After returning from Dabeisi Temple, it took Cheng Ruyi a few days to gradually calm down. Since she was already there, she decided to make the best of it. Rather than letting things that hadn't happened yet disturb her mind, she should get her composure as soon as possible and make thorough preparations.
Staying in the villa was truly a leisurely and therapeutic experience. As the saying goes, happiness makes you lose track of time, and before I knew it, half a month had passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, the annual Lantern Festival.
With heavy hearts, the Cheng family moved back to the county town the day before the Lantern Festival.
In Dai Viet, the Lantern Festival is a very important festival. Every year, a lantern mountain is erected in the open space of the main street in the town center. On the night of the Lantern Festival, the colorful lanterns on the lantern mountain are lit up, and the colorful lights reflect each other, weaving together a beautiful, colorful and dazzling scene.
That night, the streets and alleys were decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and the crowds were bustling with activity. The celebration usually lasted until late at night, and then various night food stalls took turns to open, while restaurants and singing houses stayed open all night. Therefore, there was no curfew in the county town on this day, and the city gates were open all night.
Cheng Ruyi had a feeling that this Lantern Festival was not simple. Based on her experience from watching TV dramas and reading novels over the years, she believed that there was a 60% chance of falling in love at first sight, a 70% chance of accidents like falling into the water or fighting, and at least a 90% chance of abduction or disappearance!
She looked at the mother-child charm in her hand and hesitated for a moment. She knew that going to see the lanterns could easily lead to an accident, so why did she have to go out? Wouldn't it be safer to stay at home?
But simply running away isn't a solution, and she's afraid of the so-called cause and effect. If something is destined to happen, then it will happen no matter how she tries to stop it. She's seen many TV shows and movies like this, such as The Butterfly Effect and Yesterday's Park, and in all of them, the more you try to stop something, the worse it gets.
And if she can avoid the Lantern Festival, does that mean she can stop her family from ever leaving the house again?
Instead of passively guarding against danger day and night, wouldn't it be better to prepare and take the initiative? In fact, with the Mother-Child Talisman and the system's cheat ability, she already had more confidence than ordinary people.
Just as she made up her mind, the long-awaited system notification sounded again:
"Ding! Main quest triggered. Please complete it as soon as possible!"
Hearing the notification sound again, she wasn't surprised at all. She just felt that what was bound to happen had finally arrived. Moreover, the appearance of the system task was equivalent to a spoiler, helping her to foresee future events and thus avoid risks.
Task Details:
Main quest: ??? (Incomplete)
Side Quest 1: Rescue Cheng Yunle (Incomplete)
Side Quest 2: ? ? ? (Incomplete)
Side Quest 3: ? ? ? (Incomplete)
Note: Both side quests and main quests will have a significant impact on the future, so please approach them with caution.
Upon seeing this description, Cheng Ruyi couldn't help but frown and shake her head. The task details were truly absurd; did it even deserve the word "details"? The entire document was filled with question marks, even the main quest itself!
Fortunately, the only useful clue is that the person involved in this incident is the youngest daughter, Cheng Yunle, so her mother-child talisman can be given to the right person.
And since the word "rescue" appeared, it must mean that a human trafficking incident has occurred...
Since it involves human trafficking, the other tasks must be related to this matter. Perhaps there is more than one person involved in the trafficking case tonight, so the side quests might involve rescuing everyone. Following this line of thought, Cheng Ruyi guessed that the main quest might be to destroy the human trafficking organization or catch the mastermind behind it.
No matter which path she chose, it would be quite difficult for her. She was just an ordinary person with no power or influence, and she didn't know any martial arts. Moreover, her whole family was her Achilles' heel. How could she possibly fight against these wicked people who did all sorts of evil deeds?
Fortunately, this mission didn't say that not doing it would lead to certain death, it just said that it would have a huge impact. Of course, she would do her best to complete the mission while protecting her family.
With some time still ahead of the evening lantern festival, she could make some preparations in advance!
