Chapter 46 Butterfly Lantern & Dragonfly Lantern
The battle between Liu Roulei and Nie Erfeng became more and more intense, but as time passed, Nie Erfeng gradually began to run out of words.
In the end, Nie Erfeng lost to Liu Roulei because he couldn't think of the next sentence after more than thirty seconds.
Nie Erfeng was slightly dissatisfied: "I haven't known you for a long time, but from what I remember, you weren't good at poetry. How come you suddenly got it today?"
Liu Roulei replied with a hint of meaning, "Maybe it's because of the topic. I easily resonate with this kind of poetry, so I naturally memorized it."
Nie Erfeng frowned. It would be better not to explain this mess!
The stall owner was a skilled craftsman. After confirming the winner, he took out a dancing pure golden butterfly lantern from under his stall and displayed it to everyone.
It is very large, as long and wide as an adult's arm. Every time the stall owner takes a step forward, the butterfly flaps its wings.
Liu Roulei took a closer look and found that most of the butterfly's support was made of gold wire. There was an inconspicuous small cylinder under the big butterfly, with two burning candles standing inside. The flames from the candles supported the rice paper. No wonder the butterfly could swell up and emit light.
When this thing came out, everyone made a sound of shock.
Even Liu Roulei couldn't help but praise the boss: "It's a masterpiece!"
Nie Erfeng on the side stared at the golden butterfly lantern with some envy, fearing that she would have the urge to snatch it. She turned her head and immediately noticed a group of masked guys opposite.
Nie Erfeng said expressionlessly, "Everyone, what a coincidence."
Her words were so clever that they exploded the bottom of the pot on the other side.
Xu Ren'er was the first to express doubt: "We were all wearing masks, how did you recognize us?"
Nie Erfeng stared at Xu Ren'er's body, which was in a dog-like state. He couldn't understand why the other party was so ignorant of himself. Xu Ren'er himself was a living symbol.
She said slowly: "It was just a guess, but once you opened your mouth, it became certain."
Liu Roulei heard the movement from Nie Erfeng's side, turned her head to look at them, and then saw Mu Shuangyan wearing a colorful dove mask opposite her, and was a little distracted for a moment.
Coming back to her senses, she couldn't help but lower her head and laugh at herself. It might be a side effect of reciting poems just now, and when she saw people, she subconsciously thought of old friends.
Lily raised her head and smiled, then whispered, "Are you also here to watch 'A Hundred Lanterns'?"
One of the biggest themes of the Night Lantern Festival is the lighting of hundreds of lanterns. When midnight arrives, a large number of Kongming lanterns will be released from the palace and fly into the sky. These Kongming lanterns are pulled by special people and will circle around the imperial capital of the Jiucai Kingdom.
Each of these Kongming lanterns has been decorated by the palace's top painters, and the rice paper is covered with exquisite paintings, which are priceless treasures.
If you can see it with your own eyes, it will be worth the trip.
"Yes." Xu Ren'er nodded, then looked around with a hint of annoyance. "It's just that there are too many people here. It would be great if we could have a completely quiet time where we could watch the sky lanterns up close."
Hearing this, Liu Roulei revealed a troubled expression: "Yes! There are too many people here!"
Hearing their troubles, Nie Erfeng smiled slyly.
"Liu Roulei, it seems that you are not better than me in everything."
Liu Roulei tilted her head to look at her, confusion flashing in her eyes, not understanding what she wanted to express.
"I can find the place you want." Nie Erfeng pointed at her earmuffs and said, "I can find the direction I need based on the sound."
"Really? You're amazing, could you please take us to see it?"
Xu Ren'er leaned forward and asked.
Hearing this, Nie Erfeng glanced at Liu Roulei awkwardly, then looked away. But after a while, she seemed to glance at the golden butterfly lantern in Liu Roulei's hand inadvertently, over and over again.
Xu Ren'er stared at her, followed her line of sight repeatedly, and suddenly understood what Nie Erfeng was thinking.
"You want a gold-thread butterfly lantern."
Xu Ren'er pointed it out in one sentence.
Nie Erfeng's face flushed crimson, his first reaction was to deny it. He lost his temper. "What are you talking about?! It's just a lantern, it's not like I can't afford it! You're making me sound like I'm special! Isn't it just that this vendor's lantern is a little more lifelike than others, with the gold thread and the light blending more harmoniously, so carrying this lantern on the street makes me look more prestigious?! What's there to be proud of?! The last thing I lack is money, so I can easily buy any lantern I want, okay?!"
Everyone present: ...You are really rare...
The owner of the nearby poetry stall scratched his head and gave an embarrassed "hehe" laugh, "I didn't expect the young lady to value my lantern so much. Although I only have one gold-thread butterfly lantern, I have a silver-thread dragonfly lantern. I'm willing to sell it to you at a discount, is that okay?"
As he spoke, he took out another exquisitely crafted lantern from under the stall and displayed it to everyone:
"Even if she didn't win first place, it doesn't detract from the fact that she's incredibly talented. I can barely read or write, and I can only do some basic handicrafts, so I particularly admire those with talent.
This silver dragonfly lantern is one of my favorites, and I wouldn't sell it easily. It was only because I felt that the girl valued this humble handicraft of mine, which touched my heart that I was willing to sell it to her.
These heartfelt words instantly moved everyone present.
Xu Ren'er quickly stuffed a silver note into the stall. The stall owner looked down and was shocked.
The amount was too large. He wanted to refuse, but he couldn't move Xu Ren'er's small dog-like front legs.
"Take it!" Xu Ren'er smiled at the stall owner, then turned to look at Nie Erfeng and said, "This silver dragonfly lantern is my small gift to Miss Nie. I hope Miss Nie won't despise it!"
