The Journey of Immortal Cultivation

Chapter 1233: Chapter 632: A Chance Encounter Is Better Than an Invitation

Such a shy appearance, truly a hard-to-describe allure, breathtakingly beautiful. She was originally exquisitely charming, now nestled beside a man with ordinary looks, and in this moment, so childishly coy, one can’t help but wonder how many men’s eyes are glued to her, secretly cursing the waste of beauty, a bright pearl cast into darkness, while Changtian detects a killing aura from those around.

He, however, dislikes others coveting what’s his. Seeing this, his face darkens. As the play on the stage draws to a close, he pulls her up, wraps her in his arms, and turns to leave.

His towering figure shields her from the eager gazes aimed in her direction.

Following the path behind the temple fair, there stretches a long market. Although the weather is icy and cold, the crowd is large, and many vendors brave the wind to sell their wares – candies, firecrackers, longing lanterns, as well as pancake rolls, noodle cakes, and dry buns, all sold in thick hide tents by the roadside to shelter guests from the wind. Inside, charcoal pots provide warmth, and in the cold, many people hide inside, stamping their feet and eating hot food to warm up, then continue to stroll around.

She joins in the fun, buying a bowl of rice cakes to eat. This food solidifies when cold, so many people stand in the tents to eat. The seller of this snack is a young man, looking only in his early twenties, wearing coarse clothes. As he offers her the rice cakes, a thin red cord shows on his wrist.

"What’s this?" Ning Xiaoxian’s sharp eyes are fixed on it.

The vendor glances at his busy wife nearby, quickly laughing, "Got it from the temple, from the temple."

She lets out a long "Oh," dragging Changtian with her as they walk out.

Seeing the hint of disdain on her face, he can’t help but ask, "What’s wrong?"

"That man’s red cord on his wrist is tied into a mandarin duck heart-to-heart knot." She pouts, "Which temple would make such a knot for people? Clearly, this is another scoundrel, sneaking around cheating behind his wife’s back!" Thinking of the vendor’s wife with a baby babbling behind her, she suddenly feels a sense of shared opposition.

Seeing her face full of righteous anger, Changtian can’t help but laugh, reaching out to stroke her hair.

The direction she and Changtian are heading towards is a gigantic osmanthus tree, one that takes six people holding hands to encircle. Normally, its canopy should cover the sky, but now it’s just early spring, the branches are bare, making the red talismans hanging from it even more conspicuous.

The Incense Ancestor Temple sells various blessing charms, peace charm for five cents each, wealth-attracting charm for ten cents each, disaster relief charm for fifteen cents. Only this mandarin duck talisman she bought costs fifty cents for a pair. Yet, buying this talisman is most popular among young couples, it seems that no matter when or where, business for lovers is indeed the easiest.

With this pair of mandarin duck talismans in hand, she realizes the cost is mainly the material. It’s actually a pair of small copper bells connected by a red silk ribbon, but they are sealed. Inside each is a piece of red paper. Couples write their names on them, seal them inside the bells, and hang them on the osmanthus tree.

This ordinary item isn’t crafted with any particular finesse, but she’s here for the sentiment and festivities.

"You do it, my handwriting isn’t as nice as yours." She hands him the bell with a smiling suggestion.

Being in the Harmonization Stage, yet still believing in this! Changtian reluctantly brushes his hand over, and their names appear on the two pieces of red paper. She carefully folds the paper and stuffs it into the bell.

A young temple priest stands beneath the tree, helping people hang various talismans. Beside him, a line forms, but Changtian naturally lacks the patience to queue, immediately taking the bells in his hand and opening them, leaving his palm empty.

"Where did you hang them?" She looks up at the tree, it’s full of bells, which one is theirs?

Changtian gestures eastward. On the thickest branch of the osmanthus tree, a pair of bells spontaneously moves without wind, attracting numerous sights.

"Great spot." She happily squeezes his hand, "From now on, you’re mine alone!" He’s still as considerate as ever. Although he looks ordinary now, she really wants to kiss him, but unfortunately, there are too many people here.

From her watery almond eyes, he reads her mischievous intent, immediately chuckling and pulling her towards the back of the market.

A nearby brook gently flows, making the forest behind the temple rather dense. After walking for a little while, they leave the bustling voices far behind.

This place is indeed tranquil, thankfully it’s just the onset of early spring in cold winter, icy and frozen. If it were the season of growing grass and singing birds, who knows how many pairs of wild mandarin ducks would hide in this forest. In this world, mortals struggle to survive, customs are open, unlike Huaxia ancient times, where people are so conservatively, gentlemanly harmony is completely normal.