Chapter 20

Liuyu had many memories of the Lantern Festival.

After the first year of the Bright Night Era, the four regions of South Land, East Extremes, Western Territories, and Central Plains would all spend large amounts of money to decorate with lanterns and hold lantern viewing events to showcase the might of the Divine Realm and boost the people’s spirits.

There was a saying among the people: “The South Land is the focus of the four regions, and within the South Land, the Immortal Capital is the most admired.”

As for the Immortal Capital’s most prosperous city, Yujing, the Colorless City, a known place of wealth and indulgence, was undoubtedly the most dazzling and captivating.

Every time the Lantern Festival arrived, the city would be filled with brilliant lights. The streets were illuminated with lanterns, and the night would be filled with the sound of performances and bustling crowds, with people flooding in from all directions. If you arrived too late, the Hongni Bridge would be so packed with people that you could barely move a step.

In Yujing, Liuyu would always go to Colorless City to enjoy the festivities.

As a child, she went with her parents.

As she grew older, she went with her classmates from Lingyong Academy.

After over a hundred years, crossing two lifetimes, Liuyu carefully recalled but could no longer remember the last time she happily went to see the lanterns.

Anyway, since she needed to clean up the aftermath in Taiping City today, she would stay another day before returning to the Nine Underworlds.

“You’re lucky,” she said, propping up her chin and meeting Mo Li’s half-lowered gaze. She smiled playfully at him.

“—Then today, let me show you how good I am at guessing riddles.”

The wheels of the carriage rolled on.

The seemingly low-key carriage headed towards the Yingshan family’s estate.

It wasn’t until the girl beside him had fallen asleep against the wall of the carriage that Mo Li finally relaxed his stiff fingers.

His gaze lingered on her profile for a moment before shifting to the window.

The wind rustled the curtains, and her long hair swept across his usually cold, gloomy face.

After a while, the corners of his lips subtly lifted.

—

As Liuyu had expected, the place most severely damaged in Taiping City was probably the Yingshan family’s estate.

“…There’s no need to rush rebuilding the estate. First, take care of the injured servants and staff, then count the gold and silver in the private vault. Distribute the compensation first, then have the butler call the local merchant guild. If any merchants suffered heavy losses, the guild and the Yingshan family should each contribute half to ensure they can attend tonight’s Lantern Festival—don’t let them miss out on this night’s earnings…”

Liuyu had settled in the nearest tavern outside the estate and gave these orders one by one.

With her third uncle’s false death, the position of the city lord in Taiping City was now vacant, and other families would surely try to seize it.

If the Yingshan family wanted to hide their wealth in the shadows, they would need an independent power to take control of Taiping City.

Liuyu already had a rough plan in mind.

However, for the plan to come to fruition, there were still some important pieces missing.

So, she raised her head and looked at Wu Zhi, who was standing ready.

“Taiping City has a diverse array of people. Are there any reliable artisans in our family’s trusted strongholds?”

Wu Zhi looked at Liuyu in surprise.

In the official world, there were family lineages; in the realm of genealogy, there were also official records.

In the Immortal Families of Dazhao, whether large or small, every family had a dedicated place to manage their family records, called the genealogy bureau.

But what Liuyu was asking about were genealogy artisans.

Genealogy artisans were people who forged fake family trees.

In an era where the noble families controlled the state’s power, everyone wanted to join the ranks of the immortal families.

However, to be called an immortal family, it wasn’t just about land or wealth; the key was whether your family name appeared in the immortal family records.

Usually, if a family produced a cultivator of the Eighth Realm, they could enter the immortal family records. After undergoing numerous complicated verifications, the family name would be sealed with the imperial jade seal of the Immortal Path Bureau in Central Plains, officially recognizing the family as a noble family.

But cultivators of the Eighth Realm were not easy to cultivate.

So, in order to attain the honor and prestige of being an immortal family but unable to train such high-level cultivators, the practice of forging family trees was born.

Although it couldn’t be recognized by the Immortal Path Bureau, it could still deceive people in smaller places. Many skilled artisans in this field had thriving secret businesses.

In a chaotic place like Taiping City, finding a genealogy artisan wouldn’t be difficult.

But…

The Yinshan family already has house retainers who specialize in compiling genealogies, so why bother coming to Taiping City to seek out those unremarkable genealogists?

Wu Zhi was puzzled. If the person here was Yinshan Qi, he would have asked directly.

