Li Yuheng floated among the bustling crowd, initially quite happy.
It wasn't until he saw the little girl blushing and trying to put a sachet into Shu Bai's hand again that he realized something was wrong.
Along the long street, the lights were as bright as day, and couples could be seen everywhere, holding hands or with their arms around each other, their soft laughter blending into the warm breeze.
Only Shu Bai, in the eyes of others, appears lonely and occasionally turns his head to the side.
But actually he was communicating with Li Yuheng telepathically.
"...Do they think there's something wrong with you, that you're always turning your head to the side?" Li Yuheng transmitted his voice.
Shu Bai had just dodged a bold, flirtatious Hu woman, shrugged, and replied telepathically, "Thanks to you."
Li Yuheng remained silent.
He stared at Shu Bai's profile, softened by the lantern light, and then glanced at the surrounding gazes, some bright and some dim.
A strange feeling, akin to irritation yet also possessiveness, quietly rose in his heart, making those gazes seem particularly piercing.
He suddenly reached out and grabbed Shu Bai's wrist, pulling him towards a secluded spot under the stone bridge without saying a word.
"do what?"
"Let me show you a magic trick."
The area under the bridge was dimly lit, with the sound of flowing water.
Li Yuheng made a hand seal, and barely perceptible ripples spread across his body.
"Close your eyes."
Shu Bai raised an eyebrow, then closed her eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, the ethereal figure was gone, replaced by a real, tall, and elegant person.
The man was dressed in a dark blue robe with silver-embroidered sleeves, his black hair tied up with a jade hairpin. He was no longer the eye-catching fiery red-clad figure of the past, but his refined and elegant demeanor was more dazzling than the stars in the sky, as if he alone had gathered all the brilliance of the place.
Li Yuheng opened her arms and calmly spun halfway around in front of him, her eyes gleaming with undisguised smugness and dazzling brilliance: "How about it? Aren't you so handsome that you want to propose to me right here and now?"
Shu Bai stared at the face that could steal everyone's breath in an instant, remained silent for a moment, and then slowly took a breath.
It wasn't that he wasn't amazed, but after the amazement came a surge of helplessness and a tension he himself hadn't even noticed.
"You insist on revealing yourself," Shu Bai's voice was lowered with a hint of helplessness, "Couldn't you have been a little more discreet?"
"Isn't this being low-key?" Li Yuheng feigned utter shock, pointing at himself, "Honestly, I've already barely managed to suppress my charisma to only 30%!"
Shu Bai felt that the face in front of him, which was completely uncovered, was too dazzling even in the dark. Without thinking too much, he grabbed his wrist and dragged him straight into the mask stall next to the bridge arch.
The stalls were filled with all kinds of Nuo opera masks, casting shadows that were either majestic or eerie under the flickering lights.
Shu Bai pressed the person down in front of the stall, his tone harsh.
"Pick one."
Li Yuheng's gaze swept over the wall covered with painted wood carvings. He raised an eyebrow, his tone full of disbelief: "You want me to cover this face?"
He tapped his chin lightly with his fingertip, heartbroken, "What a waste!"
Shu Bai ignored his protests, his eyes sweeping over the exquisite half-face masks. He went straight for a blue-faced, fanged, and ferocious demon mask, and firmly placed it on Li Yuheng's face.
"Hey!" With his view suddenly blocked, Li Yuheng subconsciously raised his hand to pick it.
Don't pick it.
Li Yuheng's hand, which was about to pull the mask off his face, paused.
A pale, slightly cool finger pressed against his wrist as he was about to move. She lowered her voice, which, despite the noise of the crowd outside the stall, penetrated his ears with unusual clarity: "...It's too attractive."
Li Yuheng felt instantly relieved.
An indescribable sense of comfort and satisfaction welled up from the bottom of my heart like hot spring water.
Realizing this, he immediately complied and even adjusted the position of his mask.
Through the jagged, carved holes, he precisely caught a glimpse of Shu Bai's seemingly calm profile, his voice laced with amusement, "So you were worried about me being seen? You should have said so earlier."
“…”
The dim light from the mask stall made the blue-faced, fanged ghost face look especially eerie.