"Yunle, come here~~" Taking advantage of the moment when everyone was preparing to leave, Cheng Ruyi called her youngest daughter over, then hung the small pouch containing the talisman around her neck and carefully hid it inside her clothes. "Mother got you a peace talisman. Remember to wear it with you at all times and don't take it off, understand?"
The little girl didn't understand the meaning behind it; she only knew that her mother had given her a very pretty purse, so she happily agreed, "Yes, Yunle understands, I promise I won't take it off!"
Looking at the little girl who was dressed up so beautifully, Cheng Ruyi felt incredibly conflicted. Although she was 90% sure she could save her daughter, the thought of the suffering her daughter would inevitably endure in the future made her hug her tightly with heartache. "Yunle, can I tell you a secret?"
"Okay, okay!" Cheng Yunle's eyes lit up instantly. She looked around and, finding no one, brought her ear close to Ruyi's face, covering it tightly with her little hands. Then she whispered, "Now that no one's around, Mommy, you can say it!"
"The secret is... no matter where you are, no matter how far or difficult to find you, your mother will always be able to find you. Do you believe me?"
Cheng Ruyi thought the child wouldn't believe her, but to her surprise, the child nodded emphatically and answered decisively, "Yes, I believe you!"
This surprised Cheng Ruyi. Did her youngest daughter really trust her that much?
"Because I dreamt about it!" Cheng Yunle laughed happily when she saw her mother's shocked expression. "In my dream, I was in a dark and cold place, surrounded by crying sounds. It was so scary! Suddenly, several big bad guys appeared and tried to grab us. Luckily, Mom arrived in time, bringing a very strong older sister with her. They quickly drove the bad guys away, and we were saved!"
Wait, wait, wait...
What was that? I dreamt about it? This...could it be the legendary...prophetic dream?
Cheng Ruyi suddenly remembered that during the city lockdown, Cheng Yunle had been worried and scared all day and cried. At the time, they thought she was sick, but that night they received a mission notification that a thief was going to break into their house!
So at that time, the child must have already awakened this precognitive ability, but it was not fully formed yet. At that time, the child could only sense that there was danger and be afraid, but did not know what would happen. After more than half a year, this ability has now been able to form a specific precognitive dream.
This ability is incredible; it's far more sophisticated and impressive than anything like agility or superhuman strength!
Cheng Ruyi suppressed her shock and was filled with joy. After all, she had successfully rescued her daughter in this precognitive dream, and the information was even more detailed than the system task!
"Anything else? What else was in your dream? Do you remember what was special about that place? What did those bad guys look like? And who was the older sister that Mother brought?"
"Uh... I don't remember, I only remember what I just said..." Cheng Yunle felt a little wronged and scared. The things in the dream were too real. In fact, she was so scared that she cried at the time and couldn't remember anything at all.
Seeing the little girl pout and her eyes begin to well up with tears, Ruyi realized that this dream must have been a terrible nightmare for the child.
"Alright, alright~~ Don't cry, don't cry. Didn't Mommy come to save you in the end? So don't be afraid, okay~~"
With the system's tools and the foresight of the dream's plot, Cheng Ruyi felt much more at ease. It seemed that the side quest of successfully rescuing her youngest daughter should be completed smoothly.
"So if something like what happened in your dream happens, Yunle, don't be afraid. Be careful and hide well to protect yourself. Your mother will definitely come to save you, okay?"
The little girl, not yet seven years old, couldn't quite understand what those words meant, but she could feel her mother's deep concern for her. So she happily hugged her mother's neck and said sweetly, "Okay! Yunle will be a good girl and wait for Mommy to come find me!"
Of course, Ruyi was still not at ease after doing this, so she took another handful of poisonous thorns from the Red Thorn, divided them into two bundles with cloth, put one bundle in the purse around Cheng Yunle's neck, and placed the other bundle in the small pocket inside her cotton-padded jacket.
