Chapter 99 Cat Visits Lantern Festival
The windows on the second floor of the inn were open facing the street, and the night breeze blew in with the aroma of street snacks.
Lan Yu lay on the windowsill, his elbows resting on the edge of the wood, half of his body leaning out, curiously observing the excitement below.
The street below was already brightly lit by lanterns. Red, green, round and square lanterns were hung under the eaves. Even the roadside vendors had two lanterns in front of their stalls, casting flickering shadows on people's faces.
The crowds were bustling, with voices, laughter, and vendors' shouts mixed together.
Lan Yu has been living in Qingqiu since he was a child, except for the year he spent with Bai Qingchen in Yunmengze. He has never seen such a scene.
If its tail hadn't been tucked in, it would probably be wagging happily at this moment.
"Baibai, look outside."
He turned around suddenly, his voice filled with uncontrollable excitement, "There are so many people on the street, and so many lights, let's go down and take a look."
Bai Qingchen was sitting at a table by the window. There was talisman paper on the table. He held a pen in his hand, with the tip of the pen hanging above the paper for a long time without falling.
Hearing Lan Yu's words, he raised his eyelids, moved his gaze away from the talisman paper, and fell on the bustling scene outside the window, and sighed helplessly.
"It's very noisy and chaotic outside." He put the pen on the pen holder.
"If you really can't stay idle, there are sweet cakes on the table."
They had left Yaowang Valley for some time and were walking all the way to Yantian Sect. They still had quite a distance to go.
When passing by this small water town, I found an inn to spend the night as it was getting dark. Unexpectedly, I happened to catch the Lantern Festival.
There were lanterns hanging on the streets during the day, which looked quite lively, but it was even more lively at night.
Lan Yu jumped down from the windowsill, ran to Bai Qingchen, reached out to pull his sleeve, but didn't use much strength. He opened his watery eyes and looked at Bai Qingchen pitifully.
"I don't want to eat sugar cakes, Baibai, go ahead, just walk around for a while, I promise I won't run around."
His conspicuous white hair had been turned black by Bai Qingchen's magic before he left. At first glance, he looked like an ordinary child of six or seven years old, but his eyebrows and eyes were too delicate, and when he started to act coquettishly, people couldn't bear to refuse him.
Bai Qingchen could not resist this kind of thing the most. Seeing Lan Yu acting like a spoiled child, he thought of Yoyo. He wondered if it had made a breakthrough. He left in a hurry and had not said goodbye to it yet.
At this moment, Mo Li, who had been silent all this time, raised his head. He had just been looking at the sword manual that Bai Qingchen had given him. He looked away from Bai Qingchen's face and looked at Lan Yu and said, "If my brother is busy, why don't you let me take Lan Yu out for a walk..."
Otherwise this little fox will keep pestering his brother.
Bai Qingchen looked at Lan Yu's hand pulling his sleeve, then looked at Mo Li putting down the book, and sighed in his heart.
He was not a tough person, and he was worried about letting Mo Li take Lan Yu out alone.
"Forget it." Bai Qingchen stood up and straightened his clothes.
"You can go for a walk, but as promised, you must stay close to me and not run around."
"There are people outside catching children!" He threatened Lan Yu, but Lan Yu was not afraid at all.
"My brother said if you encounter a bad guy and can't beat him, just run away. I run really fast."
The three of them went downstairs.
The shopkeeper was fiddling with his abacus when he saw out of the corner of his eye that the guest upstairs was about to leave. He kindly reminded him, "Guest, the city is not peaceful these days. You'd better be careful when you go out."
Bai Qingchen nodded in response, and just as he reached the door of the inn, he was surrounded by the crowd outside.
Bai Qingchen subconsciously reached out and grabbed Lan Yu beside him, fearing that he would be carried away by the crowd.
As soon as I stood firm, I felt someone grabbing my other hand.
He turned his head and saw that it was Mo Li.
