Most vendors were set up on the left side, while the right side was occupied by street performers. Though in truth, performers were few and far between, with merchants dominating the scene.
At the entrance of the street, stalls selling goods were most common, and only further in could one find food vendors.
Li Yingling now carried a small but exquisitely crafted lantern in her hand.
She still remembered how, as a child, she had envied others carrying lanterns and dreamed that one day, she too would have one.
Now grown up, Li Yingling finally had her own—more beautiful than anything she had imagined in her childhood dreams.
Holding up the lantern, she squinted with a smile and asked her master,
"How does it look? Pretty, right?"
Chu Xingchen had already finished his candied hawthorn skewer, leaving only the wooden stick dangling from his lips.
Hearing Li Yingling’s question, he turned his gaze toward her. The lantern’s glow cast a soft light on her face, making her fair skin seem almost luminous.
Li Yingling possessed the [Beauty] trait.
Even in her youthful appearance, she was undeniably lovely, and her current joyful expression only added to her charm, radiating warmth.
Chu Xingchen smiled sincerely. "Of course my eldest disciple is beautiful."
Li Yingling lifted her chin proudly.
"I already know I’m pretty! I was asking about the lantern."
Chu Xingchen shook his head with a hint of regret.
"Ah, the lantern… Well, compared to my eldest disciple, it falls a bit short."
Li Yingling turned away, her red dress swirling in an elegant arc as she strode forward with the lantern in hand.
"Master, you’re such a smooth-talker."
Cui Hao shot his master an admiring glance—truly, the master was a master for a reason!
Though this outing was meant to celebrate Li Yingling’s birthday, Chu Xingchen had instructed his disciples beforehand—everyone should enjoy themselves to the fullest.
So now, Chen Baiqing browsed through books at a nearby stall.
Lin Luoyu bought a hairpin for her mentor.
Cui Hao fiddled with a peculiar little trinket in his hands.
Ning Qianqian picked out new robes for her father.
Li Yingling, too, paused whenever something caught her eye.
Despite the bustling crowd, their group never strayed too far apart. Though they wandered freely, not a single one got lost.
It was as if an invisible thread of connection bound them together.
With Li Yingling still leading the way, they slowly made their way toward Zen Forest Temple.
After walking a while longer, the scent of steaming food filled the air, and rows of food stalls came into view.
Li Yingling glanced down the seemingly endless stretch of vendors and remarked,
"This festival feels even livelier than the Zen Forest Dharma Assembly from before."
Chen Baiqing tucked two newly purchased books into his spatial ring before looking up at his senior sister.
"Does Senior Sister not like it?"
"I love it," Li Yingling replied with a smile, gently pinching Chen Baiqing’s cheek.
As she turned her attention back to the stalls, her eyes landed on two familiar figures at a noodle stand.
One was tall, the other small—both dressed in matching white robes adorned with intricate patterns.
The smaller figure held chopsticks, completely unfazed by the steaming bowl of freshly cooked noodles in front of her.
Without hesitation, she scooped up a mouthful, not even bothering to blow on it before devouring it.
The stall owner watched in shock, about to intervene, only to see the girl’s face light up with pure delight.
The taller figure, meanwhile, wore a slightly exasperated expression and waved the owner off, signaling that everything was fine.
The little one was none other than Qinghe, while the other was Xie Lingyu.
Qinghe, still chewing, suddenly sensed someone’s gaze and turned to look.
Spotting Li Yingling, she immediately stood up, bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other, waving enthusiastically.
Xie Lingyu also glanced over, offering a gentle smile and a small wave.
Li Yingling was stunned…
Hadn’t Xie Lingyu and this little dragon just returned to Tianyan Sect?
"Master, look!" Li Yingling called out, only to find Chu Xingchen already standing beside her. "Isn’t that Xie Lingyu and Qinghe?"
"Seems our group is about to grow again," Chu Xingchen chuckled. "Shall we greet them?"
Li Yingling nodded with a smile.
Together, they approached Qinghe and Xie Lingyu.
"Baiqing…" Qinghe mumbled through a mouthful of noodles. "Long time no see."
