Moonlight, Shadow, Night (1)

An extremely strong feeling of shame rose from her heart. Lou Yao looked at Li Zhaoyue with a gloomy gaze, and the sugar man in her hand had been deformed.

People like her only know how to give things to others.

Lou Yao walked to the river, found a blind spot where no one else could see her, and threw the shiny sugar man in her hand out fiercely.

Although Lou Yao is weak, she will not allow these people of prominent status to trample on her dignity.

After doing all this, she pretended nothing had happened and returned to Li Zhaoyue to help her choose the things to bring as a blessing.

"Doesn't Ah Yue come out very often?" Lou Yao asked softly.

Li Zhaoyue selected four belts and nodded when he heard this.

Seeing that she had so many blessing bands, Lou Yao added, "A person can only make one wish. If you bring four, it won't work."

Unexpectedly, this sentence made Li Zhaoyue laugh. Her big, watery eyes looked straight at Lou Yao, and she covered her mouth with her hands and laughed, "This isn't just mine, it's also for Master, Senior Brother Xie, and Xu Xing."

Lou Yao lowered her head awkwardly and responded.

Li Zhaoyue paid the bill, walked to the table where the brushes were placed, and began to write one line at a time. Just as she finished her own, a pair of hands reached out from behind her, held her hands, and wrote the two words "Xu Xing".

The one with sharp pen strokes is Xu Xing.

He leaned close to her ear and said with a smile, "Ah Yue, are you praying for me? Why didn't you tell me?"

Li Zhaoyue originally wanted to give them a surprise after finishing the work, but when Xu Xing said this, it inexplicably had a different meaning.

She broke away from Xu Xing and glared at him: "Don't make trouble."

"Don't—make—trouble—" Xu Xing tilted his head, imitating her intentionally, and stretched out his voice, sounding very coquettish.

"Xu Xing!" Li Zhaoyue glared at him again, seeming to be angry. Xu Xing then restrained himself, shrugged his shoulders, leaned on the table, and watched her write slowly.

"May you live a long and peaceful life." He read out the note and couldn't help but laugh. "Are you so worried about my safety?"

"I saw Zheng Hai a few days ago." Li Zhaoyue wrote carefully, stroke by stroke, in a soft voice.

"No one expected what happened to the Lou family. The floating island is becoming more and more chaotic. Things in the world are unpredictable. When you are out there, life is the most important thing." She wrote one line, took another, dipped it in ink, and aimed the tip of the brush at the center of the cloth.

Xu Xing lowered his eyes and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, and ripples appeared in his heart.

"Although Zheng Hai is an unforgivable criminal and his death is not a pity. But watching the people around me die, I can't help but worry about the people I care about." Li Zhaoyue wrote another one, looked at it with satisfaction, and smiled at Xu Xing.

Someone you care about.

Xu Xing was stunned for a moment, a faint blush creeping onto his cheeks, and his lips tightening. His eyes rolled, as if on a whim, and he hurriedly took a few steps back.

Li Zhaoyue finished writing all the prayer tapes and asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you?"

The girl's blood-red lips and ignorant eyes reminded him of that outrageous dream.

Just by standing there, his heartbeat quickened and his breathing became rapid. If she stared at him for a few seconds, he would feel the blood flowing backwards and he would feel like he was about to explode.

But the instigator had no idea how much influence he had brought to Xu Xing, and he just stared at him motionlessly.

Xu Xing stretched out his hand and covered Li Zhaoyue's face with it, whispering, "I... I have something to do. I'll be back soon. You..."

Turning around, he found Xie Feng staring at them warily, and exhaled: "Stay with Senior Brother Xie, don't run around."

Li Zhaoyue thought his behavior was strange and wanted to ask him what he was going to do, but Xu Xing had already run to the bridge and went to the other side of the street.

She watched the green figure blend into the sea of ​​lights and people, and a sense of peace came over her heart.

Holding the written prayer ribbon, Li Zhaoyue took one last look at her friends and silently chanted, "May everything go well and be safe every year." Then, with a mighty leap, she prayed that the prayer ribbon would catch on the highest branch, that the gods would see her wish and bless them with peace and health.

After doing all this, Xie Feng walked over to her with the river lantern. A little further away, Song Shiyu and Zhu Ming were standing together, chatting about something.

"Zhu Jianxian, you can also make river lanterns, so amazing?" Song Shiyu squatted in front of Zhu Ming and said in surprise when he saw her lowering her eyes to write down the blessing.

The warm light from the river lanterns fell on her face, softening her features and making her look more gentle.

"I made this with a friend before. I haven't done it for a long time, so my hands are a little rusty." Zhu Ming smoothed out the wrinkles on the edge of the lotus lantern and said softly.

Seeing Song Shiyu's curious face, she smiled and asked, "Do you want one? If you want, I can make one for you."

Of course Song Shiyu wanted it. He patted his head and said excitedly, "I want a different shape. Is that okay?"

"Of course." Zhu Ming said.

"Um, horse, the shape of the riding horse, is that okay?" Song Shiyu said while gesturing with his hands.

"Other people make river lanterns in the shape of lotus flowers, but you're so unusual that you made one in the shape of a horse."

Hearing this, the young man's eyes were full of cunning. He shook the masterpiece in his hand and said loudly: "It's boring to follow the crowd. It's better to be different from others!"

