Time Travel and Love

"Ajin," Chu Qingmeng felt her hair prickling her neck. Mo Liujin had just pressed her head down, and she remembered the hairpin. "Where's my hairpin? Help me put my hair up. It's so hot."

Mo Liujin pulled the hairpin from his bosom and retied her hair, his mind racing. It seemed he had never given Qingmeng anything before. Truthfully, Chu Qingmeng didn't care for jewelry; the simpler the better. Even her everyday hairpins were simple wooden ones. So, he'd almost overlooked it. A hairpin? Mo Liujin smiled softly. He was confused. After all, it was something she should have.

…………

Bored, Chu Qingmeng began to miss the joy of swimming freely in the water yesterday. It would have been fine if she hadn't encountered rivers and lakes on a normal day, but once she did, she was eager to get in the water. If only she could see the sea, she could swim freely. Unfortunately, Dayu was a landlocked country, not surrounded by the sea. Thinking of this, she sighed.

Mo Liujin, who was originally handling official business, heard her sigh and looked at Chu Qingmeng, who was curled up in the chair, and asked curiously, "What's wrong? Why are you sighing?"

"I worked up a sweat this afternoon and I want to go in the water." Chu Qingmeng answered truthfully, "For me, the water is very comfortable."

Mo Liujin laughed out loud, and that smile clearly showed that he had misunderstood her meaning. He put down his pen and leaned over to whisper in Chu Qingmeng's ear, "Madam, do you like being in the water?"

Chu Qingmeng didn't understand what he meant, but just nodded according to his own thoughts.

"If you eat well later, I'll take you to the water, okay?" Mo Liujin saw her nod and gently stroked her face with his hand. "I'll finish my work quickly, and when I come back from the water, I'll be able to sleep with you directly."

Chu Qingmeng was instantly happy, and fumbled with the ink stick to grind ink for him. Seeing her like this, Mo Liujin smiled even more. Does she like being in the water so much?

Finally, it was time to go to the river. Mo Liujin led her out of the barracks on horseback. The soldiers guarding the camp were much calmer today. After they had walked a distance away from the barracks, they mounted their horses, took her in their arms, and drove directly to the river.

What Mo Liujin hadn't anticipated was that Chu Qingmeng's words were truly just about getting in the water. Seeing Chu Qingmeng happily swimming, Mo Liujin laughed in anger. So? Was he overthinking it? She simply hated the heat and preferred staying in the water to cool down? Helplessly, he leaned against a rock on the shore, watching Chu Qingmeng swim nimbly like a fish.

At this moment, Chu Qingmeng had never swum so happily. Every turn of her body was natural. She even turned over while swimming happily. However, she was so focused on having fun that she didn't notice that the skin on her neck was slowly covered with ice-blue scales, which began to spread to her back.

Ling Xian in the purple-gold bamboo forest illusion seemed to sense something, suddenly opened his eyes, hurriedly stood up to cast a spell, spit out his inner elixir and began to resonate with the derived elixir.

Chu Qingmeng sensed the unusual movement of the derivative pill in his body, and also noticed the scales on his body, but those scales quickly retreated and he jumped out of the water in fear, leaving only a small piece of scale on his neck that had not retreated.

Seeing Chu Qingmeng come out of the water with her back to him, but still standing there motionless, Mo Liujin swam towards her, "Qingmeng, what's wrong?"

Hearing Mo Liujin's voice, Chu Qingmeng panicked. She reached out to cover her scales that had not yet fallen off and shouted, "Stand there! Don't come over!"

Hearing the panic and fear in Chu Qingmeng's voice, Mo Liujin didn't stop, but swam over quickly. He thought Chu Qingmeng had bumped into something and was frightened, so he hugged her from behind and comforted her softly, "What's wrong? I'm here, don't be afraid."

Chu Qingmeng lowered her head and covered her hands with her hair. "Nothing, you...you go to the shore and wait for me first."

Mo Liujin grabbed her hand and said, "Are you hurt? Let me take a look."

He was very strong, and with only a slight effort he removed her hand. Fortunately, the scales had completely retreated by then, leaving only a faint mark. Mo Liujin held her in one hand, gently stroking the red mark and saying soothingly, "It's okay, maybe it was a branch or something in the water that scratched you. It's not broken, it's nothing serious, don't scare yourself."

She felt her scales retreat hastily the moment he pulled her hand away, and she knew it was her father using the derivative pill to suppress her true form. She breathed a sigh of relief, but was also quite frightened. Why would she be like this now that she was a human?

Mo Liujin turned her around and hugged her tightly, "What's wrong? Why are you shaking so badly?"

Chu Qingmeng just hugged him silently without saying a word. She was really scared and was afraid that she would never go in the water again after today. Maybe she didn't have as much fun yesterday as she did today, so that's why nothing happened? Chu Qingmeng guessed so.

Ling Xian in the Purple Gold Bamboo Forest sensed the scales on Chu Qingmeng's body had faded away, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He shook his head helplessly, becoming even more disobedient! He swallowed back his inner elixir and closed his eyes again.

Seeing Chu Qingmeng's terrified expression and her refusal to answer, Mo Liujin frowned, hugged her, and swam back to shore, where they both packed up. Chu Qingmeng still hadn't recovered. She was terrified, not only that Mo Liujin would see her true form, but even more so that it would attract a swarm of demons, and she wasn't sure if she could protect her flesh and blood.