Chapter 2579: Into the City

Ailian only felt light rushing toward her face, startling her; after touching her face, she felt nothing unusual.

Duan He Yun inwardly sighed, yet he coaxed her with a pleasant expression: "See, I told you it was fine, right?"

Ailian immediately brightened, jumping down from the ox cart: "Hurry, let's go into the city!"

She had only one thought: entering the city.

Duan He Yun kept his word, taking her hand and walking toward the city gate.

Their pace was much faster than the ox cart's.

After walking four or five zhang, a "Hey—" came from behind.

Ailian turned back, seeing the little girl on the ox cart cup her hands into a megaphone and shout at her:

"Remember to come to Strike Iron River; Big Dragon fireworks are saved for you!"

Ailian nodded frantically and waved at her.

Duan He Yun truly intended to enter the city, and Zhao Tongling could do nothing about it, given the person's status and position, and that he was carrying out a heavenly god's order; thus he summoned Xu Doutou to accompany them into the city while he himself waited outside with the troops.

The city gate lay ahead, with a steady stream of pedestrians entering.

Before Duan He Yun stepped inside, he habitually glanced at the symbol on the back of his hand.

This was the mark of Helo Heavenly God; once approaching another small world, the symbol would glow to warn.

Now the symbol remained calm and still, indicating the surroundings were still safe.

Then he led Ailian forward and stepped inside.

Seeing them enter the gate, the little girl asked the cart driver:

"Are they really going to Strike Iron River?"

"He said he would, so he will." The driver shrugged, "He's right beside Ailian, isn't he? I've already coaxed him. On the contrary, I have to move all the fireworks from the person's shop over here—now that's not easy!"

Xiao An lazily ignored his complaints: "Save me a few fireworks; I want to play too."

"Just leave the Big Dragon for Ailian." The driver flicked the reins, "Let's go!"

As Duan He Yun and the others had just passed through the city gate, a burst of fireworks suddenly exploded ahead.

These fireworks were supposed to burst in the sky, yet they detonated on the ground instead.

Fireworks are usually bundled together, rarely placed singly; thus when one explodes, the whole bundle goes off.

Everyone only felt a blinding flash before them, instinctively raising hands to shield their eyes and turning their heads.

Duan He Yun had just raised his hand when he instinctively sensed something wrong; he gripped Ailian's hand tightly, activating his protective gangqi and divine abilities.

With a few "ayes," nearby pedestrians were bounced away by him.

The most unfortunate one was directly shoved into the city wall, unconscious.

Behind them, Xu Doutou shouted loudly: "Protect Master Duan!"

Immediately, four or five guards rushed forward to block.

When Duan He Yun's vision recovered, he saw half a cart of fireworks had exploded, people around scrambling to dodge, but otherwise nothing unusual.

The city gate guards stepped forward and shouted angrily: "Whose fireworks are these? How dare you set them off here!"

"Mine, mine!" A merchant hurried forward with his attendants, "Sorry, sir soldier, we planned to take them to Strike Iron River, but on the road we bumped into someone's lantern!"

Many people were out tonight carrying lanterns; one careless spark falling onto the fireworks cart—no wonder it exploded!

The merchant quickly moved his cart away, and order at the city gate was soon restored.

Duan He Yun also secretly laughed at his own over-tension; after all, he was merely bringing Ailian into the city to stroll the temple fair, entering Baixia Bay's firmly controlled Bai Song City, equivalent to his own turf—just more people, what could happen?

This was merely a normal outdoor experiment, except the location shifted from the countryside to the city, and Ailian's performance was excellent—she neither erupted in ferocity nor feared strangers, but was full of curiosity, truly like a five- or six-year-old girl; the experiment could be said to be a great success.

Ailian, however, stared blankly at the bustling crowd before her and let out a long "Wow."

Oh, so many people!

She had never seen so many people!

The Spring Yuan Festival is a very important holiday in Bai Song City; citizens came out holding various small lanterns to parade the streets, chatting and laughing, eating and playing.

Two big-headed dolls walked on long bamboo poles, passing before Ailian, swinging candy as they went.

Many people followed them, playing.

Ailian reached out and caught a piece of candy, pointing at them and asking: "What is this?"

"Stilts."

"And this—" she pointed to a large tree by the roadside, its branches hanging with many red paper strips, faintly bearing characters; beneath the tree gathered many people, all looking up at the strips, faces deep in thought.

"What are they doing?"

"Guessing riddles." Hu Xin smiled beside her, "Miss Ailian, you usually read and write books—now you can put it to use."

"Really? I want to go!"

Duan He Yun then led her over: "Come, let's see how many you can guess."

In fact, Ailian proved quite sharp, guessing three or four in a row.

The host took down the riddle strips, stuffed the prize into her hand; Ailian beamed until her eyes narrowed, but seeing a cloth rabbit in the prize, she threw it out, where someone nearby picked it up.

If Hu Xin hadn't kept saying there were more fun things ahead and that fireworks could be set off, she could have stayed guessing riddles all night.

Afterward, Duan He Yun moved with the crowd, bringing Ailian along to eat and stroll.

After nightfall, the temple fair stalls at the city gate offered everything delicious and fun; Ailian's two hands and one mouth were nearly overwhelmed, finally realizing Hu Xin hadn't lied to her.

Fireworks often burst in the sky, drawing crowds to stop and watch.

"Straight ahead is Strike Iron River." Hu Xin chuckled, "The fireworks are all set off by that river."

Upon hearing this, Ailian recalled:

"Right, right, I still need to set off fireworks!"

Hu Xin pointed forward: "Then let's go through this bridge hole—saves climbing the bridge."

Ahead was a bridge, crowded with people, so packed it was almost impossible to walk. Fortunately, the water level in the Iron-Beating River was low now, and the outer arches of the bridge were dry, so everyone could simply crawl through to reach the other bank, where the fireworks were being set off.

Large fireworks are not firecrackers; you can't just hold them in your hand and light them.

They need to be fired into the sky with a homemade cannon to burst into a dazzling display. However, if such a cannon were used to fire regular shells, its power would be weak—at most it could dent a solid brick wall—so the authorities permit civilians to use them for fireworks.

That's why large fireworks are all set off here, far from other buildings.

Many people also walked toward the riverbank to join the fun.

Seeing one burst after another of fireworks shoot into the sky, A Lian could no longer wait: "Hurry, hurry!"

As the fireworks flashed, she also saw the father and daughter who had been driving outside the city earlier, standing by the riverbank, stuffing something into the cannon, then poking it a few times before lighting it.

With a "Boom!", the firework shot up and exploded into a rabbit shape.

Applause erupted all around.

That little girl turned her head just in time to see A Lian, and waved frantically at her, meaning "Come over, come over!"

A Lian couldn't care about anything else—she grabbed Segment Crane Cloud and ran toward the bridge's lower arch, pulling with surprising strength: "Over here, over here!"