Chapter 80: Bustling (On Sale Tomorrow)

At dusk, just as you hour arrived, Mo Hua reached the big tree on West Street.

Bai Zisheng hadn't arrived yet, so bored, Mo Hua picked up a stick and drew formation patterns on the ground.

The formation Mo Hua practiced was still the Earth-Fire Formation, because attack formations differed in structure, requiring more time to study and aiming to improve proficiency.

Just as Mo Hua thought Bai Zisheng wouldn't come, he looked up and saw Xue Yi leading Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi toward him.

Mo Hua waved and bowed politely: "Xue Yi, long time no see!"

"Long time no see!"

Xue Yi's pale white hand unconsciously stroked Mo Hua's head; Mo Hua was reluctant but didn't refuse.

"Zisheng and Zi Xi have worked hard in their cultivation—today is also a festival, so let them relax. I'm counting on you to show us around," Xue Yi said gently.

"No trouble at all," Mo Hua shook his head, then waved his small hand, "Follow me—today is the last day of the Demon Hunting Festival, it's incredibly lively!"

Bai Zisheng let out a soft exclamation, then ran up to Mo Hua, glancing curiously left and right, asking about every new thing he saw.

The cultivation world was vast and boundless, with enormous regional differences in customs and products; coupled with strict family control, many things were completely new to Bai Zisheng.

Bai Zi Xi walked quietly beside Xue Yi, wearing a small version of her hat—the same style but much smaller—white gauze veiling her peerlessly beautiful face, revealing only a slender, delicate, pale white chin. She rarely spoke, but listened intently to every word of Bai Zisheng and Mo Hua's chatter.

The streets glowed with lantern light—not luxurious, but buzzing with the warmth of mortal life.

On both sides of the street, stalls lined up: pills, spirit weapons, jewelry, snacks, formations, trinkets, toys, medicinal herbs, spirit ink, demon beast pelts, bones, and core stones—all manner of goods, abundant and dazzling.

Crowds flowed slowly along the stalls, their lantern shadows flickering, stretching endlessly into the unseen distance.

Even Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi were momentarily stunned—so too was Xue Yi.

Born into a noble family, she had seen far grander Xianchengs, but never such a bustling, noisy street and marketplace. It felt as if these cultivators were truly, vividly alive.

Along this thronging crowd, even immortals untouched by mortal life could feel the joy of the mundane world.

Bai Zisheng wandered the whole way, buying many things: fire-spitting oxen, blinking monkeys, dogs that raised their tails—all wooden toys, painted and colored, lifelike, with crude formations carved inside; a little spirit energy injected made them move on their own.

He also bought a dazzling, grand sword, carved with dragons and phoenixes, shimmering in seven-colored light—useless beyond its flashy appearance, not even qualifying as a spirit weapon—but Bai Zisheng adored it.

Mo Hua's arms were full of things too—all bought by Bai Zisheng, who made Mo Hua carry them, saying Mo Hua could pick any he liked later.

Bai Zi Xi received a tiny white rabbit, no bigger than a fingernail; when placed in her palm, it scampered with tiny legs—tap-tap-tap-tap—bought by Mo Hua and given to her.

At the stall, she had stared fixedly at the white rabbit without saying a word; feeling he'd taken advantage of Bai Zisheng's generosity, Mo Hua spent one spirit stone to buy it and give it to Bai Zi Xi.

Bai Zi Xi simply thanked him, her feelings unreadable, but whenever she had a moment, she'd open her snow-white palm and watch the rabbit scamper tap-tap-tap across it.

Besides shopping, Bai Zisheng loved watching performances.

One kind was shadow puppetry: a large screen displayed leather puppets—men, women, old, young, ghosts, demons, demon beasts—cultivators manipulated them with spirit energy, while others recited lines, enacting stories.

The stories featured humans and demons, usually a male cultivator rescuing a beautiful female cultivator in the wild, falling in love, swearing eternal vows, and eloping.

The man defied his sect and masters, fleeing with the woman to a remote place, where she shed her clothes, transformed into a demon beast, and devoured him.

Mo Hua loved this story—he found it deeply cautionary and never tired of watching it.

But Bai Zisheng didn't like it; he preferred the simple, lively beast-fighting shows.

The beast-fighting shows depicted demon hunters slaying demons: a large stage, several cultivators playing demon hunters—though they didn't need to act, since they were real ones—and others hidden inside puppets made of demon beast bones and pelts, playing the demons. The demons spat fire, the hunters cast spells, and the battle raged noisily and enthusiastically.

Mo Hua thought it was fake; Seeing Mo Shan, a demon hunter, had told him that real demon hunts were tense and dangerous—even against weak demons, carelessness could mean injury or death.

But this was just entertainment, meant for fun—no one took it seriously—except Bai Zisheng.

He dreamed of climbing mountains to fight demons one-on-one, though Xue Yi would never allow it.

As they wandered, they ran into Zhang Lan.

Zhang Lan walked with a group of elderly cultivators, mostly bald, yet clearly high-ranking—likely senior Dao Ting Si officials and clan heads or elders from several families of Xiancheng.

The group moved in grand procession: Dao Ting Si cultivators in their robes cleared the way ahead, while a crowd of young cultivators followed respectfully behind.

These young cultivators, allowed to accompany the elders on their stroll, were clearly favored by their clans; Mo Hua recognized a few—they were direct heirs of the Qian and An families, top-ranked students at Tongxian Gate.

Zhang Lan stood out awkwardly among the white-haired elders, his face plastered with a stiff, forced smile as he politely endured their chatter.

Mo Hua saw Zhang Lan, but Zhang Lan was busy with his duties and likely didn't notice him.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Lan suddenly said something to the oldest, whitest, and baldest elder, bowed, then slipped away quietly; when Mo Hua turned back, Zhang Lan stood just ahead, waving at him.

"Aren't you supposed to be accompanying them? Those are major figures in the city…" Mo Hua couldn't help asking.

"Don't mention it—I took leave to sneak out and stroll, but halfway, the Zhou Zhangsi caught me red-handed and forced me to accompany these clan heads and elders for half a day."

"Oh, I thought you were slacking off, but I didn't expect you to handle those elders so convincingly—even if it was fake," Mo Hua regarded Zhang Lan with new respect.

Zhang Lan casually ruffled Mo Hua's hair. "What do you know, kid? It's just acting. I'm lazy, not stupid."

Mo Hua was disgusted.

"Oh, I've got things to do. Go enjoy yourself," Mo Hua dismissed him.

Zhang Lan chuckled, "What could you possibly have to do?" Then he turned and noticed the small but strikingly beautiful Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi beside Mo Hua, and behind them, Xue Yi—her face hidden, yet radiating an exceptional aura.