Chen Baiqing simply nodded in acknowledgment.
Li Yingling couldn’t help but ask, "Qinghe, didn’t you and Xie Lingyu just return to Tianyan Sect?"
Qinghe swallowed her noodles and grinned triumphantly.
"Where there’s fun, there’s Qinghe! With so much good food here, of course I had to come!"
With that, she was about to leap at Chen Baiqing for a reunion hug—
But Xie Lingyu swiftly grabbed her by the collar.
"Shouldn’t you think before you act?"
Qinghe immediately froze, then nodded solemnly, even casting Xie Lingyu a grateful look.
Li Yingling found the whole exchange baffling.
Qinghe picked up her bowl again. "Wait for me! I’ll finish my noodles, then we can all go have fun together."
Li Yingling turned to Xie Lingyu. "Why didn’t you come to the sect first, Senior Aunt?"
Xie Lingyu smiled. "We arrived late, and Qinghe was hungry, so I brought her here for noodles first."
In no time at all, Qinghe inhaled the rest of her meal.
Satisfied, she turned to Xie Lingyu. "Pay up!"
But before Xie Lingyu could react, Chen Baiqing stepped forward, asked for the price, and settled the bill.
Qinghe’s eyes sparkled with emotion. "I knew Baiqing was the best!"
Without further questions, their group expanded by one person and one dragon.
Qinghe immediately latched onto Chen Baiqing, dragging him to every stall that caught her fancy.
Chen Baiqing, carrying plenty of silver, bought her anything she truly wanted without hesitation.
After all, the prices here were hardly steep—at least, not for him.
Delighted, Qinghe stuck to Chen Baiqing’s side like glue.
The group continued forward.
Soon, they passed fortune-tellers offering love divinations, as well as stalls selling paintings and calligraphy.
Cui Hao lingered here for quite some time.
The long street remained aglow with lanterns, and laughter never ceased.
What had once seemed an endless stretch of road now felt far too short in Li Yingling’s heart—Zen Forest Temple was already within sight.
A pang of reluctance struck her. She didn’t want to part with her companions or this joyous atmosphere.
But she stepped inside regardless.
The moment she entered the temple grounds, a familiar voice called out from a side gate.
"Senior Sister, it’s been a while."
Li Yingling turned in surprise.
There stood Li Xingtian, dressed in a black robe trimmed with gold, looking as though he had taken great care with his appearance.
Arms crossed, he leaned against the wall with a broad smile, as if he had been waiting for her all along.
For some reason…
Li Yingling found himself thinking that his second junior brother actually had quite a charming smile.
ave】 Shen Qingling was a man with peerless looks, a cunning mind, and the ability to play both the aloof noble and the innocent sweetheart—a master of seduction who could outplay any player. But after an untimely death, he found himself bound to a system and transmigrated into the tragic "true young master" of a melodramatic novel. In the original story, his childhood sweetheart treated him as a backup plan, his fiancée swore to break off their engagement for the sake of the "fake young master," and his own sister saw him as the family's disgrace. He was nothing more than a rat everyone wanted to stomp on. System 077: "Your mission is to change the original fate and conquer the goddesses." Shen Qingling: "Thanks for the invite. If seduction had tiers, I’d be max level." His childhood sweetheart knelt, begging for forgiveness: "Qingling, I was wrong. Please give me another chance." His ex-fiancée refused to marry anyone else: "Shen Qingling, I was blind before. In this life, I’ll marry no one but you." A yandere CEO went mad for love: "Shen Qingling, you can only like me. I’ll stop at nothing to make you mine!" His green-tea sister clung to him daily: "Brother, look at me, won’t you? I’m more obedient than them—I love you the most~" At first, they scorned and trampled on him. Later, they burned themselves like moths to a flame, all for his sake. His looks were his weapon, his sweet words the bait—heroines obsessed over him, villains turned to madness for him. Shen Qingling became a true male siren, igniting battlefield after battlefield of women fighting for his affection. Years later, when System 077—now one of the elites—was asked how to become as outstanding as it, it lazily exhaled a smoke ring and replied: "Just know how to cheer ‘666’ at the right time."
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