Mo Li's fingers were slender and his palms were a little cold, and he gently held his hand.
Bai Qingchen, in turn, held Mo Li tightly, then turned to Lan Yu and told him, "Hold my hand firmly, don't let go."
Lan Yu nodded vigorously, his little hand held tightly by Bai Qingchu, but his eyes were looking around, and he kept muttering: "That lantern is beautiful, and that one, wow! Someone is doing a trick."
As the three of them walked down the street, they stood out.
Bai Qingchen was wearing a white gown and had a cool temperament. When he stood in the crowd, the noise around him seemed to fade a little.
Mo Li was wearing an ink-colored robe. He looked young, with a tall and straight figure and handsome features. He walked to the right of Bai Qingchen, and there was an inexplicable harmony between them.
Bai Qingchen held Mo Li's hand with his right hand and Lan Yu's hand with his left hand, attracting the attention of many passers-by.
"These three are brothers, right? They are so handsome."
"Looking at that, it looks like the eldest brother is out playing with his two younger brothers."
"That little one is so pretty, just like a doll in a painting."
The discussion was not loud, but it reached Bai Qingchen's ears intermittently.
He was not used to being stared at like that, so he quickened his pace, trying to go to a place with fewer people.
After walking a few steps, Lan Yu suddenly stopped and pointed at a lantern stall on the roadside: "Bai Bai, I want that one."
The stall owner saw someone coming and greeted them warmly: "Look, customers, these are all homemade, and they are so sturdy and stylish!"
Lan Yu was pointing at a fox lantern. The lantern had a round body made of red paper and its eyes were embedded with two beads of unknown material, giving it a hint of cleverness.
Bai Qingchen took a look and thought it was indeed well done.
After paying, he handed the fox lantern to Lan Yu, then turned to Mo Li and asked, "Mo Li, do you want to pick one?"
Mo Li's eyes swept across the stall and finally landed on a white cat lantern. It had a simple design, with only the tips of its ears dyed a little pink.
"This one."
The stall owner swiftly handed over the two lamps and said with a smile, "The customer bought two at once. He really loves his brother."
"Looking at your age, it's time for you to get married, right? Just down the road, past the stone bridge, there's an old banyan tree. We call it the marriage tree. I heard it's very effective for praying for marriage."
Bai Qingchen smiled and didn't respond.
Taking the two people away from the lantern stall, Lan Yu walked even more happily, holding the fox lantern.
Mo Li held Bai Qingchen's hand, feeling the warmth from the other's palm, and his fingers quietly tightened a little.
In the light and shadow by the roadside, he glanced at Bai Qingchen's profile, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke: "Brother, what do you think of your Taoist partner and that person?"
Bai Qingchen paused. He didn't expect Mo Li to ask this out of the blue. After a pause, he said, "He's very good, but we haven't seen each other for a long time."
"Brother, don't you hate him?" Mo Li asked.
"No." Bai Qingchen's voice lowered a little, "But he may have forgotten me a long time ago."
Mo Li tightened his grip on his hand suddenly, with such force that even Bai Qingchen could feel it.
Bai Qingchen gave him a strange look, but Mo Li quickly loosened his grip, though his fingertips were still a little stiff. He whispered, "No, I won't forget you, brother."
"Maybe, but time really does change a person."
Bai Qingchen looked into the distance. There were more and more people on the street. Many young men and women were holding hands and walking towards the direction of the marriage tree that the stall owner mentioned. They had smiles on their faces and looked very intimate.
He was silent for a moment, as if talking to himself, but also as if speaking to Mo Li: "This time when I return to Lingxiao Sect, I also want to find an opportunity to make things clear. If he really doesn't care anymore, then we can both be at peace."
Mo Li's heartbeat suddenly quickened. Did Brother Qingchen mean that he wanted to sever ties with his Taoist partner?
He lowered his eyes, hiding the light in them, with only one thought in his mind: he must not bring it up, absolutely not.
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