Chapter 275: 267 Wild Laughter

By the vast white water, people came and went; one person would leave, and another would appear.

The handsome figure had quietly departed at some unknown moment, and another elegant silhouette approached in a leisurely manner.

It was an old woman; her hair was already gray, yet her waist was not bent, and her attire was exceptionally proper. Ignoring the white hair, from behind, she was still a noblewoman who retained her charm.

She walked to the lakeside with her hands behind her back, seemingly watching the scenery, but the focus of her gaze suggested she was observing carefully.

Suddenly, the old woman bent down, flicked the water with her fingers, and pulled a reed from the marshy edge, as if she were going to tease the creatures in the water just like Yun Xiyan. However, a pair of eyes, which were almost murky, narrowed slightly. She scrutinized it for a long time, as if she were not looking at a reed, but admiring a secret treasure.

Suddenly, she let go, and the reed drifted down slowly.

"Haha..."

Suddenly, the old woman laughed aloud. The smile grew more intense, eventually turning into a laugh directed at the sky.

"Hahahaha—"

No one would have expected that such a graceful and elegant old woman would suddenly laugh so wildly and incessantly.

Yun Xiyan, who was observing from afar: "..."

She had returned to the water's edge in high spirits, intending to grab someone from Yuanji Palace to ask a few questions. However, she did not see that person, but instead saw this scene.

Was this still the respectable old woman who sat with her at the foot of the mountain?

She could not help but point at the laughing figure in the distance and say to the turtle, "What kind of people have you invited? Have they completely abandoned their disguises? You invite people like this? Is this what success is supposed to look like? Shouldn't the list be screened properly?"

Gui Ye was also speechless. It did not know who this was either. She certainly did not look like a good person, but judging by her age, she might be some old enemy of Xue Xianyun.

Who decreed that Xue Xianyun could only have feuds with old men and not old women?

However, not to mention that it had no ability to manage these things, regardless of what posture this person had or whether she looked like a good person, was it against the law to just laugh wildly by the water?

You can't say that just because this is your territory, people aren't even allowed to laugh, right?

Therefore, it said haphazardly, "Isn't it better that she can't control herself? It shows she isn't the most dangerous type of hidden enemy; no need to worry about her. I will tell the Reception Hall that this person is suspicious, and someone will keep an eye on her."

Yun Xiyan shook her head incessantly. She did not interrupt the old woman's wild laughter for the time being and walked around the other side of the lake.

As she wandered aimlessly like this, she discovered that there were truly many people roaming everywhere. There were those she knew and those she did not. Some had come up in the same batch as her, and others had long since settled into the Reception Hall. To say that everyone watching the scenery outside was a villain would be too many, but how could Yun Xiyan believe that there were not a few "people with ulterior motives" among them? With a long sword in hand, yet not knowing who to strike, she could not help but knit her brows tightly.

Gui Ye comforted her, "Don't worry yourself. Let them wander if they want to wander. It's useless even if they wander until they die; they absolutely cannot find the Sword Furnace. I can guarantee this. Zhuoyu Villa has already made arrangements; don't you worry for them. Think about it, is that kid Tang Zhao's head not sharp? He definitely has a way to guard against it. You'd be better off going to the shops over there to look at Art Tools; they are very discounted."

Yun Xiyan sighed and said, "Of course I trust Brother Tang; he is ten times smarter than me. However... you shouldn't have let people come up so many days in advance. If you had only brought people up together a day or two early, they wouldn't have had time to find the Sword Hut, and there wouldn't be any need to worry or be afraid. I really don't know what he was thinking, inviting wolves into the house for no reason. By the way, do you know if there are imposters among the guests?"

Gui Ye said, "Gui Ye doesn't know about this. But the villa has defenses, right? I heard they prepared very thoroughly. The intelligence is in place, and outside help has been invited. After half a year of preparation, it won't be easily destroyed by these petty people. In Tang Zhao's words, Zhuoyu Villa is like a dilapidated house; it looks very broken, but if you go up and kick it, five or six burly men will immediately come out and beat you up."

Yun Xiyan laughed out loud. Thinking that Lady Hua Rong had come up to assist with intelligence and trusted aides, and since she even told her own intelligence about the ghosts pushing the mill, how could she not tell Tang Zhao and the others? In this regard, she had nothing to worry about.

Seeing that she was still knitting her brows, Gui Ye admired her sense of loyalty and her eagerness to help others in need, and continued to comfort her, "Don't worry. Nowadays, that kid Jiang Shenyi is in charge here. He also knows you've come, and you two have a friendship; if the situation is bad and there's a place where you are needed, he won't be polite. Since he hasn't spoken, it means it's not needed yet. You just focus on conserving your energy, eating, drinking, and having fun; when the time comes and he looks for you, you can take action then."

Yun Xiyan let out a breath, stretched, and said, "Really, people always say I'm heartless. It's so hard for me to care for once, and you all come rushing to persuade me to play. Fine, you take me, take me to the most fun place you have here to play."

Gui Ye said happily, "Leave it to me. No one understands how to have fun better than Gui Ye. Let's go, let's head to the marketplace first."

"Wow!"

Yun Xiyan entered the marketplace area and was greatly astonished.

