Chapter 93: The Prisoner Ox Lies Listening to the Wind-Blowing Rain

At the Guyang River lantern festival, it was not at all like the jostling crowds when lighting the lamps at Half-Mountain Temple; the officials seemed to have deliberately spread the lanterns very far apart, and such an arrangement actually possessed a unique charm.

Lingxiang looked left and right, picking out some lanterns that appeared relatively ornate to pull the lantern slips, but she had not expected that while she could solve the riddles, the lantern prizes were merely ordinary objects—either rouge and powder, or ink, brushes, paper, and paintings; it was truly quite boring.

What she wanted was cold, hard silver; even if there were no silver, bright copper coins would suffice—why must they offer these vulgar things?

Long Qi followed along the way, shielding the lotus lantern behind his back to prevent Lingxiang from seeing it, and he also had to guard against passersby bumping into her, though this was a bit of overthinking on his part—Lingxiang's mind was entirely on solving the lantern riddles and she had no leisure to pay him any heed.

Just then, Lingxiang pulled down another lantern slip, on which was written: "Round when drawing, square when writing, short in winter, long in summer."

Such a simple lantern riddle—was it meant to fool a child? Lingxiang curled her lips, then wrote the answer on the back of the slip.

The lantern keeper took it, checked the slip, and shouted aloud: "The Luanfeng Lantern riddle is solved! The prize is five coins!"

Five coins! Lingxiang had not expected that such a simple riddle could have a prize of five silver coins. Taking the broken silver handed over by the lantern keeper, Lingxiang felt a surge of excitement in her heart—it was not in vain that she had spent the whole evening solving riddles; she had finally seen money!

Just at this moment, a gong suddenly sounded in the West Pavilion by the Guyang River, and the crowd hurried toward the pavilion; it seemed they were about to announce the lantern riddle with the biggest prize of the night.

Where there is a heavy prize, there will inevitably be a large crowd, and in a short while, there were three layers of people inside and outside the pavilion. This time, the lantern riddle was for a Wolong Lantern; the lantern was crafted quite lifelike, yet no lantern slip was to be seen.

Just as the crowd was puzzled, they saw the person beating the gong take two scrolls from his bosom and hang one of them up, which was still covered by a piece of silk cloth.

"Everyone, listen to me. The riddle for this Wolong Lantern is a couplet. The first line is a riddle written personally by the City Lord. If you wish to win the grand prize, you must write the second line on this other silk scroll. Not only must the riddle match, but the answer must also correspond." As he spoke, he spread the empty gold-threaded silk hanging scroll onto a small table.

Such a lantern riddle was rare. The crowd was just waiting for the lantern keeper to reveal the riddle, when they heard the gong-beater say again: "The prize this time is a 'Wind-Blowing Rain' zither. This zither is actually a dowry item of the City Lord's wife, and today it is specially brought out as a prize." As he spoke, he lifted the silk cloth behind him.

The riddle had not yet been revealed, but the prize was shown to the crowd first; it seemed the City Lord was quite confident about this riddle. However, the crowd's thoughts were not on this; they were all attracted by the zither on the stage.

That ancient zither was in the style of a Fuxi zither; the brown face of the zither revealed a red hue through the deer-horn frost ash, and it had ox-hair cracks on it—at a glance, it was clearly no ordinary object. Yet what was even more unusual was that a Snake was carved at the head of the zither, lying prone with eyes closed in quiet listening, vivid and lifelike.

Even if a layman saw this zither, and even if they did not use it for playing, if they sold it to someone who understood music, they would certainly obtain a considerable fortune.

And Lingxiang's gaze was also captured by this zither, not because of its value, but because there were wisps of Spirit Qi lingering about the zither.

This is an Ancient Dharma Artifact!

Only an Ancient Dharma Artifact can store spirit!

Just as the crowd was intoxicated by the marvelousness of the zither, the gong-beater covered it back up with the silk cloth and then said: "Everyone has already seen the prize, so listen as I finish stating the rules. This pair of riddles can only be attempted once. No matter who it is, once the brush touches the paper, there is no turning back. If you get it right, the zither is yours; if you do not, then this zither must be invited back to the City Lord Mansion. I hope those who come on stage to answer the riddle will think carefully, do not lose your own Dao, and do not cut off another's opportunity."

After the gong-beater finished speaking, the lantern keeper removed the cloth from the hanging scroll, and it was written: "White Snake crosses the river, a red sun atop its head."

Once the riddle was revealed, everyone under the stage was deep in thought, yet none could find the way.

Just at this time, the gong-beater spoke again: "This riddle will hang in the pavilion until the third watch. You gentlemen and masters may think about it slowly, or go elsewhere to clear your thoughts; perhaps you will guess it later. Now, as we are about to enter the hour, the prayer ceremony at the South Pavilion is about to begin. You might as well go there to take a look, release a water lantern, and make a wish, so as to obtain the blessing of the Heavenly Official and have smooth sailing in the coming year."

Although most people left as suggested, there were still a few people under the stage racking their brains, as if staying closer to the prize would help them figure something out.

Although Lingxiang had taken a fancy to that ancient zither, she was also completely baffled by this lantern riddle. Although she had read all the books in the Langhuan Pavilion since she was young, her mind had mostly been used on how to repair her own Spirit Root, and she had never diligently studied books with excellent literary style.

Long Qi did not care about any prize; as soon as he heard that the prayer ceremony was about to begin, he hurriedly pulled Lingxiang and ran toward the South Pavilion.

And Lingxiang was now full of thoughts on how to solve this lantern riddle, so she had no heart to pay attention; she let Long Qi pull her along just like that. By the time she came to her senses, she had already been brought to the bank of the Guyang River near the South Pavilion.

"Why did you bring me here?" Lingxiang asked casually, her head in a muddle.

At this moment, Long Qi brought the two lotus lanterns from behind his back to his front as if performing a magic trick.

Lingxiang had not expected that Long Qi had actually believed the peddler's words. She saw him take out a fire-starter to light the lamps and slowly place the two lamps into the water. She had wanted to mock Long Qi a few times, but heard Long Qi say:

"I heard from Maidong that although you have been doted on by the various Elders in the sect since you were young, you are actually very lonely in your heart. I understand very well why you are like this. In the past, when I was wandering the streets, I was just like you, but ever since I got to know you, I felt I had a concern in my heart. If possible, I want to accompany you from now on, whether to see all the mountains and rivers, or to joke through the human world; even if it is hell, we will be rampant together."

Having said this, Long Qi felt that this seemed a bit inappropriate, and hurriedly stood up and scratched his head: "I mean... I want to..."

I want to...

Long Qi's chest heaved, and he blushed, not knowing how to continue. Since he was young, he had never said such things, and what he had just said was different from what he had prepared earlier, but...

The words had already been spoken.

Lingxiang's heart was also surging; she was not a person who did not understand the ways of the world, and since Long Qi's words were so clear, how could she not understand?

But...

"You aren't hurt and running a fever, are you?" she said, reaching out to touch Long Qi's forehead. "No fever, so why are you talking nonsense..." She was about to withdraw her hand, but it was grabbed by Long Qi.

People in the world often compare a woman's hands to delicate white grass, but what Long Qi held in his hand, although very small, felt somewhat rough.

"I don't have a fever!"

He did not have time to think too much, and blurted out:

"I want to... I want to..."

He looked at the little person before him and swallowed hard.

"I want to be with you forever from now on!"