"Stack an old monk, tap his forehead; then stack a young monk, tap his forehead; finally stack Fan Yin Temple, feel the power of my Heavenly Horse Shooting Fist!"
He Zhizhou, wrapped up warmly like a fluffy ball, squatted in the snow, grimacing as he built snowmen and muttered to himself.
Looking at the two misshapen oval snowballs in front of him, Lin Xun comforted carefully, "Senior He, don't be sad. Although we've had a tough time these days, it has indeed tempered our character. Every cloud has a silver lining."
He Zhizhou grimaced and muttered coldly.
After participating in the Buddhist conference, though he lost the carefree life of being a 'loafer and a freeloader,' he gained real pain as a result. What a trade-off.
Not far from them, Ningning happily built snowmen, and upon hearing Lin Xun's words, she looked up and then smiled, saying to Pei Ji, "Thank goodness we didn't attend the small classes; otherwise, it would have been much worse."
Today is the second day after the end of the Buddhist conference.
After returning to Xuanxu yesterday, and a whole day of rest and recuperation, Ningning had regained most of her energy. However, the others seemed less than satisfied.
Their plan to tamper with the small class list failed. He Zhizhou and Lin Xun fell victim to misleading headlines, shivering in the cold wind for days, reciting Buddhist scriptures, unable to resist temptation in the end.
Zheng Weiqi was forced to diligently study Buddhist classics and tales. For a long time, whenever she spoke, she would spout three or more Buddhist and Taoist philosophies from her mouth.
All of them were pitiful, truly miserable.
Silently expressing sympathy in her heart, she then looked at the snowmen in front of her and poked Pei Ji's shoulder, "Your hands must be very cold."
The snowfall today was exceptionally heavy, and Zheng Weiqi and the others needed an outlet for their pent-up emotions. They all agreed and came to build snowmen on the Moon-viewing Peak.
Ningning was excited about the activity, but being from the South, she had rarely seen snow, let alone played in it.
She tried to gather the snow into round balls like in TV dramas, but each time she failed to pack it tightly enough. Every time she picked up the snowball, it would crumble uncontrollably, scattering white fragments everywhere.
As a result, the task of building snowmen fell on Pei Ji.
His hands were large and slender, surprisingly dexterous, molding the snow into various shapes. When he exerted a little force, the joints would display a beautiful white color.
Ningning watched with amazement and heard him reply softly, "Not cold."
Because she had been channeling spiritual energy into Pei Ji's body, warming him up a bit.
Ningning smiled, subtly moving closer to him, "Where did you learn to build snowmen like this? Your technique doesn't seem like a first-timer."
She had thought that given Pei Ji's character, he would distance himself from such a somewhat childish pastime.
Pei Ji made a sound of recognition, "I used to play like this when I was young— building heads into different shapes, is that okay?"
The girl beside him eagerly reached out her hand and squeezed the snowball he was holding. The topic of building snowmen naturally drifted away.
"Building snowmen, huh."
Carrying his sword, Pei Ji could hear Shadow's voice. The old man's voice abruptly stopped halfway, only to sigh after a while, "Young Pei Ji from the past was so adorable, unlike now, only finding Ningning cute, making me so sad and so sad."
For Pei Ji, however, snowfall wasn't exactly a pleasant experience.
When he lived with his mother, even during the coldest winter, he never received warm clothing. Often, he could only curl up in a corner to preserve the little heat he had.
Sometimes, when his mother was agitated, she would take him out to a small underground room and leave him alone in the freezing night. Snowflakes would fall, thick like a quilt covering the ground, but when he fell in the snow, all he felt was piercing cold.
Late at night, heavy snow and dusk would press down together. The darkness all around was what he feared, but in his frozen daze, only Shadow would accompany and talk to him.
And that was how he began to build snowmen.
Other children were unwilling to play with him, so Pei Ji watched from afar, learning some techniques along the way.
At that time, his hands were swollen with chilblains, and every time he touched the snowflakes, he would feel a piercing pain from the cold. Fortunately, Pei Ji had long been accustomed to pain, watching as the snowball gradually took on a head and facial features, evoking a strange feeling in his heart.
-It stood quietly in place, as if it were a person who couldn't talk or move.
The vastness of heaven and earth, only it was willing to stay by his side.
"...Pei Ji?"
The clear voice of a young girl pulled him back to reality. Pei Ji followed the sound and met Ningning's smiling eyes with a lowered gaze.
Her emotions were always transparent; when she was happy, she would subconsciously smile broadly, looking at him while extending her hand, revealing a few beans and twigs in her shiny white palm, saying, "These can be used as eyes and arms. What do you think?"
The shadows of the past dissipated in that instant.
Pei Ji smiled silently, took a step back, and gestured for her to come forward, "You do it."
It was the first time Ningning had built a snowman with Pei Ji, feeling a heavy responsibility and taking it very seriously. Not only did she carefully place the beans and twigs, but after the task was done, she even thought about it and took a small cape from her bag to drape over its body.
As soon as she stopped, she heard a familiar voice behind her exclaiming in delight, "Wow—Ningning and Pei Ji, this snowman of yours is at a master level!"
Tian Xianzi and Meng Jue didn't know when they arrived to join the fun, their white clothes covered in snow, resembling walking snowballs.
The former was full of interest, constantly chattering away, "Wei Qi's little pig is not bad either, with its round eyes, round nose, and round ears, quite cute."
"Master."
Zheng Shi Jie gazed quietly at him, "This is you."
Tian Xianzi's smile froze at the corner of his mouth, and Meng Jue habitually deflected, "This master actually looks quite handsome, just a little ugly."
... What kind of deflection was that!
Tian Xianzi swallowed his anger, and when he finally approached He Zhizhou and Lin Xun, he learned to be a good follower and gave the first speaking opportunity to his obedient disciple, "Meng Jue, what do you think of this... doll?"
He really couldn't figure out what it was, thought about it for a while, and could only refer to it as a "doll."
The snowmen they built were indistinct and deformed, their whole bodies crooked like mud, with red paint smeared on their mouths, looking like they had wandered into a horror movie scene when placed on the ground.
Meng Jue nodded, "Ugliness carries a hint of twisted beauty, obscenity hides a bit of indescribable allure.