She had originally thought the marketplace area would be like the shops at the foot of the mountain that shimmered with white jade—a large building or a group of buildings—but she had not expected them to be tents.

Although they were tents, they were not the monotonous, crude kind of tents. Instead, they were colorful and of all shapes and sizes.

Some tents were square, like bricks; some tents were fluffy, like an owl; some tents were covered in flowers and plants, with an exotic fragrance; and there were even tents with two large wings on the back.

These tents were of various colors, with no lack of bright and gaudy hues, which was already dazzling enough, not to mention the many decorations hanging between the tents.

Not to mention the rows of colorful flags—the Talisman assembly had those too—but those strings of ribbons and rolls of spiral colored paper were very eye-catching, not to mention the pinwheels spinning round and round, the paper kites flying high in the sky, the fireworks that erupted from time to time, and those things floating in the air...

"What are those balls floating up there?"

"Balloons. They are filled with a special material inside, so they can fly without a Rune Formula," Gui Ye said. "Actually, there's nothing strange about them; the main thing is that they can be made very large, fly very high, and hang banners or something."

The entire venue, under the various decorations and adornments, was as lively and vibrant as it could be, filled with a festive, joyful atmosphere.

Moreover, the tents all had their doors open, and one could see that inside there were not only various counters but also seemingly various games. Although not many guests had arrived, some were already having a great time in the tents.

Even though Yun Xiyan had a headache just a moment ago, she became happy again at this time. She ran to one of the tents and said, "What is played here?"

A young Disciple nearby smiled and said, "Hello, guest. This is for riddles—there are lantern riddles, object-guessing, flying flower orders, and Rune Formula chain games. If you guess correctly, there are small gifts presented. Please come in, guest—"

As soon as Yun Xiyan heard this, she immediately lost interest, waved her hand, and said, "We'll see, we'll see."

Gui Ye curled its lip and said, "Go guess one; at worst, Gui Ye will help you."

Yun Xiyan had no desire for a turtle to help her cheat. She went on without looking back and arrived in front of a gray, dusty tent. Upon asking, it turned out to be the "Phantom House," where many Phantoms would come out to scare people once you went inside, which was very exciting. Yun Xiyan hurriedly fled and finally arrived in front of an owl-like tent. In front of that tent were two large-headed owl cloth dolls, fluffy and adorable. Yun Xiyan could not help but reach out and poke them twice, then asked, "How do you play inside here?"

The female Disciple hosting smiled and said, "Inside here is an introduction to our White Jade Shimmering business map. Oh, and there are Art Tools for catching dolls; if you catch one, we'll give you an owl cloth doll."

Yun Xiyan rushed inside and saw a large map placed there, vaguely the map of Yunzhou, with light spots on it, connected to each other like meridians.

"Wow, are there already so many branches?"

The female Disciple smiled and said, "No, there is only one main store right now; these are the plans. In the future, in the future, there will be this many stores opened." Seeing that Yun Xiyan was skeptical, she added, "But these few places can already issue Art Tools. It means that when you order goods in our store, any place with a point can enjoy owl delivery to your door."

Yun Xiyan suddenly understood, but she did not care. She was the young lady of Feitian Cave, and Feitian Cave was also a Talisman Sword Master force with deep foundations; the family had plenty of Art Tools. Although every force had a different style, the functions of the Art Tools were often similar, so there was no need to come from so far away to buy Art Tools from Zhuoyu Villa.

Her gaze was entirely on several large, transparent glass cabinets. Those cabinets were piled full of round, chubby owl dolls.

Cute, I want one!

Yun Xiyan rubbed her hands and said, "How do you play this?"

The female Disciple smiled and said, "Just use that lever to move the iron claw inside the cabinet to catch an owl doll and put it into the chute. Every guest can experience it for free for a quarter of an hour; if you catch one, it's yours."

Yun Xiyan said, "So it's that simple. I'll do it."

She thought that she had practiced martial arts for many years, her hands were steady, her eyes were sharp, and she had a sense of proportion; what could be difficult about catching a doll?

Who knew that this Art Tool was designed very wickedly; it could not be adjusted precisely at all, and one could only press the buttons back and forth to control the iron claw very roughly. Moreover, compared to the owl dolls, this iron claw was particularly small. If the position it grabbed was slightly off, it would slip off. Even if it did grab one, the iron claw would inexplicably loosen when moving toward the exit, and the doll would fall down.

After a quarter of an hour, Yun Xiyan's record was zero.

"Guest, you cannot use Qi to cheat."

"Less chatter—what do I do if the time is up?"

"Ten taels of silver for one game coin. It's valid at all stores."

"Give me ten."

"Coming right up."

"Ahhh... it dropped again. There is definitely something wrong with this! One more time!"

Just as Yun Xiyan was engrossed in the game, focused and undistracted, she heard someone Ask: "Guest, you have collected ten dolls; will you take them back or exchange them for a voucher?"

Yun Xiyan turned her head in astonishment and saw that in front of a claw machine Art Tool opposite her, someone had a pile of Owl Doll toys stacked like a mountain, and was pushing the dolls to exchange them for a voucher.

She was both shocked and angry, glaring fiercely for a few moments, when she suddenly realized this person looked familiar—it was actually an acquaintance.