Chapter 49: The Mortal Metaverse
The Shangyuan Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month of the world is a very important festival in folk customs. Also known as the Little New Year and the Festival of Lights. The colorful lucky city of Tiannan, in the atmosphere that has not yet dispersed the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival, ushered in the joyful and lively Shangyuan Festival. As the saying goes, less than fifteen is a year, and it's really true.
It is the first full moon night of the new year and has been highly valued since ancient times. On this night, people will gather together as a family to admire the moon, eat Lantern Festival, guess lantern riddles, and dance dragon and lion... Celebrate the reunion of the family, and pray for happiness and happiness in the sky. Even young girls who can't go out easily can enjoy the lanterns together on this extraordinary Shangyuan Festival night, and some scheming lovers will take the opportunity to secretly date.
There is a poem that says: "The willow tops on the moon, people are about after dusk."
On New Year's Eve this year, the moon and lights are still the same. β
As the saying goes, time stretches, the years are deep, and the beauties come to see when they hear the lights. The streets are full of words, the deep alleys are fragrant, and the house is full of wine and drunken songs. Tonight in Colorful Lucky City, we are in such a warm and peaceful life picture.
You can see the lantern festival sellers, large and small lanterns, and prayer lanterns on the street; the juggling and dancing knives and sticks in the crowd are exchanged for bursts of cheers; lantern riddles are hung under the red lanterns; the dragon and lion dancers step on the drums and swagger through the market; adults and children buy this and that, crowding everywhere to watch the excitement; sometimes, you will hear the sound of firecrackers, see the fireworks in full bloom, and the sound of children running and laughingγγγγγγ
At this time, on the colorful street of the lively Colorful Lucky City, two teenagers walked from west to east. One was dark-haired and white-skinned, with beautiful eyes, with a bun on the top of his head, a small pale blue hair crown curled, wearing a pale blue brocade robe, a trimmed belt of the same color, and a gold-and-white sachet hanging from his right waist. As soon as I saw this dress, I knew that he must be the son of a big family. The other boy was a little taller, but he was dressed in short clothes, he wore a set of crimson trousers, the most common of children in the city, his slender eyes blinking slyly, and a slightly oversized mouth, as if he kept talking this and that with his fellow sons. Although this young man's appearance is not very beautiful, there is no lack of goodness and honesty.
This is the peony Yong and Ula who went down to the mortal world from the flower fairy world to find treasures. They had been wandering around this lucky city for several days, and although they had not found any clues about the whereabouts of the treasure artifact, it was good to be able to catch the Shangyuan Festival of the mortals of the Nether Realm. For Peony Yong and Ula Quaqua, this lively festival is really rare and fun. In particular, they are free and uninhibited. Ha ha.
After entering Lucky City that day and fighting a gang of thugs, they changed their outfits out of caution and stayed in an inn called "Kelai'an" in the west of the city. The corner of the inn is a little remote, and the storefront is not very large, but it is the ideal place for them to stay.
They rented a small suite, with Peony staying in the inner bedroom and Ula living in the outer room, so that they could live together to discuss things.
Originally, according to Peony Yong's thoughts, it was estimated that the treasure 'Lotus Divine Pearl' was a strange treasure for curing diseases and saving people, and it must have lived in the hands of a doctor; the 'Soul Stone' had the magic power to suppress evil and promote good, and it must have fallen into the hands of the eunuchs to play a role; and the 'Ruyi Rope' he still couldn't think about it thoroughly, but with the judgment of the first two treasures, it was enough for them to investigate and investigate for a while.
Therefore, in the past two days, they focused on going to the entrance of the yamen, the gates, and various medical centers and pharmacies to observe and listen to the news. However, it seems that this is not a blind approach, but it does not seem to have the slightest effect. Every day, the two of them acted separately, and finally returned to the inn with a tired and helpless look.
Today, seeing that the city was filled with a lively atmosphere of the festival, Peony Yong and Ula Quaqua both returned to the inn early. They were all a little discouraged, and the two of them sat sullenly for a while, and Ula lazily lay on the bed and sighed and said, "Oh God, if you find the law like this, you can find it in what year and month and then you can go home!"
Peony Yong also said at a loss: "I don't know either." It is said that if a fool hides something, it will be difficult for ten smart people to find it. What's more, this vast land is barren and the sea of people is vast... He didn't know when it would be a head to go to the haystack to find a needle.
Ulla groaned in his stomach, because there was no progress in the matter, he was not in the mood to think about food, and he was not even in the mood to play. At this time, his stomach protested, and he sat up and said to Peony Yong: "Today is the Shangyuan Festival of mortals, and the street is lively." Let's also go out for a walk and grab a bite to eat by the way, hungry. β
"Good. Let's go to the best restaurant on Colorful Street to eat today. Peony Yong said a little negatively.
