It continued raining for three days.
The three days of rain washed the land and caused the osmanthus flowers to fall, causing the land to be damp and all the houses to be filled with dampness. Even the blankets they used to sleep in at night were filled with dampness.
This was how the season was like.
During these three days, few people ventured too far out of their houses besides the hunting grounds. Only occasionally when the rain stopped would some children run out barefooted and play in the mud while laughing happily.
Ugly Little Thing would always pester Su Ming at this time and pick up some mud not too far away from the house to make some small animals that he could not tell what they were.
Every single time this happened, Su Ming would play with her with a smile on his face. As he looked at this kind and adorable child, he remembered his own childhood.
Yet during these three days, Ugly Little Thing's family was filled with grief and silence. Su Ming's request had caused the family to struggle with great difficulty. They did not know how to choose.
This was also why Su Ming felt warmth towards this family. If it was any other family, then this would not have been a problem where they would not even need to choose. After all, was it difficult to choose between a child they picked up and their own daughter?
Ugly Little Thing's father was silent, and so was his wife. Their gazes constantly moved between Su Ming and Ugly Little Thing. They looked at the birthmark on her face and her frail body, and their hearts ached for her.
However, when their gazes fell on Su Ming, that pale face, frail body, that understanding gaze, and that expression that said he treated them as his parents made the couple's hearts ache once again.
There were four more days before they would have to make their choice …
"Dad, you once said that you have to give life to dolls when you make them, but just what sort of thoughts do you need to give life to dolls?" Su Ming looked at Ugly Little Thing's father and asked softly.
This was the fourth day since the people from Evil Spirit Sect left. Su Ming placed the straw rope before Ugly Little Thing's father and lowered his head to weave it.
"People need to be moved … Only when their hearts are moved can they make dolls with life," Ugly Little Thing's father said gently as he looked at Su Ming. Ugly Little Thing's father looked at Su Ming and spoke gently. However, the complicated look in his eyes could not be hidden away when Su Ming looked at him.
"In the past, the dolls your father made didn't have any life. It was when your older brother Xi 'er was born that I listened to his cries and created the first living doll outside." This was the first time Ugly Little Thing's father had called himself daddy in front of Su Ming. His words were spoken very naturally, and there was not a hint of him putting on an act or putting on an act. When he said those words, he picked up a straw rope.
He first tied a knot, then more knots appeared on the grass rope in his hands. When there were a dozen something knots on the grass rope, he looked towards Su Ming.
"Before I married your mother, I was a tribesman of a tribe called the Gutou Tribe. The Gutou Tribe is a small tribe with only a few hundred people, but it has a long history …
I didn't have the physique to train in the Berserker Way since I was young, so I could only be a mortal. But my father, your grandfather, was the Shi Heng of that tribe. "A smile appeared on Ugly Little Thing's father's face, and a look of reminiscence appeared on his face.
"You know as well that those who could not practice the Berserker Way were only required to do one job, and that was to use the different methods of each tribe to record the history of their tribe.
"The legacy of Valley Tribe is ancient, and no one knows exactly when it started. However, based on the method of recording in the tribe, we can tell that this is not fake.
"Because this method of recording is based on grass knots. We use different types of grass and different knots to record history. Outsiders will not be able to understand its meaning, and only those who have mastered this method will be able to read it.
"I was that generation's Shi Heng, but … the disaster of the tribe, the separation of my people, and their deaths caused all of this to cease to exist. I met your mother, came here, and stayed here … I'm just a mortal, and I don't have any other skills. It's very difficult for me to survive here.
"But I know how to make grass knots, and with an endless amount of grass knots, I can weave them into dolls …" Ugly Little Thing's father looked at Su Ming. As he spoke, his hands did not stop moving. He continued weaving, and when he finished speaking, a small doll appeared in his hands.
That small doll's appearance was incredibly similar to Su Ming's!
"This small doll is made of twenty-nine grass knots. I've recorded twenty-nine blessings for you in these grass knots. It's the same doll. I gave your brother one when he was born, and it was the same for your little sister when she was born. Now, I'll give this to you." Ugly Little Thing's father handed the doll in his hands to Su Ming.
"Grass knot record …" This was the first time Su Ming had heard of this method of recording history. It did not matter whether it was in the Alliance of the Western Region or the Land of South Morning, none of the tribes he saw had a recorder like this, much less someone called Shi Heng.
However, he could imagine that this Shi Heng should have a position in a tribe similar to the Head of the Guards and the Chief of War.
Once Su Ming took the doll, the instant his hand touched it, a sharp glint appeared in his eyes. He could clearly feel that there was a wave of life force contained within the doll. That life force was very faint, and if his divine sense had not recovered slightly, it would have been difficult for him to detect it.
That life force contained blessings, and there was also a wave of warmth that spread through Su Ming's entire body.
