Chapter 291: Lingering in Xiangcheng on the Qiqiao Festival

After resting for a few days, the group had somewhat recovered, but Zhao Wuyang still had not woken up, only sleeping in a muddled state, occasionally blurting out a few delirious words.

Lingxiang highly suspected that the Eternal Firmament was playing tricks, yet she was helpless; she could not enter his dream again, as entering another person's Qi Pool and consciousness was an extremely dangerous matter.

But now that four or five days had already passed, it was not good to delay any longer, and although True Person Chiyanzi's body had improved, he would ultimately receive proper care only after returning to Yuanqing, so True Person Chengxin finally decided to set off immediately.

But things went contrary to expectations; just as they were passing through Linxiang, Lingxiang refused to leave, saying she wanted to see an old acquaintance, and no matter what True Person Chengxin said, she simply would not listen.

At such a young age, what old acquaintances could she have? Even if she did, this was a time of many troubles, and the matter of the Demon Race was already enough to make him worry; could this little junior sister not spare him some concern?

Linxiang was a small town belonging to Xiangcheng; although small, it was extremely wealthy and prosperous, and the rich merchants and guests coming and going all stayed there.

Fortunately, the journey was more than half over, and since persuasion was useless, in desperation, True Person Chengxin had no choice but to instruct Xin Yi and Hanyang to take Zhao Wuyang and Chiyanzi back to the sect first, while he himself would accompany Liu Xia and Long Qi to protect Lingxiang.

Banxia had also originally wanted to return to the sect first; she felt deeply displeased with Liu Xia's recent actions, and for some reason, she seemed not to be the same toward Liu Xia as she had been in the past, always having some strange emotions in her heart that were difficult to express.

But things went contrary to expectations; Liu Xia said that with Hanyang and Xin Yi, a group of four men, it would be somewhat inconvenient, so it would be better to let Banxia stay and keep Lingxiang company; women were always more attentive than men like them, and she could also serve her closely, killing two birds with one stone.

True Person Chengxin pondered for a moment, felt that these words were very reasonable, and agreed to it, which infuriated Banxia, and she did not pay him any mind for many days.

What "look after Junior Aunt Lingxiang"? It would be good enough if she didn't need Lingxiang to look after her! This fellow Liu Xia was truly annoying!

Saying she wanted to meet an old acquaintance, Lingxiang never actually made a move, only staying peacefully in the inn, and never said a word more until the group of Xin Yi left.

How could she see an old acquaintance if she didn't move at all?

This morning, as soon as Banxia got up, she did not see Lingxiang's figure, and after searching for a long time, she finally found her in the backyard. But what was strange was that Lingxiang was actually squatting under the shrubs in the courtyard, guarding a wooden basin.

Banxia walked over to look; there was nothing in the wooden basin except water, yet Lingxiang seemed to be very interested.

"What are you doing?"

"Collecting Rootless Water."

Rootless Water? What is that for?

Before Banxia entered the Dao, she had indeed heard that some prescriptions written by doctors would include Rootless Water, but Lingxiang had told her that so-called Rootless Water was not as effective as mountain spring water; since that was the case, what was the meaning of Lingxiang's action?

Thinking this, she asked it out loud, and Lingxiang smiled and said, "Today's Rootless Water is different from other days; don't you know? Today is the Qiqiao Festival."

"So what if it's the Qiqiao Festival? How is it different?"

She remembered that when she was young, she had heard from the elders that the dew on the day of the Qiqiao Festival was the tears shed by the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl when they met in the sky, but in Banxia's view, it was just a story from a book; it was fine to listen to it for fun, but she had never taken it seriously.

"Whether it's the tears of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, it's hard to say for sure, but legend has it that washing one's face with today's Rootless Water can clear the eyes and help one find a lifelong companion among the vast masses of people."

As Lingxiang spoke, she scooped up some water from the basin; the crescent moon reflected in it was shattered by the ripples, but after a moment, it merged back together, only swaying endlessly with the remaining waves in the water.

Banxia felt that these were just folk customs, and she had never taken them seriously; getting up early for this was truly not worth it, but...

"To have so much Rootless Water, it seems the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl cried quite a bit today!" Banxia exclaimed.

Hearing these words, Lingxiang laughed, "Silly girl, this is well water; I am only collecting dew here to suit the occasion, it's not a rainy day, how could there really be so much Rootless Water."

On this day of Qiqiao, Linxiang was truly lively. Men and women on the street, whether in pairs or with their families, were all enjoying the joy of the festival. Vendors were shouting energetically, selling exquisite jewelry, prayer lanterns for the river, or the tiger-shaped charms needed for today; none were missing, all were things to suit the occasion today.

This was a day for making a lot of money, so how could they not be energetic?

Normally, given Lingxiang's temperament, she would have come out to play on this day, as she was very fond of these little trinkets. But for some reason, although she had come out, she did not crowd around the small stalls on both sides, only wandering aimlessly on the street by herself; no matter how Long Qi teased her, she only took a glance.

"Something is not right..." Long Qi leaned over to Liu Xia's side and said.

"What is not right?" Liu Xia's attention was all on Banxia, and being suddenly spoken to like this by Long Qi, he secretly thought it was bad.

Could it be that Long Qi had seen through him? That shouldn't be possible...

If it were a clever girl like Lingxiang, it would be normal for her to see it, but Long Qi...

This little girl Banxia also didn't seem to be enlightened, so Liu Xia had not yet made his feelings public, only thinking that there would be plenty of time in the future, and she would eventually understand. If he were exposed now, what if the girl was thin-skinned and got angry at him; wouldn't that be a loss that outweighed the gain?

Just as Liu Xia was thinking about what excuse to use to brush it off, he heard Long Qi continue, "Lingxiang actually didn't buy any little trinkets, and didn't even take a look at them, just walking on the street like this; it's too unlike her."

Hearing this, Liu Xia finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Perhaps she is not interested; I have heard that Miss Lingxiang prefers reading books."

Books?

Long Qi took a breath; he suddenly remembered the rare edition Lingxiang hid in the Xianyun Abode and treated as a treasure, and he suddenly became anxious, hurriedly leaving Liu Xia to run forward, buying small items even more energetically to tease Lingxiang.

Just kidding, how could he watch her go astray!

But Lingxiang did not pay much attention; even if a trinket was interesting, she only took a look and said it was interesting, then brushed it off.

Could it be that this little girl was really looking for some rare book? Not to mention whether there were any for sale on Qiqiao, even if there were, no one would dare to sell them in broad daylight, right? Furthermore, even if someone sold them, she couldn't buy them!

Just like that, Long Qi tried to tease Lingxiang while keeping his spirits up, checking for anything amiss in the surroundings to prevent Lingxiang from doing anything out of the ordinary on a whim.

This little girl is really hard to figure out.

True Person Chengxin followed along the whole way, but did not say much, only looking at the appearance of the four, sighing in his heart: youth.

After wandering for a day, there was no sign that Lingxiang intended to return, and not until the sky turned dark did she turn back and say, "The time has come."

Time? What time?

Just at this moment, a firework shot straight into the clouds and exploded in mid-air, incomparably brilliant; in an instant, the entire Linxiang lit up.

"Liuyunxuan..."

Long Qi couldn't help but gasp; Lingxiang had actually brought them to this place of fireworks and willow fragrance, it was truly...

Impossible to guard against!