Chapter 328 Nighttime Banquet (2)
The world was shrouded in a thick, gray fog, darkening the mountains and rivers and preventing the sun's glory from reaching this place.
Even though Qing Guanzi was walking on air with his claws attached to the clouds, Ji Rong could still hear the sound of Qing Guanzi's fingernails piercing the clouds and his feet pressing against them.
It's so quiet here, so quiet that even the slightest friction in the air can be heard clearly.
The world seemed to stand still, with only Ji Rong and Qing Guanzi as the two living beings, and a sense of drowsiness permeated the air.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, a sliver of light suddenly appeared ahead. With this light, Ji Rong suddenly realized that the pale gray mist around them had dissipated, and the area had become bright.
She looked up at the sky and saw a crescent moon, growing ever brighter, slowly rising from the horizon.
Originally, in this dim world, Ji Rong didn't know when the sun set, but as soon as she saw the crescent moon, she knew that the sun had set in the outside world.
The sun sets outside, the crescent moon rises inside, and the grand feast in the Moon Palace is about to begin.
As the moon suddenly lit up, the entire Moonshade Mountain Range seemed to awaken, and the rustling sounds grew louder and louder.
Various shimmering, winged creatures took flight in every corner of the Moonshade Mountains, soaring through the air and singing joyfully on the grasslands.
They would fly up to Ji Rong's face, curiously examining Ji Rong and Qing Guanzi. Their mouths would open and close, their wings would vibrate, and they would make soft whispering noises. Sometimes, like children, they would tug at the colorful feathers on Ji Rong's body.
Then, four large fireflies flew over quickly. They put one of the round wooden plates filled with "fresh leaves, fragrant fruits, fragrant flowers and tender meat" that they were holding on their feet into Ji Rong's arms, and put another one on Qing Guanzi's big head.
Two wooden platters were placed in front of Ji Rong. Holding the food, Ji Rong happily ate while looking at the platters.
These strange life forms that live at night,
Some of them are small in size, with delicate faces, hands and feet, and are like celestial beings. They have hooked ears and mouths and six wings on their backs.
Some were half a zhang tall, with dark red faces and pit-like eyes. They had wings but no scales or claws, and their fur shone with a faint glow.
Some walk like beasts at full speed, with eyes on their backs and tails like lamps.
Some resemble birds that fly in the sky, with shiny black bodies and bright red eyes.
...
Ji Rong felt as if she had entered a bizarre and wonderful world, and her two eyes were not enough to see it all.
Bathed in moonlight, the ordinary grass and trees on the ground stretched out their leaves and branches as if they were alive.
Ji Rong even saw a large white flower swaying its stem and chasing another smaller white flower among that cluster of huge white flowers. The large white flower pressed its face against the flower until it was covered with yellow pollen before returning to its original position, satisfied.
The little white flower that had been occupied looked as if it had been drained dry, its petals disheveled and withered, drooping there.
As Ji Rong passed by the little white flower, it opened its flower face towards the wooden plate and stretched out its leaves like a little beast begging Ji Rong for something.
Ji Rong placed a fruit pit she had just pecked onto the leaf, which was then rolled up by the little white flower and dropped to the ground with a "thud".
Then, the little white flower swayed its body, waving its leaves and pointing at Ji Rong along with the other white flowers.
Looking at this novel scene, Ji Rong happily lowered her head and called out to Qing Guanzi, "Senior brother, Yuanjun's place is truly unparalleled! Where should we send the wine? I can't wait to sit down at the banquet."
Ji Rong almost fell off his back when she looked down.
Suddenly, she found herself sitting on a giant, elongated beast covered in earth spikes. The beast had a yellow body and a dark red face, covered in slime. Its eyes and nose were nowhere to be seen. The strange beast was waving its long, dark red mouthparts and eating the food on its head.
Upon hearing Ji Rong's voice, Qing Guanzi used his mouthparts to suck up all the remaining food on the plate and swallowed it in one gulp.
Then, the mouthparts split into six pieces, revealing a set of fine, sharp teeth, and said, "Junior sister, we are already at the banquet."
