an old eunuch!" As the old eunuch was laughing and chatting, his expression suddenly became serious. "Yueru, tell me honestly. Do you have something unusual on you?”
Yao Yueru was stunned. "Something unusual? Why do you say that, old eunuch?”
The old man looked at her solemnly." I'll tell you the truth! In fact, the old eunuch was a Taoist priest who traveled the Jianghu. He specialized in fortune-telling and relieving people of their worries. However, the old man was not a mediocre martial arts practitioner. Because of his innate ability, the old man could see many things that ordinary people could not see and knew some things that ordinary people could never know.”
Yao Yueru was dumbfounded. "Old Eunuch, you must be an immortal, right?”She thought that only immortals could be as powerful as the old eunuch.
The old eunuch laughed. "Haha! The old eunuch had to eat and sleep like everyone else. How could he be an immortal who didn't care about the mortal world? Little Yue Ru, you're wrong. But there are indeed people who mistook me for an immortal. Some even call me an immortal!”
"Then you're the Immortal Eunuch!”Yao Yueru said with certainty.
"Alright, then I'll change my name to Immortal Eunuch in the future.”After the old eunuch laughed for a while, his expression returned to its previous solemn state. " Little Yue Ru, I won't beat around the bush with you. It's like this. Your body is emitting an unusual aura, and it's an ominous aura. I suspect that you're carrying something bad with you.”
Bad things? Yao Yueru tilted her head and thought seriously. She was penniless and had nothing valuable on her except for some clothes!
That's right! She suddenly thought of that mirror. Ever since she picked it up at the bottom of the river three years ago, she had always treasured it. Even now, she still carried it with her.
She turned around and opened the bag. After finding the mirror, she carefully took it out.
"Grandpa, are you talking about this mirror?”She held the mirror in front of the old man.
The old eunuch's expression changed! He took the mirror and looked at it several times.
The old man's solemn expression infected Yao Yueru. The heavy atmosphere made her afraid to speak.
After a long time, the old man finally spoke,"Little Yue Ru, how did you get this mirror?”
"I…I picked it up." Yao Yueru said timidly.
"Oh, then when did you pick it up, and where did you pick it up?”the old eunuch asked again.
Yao Yueru didn't dare to hide anything. She told the old man everything about how she had picked up the mirror three years ago.
The old eunuch nodded repeatedly. "I see. Oh right, I forgot to ask you, why are you here in such a place in the middle of the night?”
" I..." Yao Yueru's heart ached. She told the old man everything about her appearance in a hoarse voice.
"Sigh, it seems that everything is fated.”The old eunuch sighed deeply.
"Eunuch, I don't understand what you're saying!”
The old man looked at her with pity. "Tell me, have your relatives ever seen this mirror?”
Yao Yueru tried her best to recall. This was a question that she had never thought of before. The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became.
"Grandpa, I remember now!" she said to the old man blankly. Grandma, Mom, and Dad have all seen this mirror before. Because I like this mirror, I often show it to them. The mirror is blurry, and nothing can be seen, but…"
"But they've taken pictures of themselves, haven't they?”
Yao Yueru finally remembered everything. She looked at the old man uneasily." I remember that Grandma was the first to be reflected in the mirror. She died not long after that, followed by Mother, and then Father…"
The old man nodded. "It seems that you have already thought of it. Yes, the ominous thing I was talking about was this mirror. This is the legendary Mystic Mirror. Legend has it that anyone who is reflected by the Mystic Mirror will die within a year. I always thought that this was just a legend and an unreliable rumor. I didn't expect it to come true for your family. It seems that this rumor is true…" Daguan Time:1024201810:50AM
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。