“Red-Tailed Immortal, accumulates ten points!” Jin You lifted his rod, and on the rod was a red and white fish, named because its red tail looked like an immortal’s hem when swimming in the water, currently struggling on the fishhook. Neighboring cultivators cast envious eyes, lowering their voices to whisper, “How come that person hooked several fish in such a short time, why don’t we have this kind of good luck?”
Lingyun sat next to Ying Chuang, not seeing even a fish shadow for a long time, whereas Yan Baichuan and Jin You, one fish for you and one fish for me, were fishing happily, so she could not help asking him in a low voice, “Why do all the fish go over to you two?”
Jin You raised his chin proudly, whispering back rather proudly, “Of course because I am a koi carp, how could your luck compare?”
Yan Baichuan was near Jin You, and there were quite a few fish in his fish basket as well, with only Lingyun and Ying Chuang over there having no harvest for a long time, so in the end they indeed did not even get a ranking, able only to watch Yan Baichuan and Jin You take the rewards. In a good mood, Jin You counted the spirit stones among the prizes, and when passing by Lingyun, he seemed to remember something, saying casually, “I heard the fish here are extremely sensitive, and with Ying Chuang, such a big wolf, anchored right here, it is only reasonable that they dare not approach.” Having spoken, he patted Ying Chuang’s shoulder with an aura of not blaming you, completely ignoring Lingyun, whose brain had not turned the corner, and called Yan Baichuan to leave.
Yijin was extraordinarily lively recently, with shops big and small on the street all preparing for the upcoming Flower God Festival, and many cultivators also gathered here, taking this opportunity to see if they could find rare spiritual plants. Yijin was good at cultivating spiritual plants, especially abundant in various flower petals. The Flower God Festival was held every ten years, and whenever the Flower God Festival arrived, the cultivator family behind Yijin would release a batch of rare spiritual plants for cultivators to purchase and trade, and this year was no exception.
The group originally did not plan to participate in this Flower God Festival, intending to head directly to the Sword-Forgetting Pavilion. But when Jin You flipped through the roster of spiritual plants released by Yijin this year in his spare time, his heart moved slightly when his gaze swept across a certain name.
Equinox Flower, the only flower capable of growing beside the Yellow Spring, existing only in the Underworld.
Yan Baichuan also thought of this point, making the decision for him, “Go take a look. Planting this flower next to the Yellow Spring Water will make your Yellow Spring Water condense even faster, so you won’t need to live frugally anymore, provided this Equinox Flower is real.”
Is ‘living frugally’ used like this? Jin You gave him a white eye, yet did not refute his words. If he could accumulate a bit more Yellow Spring Water in his hand, he could also be more at ease if encountering crisis situations in the future, without causing trouble for others. Thus Jin You agreed, looking at the introduction to the Flower God Festival on the back page of the roster, pointing at the very bottom as he said, “After buying it, let us go release river lanterns, these flower lanterns are all made into the shape of spiritual plants, and I want to pick the prettiest flower then.”
When actually arriving at the auction house indicated on the roster, the four of them discovered that the cultivators present were far more than they thought, all glaring at the display stage in the center with eager eyes just like them.
Jin You and his party did not arrive late, barely sitting in a relatively front position, not far from the center of the display stage, seeing quite clearly. Remembering the last time the four of them went to an auction house like this and ended up stirring up a heap of trouble, Jin You quietly made a wish in his heart, hoping everything would go smoothly this time.
The first few auction items were all materials used for refining pills, which they could not use much, and Lingyun, this Taoist, also had an appearance of lacking interest, while other cultivators in the auction house were not very enthusiastic either, as if all were waiting for the subsequent auction items.
Not until an auction item came up did Jin You see that cultivators not far away, who originally looked down somewhat on previous auction items, sat up straight visibly, their eyes staring dead ahead without blinking, it came!
A cultivator wearing a mask opened the brocade box before him, carefully inviting out the treasure inside, placing it on the colored glass stage for cultivators on the floor to view, as a person beside him immediately began introducing, “Surely everyone recognizes that the spiritual plant on the colored glass stage is precisely a pot of Purple Jade Asparagus Fern, which is one of the materials for refining Spirit-Nourishing Pills.”