Despite having a face that could scare a child, Li Yuheng put on a nonchalant air and casually draped his arm over Shu Bai's shoulder.
The voice came through the wooden mask in a muffled tone: "Are you relieved now? You wouldn't even recognize your own mother standing right in front of you."
Shu Bai glanced at the hand on his shoulder, then swept it over the hideous mask, and his lips twitched: "You look more like a star performer who ran away from some opera troupe now."
"Tsk, do you even know how to compliment? I call this understated luxury. This lousy mask can't possibly hide your man's inner and outer charm?"
As Li Yuheng spoke, his other hand touched another white fox mask on the table, his fingertips rubbing against the smooth surface.
"But since my wife has spoken, I'll reluctantly wear it. But you have to have one too, it's a couple's outfit, you know?"
Before Shu Bai could speak, he had already picked up the exquisite white fox mask and put it directly on Shu Bai's face.
The white fox mask only covered the upper half of his face, revealing his sparse, clear jawline and slightly pursed lips. Paired with his helpless gaze, it created an indescribable allure.
Li Yuheng stared at it for two seconds, his Adam's apple bobbing, and said in a muffled voice through the ghost mask, "...Absolutely amazing."
Shu Bai raised her hand to pick it: "I don't need it..."
"No, no, no! You have to wear it! You absolutely have to wear it!" Li Yuheng grabbed his hand. "Don't you know how attractive you are? Those eyes that were glancing at you just now, do you think I'm blind? I have to be careful."
Shu Bai: "..." Who is more attractive?
The stall owner, a smiling old man, looked at the affectionate young couple and said cheerfully:
"You two gentlemen have excellent taste! This Green-Faced Ghost King paired with the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox is the treasure of our stall, symbolizing... warding off evil and bringing good fortune, a match made in heaven!"
Li Yuheng beamed with joy upon hearing this, and immediately reached into his pocket, ready to buy it generously.
But they found nothing.
He then suddenly remembered that he had just materialized and was empty-handed, so where did the money bag come from?
But he didn't feel embarrassed at all, and quite naturally nudged Shu Bai beside him with his elbow: "Wife, pay the bill."
Shu Bai handed the old man some loose silver without any expression.
Li Yuheng leaned closer to him and lowered his voice: "Put it on my tab first, and I'll pay you back double later. There are as many gold ingots from the underworld as you want."
"Is it burned for me?" Shu Bai asked coolly.
“No way,” Li Yuheng chuckled softly, imagining the dazzling golden scene and finding it quite feasible. “I’ll build you a mountain of gold by hand to sleep on.”
“…Thank you.” Shu Bai imagined it for a moment, then felt speechless. “It’s so uncomfortable.”
Shu Bai took the change from the old man, pulled Li Yuheng, and turned to leave.
Li Yuheng let him lead her, "If you don't want gold, what do you want? A ten-mile-long red bridal procession? A sedan chair carried by eight men?"
"I need you to be quiet."
“This is difficult,” Li Yuheng said, feigning distress. “In our underworld, once a token of love is accepted, we have to keep talking about it.”
Shu Bai paused, glancing at him sideways.
"A token of love? What did I give you?"
Li Yuheng, through the blue-faced, fanged mask, shook his head smugly, and with a finger through his sleeve, pretended to point at his pale forearm: "Far away, yet right before my eyes. Right here on you."
Shu Bai glanced down at her casual clothes, which were completely unadorned, without even a single accessory.
Where?
"Don't move, I'll take it out for you." Li Yuheng's tone was mysterious. He spread his five fingers on his right hand and hovered it in front of Shu Bai's chest, making a grabbing motion in the air, while making a sound, "Hey—whoosh!"
He flipped his wrist and opened his palm.
A small, round object with a cold metallic sheen lay quietly in his hand.
Shu Bai stared intently, then froze.
That's not something that should exist in this era at all.
It was a... modern, one-yuan coin.
There is some minor wear on the edges, a prominent "1" printed on the front, and a familiar chrysanthemum pattern on the back.
Li Yuheng picked up the coin with two fingers and even shone it against the lantern of the stall next to him. The edge of the coin reflected a faint light.
"Look! Isn't it right here?"
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