How could Nie Erfeng dislike it? She already liked it so much!
After all, she was ranked seventh in the martial arts competition and had extraordinary eyesight. Although Xu Ren'er moved quickly, she also saw the amount on the banknote and knew that Xu Ren'er was very attentive.
After she took the silver dragonfly lantern from the stall owner, she took off her earmuffs and snorted coldly, saying:
"There are a lot of people here, don't lose them."
The listeners at the back looked at each other and laughed at the same time.
Taking a deep breath, Nie Erfeng closed his eyes, activated his internal energy, and began to listen carefully to the sounds coming from all directions.
These sounds include not only people talking, but also the sound of gentle wind and the sound of distant objects falling.
After a long time, Nie Erfeng opened his eyes and began to stride forward, followed closely by the others.
Under the leadership of Nie Erfeng, they successfully arrived at their destination.
It was pitch black all around, and the empty ground seemed to have no end in sight. Perhaps it was too dark, so when I looked up at the sky, the stars in the sky were particularly bright and twinkling.
Looking at the surroundings, Shangguan Shujie couldn't help but subconsciously question, "Are you sure it's here?"
Nie Erfeng didn't bother to explain: "When midnight comes, you'll know if it's here."
Tang Qiuyue looked around and said with emotion, "It's so big here, and the wind is so comfortable! Even if the Kongming lanterns don't pass by here, I still like it here!"
After she finished speaking, she simply lay down on the ground.
There were some wild grasses on the ground and the soil was soft. Tang Qiuyue looked at the large number of shining stars in the sky and felt very comfortable.
Seeing this, others followed suit.
Tang Beiju didn't follow them. Instead, he asked, "There's still a long time until the ion time. Are you sure you want to stay here and wait?"
As soon as these words were spoken, others suddenly felt that they made a lot of sense.
Hearing this, Shangguan Jieshu, who had been lying on the grass, immediately stood up and said:
"Then let's go play for a while! How about we come back here closer to midnight?"
Liu Roulei hesitated a little: "Should we follow you too?"
“There’s more fun when there are more people!”
Shangguan Shujie also stood up, looked at Liu Roulei and Nie Erfeng, and continued with a smile, "Come and play together! Maybe the boss will see that there are so many of us and be willing to lower the price for us!"
Liu Roulei was still thinking, but Nie Erfeng had already made up his mind: "I'll go with you!"
She was still deeply curious about Xu Ren'er and the others' souls, which were completely different from those of ordinary people. Now that she had the opportunity to follow them and observe more, she would definitely not miss it!
Xu Ren'er had already gotten up. She looked at Liu Roulei curiously and asked, "What about you?"
Seeing that Nie Erfeng had already agreed, she thought about it and agreed:
"I'll go with you too."
——
There were really a lot of activities at the night lantern festival. They first went on a boat ride on the lake.
The lake water was very dark at night, but the owner had carefully placed many small boats on the lake. A candle was fixed on each boat, and the candle was wrapped with a paper lotus made of rice paper, emitting a warm light.
Seeing that there were so many of them, the boss specially chose a large boat with a large capacity and arranged people to row at the front and back.
They cruised quietly, enjoying the beautiful moment.
After the boat trip, they went to play ring tossing. Most of the people present were martial arts masters, and the simple ring tossing was not difficult for them. They returned home with a full load.
Just as they were about to leave, the ring-tossing boss stopped them, with a sad face, and started to lecture them. He didn't curse at them, but instead cried as he described the difficulties and bitterness of his life.
They were ashamed of their tragic experience. They did rely on their martial arts skills to bully the ring-tossing boss. Under the moral condemnation of their conscience, they returned all the items in the ring, and the boss also refunded their money.
After the ring toss was finished, there seemed to be someone performing in the front, so a group of guys rushed over to join in the fun, but they were deeply disappointed when they found out that it was just a simple chest-breaking stone and fire-breathing performance.
Xu Ren'er suddenly had an idea and slipped away under everyone's puzzled gaze, but soon came back and performed a face-changing show for them on the spot, which opened their eyes and successfully attracted the unfamiliar audience.
It’s really strange that dogs can change their faces!
Finally, after finishing, Xu Ren'er shook hands with the little girl closest to her. After shaking hands, she waved to the little girl. The next second, a flower suddenly appeared in her hand and was given to the little girl.
After the face-changing incident, they continued to stroll around, eating snacks sold on the roadside and looking at new things sold on the roadside. Liu Roulei and Nie Erfeng even bought a mask and put it on their faces.
Liu Roulei chose a water blue crucian carp mask, while Nie Erfeng picked a golden leopard mask.
As they were strolling around, they met a lost little boy who was forced to be separated from his family because of the large crowd. Nie Erfeng once again used her sensitive ears, turning left and right along the way, and successfully helped the little boy find his family.
After receiving sincere thanks, they strolled around again. Shangguan Jieshu passed by a shop selling Cuju balls, and inspiration struck him, inviting them back to the empty grassland that Nie Erfeng had taken them to at the beginning.
Mu Shuangyan was the referee. Shangguan Jieshu, Tang Beiju, Xu Rener, and Nie Erfeng were in one group, and Shangguan Shujie, Tang Qiuyue, Mo Youli, and Liu Roulei were in another group.
In the darkness, the two sides had a night Cuju match.
Unfortunately, the winner was not decided and the midnight was approaching, so the Cuju game was stopped halfway through.
They sat in a row, leaning against each other, waiting for the arrival of the "hundred lights".
I’m so excited! Everyone thought to themselves at the same time.
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