While the person on stage was still introducing the quality and medicinal efficacy of the Purple Jade Asparagus Fern, some cultivators off stage were already somewhat unable to hold back. Jin You also knew that pot of Purple Jade Asparagus Fern on stage, as asparagus ferns were easy to come by, but Purple Jade Asparagus Ferns were extremely difficult to survive. The water used for watering must be the first rain carrying vitality in spring every year, and it must be rootless water that has not touched the ground. The soil for planting was even more demanding, bound to be the last snow after midwinter in winter, soil that accumulated auspicious snow three inches beneath the snow, so apart from alchemists, ordinary people rarely put such mind into planting it.
The subsequent auction items were similar as well, as Jin You had not expected Yijin to show such a grand hand for this Flower God Festival, even releasing relatively rare spiritual plants like the Snake-Pattern Seven-Leaf Chrysanthemum and Heavenly Heart Precious Lotus.
Jin You waited for a while in total boredom, finally waiting until the appearance of the Equinox Flower.
“This Equinox Flower is different from the previous auction items, for although it is also an auction, due to the seller’s requirement, this item will not be traded with spirit stones. Please, cultivators interested in this, carve the name of the item you are willing to exchange on the bamboo slip on your right side, and after the owner of this Equinox Flower examines them, the item willing to be exchanged will be selected.” After the cultivator responsible for the introduction finished speaking, disregarding the complaints of other cultivators on the floor, he whispered a few words with the masked cultivator beside him. After hearing it, the masked cultivator nodded slightly, exchanged glances with several cultivators in the corners of the hall, collected the bamboo slips with written content, placed them in a brocade box, and sent them out.
The Equinox Flower grew only beside the Yellow Spring, a fact seen by Yan Baichuan and Jin You with their own eyes, so others could not possibly grow it at all. But precisely because the two saw it with their own eyes, they could be certain that the Equinox Flower on the colored glass stage was far from a counterfeit, but a genuine Equinox Flower, so Jin You was bound to get it.
As for the item to exchange, only it was the most suitable.
Yellow Spring Water, this was the content left by Jin You on the bamboo slip, as he did not believe this seller would not be moved.
Sure enough, before a moment passed, that masked cultivator approached Jin You, inviting him to the booth for a detailed chat. Jin You and Yan Baichuan stood up quietly, holding down Lingyun and Ying Chuang who wanted to follow, saying in a low voice that many people meant many eyes and ears, and followed the cultivator into the booth of the auction house.
The masked cultivator handed a mask to Yan Baichuan and Jin You each, putting an end to all troubles that might be brought by the auction. Jin You and Yan Baichuan put on their masks, and upon entering the room, a cultivator was already seated inside, likewise covering his face with a mask, his voice low and hoarse, “You have already seen the Equinox Flower, let me see the Yellow Spring Water.”
Jin You took out a porcelain bottle, and under the indication of the masked cultivator, dripped a drop of Yellow Spring Water from the bottle into the transparent glass cup in front of him. The pupils of the cultivator opposite shrank sharply, as this was surprisingly real Yellow Spring Water!
Although already certain in his heart, that person still steadied his mind, looking at Jin You and asking, “How can sir prove this is Yellow Spring Water?”
Clearly already able to confirm it was Yellow Spring Water, yet still putting on airs to make Jin You prove himself, wasn’t it just wanting to gain a bit of advantage in the trade?
Jin You let out a cold snort, not humoring him at all, taking down a flower branch blooming vibrantly in a nearby flowerpot, placing the broken stem squarely onto that drop of Yellow Spring Water, and then immediately letting go, watching that flower branch wither in an instant, the delicate petals becoming dried and curled, as if turning from a sixteen-year-old maiden into a late-years elderly person overnight.
“Unable to even distinguish Yellow Spring Water, I truly doubt whether this Equinox Flower was planted by you.” Under the pained gaze of the opposite cultivator, Jin You covered the porcelain bottle again, watching that drop of Yellow Spring Water dry up right there.
The opposite cultivator swallowed his saliva, a bizarre madness revealed in his tone, “The Equinox Flower is given to you, I want ten bottles, no, eight bottles of Yellow Spring Water! How about it!”
Jin You stood up directly preparing to leave, an displeased cold snort issuing from his nasal cavity, “Ten bottles or eight bottles of Yellow Spring Water? Do you take me for the King of Hell, fetching as much as you want from the riverbank for you! Twenty drops, no more, trade it or not.”
