Chapter 187 : Burning technique?

As the flame replacement concluded, the searing pain that felt like it was burning her entire body subsided.

Lu Mo let out a sigh of relief at that moment.

However, she could still feel a burning sensation flowing through her body.

It would take some time for her body to fully adapt to the new flame.

She looked up at this moment. The pale violet flame in front of her had already shrunk considerably.

The amount of pale violet flame was pitifully small to begin with. But in truth, she hadn’t been able to absorb much of it. Because her constitution was too weak, the amount of special flame her body could carry was, in reality, pathetically minuscule.

The portion of the pale violet flame that had disappeared—the vast majority of it—had been lost while trying to merge into her body.

“If this were a normal person, absorbing a special flame would bring at least some improvement to their realm and power, right?”

But at this moment, Lu Mo felt that her realm and power hadn’t changed at all.

“Is it because of… that wound? Or is it because the amount of special flame I absorbed was simply too little?”

Lu Mo pondered.

“Dear daughter, how are you? The flame—any problems?”

“Are you feeling any better?”

At that moment, the man’s voice rang out. He quickly came to stand before Lu Mo, asking with concern.

Lu Mo smiled. “Thanks for worrying, Dad. I… I’m much better.”

As she spoke, she stood up.

Her current state was indeed better than before.

The burden on her body was much lighter than it had been, and moving around felt smoother than ever. The constant sensitivity to cold and dampness was gone.

The pale violet flame had condensed into a faint ember within her body.

That ember could last at least two years—perhaps even longer.

Seeing Lu Mo stand up again, the man let out a sigh of relief as well.

“That’s good.”

He repeated those words several times before finally suppressing the emotions churning beneath his heart.

“That’s good, that’s good.”

“Alright, since you’ve obtained a new special flame—no, an Strange Flame—let’s head back.”

A moment later, he spoke again. “Let’s hurry home. Today, we’re celebrating!”

The man used a special sealing technique to store away the remaining pale violet flame.

Afterward, the two of them followed the original path back to the cave entrance.

The rain was still falling.

But since the special flame had vanished, the surrounding temperature had dropped, and the water vapor had noticeably thinned.

Lu Mo took out an umbrella from her pack and prepared to open it.

Meanwhile, the man stepped forward once more, striding into the rainy world.

“Another rain like this…”

“When I came, it was this rain.”

“And when I leave, it’s the same.”

“From sky to earth—whose life does this rain trace?”

“From the first drop to the last… whose birth and death does this rain represent?”

Lu Mo then watched as the man suddenly raised the sword in his hand and began to wield it amid the rain.

The image of a reliable adult man that he’d painstakingly built up back in the cave shattered into nothing in that instant.

Seriously, why are you showing off again?

Sword dancing in the rain, huh?

One slash to open the gates of heaven, huh?

And what was even more absurd…

When the man finished his final stroke and pointed his sword at the sky—

At that very moment, the rain actually lessened!

The clouds drifted apart, the sun appeared, and sunlight poured down, illuminating the area where they stood!

“So? Little Lu Mo, was your old man’s sword… cool?”

The man turned around, striking a dashing pose. Lu Mo could tell he was smiling at her from behind his mask.

Lu Mo said nothing. She simply lowered her head, held up her umbrella, and silently walked past him.

“Huh?“

“Was it not cool?”

“Don’t walk off, sweetie—wait for me!”

By the time the two returned to the small town, the rain had stopped.

It was now dusk.

The man brought Lu Mo to the entrance of a small shop. He went inside and quickly came back out. Then, with a mysterious air, he spoke.

“Little Lu Mo, wait here for me just a moment.”

“Guess what I’ve got behind my back?”

Seeing the confusion all over Lu Mo’s face, the man hid both hands behind his back and bent down toward her, asking.

Watching her bewildered expression, the man then produced two lollipops from behind him.

“These are the biggest lollipops in the whole store~”

“A reward for our bravest little Lu Mo today.”

“Little Lu Mo didn’t cry or fuss even once today, after all.”

Lu Mo looked at the lollipops in the man’s hand, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

This method of coaxing a child might have worked well in the past.

But now, her mental age was far more mature than her appearance suggested.

Still treating her like this—it was just…

And yet, even so, she accepted the lollipop.

Then, before she could even react, the man had already scooped her up in a hug and swung her onto his back.

Lu Mo started in surprise.

“Hey?!”

But before she could process what was happening, the man was already running with her on his back.

“Let’s go—we’re heading home!”

The man ran along the road home. Their residence was at the very end of this street.

He ran with her on his back, nothing standing in their way.

Before them stretched a sea of evening clouds and the setting sun descending toward the horizon.

A breeze met them head-on, carrying a hint of moisture. It brushed against their faces—comfortable.

Lu Mo licked her lollipop.

She suddenly felt that… maybe this wasn’t so bad?

How to put it?

Sure, her old man had his moments of being a complete lunatic.

But after spending today with him… it seemed pretty decent?

