"I... I....."

Young Li Mo's tongue suddenly tied itself in knots. He had indeed fantasized about playing the hero, saving a beauty, and walking hand-in-hand with her. But when actually put on the spot, his mind went completely blank.

He hadn’t expected the beauty he encountered to be so breathtaking, nor had he anticipated that his usually glib tongue—so adept at spouting nonsense—would fail him so utterly at this moment.

"There’s no need to be nervous. It’s our first meeting, after all." Ying Bing’s eyes held a hint of amusement, as if she were looking at a silly goose.

"I feel like it’s not our first time..."

Li Mo couldn’t place the source of this deep, soul-stirring familiarity. That smile of hers seemed like something he’d glimpsed countless times in his dreams—hazy and indistinct, leaving him with nothing but a vague sense of longing upon waking. Only now had it taken concrete form.

"By the way, why did you secretly tell me the answer to the riddle earlier?"

"It wasn’t me."

Ying Bing glanced away. She had been afraid Li Mo wouldn’t guess it, but she hadn’t expected her whisper to become the very voice echoing in his heart.

Really? Young Li Mo didn’t believe her. But he had no proof—after all, hers was the only voice he’d heard in that crowded space.

He still hadn’t figured out why no one else had heard it.

"Are you planning to go on a long journey?" Ying Bing asked casually.

Tsk, tsk. In truth, she had been waiting here for quite some time. All because Li Mo had once joked, "What if someone else ends up accompanying me on my adventures?"

Though it had been nothing more than a passing remark—one Li Mo, having forgotten his past, likely wouldn’t even remember—the words had lingered in her mind.

The speaker might not have meant it, but the listener took it to heart.

And she was bothered by it.

"Oh no, the city gates are about to close!"

Snapping back to reality, Li Mo clasped his hands in a polite gesture. "Fairy sister, my name is Li Mo, from the Li family in the city. We’ll... we’ll meet again next time!"

He was even more afraid that if he stayed any longer, he wouldn’t have the heart to leave.

To his surprise, Ying Bing’s delicate brows furrowed, and she shoved the mask back at him in a huff.

"Take it back."

"Eh...?"

Before he could react, she boarded a carriage, lifting the curtain to cast a lingering glance his way.

Li Mo was momentarily stunned, unable to comprehend why her mood had shifted so abruptly from sunny to overcast.

But then again, young Li was something of a genius.

A sudden thought flashed through his mind:

"True departures are often silent. If she says she’s leaving, she’s waiting for you to stop her."

"Are you heading out of the city too?"

"......" Ying Bing neither laughed nor replied.

Li Mo grew increasingly certain he was onto something and promptly climbed into the carriage after her.

"Fairy sister, take me with you! I was so caught up in solving lantern riddles earlier that I forgot to buy a horse. The place I’m going is far, and if no one gives me a ride, who knows how long it’ll take me to get there."

"But I don’t even know where you’re headed."

Ying Bing pressed her lips together but didn’t let go of the big-headed doll she was holding.

"Mo City. Is that on your way? If not, just drop me off at Yinma Town..."

"It’s on the way."

Ying Bing tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, agreeing readily—only to pause and lower her gaze in thought, as if recalling something.

"What’s wrong?" Li Mo asked.

"I don’t know how to get there."

Ying Bing delivered this with an air of icy composure.

Li Mo: "?"

So he was supposed to drive the carriage?

Wait a minute—

If she didn’t know the way, how did she know it was "on the way"?

......

The life of a wandering hero, roaming the land with a sword, wasn’t nearly as exciting as Li Mo had imagined.

Stories spoke of righteous warriors drawing their blades to uphold justice, but the acts of chivalry young Li encountered left him with no opportunity to even lift a finger.

On the first day, he came across a girl selling herself to bury her father—Li Mo handed over ten taels of silver. The next day, he passed a village where the biggest hardship was the lack of a bridge to cross the river. On the third day, he met a farmer whose fruit was rotting in the fields because he couldn’t sell it...

This wasn’t what Li Mo had envisioned.

Because the greatest injustice people faced seemed to be... poverty.

There was no room for heroic intervention—just an endless need to open his purse.

So... he really should have brought more silver with him.

"In the tales, heroes are always feasting on fine wine and meat, throwing money around without a care. And they never seem to work for a living—where does all their money come from?"

Swaying in the carriage, Li Mo still hadn’t cracked this mystery.

"Yinma Town is just ahead."

Ying Bing’s voice drifted to his ears.

Come to think of it, Li Mo had been curious at first—how could a young woman dare to travel alone, venturing so far from the city?

But then he realized that if she could transmit her voice directly into his mind, her skills likely far surpassed his own.

When he asked her about it, though, she insisted it wasn’t "voice transmission."

Assuming she simply didn’t want to reveal her true abilities, Li Mo let the matter drop.

As the carriage rocked, a gust of wind lifted the curtain.

Outside, lush greenery stretched into the distance. Ahead lay a rushing river, its turbulent currents audible even from this distance. On the opposite bank stood an ancient-looking town.

Several boats—some large, some small—were moored along the riverbank, waiting.

"Young hero, are you looking to cross the river with your carriage?"

A boatman, busy ushering what appeared to be a group of armed escorts onto a larger vessel, spotted Li Mo’s approach and called out.

"That’s right."

"If you don’t mind sharing space, you’re welcome to board with us. The price is negotiable."

The boatman gave Li Mo’s fine attire a once-over, clearly pegging him as someone from a well-off family.

"Boatman, you’ve already taken our party. Adding more passengers at the last minute isn’t proper."

A middle-aged man stepped forward from the escort group. Dressed in practical short robes, his breathing was steady, his gaze sharp—likely the leader of the escort team.

The boatman clasped his hands apologetically. "Escort Dong, you didn’t pay to charter the entire boat. Besides, it’s getting late—why not do them a favor? It costs you nothing, and I earn a bit extra. This young man won’t have to wait around either."

"Well..." Escort Dong seemed ready to argue further.

But then a woman’s voice came from the carriage behind him:

"Since that’s the case, let’s do as the boatman suggests."

"My apologies for the intrusion."

Li Mo patted his pockets, counting out the fare from his dwindling supply of silver.

As he stepped into the cabin, Escort Dong muttered something cryptic:

"Young man, your skills aren’t bad, but the river is treacherous. Best be careful."

"Huh?"

Before Li Mo could ask what he meant, the man had already walked away.

Shrugging, Li Mo secured the carriage to the deck with ropes before returning inside.

"What would you like to eat tonight?"

He wasn’t sure why the question rolled off his tongue so naturally.

...Definitely not because he’d recently tasted her cooking.

"I’d like fish."

Ying Bing withdrew her gaze from the river and answered.

......

Not far off, the escorts had gathered on the opposite side of the deck, preparing their own meal.

Escort Dong carried a bowl of fish soup into the carriage.

Inside sat a young woman dressed in fine clothes, her appearance that of a noble lady.

But her table manners were far from refined—she chewed the fish, bones and all, then slurped down the scalding soup in loud gulps before slamming the bowl down with gusto.

"Dong Geyu, why did you speak up and let those two on board?"

Escort Dong frowned. "That pair looks like a young master running off with his sweetheart—neither seems to have any real martial skill. If trouble breaks out, we won’t be able to protect them. Wouldn’t that just mean two more lives lost for no reason?"