"Okay. Ula quacked and sounded excited. In the past two days, they were originally in line with the idea of causing less trouble, and they went out to do things in simple clothes and vegetarians, which was very low-key. Today, I caught up with the mortal human beings for the festival, and I didn't want to restrain myself anymore, and I wanted to have fun and enjoy it to live up to this trip.
The two of them walked out of the inn while talking, and when they first came out, the sky was still bright, and they were already on the colorful street when they first put on the lights.
They walked and played on the street, and sometimes they ran to this shop to have a look, and then they ran to the stall over there to see the excitement. The two of them were attracted by the lantern seller, Peony Yong picked a little rabbit's lantern, which reminded him of the little sister's evening makeup and the little rabbit's 'night heart';
They ran to the stone bridge full of lanterns and watched the fireworks set off for a long time. Standing on the high stone bridge, Peony Yong looked at the bright moon in the night sky, and in a trance he seemed to see the loving face of his mother looking at him, and he began to feel homesick.
I don't know how worried he will be when he is demoted to the mortal world by Grandpa Wang, and Grandmother Wang, who has always loved him, must also miss herself. In this festival of lights and family reunions in the world, every family is happy, but only himself and Ula are a homeless child, so pitiful.
Ula ran away suddenly, and Peony Yong followed him and stepped off the bridge. After a while, Ula Quack held two lotus-shaped prayer lanterns in his arms, squeezed through the crowd and came to Peony Yong. He said, "Childe, come here." Let's put out a lantern and pray for blessings. β
Peony Yong couldn't help but smile and said, "Do you really believe this? Everyone is praying for the blessing of the gods, so what else do we ask for?"
Ulla grinned and said, "We ask for a baby." β
The two of them came to the bank of the river, where there were more people, and the inner and outer three floors were full of people praying for blessings and putting lights. The two of them finally managed to squeeze in, put the lotus lanterns into the water, and watched them float slowly along the river. Ulla clasped her palms together and prayed, "God forbid, let's find the treasure quickly!" This made the people around him laugh.
Peony Yong smiled, and also folded his hands and said silently: "I hope that Aunt Ziyin'er can go home as soon as possible." This is the most important thing in his heart, and when Grandpa Wang's three treasures will be found is still second.
Because he knew that these three treasures must be the ones they would find after all the hardships they had endured. So, adjust your mood and be prepared to endure hardship.
After putting off the lotus lantern, they walked onto the street and continued in the direction of Dongcheng. After a while, they saw the guise of the wine shop in front of them, and the six big characters of "Colorful Lucky Restaurant" flashed on the lantern, and they quickened their pace and walked over. They had been walking and playing for most of the day, and they had already felt and thirsty.
This "Colorful Lucky Restaurant" is divided into two floors. At this moment, it is dinner time in the evening, and it is a festival, and there are all kinds of people eating, storytelling, and string playing in the restaurant; there are many people upstairs and downstairs, and there are many diners, almost full.
The shopkeeper saw the two little brothers come in, and they also greeted the guests very attentively and greeted the guests to come in, but secretly looked at Ula Quack with his eyes, maybe he felt a little relieved when he saw Peony's handsome and generous demeanor. He enthusiastically introduced: "Two little guest officers, there are seats upstairs, can you please upstairs?"
Seeing that Peony Yong nodded and shouted loudly: "The two sons are upstairs, please ββ!."
Peony Yong and Ula went up to the second floor, picked up a table facing the street and sat down. The cousin upstairs then walked over with a handkerchief and asked, "Two guest officers, what do you want to eat and drink?"
Before taking his seat, Peony Yong carefully checked what the guests at the other tables were eating and drinking, so he said in a big way: "A bowl of Dongpo meat, a plate of almond tofu, a plate of honey and peanuts, a plate of scrambled eggs, a pot of Shifeng Longjing, two bowls of rice, and a share of rice balls." β
While reporting the name of the dish and the name of the meal, the guy who ran the hall quickly wiped the table and placed the dishes and chopsticks, and then ran downstairs to serve the food with a cigarette.
Seeing that the cousin was sent away smoothly, Ula couldn't help but give a thumbs up. For them, it is a great thing to be able to familiarize themselves with and integrate into the human life of the mortal world as soon as possible.
Taking advantage of the free time for the meal, they lay on the window on the second floor, watching the flow of people coming and going on the street, and enjoying the lively and prosperous scene of the Shangyuan Festival. At this time, there was a sudden commotion on the street, and a group of thugs broke up the flow of people on the street, fleeing from east to west, as if someone was chasing after them.
Ula pointed at one of the little girls and shouted, "Childe, look, that little girl who stole chickens! His fingers moved with the fleeing figure, for fear that Peony Yong would not be able to see it.
Peony Yong saw it, it was really that little girl. She ran frantically among the thugs, looking back. It seems that his kindness was indeed used in the wrong place that day. The use of a person's kindness is a very uncomfortable feeling, and Peony pursed her lips and let out a long sullen breath. It seems that the behavior of human beings in this mortal world, whether good or bad, really can't just look at the surface, let alone hearsay, it's so complicated.