Yan Dan was actually very curious about what the two people behind the wall were talking about, but compared to the eunuch pacing anxiously in the room, muttering to himself, "What should I do? A man and a woman alone in a room, it's not proper, not to mention what if, what if that person has ulterior motives, this, this...", she was far too composed.She slowly took a sip of tea. "Father-in-law, don't worry, my young master has never had a penchant for force."
"What do you know? What were you doing in the room just now?"
"If we really did something good, my young master would have even less energy to force himself on anyone..."
"You... you... you..."
Seeing that the eunuch was about to shout "Guards! Tie him up and drag him out!", Tang Zhou reached out and pulled Yan Dan up. "It seems they still have room for negotiation. Why don't we go for a walk outside?"
Yan Dan let him pull her up, and after a moment she said softly, "Young Master Liu probably won't be coming back, will he?"
Tang Zhou paused for a moment, then smiled slightly. "Didn't you say that the Purple Void Emperor in the Nine Heavens is very powerful? He will come back."
"Lord Jidu must have used the same method to sneak into the Underworld Palace, but when I got his jade pendant, I could sense that his soul had been scattered, his immortal essence shattered, and he would never be reborn."
Tang Zhou stopped, placed his hand on her shoulder, and whispered, "I don't know what kind of person Lord Jidu is, but Brother Liu is pursuing something very pure. He didn't enter the Underworld Palace to rule the Six Realms, but for its mysteries, the long-lost arts."
Yan Dan nodded.
After a moment, Tang Zhou asked softly, "You care so much about Brother Liu because you like him?"
Yan Dan replied without hesitation, "How could that be? I respect him as much as I respect my master. Young Master Liu is even more approachable than my master. Besides, although we haven't met before, I've long heard that Emperor Zixu is an immortal lord who doesn't fall in love. I don't want to make things difficult for myself."
The two walked down the stairs of the inn and ran into the inn's waiter. The waiter smiled at them and said, "You two are going out? Today is Buddha's Birthday, there's no curfew. There will be fireworks, lanterns, and a temple fair later. Why don't you two go out and have some fun?"
Yan Dan's hair stood on end. "Buddha's Birthday...?"
It seemed that today was indeed not a good day to go out—everything would go wrong.
Tang Zhou, however, became interested. "Buddha's Birthday is fine. Anyway, you have some cultivation, nothing will happen to you."
Yan Dan was still not interested. At this moment, the age difference between the two of them was really showing. If she and Tang Zhou went to the temple fair hand in hand, wouldn't that be like a great-grandmother taking her grandson out to play? Even if it were Yu Mo, they would probably be of the same generation as aunt and nephew.
She told Tang Zhou about her idea, but Tang Zhou expressionlessly took out a talisman. "This is a three-step restriction. It seems you really want to use it."
Yan Dan immediately changed her tune, saying sincerely, "No, no, actually I prefer to follow you closely, Senior Brother. This three-step restriction seems too impersonal."
Tang Zhou then put the talisman away with satisfaction.
Suddenly, a sharp sound rang out, and several fireworks burst open in the dim night sky, leaving bright, extremely long tails that instantly illuminated the hazy darkness as if it were daytime. Immediately afterward, large swaths of colorful fireworks bloomed in the dark night sky, the explosions drowning out the cheers and laughter below.
Yan Dan stood under the tree, looked up for a while, and when she turned around, she found that Tang Zhou had disappeared. She looked around for a while and saw Tang Zhou standing under the dazzling fireworks. He was holding a lantern in his hand and a child was squatting next to him, trying to light the fuse of a firecracker with a tinderbox, but his hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't get it to light.
Tang Zhou bent down and, using the child's hand, brought the tinder close to the firecracker's fuse. A tiny glimmer of light writhed and swayed like a snake in the night. He lifted the child a few steps away, just as the fireworks above suddenly burst open, spreading countless rays of light that cast a soft glow around him.
Yan Dan couldn't help but smile slightly, but after a moment's thought, she couldn't quite put her finger on what she was smiling about.
A spark fell from the fireworks before her, and Yan Dan instinctively took a step back, only to feel herself bump into someone behind her. She turned around and saw a woman bending down to pick up the incense sticks and candles scattered on the ground. Yan Dan quickly knelt down, picked up the incense sticks, and placed them in the basket beside the woman.
As she finished doing this, she suddenly saw the woman slowly raise her head. The bright yet lonely light of the fireworks reflected on her face, revealing a sorrowful yet beautiful countenance. Yan Dan's heart skipped a beat, and she involuntarily called out, "You... Lantern Fairy...?"
The woman stared at her intently, and when she came to her senses, she grabbed the bamboo basket and left, her steps hurried and unsteady.
Long-dormant memories resurfaced, and Yan Dan grabbed the woman's arm. "You're the Lantern Fairy, aren't you? What are you doing here? Don't you recognize me?"
Each question elicited only a series of shakes from the woman, accompanied by muffled sounds, her face a mixture of fear and panic.
Yan Dan released her grip, and the woman immediately ran a few steps away without looking back, only to abruptly stop. Yan Dan squinted at her, noticing her trembling shoulders, as if she might collapse at any moment.
Following her gaze, Yan Dan saw Tang Zhou bending down, gently lighting a sparkler for the child from before. The faint white light shimmered softly and warmly amidst the swirling fireworks.