Zhu Ming stared at the river in front of her and suddenly fell into memories until Song Shiyu's voice woke her up.

"It just so happens that I can make it. Wait a moment." She bent down, took some materials from the stall owner, gave him some silver, and started working on it.

But the hand holding the tool was not as steady as when he did the first one.

Zhu Ming was making river lanterns. Amid the noise of the crowd, Xie Feng hesitated for a long time before taking out a purse from behind him.

Li Zhaoyue was staring intently at the river lanterns in the water with great interest. Xie Feng took a deep breath and grabbed her wrist.

She turned around and saw that it was Xie Feng. She said happily, "Ah Feng!"

He responded, tugging at his sleeves nervously, his face slightly red.

Li Zhaoyue looked left and right, tilting his head to the left and then to the right. After looking all this way, he didn't find anything unusual except that Xie Feng's face had become even redder.

She rolled her eyes and saw Xie Feng's hand hanging by his side, and also saw the goose yellow purse in his hand.

"Let me guess," Li Zhaoyue winked cunningly, "Does Afeng have something to give me?"

Xie Feng said nothing, and slapped the purse into her palm. He said with a stern face, "I've been bored lately, and I thought girls would like these things, so I made this for you."

"What do you mean by having nothing to do? I wonder who stayed up all night and finally made the purse before this day." Song Shiyu was holding the strange-shaped river lantern and floated past the two of them like a ghost.

Li Zhaoyue burst out laughing. Xie Feng was extremely embarrassed and annoyed. He scolded: "Nonsense, when did I..."

"Right, right, you're kidding! Look at that hand. It should only have calluses, but why are there so many pinholes?"

"Song Shiyu!"

Li Zhaoyue really looked at his hands and indeed found several red pinholes. He immediately felt guilty and said, "Afeng, you don't have to be like this. I will like anything you give me. You are hurting yourself by doing this..."

"He doesn't care anyway. He has thick and strong skin. What if he gets pricked by a needle? He will be fine in a few days." Song Shiyu said sarcastically.

In the distance, Xu Xing's green figure flashed by. Song Shiyu saw something familiar, put away the smile on his face, and was about to walk to the other side with the river lantern.

"Oh, it smells really sour over here. I'd better go to the other side and release my lantern."

The red figure slowly walked away, and Xie Feng's expression finally relaxed.

Li Zhaoyue tied the purse around her waist and gave Xie Feng a sincere smile: "Thank you, Afeng, I like it very much."

Xie Feng coughed lightly to hide his joy and said, "As long as you like it."

"But Ah Feng, look at all the river lanterns here..."

The riverside was ablaze with lights, and from time to time, jugglers would perform firework displays or other craftspeople would solicit customers, making the place very lively. Lou Yao stood beneath a tree where prayer ribbons were hung, gazing at the red silks swaying in the wind.

"Girl, do you want to buy a prayer belt?" the boss asked enthusiastically when he saw her staring at the tree.

Lou Yao shook her head, looked at the four red ribbons hung by Li Zhaoyue, lowered her eyes, and wondered what she was thinking.

The boss muttered something strange to himself and went back to his stall to solicit customers.

"Hey, girl, do you want to take a look at the blessing belt? It's very effective and can be used to pray for marriage and peace. Are you really not going to take a look?"

"Give me one."

The tree by the river was soon surrounded by a crowd of people. Lou Yao was squeezed into the corner again. She looked towards the light yellow figure, her eyes full of envy.

Xie Feng chatted with Li Zhaoyue for a while, then walked over to Zhu Ming and helped her make lanterns.

"Ayue said she wants one in the shape of osmanthus candy." Xie Feng laughed as he said that. Zhu Ming held back his laughter and handed him the tool, saying, "She loves osmanthus candy the most. She ate so much tonight and she wasn't afraid of a toothache."

Amid the noisy crowd, Lou Yao walked out from behind the shadow of the tree and headed towards where Li Zhaoyue was standing.

Li Zhaoyue squatted on the bank, curiously staring at the lanterns floating by, poking them from time to time. Lou Yao stood beside her and talked to her.

*

Xu Xing met Wei Zhegu in a small alley. He was still wearing old black clothes, and his face looked more haggard than before.

"Master." He bowed his head and saluted.

"How's the matter going?" Wei Zhegu asked.

"Zhu Ming already knows my identity and is making the corresponding preparations. Everything will be over soon."

Hearing this, Wei Zhegu sighed: "It's time to fulfill our promise."

After saying this, he conjured a piece of bone surrounded by black energy out of thin air and handed it to Xu Xing, saying, "This is the divine bone that you and I agreed upon. I'm giving it to you now as a reward for helping me complete my plan over the years."

Xu Xing took it, and the divine bone quickly melted into the palm of his hand.

Before leaving, he turned around to glance at Wei Zhegu, and seeing his gloomy expression, he said softly, "I wish your plan success as well."

"Maybe." Wei Zhegu smiled and disappeared into the darkness.

As Xu Xing walked out of the alley, he sensed a familiar presence. He leaned slightly to the side and reached out to the side, instantly negating Song Shiyu's invisibility.

The two looked into each other's eyes.

"Why is Senior Sister here?" Xu Xing asked, his eyes slightly widened and pretending to be surprised.

Song Shiyu cursed hypocrisy in his heart, pretending to know nothing, and said, "What are you talking about? Why don't I understand?"