On the way back, Li Mo and Zhong Mu walked in a hurry.
As they parted under the marriage tree, Li Mo suddenly grabbed Zhong Mu's arm.
"What's wrong, Li Mo? Something wrong?" Zhong Mu glanced hastily in the direction of the clinic in the distance, then turned back to ask.
"Do you... have any more of those tools for sewing the doll?" Li Mo pointed to the pouch Zhong Mu was carrying, which was stuffed with cotton, fabric, and thread he had collected.
"Yes, I do... but you really want to make one for Yin Xiu? You guys really don't need this." Zhong Mu was puzzled, but still took out the necessary materials and tools from the pouch and handed them to him. "Be careful with your hands, don't prick them. Without a foundation, it's very difficult to make one look good on the first try."
Li Mo nodded, then took the tools, and the two parted ways.
On the way back, Li Mo continued sewing the doll, extending many tentacles as he walked, squeezing in every spare moment to finish before returning.
What human hands need to painstakingly sew, he could accomplish twice as quickly with his many tentacles. Zhong Mu's worries about the small problems were nothing to fear; the tiny needle couldn't even pierce the tentacles.
Before dawn, the villagers had all returned home, and the village was silent at daybreak, with only Li Mo's solitary, dark figure walking on the streets.
Fragments of brilliant light spread from the horizon, softly spilling onto the eaves.
The light and shadow fell, enveloping Li Mo's dark figure, creating a dreamlike halo.
He stopped, looking up at the bright, dazzling sky, his ink-black pupils reflecting the dawn.
The light was truly beautiful and warm.
His boyfriend was that light within the long, dark seal. As long as he could see that light, touch it, and feel its warmth, it didn't matter if his true form remained in that narrow, endless darkness.
He could still see the light outside through the cracks in the seal, carefully squeezing out a small portion to approach it.
That alone was enough.
Li Mo withdrew his gaze, lifted his feet, and walked back. None of that mattered. The most important thing now was to get back to his boyfriend before he woke up, so that he could see him as soon as he awoke.
Ya Ya, who was huddled in the coffin, secretly battling with the little tentacle ball but too afraid to make a sound, heard Li Mo's return.
But he didn't immediately open the coffin and pull her out; instead, he remained quiet outside, which confused Ya Ya.
She carefully opened a crack in the coffin, grabbed the little tentacle ball to block the light from outside, so as not to wake her brother, then slowly climbed out of the coffin and tiptoed back to close the lid.
"You're awake?" Li Mo's voice drifted over as soon as she climbed out of the coffin.
Ya Ya mumbled, hugging her little rabbit doll tightly, and whispered, "Ghosts don't need to sleep. I'm just keeping my brother company."
"I know, me too," Li Mo replied casually. Both of their voices were very low, afraid of waking Yin Xiu.
Ya Ya stood by the coffin, staring at Li Mo. He was pitch black, sitting silently beside the coffin, his tentacles extending from his back reaching out to him as he busied himself with something. This quietness made her uneasy.
Unconsciously, the monster who had exuded a terrifying, inhuman aura upon their first meeting, sending chills down her spine, had now learned to conceal his presence, becoming perfectly human when quiet.
"What are you doing?" Ya Ya climbed onto the coffin lid, sat next to Li Mo, and peeked out, wanting to know what this large, dark figure was quietly doing. She peeked out and saw him holding a small cloth doll he was almost finished sewing.
"Ah! It's my brother!" Ya Ya's eyes instantly brightened. The dark figure had sewn a brother out of cloth! "Does
it look like him?" Li Mo used his tentacles to sew the last stitch, pulled back the thread, and waved the small cloth doll in front of Ya Ya.
"So alike! Absolutely so!" Ya Ya's eyes sparkled as she stared at the little rag doll dangling in front of her. Although it was covered in stitches, the doll, sewn by Hei Qiqi, looked remarkably like her brother—small and adorable.
Ya Ya's eyes were practically glued to it, almost drooling with envy.
Li Mo pinched the doll with his tentacles and shook it, then tucked it into Ya Ya's arms. "Then it's yours."
Suddenly given the doll, Ya Ya was bewildered. Hei Qiqi was actually willing to give her such a cute brother doll? Something was off! There must be a trick!
But she looked down at the doll in her arms, then happily hugged it and nuzzled it.
"Tell me! What do you want me to do! As long as it's not about betraying my brother, Ya Ya will accept it!" Ya Ya hugged the doll tightly, looking resigned to her fate, prepared to pay the price.
"Nothing much, just a gift for you. I've never given you a gift before," Li Mo replied with a smile.
"A gift?" Ya Ya asked, puzzled.
Li Mo nodded.
Ya Ya hugged the plush toy thoughtfully. Gifts are things exchanged between people, representing good feelings between two people, but neither she nor Hei Qiqi are human.
She couldn't understand, but still hugged the plush toy tightly. "Then don't regret it! What you give Ya Ya belongs to Ya Ya!"
"Okay." Li Mo responded.
He took away her boyfriend, so he gave Ya Ya a small plush toy, so that Ya Ya could hug the toy and think of her brother when she was in the dungeon.
Ya Ya happily hugged the plush toy and kissed it, one hand holding her little brother and the other holding the little rabbit, Ya Ya's life was complete!
She declared! She could accept Hei Qiqi a little bit!
Just as the two were getting along harmoniously, the coffin lid behind them suddenly moved and was then slowly pushed open.
The two figures that were originally sitting outside the coffin turned around and quickly lay down beside the coffin, their eyes burning.
Yin Xiu woke up and stretched his head out, only to see two faces close to him.
Ya Ya happily hugged a plush toy that resembled him and shook it, her voice cheerful and bright, "Brother, look! Hei Qiqi made it for me!"
"Okay." Yin Xiu rubbed Ya Ya's head, still half asleep and not yet recognizing that the doll looked somewhat like him.
Li Mo gave him a sticky kiss on the cheek, "Good morning, boyfriend."
"Mmm... good morning." Yin Xiu, still sleepy, sat in the coffin bathed in the morning light, surrounded by the person he loved, feeling a little dizzy with happiness.
"This is for my boyfriend, today's little flower." Li Mo pulled out a pretty little flower from somewhere and placed it in Yin Xiu's palm, rubbing his hand against it, "Boyfriend, you have to love me a little more today too."
"Okay." Yin Xiu held the little flower and sniffed it, his voice low and lazy from just waking up, blending with Li Mo's sticky and affectionate kiss, the atmosphere between them immediately becoming hazy.
Ya Ya hummed beside him, hugging and kissing the plush toy in her arms.
It's okay, she also has a brother to kiss.