But facing the 19-year-old young girl in front of him, for some reason, Wu Zhi didn’t have the impulse to ask boldly. He lowered his head and replied:

“There is one, in the Eastern Market. It’s the bookkeeper of a shop. Today is the Lantern Festival, and the shop is busy. They should be preparing for the night market now. If the young lady needs, I can bring them here…”

“No need. Since this is something that needs to be done in secret, it’s better for me to visit personally.”

Wu Zhi nodded.

The matter was delicate, so Liuyu did not involve others. After ensuring that the affairs of the residence and the business association were in order, he personally investigated and then returned to the inn, handing over the shop’s location and the name of the genealogist to Liuyu.

Just at that moment, a head with a purple butterfly bow peeked around the door.

“…What are you doing here?”

Hadn’t she gone back to the Nine Hells with the others?

The ghost girl smiled brightly, holding the door frame:

“Master called me back. He said after you’re done with your business, you’ll go see the lanterns, and asked me to prepare orchid bath water for you. I also bought a lot of dresses, and after you’re finished with your work, you can try them on—when will you be done?”

Wu Zhi glanced at the ghost girl.

Only when she stood at the door did he realize he hadn’t heard her footsteps. Had it not been for the young lady’s signal, he would have been prepared for a confrontation.

He hadn’t expected her to be a young girl, appearing to be only fifteen or sixteen.

However, what she said didn’t seem like something she was asking herself. It felt more like a message she was delivering for someone else.

Thinking back to the green-dressed demon ghost he had seen earlier on the carriage, Wu Zhi felt a faint sense of injustice.

It was this demon lord who had burned their Yinshan family’s Colorless City.

And he had taken their precious young lady from the Yinshan family, marrying her into the Nine Hells to suffer.

As a retainer of the Yinshan family, unable to protect their master’s house properly, it was truly frustrating.

Wu Zhi’s face turned cold:

“The young lady is busy. If what this girl says is just a small matter, please refrain from disturbing her for now…”

“That’s about right.”

Liuyu stood up, smiling as she took the piece of paper with the shop’s location and the genealogist’s name from Wu Zhi’s hand.

“From here on, please take care of the matter, Lord Wu Zhi.”

Wu Zhi: “Eh? Wait…”

By the time Liuyu had already walked out with quick steps, he realized what had happened.

—This is bad! Their young lady has already been manipulated by that vile demon ghost!

—-

Orchid Bath Water.

Soaking orchids in water for bathing.

Liuyu immersed herself in the hot water, a soft sigh escaping her lips.

In the past two days, from the Nine Hells to Taiping City, time was tight, and danger was everywhere. Liuyu had indeed not had a moment of rest.

Normally, she could enjoy whatever she liked, but priorities had to be considered. At such a critical time, Liuyu hadn’t realized that she had been traveling for two days straight, dealing with crises, and now that the danger had temporarily passed, it was time to properly bathe and freshen up.

“—The pink one looks good, and the purple one is nice too. Which one do you like, Your Highness? Can you try them all for me?”

The ghost girl behind the screen was eyeing the dresses brought into the room.

Some of them were prepared for her as well, though the number was far fewer than Liuyu’s, they were just as beautiful. The ghost girl was happily picking them out.

Liuyu, lying by the bathtub, rarely saw her so excited and laughed:

“The Lantern Festival happens every year, there’s nothing particularly special about it. The Lantern Festival in Colorless City used to be grander than this.”

“Really?” The ghost girl showed a look of longing, “How unfortunate, I’ve never seen it.”

Liuyu was momentarily stunned.

“How come?”

Though the barrier of Colorless City trapped the demon ghosts, at least inside Colorless City, their movements should have been free. Even if the demon ghosts had to work, they should have had shifts. How could she never have seen a Lantern Festival in Colorless City?

The ghost girl lowered the hand holding the dress, covering half her face.

“Your Highness doesn’t know, but on the Lantern Festival, there were many people. The deputy city lord was worried that some would cause trouble, so all the demon ghosts in the hunting field were kept under supervision, not allowed to move freely—there was one time when the Master sneaked out, and almost got beaten to death by the deputy city lord.”

The hunting field.

Liuyu remembered.

That was the place the wealthy and powerful people of Xiandu Yujing loved the most.

Watching demon ghosts battle, betting on the winners and losers.

The dice in the gambling houses were inanimate, but there was nothing more interesting than watching the live, moving demon ghosts in the hunting field.

