The three-day Crescent Moon Arrow Tournament kicked off on the first day, and the crowd was already impressed.
Scenes from Falling Star Plateau were broadcast through numerous water mirrors. In one mirror, the Young Master of Lingyu pulled out a yellow talisman, swiftly traced a rune in the air, and sent it flying. The talisman seemed to sniff out the Fei Mang's aura and began tracking it.
Just that one move drew applause and cheers from the watching crowd.
"As expected of a disciple taught by Master Ji! That's a tracking talisman, right? How soon will it find the spirit creature? Let's wait and see!"
The yellow talisman flew at a decent speed.
Jiang Zhiyu immediately took Song Yueyao's hand. "Yaoyao, follow me!"
Song Yueyao gave him a look as if he were an idiot. "Running? What did you bring that sword for—decoration?"
Jiang Zhiyu froze, suddenly remembering he had a sword on his back. "Oh, you're right, Yaoyao. No wonder my back felt a little heavy."
He quickly chanted a spell to activate the flying sword.
"...Right." Song Yueyao silently stepped onto the sword alongside him.
They flew after the talisman for a long time, but there was no sign of the Fei Mang. Rumor had it that Fei Mang loved ancient forests rich in spiritual energy and usually lingered nearby, yet they were flying toward a desert.
Song Yueyao finally couldn't hold back. "Is it too late to switch partners now?"
She'd rather team up with Zhu Yu—at least Zhu Yu had a brain.
The moment she said that, the sword hilt trembled, nearly throwing her off. She grabbed Jiang Zhiyu's collar just in time, choking him, and quickly let go.
He turned back with a hurt look. "Too late, Yaoyao. We've already agreed on a marriage alliance. If you send me back now, where do I put my face? Just stab me here." He poked his own neck.
Instead, a bump slowly rose on his head.
Song Yueyao calmly withdrew her hand. "I said 'switch partners,' not 'cancel the engagement.' Where did you get that from?"
Jiang Zhiyu rubbed his head. "Oh, that's what you meant."
"What's wrong with you lately? Been possessed? We're here to win the prize. That Xiaomi painting—it can't fall into anyone else's hands, and definitely not back to Ouyang Rui. Snap out of it!"
"Yes, ma'am!" he barked.
Ever since Song Yueyao agreed to the marriage alliance, his mind had been floating in a dizzy haze, like walking on cotton, terrified she might change her mind and make him fall flat.
That knock on the head straightened him out. Jiang Zhiyu recalibrated his spell, and this time the talisman finally guided them in the right direction.
After a tough search through the ancient woods, they finally spotted a faint, shimmering glow among the dense layers of branches and leaves.
It was getting dark, making nighttime hunting even more challenging.
They held their breath and crept closer from two separate directions.
Before entering, they had planned it out: Jiang Zhiyu would distract the spirit creature, and Song Yueyao would shoot the arrow.
After training hard recently, Song Yueyao's archery was good enough for ordinary prey, but facing something as tiny as a Fei Mang was still exceptionally difficult.
Just as she drew her bow and was about to release, the Fei Mang suddenly fluttered up.
They silently followed.
The Fei Mang, carrying a faint green glow, flew a short distance and landed on a woman in red.
Hongxiao's eyes lit up. "Quick! Husband, shoot it!" she shouted excitedly.
The man she called husband grimaced and shook his head. "No way, what if I hit you?"
"It's fine! I brought some of Sister Su Yun's immortal pills. One dose and I'll heal quickly. It's about to fly away—we'll miss our chance. Hurry!"
This Fei Mang was only temporarily lured by Hongxiao's charm, and the magic wouldn't last long.
"Still no! How could I let you get hurt? Even if I had ten thousand pills, I wouldn't shoot." Hongjiao tossed the bow aside and prepared to catch it with his bare hands. "This sneaky little spirit—hiding on your shoulder! Don't you move, Hongxiao, watch me!"
Hongjiao's strong demonic aura startled the Fei Mang the moment he got close.
In a panic, it instantly split into thousands of copies, dancing all around and filling the air like a shower of fallen stars.
Jiang Zhiyu stared at the dense swarm, almost in tears. "This is hopeless... The main body is the brightest one. How long will this take to find?"