"You, you, you..." Ji Rong leaned back in surprise, bumping into a cold stone wall. She turned her head and saw the five large jade jars still tied behind them. She exclaimed, "Are you Senior Brother Guan Shan?"
The slimy creature, devoid of eyes and scales but possessing only a mouthpart, immediately nodded and said, "Kiyohime, so you are such a coward."
Ji Rong opened her mouth wide in protest and exclaimed, "It's clearly you who's acting too strangely right now!"
Qing Guanzi, whose head resembled a slippery insect, burst out laughing and said, "Take a look at yourself first."
As he spoke, he exhaled a breath and slowly made a small circle in the air with his mouth. Soon, a thin piece of ice appeared in front of Ji Rong.
Ji Rong looked at the ice and saw that she now had half a fox face, half a bird face, two hands and two feet, wings with two claws, and a small tree on her head.
The tree roots on her head were exceptionally dense, hanging down like hair and enveloping Ji Rong's featherless body.
"Thump!" Ji Rong felt as if a secret buried deep in her heart had been exposed to the world. An old saying echoed in her mind: "Never let anyone else know." Her heart leaped violently.
She asked in alarm, "Senior brother, what's going on?"
Qing Guanzi raised his mouth high in the air and said in surprise, "Junior sister, your self-image is really strange, just like the guys from Puppet Valley."
As they were talking, a swarm of glowing fireflies with pouches came over. They took out all sorts of food and soon filled Qing Guanzi's bare plate.
Seeing that there were many glowing spirit insects inside, Ji Rong exclaimed, "Could I have some of these insects too?"
The firefly cultivator who had collected the spirit insects nodded lightly to Ji Rong, and then filled half a plate for her.
Qing Guanzi carried Ji Rong on his back and the food on his head for a while, then stopped and said, "Junior sister, we've arrived. Look at the words in front of the hall."
Ji Rong looked up and saw that under the huge crescent moon, rows of cold-colored palace buildings had appeared out of nowhere.
The palace was enveloped in what appeared to be a layer of water, which would occasionally ripple and reveal long, shimmering waves of light.
The plaque directly in front of the palace reads "Moon Shadow Palace," while the sides read: "Enveloped in radiant light, the shadow is reflected in the heart."
Qing Guanzi said, "Junior sister, isn't it fun that our thoughts can manifest in this moonlight?"
"You laugh so much, wait until later in the evening, when everyone has had some drinks, and you'll see everyone's faces; you'll laugh until your stomach hurts."
Qing Guanzi swaggered into the palace, passing through the main hall and arriving in the garden.
He addressed the group of serpentine beauties dancing under the crescent moon, their bodies radiating a warm glow, saying, "Yuanjun, Senior Brother Wanfa has ordered me and Qingjizi to deliver wine to you. Where should we put this wine?"
Upon hearing this, the group of snake people turned their heads in unison. They all had four pupils and long, pinkish-white tongues hanging down their faces. They all opened their mouths and shouted, "It's Guan Shan! Put the wine under the moon. Go behind the crescent moon and have some fun. Come back and drink with me in two hours."
The beauties' voices were uniform and cold, making Ji Rong's heart tremble.
Qing Guanzi exclaimed happily, "Great!"
Then Qing Guanzi stretched out his long mouthparts and waved them around on his back. There was a tongue-like strip of flesh in his mouthparts, which steadily rolled up the jade jars on his back and placed them under the giant crescent moon.
As soon as the wine jars were placed under the moonlight, the group of Yuanjun swam to the jars one by one, removed the talisman arrays on top to prevent the wine from leaking, and then they opened the five large jars together.
As the lid of the jar was opened, wisps of black smoke rose from the jar, making the crescent moon appear smooth and porous. Half of the Yuanjun (priests) danced even faster, as if they were drunk.
Half of them cheered as they entered the Moon Shadow Palace, and soon emerged carrying various small jars.
Some of them poured the paste into the pot, some stirred it, some tasted it, some worshipped the moon, and some continued to dance. It was a lively scene.
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