“Twenty drops is too little!” The cultivator also seemed to discover he was far too eager, having already drawn the attention of that masked cultivator from the auction house, working hard to restrain his tone as he said, “Forty drops, for forty drops this flower is given to you.”
With a flick of his folding fan, the words spoken by Jin You carried a coldness completely opposite to his elegant posture, “Twenty-five drops, if you don’t agree then I leave. Since you can grow this Equinox Flower, then others might not necessarily be unable to, so why should I pay such a high price here with you?”
The opposite cultivator’s expression shifted and struggled several times, but finally deflated after all, completing the trade under the witness of the auction house, merely being somewhat unwilling in his heart, though that was not something Jin You needed to care about.
Coming out of the booth door, Jin You and Yan Baichuan did not return to the auction floor either. Jin You pulled Yan Baichuan to an unoccupied corner, taking out that Equinox Flower from his storage bag to show Yan Baichuan, “Someone could actually grow it! Yan Baichuan, do you think if I plant it next to the Yellow Spring Water, and sell it to the auction house when it grows up, could I make a huge profit?”
A fine idea, except there was a little problem in it, “Are you sure the Yellow Spring Water in your hand is enough to nourish this pot of flower?”
Jin You froze, as coming to the auction house earlier he had not thought so much, having prepared plenty of spirit stones, while the stock of Yellow Spring Water was indeed a bit tight. Jin You looked at the Equinox Flower in his hand with regret, as it seemed it would still take a period of time before it could serve as his money tree.
Before leaving, the two left a message for Lingyun and Ying Chuang inside the auction house, telling them to meet up by the bridge after it ended. At this moment, only Yan Baichuan and Jin You were walking slowly inside Yijin City.
At this time, the sky was growing dark, and many flower lanterns along the street lit up one after another, golden ones, red ones, and river lanterns emanating a cyan color like ghost fire, though who knows who would like them. After browsing for half a day, Jin You failed to pick a satisfying one, and was just about to complain a couple of sentences to Yan Baichuan, when he discovered that Yan Baichuan had run to the other side of the long street at who knows when, his hands carefully protecting a red small fish river lantern, currently squeezing over from the crowd sideways.
“How about it, this one looks nice, right, doesn’t it look especially like you.” Yan Baichuan cupped the river lantern before Jin You as if claiming credit, the firelight inside the river lantern reflecting Jin You’s face as red as the flowing fish tail on the river lantern.
Jin You took the river lantern, which the seller seemed to have made according to the style of a goldfish, but the body was made a bit long, while the head happened to be small, and connected with the flowing red fish tail, placing it in the water indeed looked like a red koi carp.
“Where did you find it?” Jin You lowered his head and poked the small fish’s tail, though its color and frame were far from as good-looking as himself, his eyes just could not leave it.
Yan Baichuan pointed to the side of the street, saying, “Right over there, I saw it at a glance. Don’t look at me like that, I still have the money to buy a river lantern. Come on, let us go to the riverbank to take a look?”
Jin You touched the river lantern carefully. Quite a few river lanterns were already floating on the river surface, and Jin You also hurriedly placed the river lantern in his hand on it gently, closing his eyes to make a wish.
Placed into the water, the small fish river lantern was even a few degrees more vivid than when held in Jin You’s hands, its beautiful fish tail unfolding completely in the water, looking good beyond measure, so that even the gazes of neighboring cultivators were drawn over.
Jin You stood up reluctantly, looking at Yan Baichuan and saying somewhat awkwardly, “Although far inferior compared to me, it is barely acceptable to the eyes.”
Looking at the small fish river lantern pushing aside the neighboring lotus river lantern and swimming forward in high fighting spirit, Yan Baichuan looked at Jin You and smiled without speaking.
“Releasing river lanterns without calling us, caught by me, right?” Lingyun teased the two with a smile, while Ying Chuang squatted by the riverbank like a kid blowing air at the river lanterns, helping two lagging river lanterns “hurry along”, playing with the river lanterns released by others with unflagging interest.
Looking at the three people before his eyes, Jin You’s beautiful eyes were filled with smiles, “My river lantern has already been released, if you don’t go soon you will be left behind.”
Lingyun circled Ying Chuang’s neck in one move, forcibly pulling the person up from the riverbank, “Go, go, go, it’s going to be too late!”
Fish play among lantern shadows following ripples away,
A night of fine dreams accompanies the pillow in sleep.