"Why sound so defeated? We just need to search." Song Yueyao wasn't discouraged at all. In fact, it only sparked her fighting spirit. "The tournament lasts three days. I refuse to believe I can't find one measly Fei Mang in that time."
Hongjiao glanced at Song Yueyao and Jiang Zhiyu approaching nearby, then looked down at Hongxiao, his eyes full of regret. "I'm sorry, Hongxiao. I think I messed up."
"It's okay, husband." Hongxiao held his hand, squeezed it reassuringly, and pointed to the sky. "Look, doesn't it remind you of all the lights on the night of Xiaomi's wedding?"
"Yeah, I suppose it does." Hongjiao replied instinctively.
Then he froze, staring at her in shock. "You... how did you..."
How could she? How could she remember the night of Xiaomi's wedding?
Everyone knew Hongxiao had long forgotten her past. Even when Xiaomi came back, they introduced her as a new friend.
Hongxiao looked up, her eyes reflecting countless Fei Mang like a brilliant galaxy. "I remember everything now," she whispered.
"Thank you, husband. Thank you for following me all the way home that day."
Hongjiao felt his heart wrench.
He was afraid those painful memories would hurt her again.
He was even more afraid...
"What's there to thank?" he barely managed, his voice rough as sand.
"To thank you, I'll roast rabbits for you for a lifetime," Hongxiao said, staring at him with utter seriousness.
It felt like a firework exploding in his chest. "Just for me?"
"And Xiaomi."
He paused, then laughed. "Okay."
Xiaomi was fine. Xiaomi was no problem.
Heaven knows, when he heard "Xiaomi," he almost died—terrified the next word would be someone else.
Outside Falling Star Plateau.
Among Yan Xingxiao's escort team, a man stared at one of the water mirrors, lost in thought.
"Xiaoman? Xiaoman?"
After his companions nudged him several times, he finally responded in a daze. "Huh?"
"What are you crying about?" his teammate teased him.
Xiaoman wiped his face with his sleeve and realized, to his surprise, that he had been crying.
He couldn't explain why. Seeing that girl smile so brightly just now made him happy too. Yet beneath that joy, an inexplicable bitterness welled up, sour and aching, with nowhere to go.
Xiaoman wiped away her tears and said to her companions, "I'm heading back first. Xiangyun is still at the inn packing up."
"Sure, go ahead."
The escort brothers watched Xiaoman's retreating figure and somehow felt that her back looked like she was fleeing.
As they were staring, a sudden burst of surprised and excited cheers rang out. The escort brothers quickly turned to look.
Boss Zhu was leading a group of young women, shouting slogans with renewed fervor.
Among the countless fluttering fireflies soaring through the air, the brightest one was suddenly shot down.
The arrow's energy precisely struck it down among the leaves, yet without killing it.
The firefly seemed a bit disgruntled, hopping around angrily on the leaf a few times. But when a scorpion slowly crawled up to it, it instantly went still, not daring to move.
In the water mirror, two figures—one tall, one short—slowly appeared.
Both held a dazzling bow in their hands.
Judging by their posture, it was clear that the man had just been teaching the woman hand over hand as they shot that arrow together.
For them to identify the true form of the firefly in just a few moments showed extraordinary skill.
Some sharp-eyed citizens immediately recognized them: "Isn't that the winner from last time who took the jade hairpin and then destroyed it on the spot?"
"That's not all! Look at the bow in his hand—isn't that the Ice Bow and Mystic Arrows?!"
"Good heavens! That year, the Moonless Arrow Decisive Contest was disrupted, and no one ever found out who got the Ice Bow and Mystic Arrows. So the whole prize went straight to him!"
"With that in mind, the Young Master of Lingyu isn't all that impressive. Claimed to be a disciple trained at the Jingming Academy, yet he lost easily to a guest from the Miao frontier."
The White Cat held up both paws, struggling to maintain the water mirrors in the air, and quickly piped up to add, "His name is Wu Li, and he's my last disciple!"
The crowd finally understood: "Oh, so he's from the Jingming Academy too."
Close call—the reputation of the Jingming Academy was nearly ruined.
-
On the viewing platform in the square.
"Master?" The concubine looked in surprise at the grape that had been pushed back into her hand.
She had been feeding him just fine a moment ago, but this one was silently rejected by Ouyang Rui.