This little pocket was sewn by Ruyi herself after she bought the cotton-padded jacket. Although it's not very pretty, it's deep and sturdy. Since it's hidden inside and can't be seen, it's perfect for storing candy or something.
Seeing the candy in Yunle's pocket, Cheng Ruyi suddenly realized that she could actually mix the fasting pills and candy to make some filling snacks. That way, she wouldn't have to worry about going hungry and it wouldn't take up much space. Unfortunately, she didn't have time now, so she could only make a few candied fruits mixed with the fragments of the fasting pills and the meridian-nourishing pills, wrap them in oil paper, and put them in Yunle's other small pocket.
I was thinking to myself that I should make more in the future, just in case!
As night fell, after dinner, the Cheng family members went out onto the street and slowly joined the crowds visiting the lantern festival.
Compared to the happiness and excitement of others, Cheng Ruyi's calmness and nervousness seemed quite out of place.
The Lantern Festival in Huaishan County was much more lively and grand than Cheng Ruyi had imagined.
Every household carries a variety of lanterns, a custom in the county town. On the Lantern Festival, each family hangs their handmade lanterns, representing their family, on the lantern racks along the central long street to pray for blessings.
If people see a lantern with an unusual or particularly beautiful shape, they will tie colorful ribbons to the lantern rack. The more ribbons they collect, the better their luck and the more blessings they will have in the coming year.
The lanterns for the Cheng family were made by Cheng Yan and his grandchildren over several days. Ruyi watched the family excitedly discussing where to hang the lanterns and couldn't bear to spoil their happiness. She could only keep reminding everyone to be careful and not get lost.
Ahead lies the intersection of Jinxiu Street and Qingyun Street. A casual glance upwards reveals the towering lantern mountain in the center of the street. At this moment, all the colorful lanterns on the mountain are lit, shining brightly in red and yellow hues. In the night, it resembles a blazing torch, ready to burn the entire county town to ashes at any moment.
Cheng Ruyi stood on the street, holding her youngest daughter's hand tightly. She was being pushed along by the crowd towards Dengshan. The surrounding noise was interspersed with occasional shrill screams, and the music of the acrobatic troupe was out of tune, sometimes high and sometimes low. These sounds mixed together and entered her ears, which felt particularly eerie for some reason.
The closer you get to Dengshan, the more difficult it becomes to move forward.
"That's strange, why are there so many people today? It looks like several times more than in previous years." Cheng Yan had lived in the county town for so many years, and this was the first time he had seen such an exaggerated situation. He was a little puzzled.
"What? What did you say? Speak louder! We can't hear you!" Xu Cui looked at Cheng Yan in front of her, whose mouth was opening and closing but she couldn't hear what he was saying, so she shouted at the top of her lungs.
Xu Cui was strong and had a powerful voice. Her shout startled everyone within a two- or three-meter radius and successfully drew the attention of the Cheng family back to the present.
Seeing this, Cheng Yan quickly pulled his family members to a corner and formed a circle around them. He didn't have Xu Cui's loud voice and couldn't shout that loudly. Then he repeated what he had just said.
"I know that! I heard that this year's lantern mountain was donated by the Zheng family, a wealthy family in the north of the city. Those acrobatic troupes that I've never seen before were also brought in by them. They said it was some kind of prayer ritual that could drive away evil spirits and ensure good weather and a bountiful harvest in the coming year!"
Xu Cui, who is always well-informed about gossip, spoke about these rumors with great expertise: "They even sent people to nearby villages and towns to spread the word, making it known to everyone. That's why there are so many people coming from all around our county!"
"Oh dear! If you ask me, the Zheng family isn't really trying to do good deeds; they just want fame. Look at the Zhou family, they've done so many good things, when have they ever publicized it like this!"
"The Zheng family? Could they be the owners of the newly opened antique shop in the county town?" Ruyi felt something flash through her mind, but the thought disappeared too quickly, vanishing before she could think about it further.
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