Su Ming lifted his head and cast a deep glance at Ugly Little Thing's father. If it was not because he was absolutely certain that this man was not a person with any cultivation base and that he was just a very normal mortal, then once Su Ming saw this doll, he would definitely think that it was made by someone with cultivation base.
That ancient face with wrinkles on it was filled with the trials of life. That waist that would always bend unnaturally when he stood up seemed to have been weighed down by helplessness and fate throughout the years.
However, it was precisely this sort of mortal, a normal person who had made a doll with his hands that contained this sort of power of life. Su Ming might have seen quite a number of dolls from Ugly Little Thing's father, but the life contained within each of them was incredibly weak and not enough to shock him. However, the one in his hand right then had caused the dissipating power within Su Ming's body … to show signs of ripples.
'This is related to the grass knot records, but the most important thing is … since he can reach the pinnacle of his will, he can reach the pinnacle of his hands. He used his hands to give the thought of grass knots, causing this thought to turn into a blessing in his ignorance. This blessing contained his prayers, that is why as long as he is not dead, then this blessing will exist forever. ' Su Ming seemed to have come to an epiphany. It was the same logic as when he drew, and it was the same as when a person wrote something, and when others saw it, they would feel as if there was a powerful army charging at them.
This was the result of someone reaching the pinnacle of something. It had nothing to do with their level of cultivation, and neither did it have anything to do with anything else. It was only connected to their hearts.
"The grass knots you make don't possess life because you don't know how to make grass knots to record things. How about this, I'll teach you … Your big brother couldn't learn it in the past, and your little sister wasn't interested in it either. I'm very pleased that you like it." Ugly Little Thing's father smiled kindly and picked up a grass rope. Once he handed it to Su Ming, he picked up another one himself.
"Grass knot records is a very ancient method. I don't know all about it, and I can only record some simple things. Each knot is different, and every single time you tie one, you have to think about what you want to record in your heart.
I remember when my Abba told me, he told me like this … "
"It doesn't matter whether it's grass knots or rope knots, you need to use your eyes to see them, your hands to touch them, and your heart to feel them. The most important thing in this is to touch them.
"Touch the feeling you get when you tie each knot. It's very mysterious, and I can't describe it clearly, but before there were any words, our ancestors used this method to record everything in their lives." As Ugly Little Thing's father spoke, he tied eight knots.
Time passed by just like that, and in the blink of an eye, several days went by. During them, Su Ming was immersed in this grass knot record and continued learning from his father. However, Ugly Little Thing's father was clearly not a good educator. Most of the time, he only felt that he could not express his feelings clearly with words.
During the first two days since Evil Spirit Sect arrived, Ugly Little Thing's father spent most of his time in silence. Occasionally, he would look at Su Ming with a complicated gaze, and most of the time, he would look at him with a complicated gaze.
It was the same for Ugly Little Thing's mother.
The rain outside had stopped for a few days, and once noon arrived, it started pouring once again. The sound of rain continued echoing in the air even when it was late at night.
Su Ming lay in the small house that belonged to him and looked at the rain outside the window, along with the occasional lightning bolts and rumbling sounds. He could not fall asleep.
He held a grass rope with eight knots in it. His father had given it to him before he went to bed. Over the past few days, Su Ming's understanding of this grass knot record was still rather vague, and he could not remember it clearly.
At that moment, as he touched the knots on the grass rope, Su Ming thought about his past.
Ugly Little Thing was in the same room as him. To this family that was not very rich, it was very difficult for each child to have their own room.
That rhythmic breathing had accompanied Su Ming for a year, and it was an unforgettable memory for him. He turned his head around and looked at Ugly Little Thing. As he looked at the sleeping girl, a smile appeared on his face.
However, the tears falling from the corners of the girl's eyes as she slept and her murmurs in her sleep made Su Ming's smile turn into one of doting love.
"Big brother … Big brother Dog Leftovers … Don't go, Ugly Little Thing can do it … I'll hit them …
"Daddy, mommy … We'll be together forever …"
In her world, her biological older brother was a blur. After all, she had just been born eight years ago. When she grew up, she only knew that one of her older brothers had joined an Immortal's sect.
Aside from that, everything else was blank. Su Ming's appearance had gradually caused his figure to be imprinted in that blank space. To her, her older brother was Su Ming.
Her greatest wish in this life was for her family, including her big brother Dog Leftovers, to stay together happily.
Su Ming wiped away the tears at the corners of Ugly Little Thing's eyes, and a resolute look appeared in his eyes. He did not want to see sorrow in this family. He wanted this family to always be happy.
"Ugly Little Thing, I promise you, I will protect your family … until the end!"
He had already pulled away from the other party by five hundred votes. How could he pull away any further? He continued writing. This was the second chapter! (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com and vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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