She couldn't tell if she was mistaken, or if the wine was too strong and he had drunk too much, but there seemed to be moisture at the corners of his eyes.
"Let's go. Heading back."
Ouyang Rui stumbled as he stood, and a servant hurried over to support him.
He climbed into the carriage but then lifted the curtain to take one last look at the water mirror from afar.
In the mirror, her smile was still as bright as a spring breeze. Friends gathered around her one after another, surrounding her as if being near her meant being near the warm sun.
But there was an irritating figure holding her hand firmly the entire time.
He had set up this prize just to take a gamble—to see if he could lure back the person he thought about day and night.
If only he could see her once.
That would be enough.
The carriage curtain fell, hidden in the wind along with the faint sound of a sighing breath.
-
"Xiaomi! I missed you so much! Didn't you say you were busy this time and wouldn't be coming back?"
Hongxiao hugged Xiaomi tightly, squeezing her so hard she could barely breathe.
Until a chilling cough sounded from nearby, making Hongxiao's back turn cold by reflex. She quickly released Xiaomi, whose face had already turned red.
Xiaomi was quite surprised. When she came back before, Hongxiao hadn't been this excited. This time, it felt like a genuine reunion after a long separation.
"I wanted to surprise you, so I was deliberately tricking you!" Xiaomi took Song Yueyao's hand with her left and Hongxiao's with her right, her eyes sparkling. "Sister Yao and Brother Yu are about to have their big wedding! I had to come back and help out, right? I even specially took an extended leave."
"Can you stay a little longer?" Jiang Zhiyu asked quickly. "After the ceremony in Liangya Prefecture, we're going back to Lingyu Prefecture for another one."
Hongjiao also looked at Xiaomi with hopeful eyes, then stole a glance at his master.
"That won't do."
A lazy, unaffected voice interrupted slowly.
"Our An'an will miss her parents."
That little girl was just as delicate as her mother. Her hair had to be combed by him; she complained her grandparents couldn't do it well.
Every time they went back to ancient times, he would carefully style Mimi's hair into a topknot. As for himself, he couldn't be bothered—since his hair was short in the modern world anyway, he simply used illusion magic to temporarily transform his long hair back.
Mimi seemed to particularly like him with long hair.
Every time she saw his hair loose, her eyes would light up first. Then she would start twirling his strands, stand on tiptoe, and kiss him again and again.
She would kiss him until his mind went blank, until his breath grew short.
She would kiss him until he almost melted.
And then she would press her sweet voice against his ear and say, "Lili, you're so beautiful."
......
That's exactly why they were late.
Hearing his master's answer, Hongjiao's eyes immediately dimmed.
Snake is sad.
But snake understands.
To be honest, he also really, really wanted to see the little master.
Wu Li glanced at him casually, then added unhurriedly, "Mimi and I have thought about it. When she grows a bit older, if there's a chance, we'll bring her here with us."
"Really?" Hongjiao's eyes lit up at once. "Then I'll transform into a dragon form and let her ride on my back. I'll take her flying everywhere, exploring all over!"
Hongxiao: "Then I'll roast rabbit for one more person!"
Song Yueyao: "Mimi loves gold. Would she? Let's cut a piece off the dragon throne for her!"
Jiang Zhiyu: "Bring her soon! She can pick any magic weapon I have!"
......
Outside Falling Star Plateau.
A group of old friends were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, wishing they could jump into the water mirror and just say something already!
Zhu Yu shouted at the top of his lungs: "I'll give shops! As many as she wants!"
Yan Xingxiao scratched his head, looking left and right, feeling more and more out of his depth: "Everyone's going that big? I can't seem to offer anything decent... How about a fine steed?"
The White Cat muttered to himself: "I've got nothing to do in the mortal world anyway. Taking on one more last disciple doesn't seem like a bad idea either."
......
At this very moment, far away in the modern world.
The little one, Wu Youning, was curled up on the sofa watching cartoons, when suddenly—
"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!"
Yao Xue flusteredly handed her tissues while Chai Mingde scrambled to wipe her mouth.
"Did you kick off the blanket last night?"
The little girl rubbed her nose, blinking innocently: "An'an didn't. An'an sleeps very well, duh."
Little did she know, in another world, her spot as "everyone's darling" had already been fully booked.
