Chapter 27 027 Don't you want to stay with me forever?
Unbeknownst to her, she and Duan Lansheng had been trapped in this sea of consciousness for two months. Fortunately, time flows differently inside and outside the sea of consciousness. The long two months were equivalent to only a fleeting moment outside. The hourglass on the panel had not yet run out of time.
In the mortal realm, the customs of celebrating the New Year are similar to those in the ancient world of Lu Yuanyuan's original world. On the eve of the New Year, the crackling sound of firecrackers goes off from morning till night. Every household is decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, slaughters lamb and cattle, eats spring platters, and drinks Tusu wine. On New Year's Eve, the whole family stays up together to welcome the New Year.
The cultivation world is much the same.
It was unusual that it didn't snow on New Year's Eve.
Lu Yuanyuan had been forced to stay home for many days and had long wanted to go out for a walk and clear her head. After dinner, she put on her winter cloak and went out with Duan Lansheng. The town was enveloped in the sound of firecrackers, red lanterns hung all over the streets, shouts rang out constantly, and the lantern riddle stalls were crowded with people. Children dressed in red and green carried lanterns in one hand and were led by adults in the other, creating a festive and lively atmosphere.
There were many couples walking hand in hand on the street. There were couples holding hands intimately, and there were also teenagers walking side by side without physical contact, occasionally stealing glances at each other, and blushing bright red when their eyes met.
In the throng of people, Duan Lansheng, dressed in a moon-white robe, stood out from the crowd with his face as white and warm as jade, tinged with the warmth of everyday life. Every now and then, young girls would boldly squeeze past them, whispering among themselves, or their laughter would suddenly rise as they passed by, their eyes darting around, secretly watching Duan Lansheng's reaction.
It must be said that, although this scene is merely a mirage, it looks incredibly realistic, with every NPC's expression vivid and lifelike. Such meticulous detail explains why it could deceive the master of one's consciousness.
Lu Yuanyuan remained silent, slowing her pace and increasing the distance between herself and him. However, she underestimated the crowd's intensity and was bumped a few times, causing the distance between her and Duan Lansheng to suddenly widen, becoming unreachable.
Duan Lansheng would turn around as soon as he called his name.
Lu Yuanyuan opened her lips, then closed them again, remaining silent. She turned her face to look at the lanterns across the street.
Never mind, let's leave it at that.
But then, complaints rose from the crowd ahead, growing louder as they approached. The next second, her wrist was grabbed.
When I looked up, I was met with Duan Lansheng's face.
Lu Yuanyuan: "..."
Speak of the devil, and he appears. Does this guy really have eyes in the back of his head? In such a noisy environment, he immediately noticed that she had fallen behind and even went against the flow of people to come back and find her.
Just then, a cheer erupted from the crowd. The two looked towards the source of the sound and saw a dragon dance troupe of well-dressed townspeople approaching from the end of the road, playing drums and sheng (traditional Chinese wind instruments). The crowd, eager for the spectacle, spontaneously pushed towards them, inadvertently bringing the two of them very close together.
Lu Yuanyuan was a little unsteady on her feet. She felt the hand that was holding her wrist move up and instead put its arm around her shoulder, while the other hand hooked around her waist, pulling her into a tight embrace. Lu Yuanyuan froze and turned around, trying to create some distance between them, but the hand on her waist suddenly tightened its grip. Duan Lansheng said to her head, "There are too many people. Don't go out, you'll fall."
The crowd around him grew denser, and even standing at the very edge of the street, it was difficult to avoid being jostled. In this predicament, the boy's upright figure stood like an island in a flood, unmoved by the shoving and bumping of strangers.
Indeed... it's safer to stand in front of him.
Lu Yuanyuan stopped struggling, lowered her head, stood still, her arms hanging naturally at her sides, and did not hug him back.
The dragon procession was less than twenty meters away from them, the festive atmosphere reaching its peak. Lu Yuanyuan was about to turn around when her vision suddenly went dark. It turned out that Duan Lansheng had suddenly pulled up the hood of her coat and put it on her.
With her vision obscured, her sense of smell became more acute. Her cheek touched Duan Lansheng's chest, and she caught a whiff of the crisp scent of soapberry.
