By the river, people were selling flower lanterns of various shapes and sizes, each one beautiful to behold.
“What is the purpose of this?” Yan Zhao asked.
Hua Ying explained to her, “I heard it’s a local custom. If you write your wish on a flower lantern and let it drift down the river, the River Goddess will hear you, grant her blessing, and make your heart’s desire come true.”
Yan Zhao looked at the flickering lanterns on the river surface, a faint look of doubt appearing in her eyes. “Is there truly a River Goddess?”
Hua Ying let out a soft “pfft” of laughter.
Her serious Senior Sister was quite adorable.
“Perhaps sincerity brings results.”
She took Yan Zhao by the wrist and led her toward the small stall selling the lanterns. “Senior Sister, let’s buy two and set them afloat, shall we?”
Most of the time, Yan Zhao was a person of very faint emotions; it seemed as if nothing could pluck at her heartstrings, and she rarely displayed any resistance.
So, from another perspective, she was very easy to talk to.
“Senior Sister, which one do you want?” Hua Ying could hardly hide her excitement as she picked through the items on the stall, not forgetting to urge Yan Zhao to choose one as well.
Yan Zhao’s gaze swept across the rows of charming lanterns shaped like animals.
Suddenly, her gaze froze.
Her slender fingertips came to rest on the head of a paper cat, and her lips curled slightly. “This one will do.”
It was a lantern depicting a cat pouncing on a butterfly; with just a few strokes, the vivid, playful spirit of a small cat had been captured.
Hua Ying held up the cute little tiger lantern she had chosen and waved it in front of Yan Zhao’s eyes. “Senior Sister, does it look good?”
“Yes,” Yan Zhao cooperated. “It looks good.”
“Eh?” Hua Ying leaned in closer. When she saw the lantern in Yan Zhao’s hand, her eyes lit up and she cried out, “The one Senior Sister chose is also so cute!”
Yan Zhao looked down, turning the lantern in her hand once, then lifted her eyes to look at the chirping, over-excited Hua Ying beside her.
Her red lips slowly turned upward as she said softly, “Yes, cute.”
Under the willow trees by the riverbank, there was a place provided with brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.
Hua Ying finished writing in a few quick strokes. After putting down the brush, she tilted her head to look at Yan Zhao opposite her.
She asked curiously, “Senior Sister, what wish did you make?”
Would an immortal-like person like her Senior Sister one who seemed to stand apart from the world, untainted by the dust of the earth actually have something she desired?
Yan Zhao didn’t answer, instead asking, “What about you?”
“Senior Sister, there’s a saying around here,” Hua Ying smiled mischievously. “If you say the wish out loud, it won’t come true anymore.”
Yan Zhao lowered her long eyelashes, her smooth black hair gathered to one side, falling along her fair neck and shoulder.
The faint yellow candlelight from the surroundings reflected on her profile, softening her usual coldness.
She looked at Hua Ying, her dark eyes shimmering like water, and spoke with a rare touch of childishness: “Then I won’t say mine either.”
The two of them lowered themselves to place the lanterns into the water, watching as the two lights wobbled and drifted away with the current.
Occasionally, the wind would rise, causing the two lanterns to bump and cling to each other. The little cat seemed to affectionately rub against the little tiger, only to run off on its own a moment later as if discovering a new toy.
The curious Hua Ying still hadn’t given up, circling around Yan Zhao. “Senior Sister, Senior Sister, what wish did you actually make?”
Yan Zhao shook her head with a smile. Seeing Hua Ying’s brow furrowed in frustration, a flicker of unfamiliar yet peaceful joy rose in her heart.
When she had picked up the ink brush earlier, Yan Zhao had paused for a long time.
She didn’t know what kind of wish to make.
To increase her cultivation?
She believed such things could only be achieved through her own efforts.
Dharma treasures or divine techniques?
No, for her, as long as she had a sword in her hand, it was enough.
After pondering for a while, Yan Zhao had almost decided to give up on writing anything. But when she looked up, she saw Hua Ying opposite her, writing slowly with a very devout expression.
Perhaps thinking of something interesting, Hua Ying suddenly laughed at the paper, then hummed a tuneless little melody as she continued to write down the ink characters one by one.
Yan Zhao thought: This little cat is truly strange, always becoming inexplicably serious about things I don’t understand.
She shook her head slightly, letting out a sigh that was both amused and helpless.
After staring at the white paper for a long time, she put brush to paper and wrote four characters.
The river flowed slowly. The cute little tiger lantern consistently trailed not far behind the cat lantern at an unhurried pace.
“Bang! Bang bang bang!”
Multicolored fireworks bloomed in the sky, the chaotic light falling onto the lake surface and into the curved eyes of the girl.
As the floral bouquets in the sky blossomed, a gust of wind happened to flip the two lanterns over, clearly revealing the two lines of distinct, elegant handwriting on the back.
“I wish that Senior Sister belongs to me!”
“I wish for her wishes.”
“Did you have fun?”
After the fireworks display ended, the crowds on the streets and by the river gradually dispersed.
The surroundings suddenly became quiet, and the clear moonlight stretched their shadows into two long lines on the ground.
Hua Ying held Yan Zhao’s arm, their shadows merging into one at the point of contact, inseparable.
She nodded vigorously. “I had fun!”
Compared to the boring life of practicing the sword at the Flowing Cloud Sect, coming out to play was definitely more interesting!
Yan Zhao stopped walking and reached out to straighten the hairpin on Hua Ying’s head that had been jostled by the crowd earlier.
She thought for a moment and said, “Once you advance to the Foundation Building stage, I will bring you here again.”
The “little cat’s” eyes lit up instantly, and she rubbed her head against Yan Zhao’s shoulder. “Senior Sister is the best! I love Senior Sister the most!”
Under the moonlight, a smile flickered in Yan Zhao’s eyes. “Do not move about recklessly.”
“Let’s go, back to the sect,” she said.
Hua Ying blinked. “Okay.”
Seeing their intertwined shadows on the ground, her heart stirred. She suddenly reached out tentatively, her slender fingertips hooking onto Yan Zhao’s fingers. Seeing that she wasn’t rejected, she boldly took her hand.
Strangely enough, though she and Yan Zhao could be considered close lately Yan Zhao would directly guide her movements during sword practice, and she would affectionately hold Yan Zhao’s arm during breaks they had never actually held hands.
Yan Zhao’s body temperature was always on the low side, and her palm was slightly cool.
But Hua Ying’s hand was soft and warm.
The contrasting cool and warm intertwined, turning into an unusually harmonious warmth that flowed between their fingers.
Hua Ying smiled like a cat that had successfully stolen a dried fish, happily swinging Yan Zhao’s hand back and forth slightly.
Hand-holding is already here, can kissing be far behind?
System: …?? Your ability to “round up” logic is quite strong.
The sensation of palms touching and skin meeting made Yan Zhao’s mind wander momentarily.
She had been used to being alone since childhood and thought she had already grown accustomed to this little cat occasionally grabbing her arm in intimacy during this period.
She hadn’t expected there could be something even closer…
But, it seemed she didn’t hate it.