The capital city, night lantern festival.
As stars sank and the moon set, the entire main street was ablaze with brilliant lights. Thousands of bright lanterns resembled the radiant moon and stars floating upon the Milky Way, their brilliance dazzling, the lanterns glowing like luminous pearls in the night. Crowds surged, creating a lively and bustling scene.
Gu Xi and Jun Qi had just emerged from a tailor shop on the street, having changed their clothes inside.
Noticing Jun Qi’s lingering gaze, Gu Xi touched her hair.
“What’s wrong? Did I not clean the stray grass from my hair properly at the tailor shop?”
Jun Qi gently shook his head, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips. “No, it’s very clean. I just didn’t expect that Your Highness would actually crawl out through a hole in the wall.”
Gu Xi laughed, taking two sticks of candied hawthorn from a nearby vendor.
“I didn’t expect Lord Qi to follow me out either.”
Jun Qi’s eyes dimmed slightly. “I’m used to it. Your Highness is different—you’re a delicate flower of nobility. It’s the first time I’ve seen you go to such a dirty place.”
At the mention of “used to it,” Gu Xi recalled how Jun Qi had been bullied since childhood, never having lived a single good day.
Her eyes filled with a gentle smile as she lightly patted Jun Qi’s shoulder and handed him one of the candied hawthorn sticks. “Try it, it’s sweet.”
Jun Qi accepted it. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
“Is it sweet?”
“Yes.”
As they exchanged words, both dressed in white robes and exceptionally striking in appearance, many passersby on the street stopped to glance their way.
Gu Xi walked up to a stall selling lanterns.
The vendor, noticing Gu Xi’s extraordinary demeanor and assuming she was a young lady from a wealthy family, eagerly called out, “Miss, would you like to see if there’s one you like?”
Gu Xi picked up a small cat-shaped lantern and then a rabbit-shaped one.
Her eyes curved into crescents as she beamed at Jun Qi. “Which one do you think looks better?”
Inside the Void Space, the Celestial Beast immediately shouted in response: 【The cat is better! The cutest thing in the world is a cat.】
Because its original form resembled a long-eared cat.
It believed itself to be the most beautiful divine beast in the world.
Yes, that was exactly it.
The Celestial Beast proudly wagged its tail.
Jun Qi’s gaze first fell on the cat lantern, then shifted to the rabbit lantern, his eyes flickering slightly.
He lowered his lashes, his voice soft as he murmured, “Your Highness suits this rabbit better.”
As soon as he finished speaking,
Gu Xi immediately set down the cat lantern and hugged the rabbit lantern to her chest.
“Then I’ll listen to Lord Qi.”
Inside the Void Space, the Celestial Beast’s heart shattered: 【Why do you listen to him so much? Am I not your best friend anymore? You traitor, valuing romance over friendship!】
While the Celestial Beast grumbled, Gu Xi had already handed the vendor a small ingot of gold.
The vendor’s eyes lit up, quickly stuffing the gold into his sleeve, his face beaming with joy.
Gu Xi turned her attention to the Celestial Beast, who was drawing circles in the Void Space to curse others: 【Go ahead, pick the one you like best, and when no one’s looking, quietly take it into your Void Space.】
The Celestial Beast’s voice was full of excitement: 【Is that allowed? This doesn’t count as stealing, right?】
Gu Xi flicked its head with her Spiritual Sense: 【After all, I paid with gold—enough to buy this entire stall. You’re just quietly taking one lantern. In the adult world, how could that be called stealing?】
The Celestial Beast wagged its tail happily, beginning to select a lantern that belonged to it.
The Little Beast picked the prettiest little cat lantern and tucked it away into its Void Space.
The Little Beast was feeling a bit guilty, like a thief.
Just then, Gu Xi’s light voice rang out: [I just recorded it with my Spiritual Sense. I’ll show it to your master later—how you stole a lantern in the mortal realm.]
The Celestial Beast: […]
Thank you, really.
……
On the bustling street, after teasing the Celestial Beast, Gu Xi and Jun Qi had already arrived at a riddle-guessing stall.
The stall owner was quite perceptive. “Young master, would you like to guess a riddle? If you guess correctly, your wife can choose any gift from here.”
Jun Qi hurriedly explained, “We’re not…”
The stall owner retorted, “Aren’t you here to guess riddles?”
“We are.” Gu Xi smiled gently, her eyes curving like crescent moons.
After guessing the riddles, as they were about to leave, Gu Xi held her gift and, even more generously this time, handed the stall owner two gold ingots—mainly because the stall owner had such a way with words.
The stall owner’s eyes widened in surprise. After recovering, he was overjoyed and didn’t forget to say to Jun Qi, “Young master! Your wife is truly wonderful. With a wife like this, what more could one ask for?”
“Take care, young master! Bring your wife again next time!”
Jun Qi, who had already walked some distance away, paused slightly at these words.
Gu Xi, meanwhile, smiled radiantly. “You were really amazing just now. You guessed such difficult riddles.”
Nearby, under the mingling glow of moonlight and lantern light, fireworks bloomed. The girl’s smile was bright and vivid. Her silver-white gauzy robe and flowing, misty pleated skirt swayed gently. Her shoulders were slender, her waist delicate, her skin as smooth as jade, and her aura as serene as an orchid.
In the reflection of her shimmering eyes, there was only him.
For the first time, Jun Qi felt that having someone chattering incessantly by his side wasn’t too noisy after all.
Gu Xi and Jun Qi finished strolling along the entire main street half an hour later.
The two watched lantern performances, admired fireball displays, and bought many beautiful trinkets from the stalls.
At the end of the street ahead was a river of lanterns, its surface dotted with colorful floating lanterns. On the riverbank, many young men and women were releasing river lanterns.
Gu Xi wanted to head in that direction but was gently called back by Jun Qi. “Your Highness.”
“Your Highness’s health is not strong. After walking so far today, your complexion has grown quite pale. The wind by the river is strong, and Your Highness is prone to catching a chill.”
He looked up toward a distant tavern. “The second floor of that tavern offers a clear view of the scenery here. Shall we rest on the second floor and watch from there?”
Gu Xi gazed into Jun Qi’s eyes, a soft smile playing on her lips. “Alright, I’ll listen to you.”
The two made their way to the second floor of the tavern.
Not long after they left,
two middle-aged men approached from the riverbank. One with a scar on his face stared at the spot where Gu Xi had just departed, licking his lips.
“Did you see that girl’s beauty just now? If we sold her to a brothel, she’d surely fetch a high price.”
The other man’s eyes gleamed lustfully. “But there’s a man with her.”
The scarred man licked the corner of his mouth. “So what? Just a pretty boy with no martial arts skills. I can’t sense any Internal Energy from him.”
“As for that beauty, she looks delicate and frail—even easier to handle.”
“That figure… before we sell her to the brothel, the two of us can have a good time with her…”