During this period, Duan Lansheng took care of all the housework. He smelled exactly like her.
When the thought crossed her mind, Lu Yuanyuan felt a little awkward. Suddenly, she heard Duan Lansheng above her take a slight breath, as if he was suppressing something. She paused, sensing something was wrong, and tried to take off her hat: "What's wrong?"
Before she could see anything, Duan Lansheng grabbed her hand and pulled her in another direction, saying, "There are too many people. Let's leave here first."
Helpless, Lu Yuanyuan had no choice but to follow him away. In the chaos, someone stepped on her shoes. Duan Lansheng paused, then tightened his grip on her waist, lifted her straight up from the ground, and pushed his way through the crowd in a few steps, entering a deserted alley.
Once you step out of the alley, the main street behind you becomes much quieter.
As soon as Lu Yuanyuan landed, she reached down and took off her hood, noticing a blackened patch on the back, as if it had been burned. She frowned, grabbed Duan Lansheng's hand, and sure enough, there was a red patch on the back of his hand as well: "What happened?"
Under the light, the two were very close, their shadows almost touching.
Duan Lansheng looked at her and said, "There was a child sitting on his father's shoulders, carrying a lantern in his hand."
Lu Yuanyuan finally understood why he had suddenly put a hat on her. Otherwise, her hair might have been burned bald. She held his hand up to the light and examined it closely, seeing tiny blisters: "Does it hurt?"
Duan Lansheng's fingers curled slightly.
He could actually sense her coldness; from the moment they left the house, she seemed to want to keep her distance from him in every way. This was the first time tonight that she had taken the initiative to approach him.
He disliked lying and wanted to tell her that the injury didn't hurt.
But when he saw her brows furrow slightly with worry, Duan Lansheng lowered his eyes and gave a lie: "A little."
Lu Yuanyuan scratched her hair and sighed, "Forget it, there are so many people anyway, let's not go shopping anymore. Let's go back, I'll put some medicine on you."
"good."
The two walked home along the riverbank. It was dark in the area, with scattered stalls along the way. The food stalls' pots billowed white smoke, and snow-white glutinous rice wrapped in black sesame seeds floated in the pots. There were also vendors selling paper-cutting sticks and various trinkets.
As they passed a stall under a tree, the shouts of a middle-aged vendor stamping his feet in the cold wind caught their attention: "Young master and madam, would you like to buy some auspicious words? They can even write them on the spot!"
Lu Yuanyuan stopped, her gaze sweeping over the red papers hanging on the stall and the strings of copper coins already strung together.
So-called auspicious money is simply red paper with auspicious words written on it, such as "May you have peace every year" and "May the weather be favorable for crops," which is given to loved ones during important festivals. Legend has it that putting it in a sachet can bring good luck. Originally, there was only the red paper version, but now there is also a copper coin version, with auspicious words engraved on the copper coins and strung together with red string. This tradition originated from the mortal world.
Lu Yuanyuan scratched her cheek with her index finger: "It's not good to go back empty-handed since we've come all this way. Let's buy some lucky money."
Duan Lansheng was taken aback, then nodded.
Hearing Lu Yuanyuan say this, the vendor became even more enthusiastic, waving red paper and saying, "Are you two a couple? I have many auspicious coins here, wishing you a long and happy marriage, a love that lasts forever, and eternal love..."
Lu Yuanyuan smiled as she listened to his sales pitch for a while, her almond-shaped eyes crinkling, before saying, "No need, I don't like these blessings."
The lights were dim, and her voice, languid and ethereal, drifted into the night.
Duan Lansheng felt a slight tug at his heart. He stopped and looked at her.
The vendor was also speechless.
In business, he was adept at reading people. When a couple walked by, he could almost always guess their relationship without them saying a word. Tonight, he met several couples, and every single one of them was pleased to hear these auspicious words.
Perhaps the couple in front of us doesn't have a harmonious relationship.
The vendor, having already guessed what was going on, chuckled sheepishly and said, "Alright, alright, the young lady can write whatever she wants."
At Lu Yuanyuan's suggestion, the auspicious money was inscribed with "Happy Every Day." She tossed down two silver stones, picked up the paper, waved it in the cold wind, waited for the ink to dry, and continued walking.