Lu Mo could feel how much he cared about her.

Whether in her memories or now.

Her body was weak.

So everything—the chores, the groceries, the cooking—was almost entirely done by that man.

It consumed nearly all of his own time.

Only after she fell asleep did the man truly have time for himself.

He would study something in the study, staying up late into the night.

On several occasions, Lu Mo had woken up in the middle of the night and tiptoed to the bathroom, only to see the lamp in the study still burning.

Today, as usual, the man had finished telling her a bedtime story.

“Alright, little Lu Mo, time to sleep.”

“If you don’t sleep, you won’t grow tall, and you’ll get dumber too.”

“Mm, goodnight, Dad.”

“Goodnight.”

The man blew out the lamp, then quietly closed the door behind him.

Lu Mo lay in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling for a long time.

“But still… this third Simulated Reincarnation—isn’t it supposed to help that girl become a phoenix? Not some father-daughter slice of life, right?”

Lu Mo said, then looked down at the small cloth pouch she was clutching.

That dusk-colored egg was resting quietly inside.

“It’s not… still stuck in the egg, is it?”

“Where is that girl?”

There wasn’t even the slightest sign of life, let alone the girl.

“If that’s the case, I need to find a way to stimulate this egg and awaken the life within it.”

“And in this life… just how much can I ultimately help her?”

Lu Mo let out a helpless chuckle.

She was far too weak.

So weak… that she didn’t even have the strength to hold a sword.

She was beginning to suspect the system was doing this on purpose.

To raise the difficulty, the moment the third Simulated Reincarnation began, it had straight-up sealed away her swordsmanship.

“But I never filled out any survey. I never once picked ‘very easy.'”

She grumbled.

And her current physical condition wasn’t optimistic either.

She had no idea how much longer she could live.

Who knows—maybe she’d just drop dead one day?

“But it’s fine. Even if I die, the worst that happens is entering the second life…”

Lu Mo said this, but then she thought of the man again.

If she died just like that, he’d be really sad, wouldn’t he?

After thinking all of this, Lu Mo suddenly felt drowsy.

She yawned, and soon, clutching the dusk-colored egg, she drifted back to sleep.

She had that dream again.

In the dream, she was always trapped in darkness, unable to control her body in the slightest.

She could feel something incredibly sharp piercing into her chest.

Whispers flooded her ears from all directions.

Carving bit by bit, peeling away her flesh piece by piece.

So cold.

So helpless.

So… despairing.

A wave of pain spread outward.

Heart-wrenching!

Lu Mo jolted awake.

The pain in her chest flared up again. The protruding scar pulsed with every heartbeat, writhing as if alive.

And when she realized that everything just now had been a dream, her emotions gradually settled.

She felt a little thirsty.

So, after carefully tucking the egg beneath the blankets, she quietly slipped out of the room.

When she passed the study, the lamp inside was still lit.

In the past, she would never have disturbed her father.

But today, for some reason, she didn’t walk past. Instead, she raised her hand and knocked.

“Huh?”

A puzzled voice came from within.

But in the end, the man opened the door.

“Little Lu Mo, what’s wrong? Can’t sleep? Is the wound hurting again?”

The man looked exhausted, with traces of frustration in his expression. But facing his daughter, he tucked away all his negative emotions and asked with a smile.

“Nope, I just came out for a drink of water.”

“But Dad, isn’t staying up so late bad for you?”

“…”

The man gave a bitter smile.

“Can I take a look at what you’re working on, Dad?”

Lu Mo asked again.

She was genuinely curious about what her father tinkered with in his study all the time.

The man didn’t hide anything. He smiled, then scooped Lu Mo up in his arms.

“Sure, come on in.”

Inside the study.

Lu Mo could see it—the room was in complete disarray.

Books lay strewn open everywhere, papers scattered all over. Some were crumpled into balls, others torn to shreds, tossed aside.

“Failed!”

“Useless!”

“Worthless!”

Lu Mo also happened to notice that, on some of the papers, the man had crossed out all his previous reasoning and written out these venting words instead.

As if in fury.

As if cursing his own incompetence.

But he had never once taken those emotions out on her.

“This is…”

As the man sat down with her at the desk, Lu Mo finally saw what he was currently researching.

A study on the possibility of merging Strange Flames.

So read the cover of one of the notebooks.

It had originally said “Special Flames,” but later—perhaps thinking the term “Strange Flame” sounded cooler—he’d simply crossed out all the “Special Flames” and replaced them with “Strange Flames.”

“I don’t think you’d be able to understand much of what I’ve written, sweetie. Let me give you a rough explanation first…”

The man was about to begin.

“Blaze Scripture?!”

And at that moment, the words slipped out of Lu Mo’s mouth uncontrollably again.

When Lu Mo felt the man’s body jolt, and heard him mutter “Blaze Scripture,” “Blaze Scripture,” “Blaze Scripture” over and over, sinking into deep thought…

She realized that she had, once again, said something she shouldn’t have.