The Yao women's blessing ceremony begins at dusk, at the moment of transition between day and night.
The sound of phoenix flutes stirred, and the light of jade pots shone, transforming the entire river and sky into a breathtakingly beautiful scene, like a fairyland on earth.
Ma Gege stood under a giant carp lantern, waving to the three people behind her, "Hurry up, the ceremony is about to begin!"
Today she wore a floral dress with a misty, flowing design, and a flower ornament adorned her forehead. The hairpin in her hair swayed gently. She wasn't carrying the giant sword on her back, so she didn't look like a sword-wielding immortal at all. Instead, she seemed like a noble lady raised by a prominent family.
The carp lantern emitted a soft, warm light, which fell on her eyebrows and eyelashes. Her moist lips, painted with rouge, curved into a beautiful arc, revealing bright, pearly teeth.
The three of them were completely stunned.
Wang Jingyuan was the first to react. He shouted and ran towards Ma Gege, "My God, Gege, you look so beautiful today! Could it be that you are the real Yao girl? You should be the one to go up on stage to pray for blessings today!" Ma Gege heard this and scolded him a few times, saying things like "smooth talker" and "you're just trying to make people happy."
Chen Zifeng was completely stunned. It wasn't until Ma Gege walked up to him that he seemed to wake up from a dream, put his fist to his mouth, and coughed twice in a pretentious manner. "Not bad, this outfit suits you very well."
Ma Gege smiled at him and said, "It's because Sister Chen has good taste. She strongly recommended that I wear this outfit, and it really looks great."
Chen Zifeng smiled too, because he had gone with Chen Ziyue to pick out the clothes, and the moment he saw them, he knew they would suit her perfectly, and sure enough.
Ma Gege jumped in front of Li Mingke again, "Looks like I look really good today, even our Immortal Sect's top disciple is stunned!" She giggled.
"Yes, even I'm captivated!" Li Mingke said with a smile.
Her long eyelashes covered the shadows under her eyes.
You should be used to it by now, why are you still acting like a child?
The moment she saw Ma Gege, she was first amazed, then a subtle bitterness welled up in her heart.
Although Ma Gege's eyes were crinkled with laughter as she looked at Li Mingke, a hint of envy lingered in her expression. She didn't know where this envy came from, so in the end, she could only hand the candy she had just bought to Li Mingke.
"For me?" Li Mingke tilted his head, puzzled, holding the candy in his hand.
"Hmm, didn't you want to eat?"
Li Mingke immediately understood, put the candy in her mouth, and said, "Thank you, Princess. I just wanted to eat some, and you noticed."
"Eat up, eat up! There are lots of snack stalls up ahead!" Ma Gege pointed to a more bustling road ahead, where Li Mingke could vaguely see crowds of people moving about.
She followed Ma Gege towards the direction where the crowd was even more surging.
As she walked, she berated herself: Li Mingke, Li Mingke, are you even capable? How could you be so easily spotted by outsiders? You need to practice more!
Finally, at the very moment when the sun and moon were about to meet, a powerful bell rang out from the very center of the river.
when--
Li Mingke felt his heart trembling.
Then, countless Kongming lanterns rose from all directions of Jiangtian, like fallen stars flying into the sky. A melodious tune seemed to descend from heaven to earth. People stopped walking and stood still, clapping their hands and shouting to welcome the arrival of the Yao girl.
Li Mingke was completely shocked by the scene before him. A strange feeling rose from the bottom of his heart. His gaze followed the rising Kongming lantern into the distance until the lantern flew higher and higher, smaller and smaller, until it became a small dot and disappeared completely into the sky.
She rubbed her sore eyes, but vaguely saw a figure dressed in white, who seemed to be her master. Unsure, she rubbed her eyes again, and her vision gradually cleared; it was indeed Immortal Venerable Jinyun.
There were just too many people, shoulder to shoulder, and she had to squeeze through the crowd to finally reach the side of Immortal Venerable Jinyun.
She suddenly attacked from behind, placing the Rakshasa demon mask she had just bought on Jinyun Immortal Venerable's head. "Hey! Guess who I am?"
Li Mingke lifted a corner of the mask with her slender fingers and saw the smiling eyes of the Immortal Venerable Jinyun.
"It's a naughty little cat."
"I'm not a cat!" Li Mingke pretended to be angry, put her hands on her hips, but couldn't help glancing at him.
It's more like a kitten now, like a mischievous little cat playing pranks to get its owner's attention.
Immortal Venerable Jinyun patted Li Mingke's head like he was patting a kitten's head.
"Master, what brings you here? Are you here to see Yao Nu pray for blessings as well? Or perhaps—"
"Protect me?"
Looking into Li Mingke's cunning eyes, Immortal Venerable Jinyun smiled and said, "Of course—both."
"Actually, the Immortal Venerable wanted to come and pray for blessings himself, but he just used protecting me as a pretext!"
"Xiao Mingke is so smart!"
"Huh? No way, Master, I was just saying!" Li Mingke refused to admit that her master wasn't doing it for her!
"Stop fooling around, Yao Nu is about to come out. Haven't you been waiting for this moment these past few days?"
"Yes, I'll have to watch this closely, otherwise all the suffering I've endured these past few days will be for nothing!" Li Mingke took out a recording stone from his purse. "I'm going to record the Yao girl's prayer process so I can watch it every day!"
"You like it that much?" asked Immortal Venerable Jinyun.
"Of course, this is a grand event that happens only once every five years. How many five-year periods does one have in a lifetime?" She suddenly began to act profound.
Finally, all the music stopped, and the boisterous chatter subsided. Li Mingke, sensing the atmosphere around him, found himself becoming tense as well.
Wait a minute, she's just an audience member, it's not like she's going on stage, what's there for her to be nervous about?
But Li Mingke's palms began to sweat, and the quieter the surroundings were, the more she could hear her heart beating faster and faster.
Glug—
She swallowed the saliva that had been secreted due to nervousness.
Colorful petals began to fall from the sky, a ribbon drifted into view, and then a woman dressed in brocade robes emerged from the flowers, barefoot, her fair fingers treading on the petals, exuding a unique charm.
The Yao girl has finally made her appearance!
Li Mingke couldn't take his eyes off He Banjian for even a moment.
So beautiful!
She was completely different from before. At this moment, no one knew that she came from the countryside. Every move she made was so elegant, and her eyes were full of charm.
Her appearance, her figure, everything about her seemed to have been born to become a Yao woman.
Li Mingke's mouth was agape involuntarily; her will was completely dominated by the woman before her. Not only Li Mingke, but everyone present, regardless of age or gender, was in the same state.
That's the charm of Yao women!
However, there was one exception.
That is the Immortal Venerable Jinyun.
His initial surprise and doubt gradually turned into ecstatic excitement.
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