Just then, she heard Duan Lansheng, who was behind her, call her from behind: "Quan Quan".
"..."
Because of the first landlord's incorrect name, Duan Lansheng in his mind's eye always mistakenly thought that her name was really Quan Quan.
Lu Yuanyuan thought to herself, "If I'm going to put on an act, I might as well go all the way." Pretending not to remember her real name would make her seem even more like a customer who had been brainwashed by Duan Lansheng. So, she deliberately didn't correct his way of addressing her.
Lu Yuanyuan turned around innocently: "What's wrong?"
Duan Lansheng's eyes were dark and deep: "Why only these four words?"
Lu Yuanyuan casually said, "Isn't it good to be happy every day? The most important thing in life is to be happy."
Duan Lansheng didn't let her brush it off. He reached out, grabbed her arm, pulled her close, looked down at her intently, and asked directly, "Don't you want to stay with me forever?"
The two looked at each other for a moment.
"...No, it's not that. I just think that nobody can predict the future, so there's no need to put a noose around our necks. Just living well in the present is enough." Lu Yuanyuan subtly brushed his hand away, then patted his shoulder instead, saying casually, "Besides, I didn't like those words he used either. Especially 'life after life,' they were just too horrible."
"What's scary about it?"
Lu Yuanyuan shrugged: "Doesn't it mean that no matter how many times a person reincarnates, they're always bound to the same person? The future is fixed, it's so boring. If there's a next life, you'd definitely want to try being with different people and experiencing a different life, right?"
Duan Lansheng remained silent this time.
In the distance, firecrackers exploded in the darkness. Midnight had arrived, and the New Year was about to begin.
Amidst the cheers that erupted as people welcomed the New Year, Lu Yuanyuan suddenly felt a cold sensation on her cheek, as if a drop of water had fallen from the sky onto her face with a soft thud.
The drop of water was icy cold, and the sensation of it hitting her skin was incredibly clear, causing her to involuntarily furrow her brow slightly.
Has it snowed?
Lu Yuanyuan raised her hand to touch it, but her fingertips were dry. She looked up at the sky suspiciously, but saw no trace of rain or snow.
...Is it just my imagination?
Lu Yuanyuan rubbed her fingertips, stopped thinking about it, folded the red paper, and continued walking home. After walking for a while, she realized that Duan Lansheng hadn't followed.
Turning around, I saw him standing alone, head down, his face shrouded in darkness, his expression unreadable, but he seemed somewhat dejected.
Lu Yuanyuan paused for a moment, a bitter feeling welling up inside her.
She was still pretending to be his wife, after all, and couldn't just walk away. So, she turned around, her back to him, and held out her hand behind her: "Going home?"
Duan Lansheng looked up, his beautiful, long eyes twitching.
When he was a child, every time they went out, she would reach out her hand to him; it was a signal that he was coming home.
He stepped forward, took her hand, and tightened his grip on it inch by inch, completely enveloping it in his palm.
She possessed a warm and peaceful aura that drew him closer. Holding her hand, the unease he felt, as if he were about to lose her and be abandoned by her, vanished.
.
That evening, after returning home, the two quickly washed up and went to bed. Of course, each had their own blanket.
Lu Yuanyuan had no idea what Duan Lansheng was feeling. She only knew that her legs hadn't been used in a long time, and she felt quite tired after walking just this short distance. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep quickly.
In the middle of the night, the room was warm and cozy thanks to the several charcoal stoves. Lu Yuanyuan was awakened by a thirst, her brows twitched, and she slowly opened her eyes, only to find herself rolled up next to Duan Lansheng, one of her legs unceremoniously resting on his waist.
It's all due to old habits.
Maintaining one position for too long made her calves feel numb, as if ants were gnawing at her flesh. Fortunately, everything was still within a tolerable range.
Lu Yuanyuan held her breath, carefully retracting her leg that had crossed the line. She threw back the covers, intending to get out of bed to pour herself a glass of water and, while walking, alleviate the numbness in her leg.
Duan Lansheng was breathing evenly and remained motionless, as if he were fast asleep. But when she slowly climbed onto his body, he suddenly rolled over.
Lu Yuanyuan glared at him, and caught off guard, she tripped over his knee and fell on top of him.
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