The demon ghosts selected for the hunting field were all powerful and skilled ones, so being strictly guarded was normal.

Seeing Liuyu fall silent, the ghost girl put down the dress and squatted beside the bathtub, gazing at Liuyu’s eyes:

“In fact, I don’t hate the Yinshan family for building Colorless City. Your Highness need not worry.”

“If there had been no Colorless City, I would have been killed long ago by those immortal families chasing down demon ghosts. I was young then and couldn’t escape. Life in Colorless City wasn’t great, but at least I survived. My mother said, life is the most important thing. As long as you’re alive, there’s always a chance to change your fate.”

The young ghost girl smiled brightly.

“Just like today, I can go see the Lantern Festival!”

After bathing and changing into clean clothes, Liuyu couldn’t forget these words of the ghost girl.

Night fell, and torches lit the streets.

The streets of Taiping City were filled with countless lanterns, lighting up the night like daylight.

The Lantern Festival had begun.

Mountain Goblins and Mo Li were waiting for them outside the inn. Both of them had obviously refreshed themselves.

Mo Li, unusually, was not wearing his usual soft green robes but had changed into a dark outfit with red accents. The robe was pure black, with no adornments, highlighting his fair skin. Only the corners of his eyes and his thin lips held a hint of color, exuding an eerie, noble, and demonic aura.

The ghost girl trotted forward, chasing the mountain demon who sniffed around like a little dog.

“It smells so good! Mountain demon, weren’t you always complaining that these fragrant smells weren’t masculine enough? Why did you also get it infused with incense?”

The mountain demon was caught off guard by the ghost girl and turned red in the face.

“This isn’t incense—it’s the fragrance that comes with the new clothes!”

“You secretly infused it, huh? Heh, my nose is sharp, you can’t fool me.”

“…You’re really annoying, stop talking to me.”

He admitted that when he was shopping in the store, he had someone add fragrance to his robes as well—he didn’t want to mention that he had spent all of last night with those rough, uncouth fellows, Shen Tu and Yu Lei! What was this nonsense about masculinity? The incense gave him a headache, and he didn’t know how he had endured it before!

Liuyu came down the stairs, taking three steps at a time, and stopped in front of Mo Li.

She didn’t say thank you, nor did she remain silent.

Instead, she asked him calmly—

“Do you think it looks good?”

When she asked, her eyebrows slightly arched, and a faint smile curled at the corner of her lips.

Her black pupils, reflecting the brilliance of the lanterns, resembled shimmering lake water.

Such a dazzling brightness seemed to demand the best of everything in the world to match it.

Mo Li thought this to himself, but after a moment, he turned his gaze away and answered coldly.

“Hmm.”

Is that all?

Liuyu had heard countless flattering words in her life, especially about her beauty—though she wasn’t using her own face at the moment—yet she asked this question. Even a fool would know to say a few nice words of praise.

The crowd on the street was getting larger, and since it wasn’t convenient to stay, they began to move along with the flow of people.

The ghost girl liked everything she saw and bought a pile of things in the blink of an eye.

However, she didn’t want to hold everything herself, so she threw it all at the mountain demon, who cursed and grumbled behind her.

“…Do you want anything?”

Liuyu had been staring at a lantern stall when she heard him ask. Unable to resist teasing him, she pointed at a lotus lantern and said:

“I want that one.”

Mo Li was about to reach for his money.

“It’s not the lantern,” she smiled slightly, deliberately making it difficult, “It’s the fireworks that come after solving the riddle. I want to see that.”

Mo Li paused for a moment, lifting his gaze to glance at the riddle written on the lantern.

The ghost girl, enjoying the scene, leaned over to ask:

“Does the master know how to read?”

Mo Lin gave her a cold glance.

“No need to read.”

“Burn the spell on top, and it will naturally turn into fireworks.”

Liuyu looked at the faint ghost fire in his hand and imagined the sight of everyone’s lanterns turning into ghost flames. She pressed his hand down.

“No need to go through that trouble. I can read it, and I can guess all the riddles along the way. We can just solve them as we go.”

When she met the slightly respectful gaze of the three demon ghosts, Liuyu casually glanced at Mo Lin’s face and said slowly:

“But there’s a condition.”

She leaned close to Mo Li’s ear, blinking, and whispered in a tone only the two of them could hear:

“I want you to tell me in person whether I look good tonight.”