Tang Zhou tilted his head, smiling as he said something, his profile gentle in the soft light. The child stood on tiptoe, holding the sparkler, his smile pure and innocent.
Anyone who saw this scene would surely smile. But the woman seemed to have been whipped. She rushed forward, snatched the fireworks from the child's hand, threw them on the ground, stomped on them twice, and then dragged him into the crowd, quickly disappearing from sight.
Tang Zhou straightened up, seemingly unconcerned, and walked toward Yan Dan, carrying the lantern in his hand. "Come on, it's time to release the lanterns."
Yan Dan thought for a moment and asked, "Didn't you think that girl was really strange?"
"If you saw your younger brother playing with a stranger, you'd probably be nervous too."
Yan Dan raised a finger to her chin and murmured softly, "That's true, I probably mistook her for someone else..."
Tang Zhou handed her the lantern and smiled slightly. "According to our mortal customs, if you write your wish inside this lantern and release it into the river, it will come true once it reaches the heavens."
Yan Dan held up the lantern, looked at it again and again, and pouted. "This is clearly a lie."
"These things are all about hoping for something," Tang Zhou handed her a charcoal pencil. "Write down what you want most in the lantern, and maybe one day it will come true."
"And what about you? What would you write?"
"Of course, I hope my parents are healthy and live long lives."
Yan Dan asked curiously, "While filial piety is a good thing, I thought you would wish to find the divine artifact sooner."
His eyes flickered, and he changed the subject. "What do you plan to wish for?"
Yan Dan held the charcoal pencil, frowning as she pondered.
What she once wanted most was now impossible to have. And what did she want now?
Yan Dan stood on the banks of the Zhangtai River, watching the fireworks flicker in the sky, and suddenly took a deep breath, looking at him warily. "You can't peek while I'm writing."
Tang Zhou immediately turned his head away, saying coolly, "I don't have that weird fetish for spying on your thoughts."
The lanterns gradually left the riverbank, gently pushed away by the waves. The river lights, bright and dim, were exceptionally beautiful.
Yan Dan bent down and put the lantern in the water, dusting off her sleeves. "Hmm, all done."
In the end, she didn't write anything. Actually, now, there was nothing she couldn't have. Yelan Mountain was like her home. All the monsters there, big and small, were her family. If she could, she planned to stay there forever.
Lost in thought, she suddenly heard a flash of lightning across the sky, followed by a rumble of thunder. A few large raindrops, the size of soybeans, pattered on her face.
The dazzling fireworks in the sky were extinguished by the sudden rain, and mist filled the banks of the Zhangtai River. The young people who had been watching the fireworks and lanterns together laughed and moved aside, showing no displeasure at having their fun interrupted.
Before Yan Dan could react, Tang Zhou pulled her toward a nearby rooftop. The raindrops grew larger, gradually threatening to pour. Only the remains of fireworks remained, silently emitting white smoke. Their clothes were slightly damp, and the night wind, carrying raindrops, made them feel a little chilly—after all, it was already autumn, and not as hot as in the height of summer.
Yan Dan listened to the rumbling thunder, then suddenly felt a tightness around her waist. Tang Zhou had leaned in and embraced her. This was the first time he'd ever done something so intimate. Yan Dan turned her head, staring intently at him, but instead of showing any shame, he held her even tighter.
"Hey, what do you mean by this? You don't mean you've taken a liking to me, do you?"
Tang Zhou paused, then chuckled softly, "Why are you so blunt at a time like this? You really don't seem inclined to ask for an answer."
Yan Dan was overwhelmed with emotion. This lotus flower, unwanted for a thousand years, had finally found someone who appreciated its value—the difficulty of this was no less than an iron tree blossoming.
Tang Zhou rested his chin on the top of her head and whispered, "I've always felt so sorry for my parents... They gave me life and raised me, yet I can't be there to repay their kindness."
"Well, it's good that you think that way—filial piety is a traditional virtue."
"Yan Dan, I used to have some prejudice against you, and even now, I can't... completely let go of that prejudice."
Yan Dan was completely confused, not understanding what he was trying to say, but she vaguely realized that she was probably just being sentimental again.
A rumble of thunder rolled across the sky, and amidst the thunder, she heard Tang Zhou whisper something in her ear.
Very softly.
She even doubted if she had misheard.
Tang Zhou said, "I've thought it over. I won't go looking for the Divine Artifact anymore. I've given up."
Thoughts:
The temple fair provides the romantic backdrop: Tang Zhou helps a child light fireworks in a tender moment that makes Yan Dan smile without understanding why. A mysterious woman who might be the Lantern Fairy appears, reacting with terror when she sees Tang Zhou with the child—this unexplained subplot adds intrigue. The lantern-releasing scene is beautifully melancholic: Yan Dan realizes she has everything she wants (her found family at Yelan Mountain) and writes nothing.
The climax comes during sudden rain when Tang Zhou embraces Yan Dan for the first time, confessing he still can't fully let go of his prejudice against her, yet making a monumental decision: he's giving up his quest for the Divine Artifact. This abandonment of his life's purpose suggests his feelings for Yan Dan have become more important than revenge or power. The quiet confession amidst thunder—"I've given up"—is both a romantic declaration and tragic surrender of his original goals.
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