Xiao Chen and the other person walked to the other side and saw that many people had already walked out of their houses, put on their best clothes, and started to gather on the street holding simple leather lamps.
"Okay, what are our plans for today?" Xiao Chen asked.
"Are you always so passive when you're with girls?" Luo Ling asked back.
Xiao Chen was delighted and said, "Then let me take care of it? Then let me tell you, the first step is to get the equipment ready."
"how?"
"The leather lamps Xiluo prepared for us are too eye-catching, and don't have the style of civilian areas at all. Wait for me for a moment." Xiao Chen ran to the roadside, found a few young people, negotiated with them, and exchanged them for a pair of candle leather lamps.
"Look, that's much better."
"What? You've lost a lot of money in this business. Xi Luo bought the crystal leather lamp for one silver spear each. The one in your hand is worth at most two bronze shields." Luo Ling said this, but she was still fiddling with the new leather lamp, like a child with a new toy. The leather lamp is square, with a hand-held rope on it. When a candle or oil lamp is lit inside, it will emit a dim light. It doesn't look beautiful when viewed alone, but when many people light up the lights on the street, the twinkling lights give off a strange romantic feeling in the night.
"How could I be so stupid? There's also this." Xiao Chen took out a colorful cloth handkerchief. "See? This is a limited edition New Year's headscarf given by the palace. The old king is about to celebrate his 60th birthday this year, so he was very generous. One out of every two people in the civilian area received this thing."
Luo Ling looked around and saw that many people had already rolled up this kind of cloth into a strip and wrapped it around their heads.
"Originally, the tradition here is to wear garlands on your head during parades. It is said that those who do this will be blessed by nature and reap all kinds of happiness in the coming year. But flowers are too hard to find in winter, so there is a custom of using flowered cloth headscarves, headbands or hairpins instead. In previous years, everyone would wear garlands and buy headscarves, but this year most people are wearing this."
"This cloth is so ugly. It's an insult to my aesthetic taste. I won't wear it. Hey, I want that one." Luo Ling pointed to two children playing by the river, wearing pink wreaths on their heads.
"Okay. I'll go ask them." Xiao Chen had candies in his space bag, so this task was not difficult. Then, he and Luo Ling each wore a wreath.
Luo Ling looked at Xiao Chen's head full of pink flowers and giggled, "I thought you wouldn't wear them. I didn't expect you to be so open-minded."
"It's just the ancient style of the Tang and Song dynasties. What are you afraid of? I can't let you outshine me."
"Do you know what you look like?"
"A flowering bamboo."
"It is important for people to know themselves. I give you a thumbs up."
However, no matter what, the two of them now completely blended into the surroundings and there was no weirdness at all when blending in with the crowd.
They walked slowly behind the crowd holding leather lanterns. People kept joining them along the way. The night was originally a cold blue, but the leather lanterns were like groups of fireflies, illuminating people's smiling faces, illuminating their gorgeous attire, and bringing a touch of warmth to this half of the city that lacked lights.
When the crowd reached a narrow place, Xiao Chen naturally reached out a hand to hold Luo Ling to prevent her from being swept away. Luo Ling's hand tightened slightly, then relaxed again, letting him hold her hand. The two of them were like two small flowers in the river, drifting with the current.
At this time, Xiao Chen felt that the world was very quiet, so quiet that he could hear his own heartbeat. The world was also very noisy, and all kinds of restless thoughts popped up in his mind one after another.
He couldn't help but secretly glance at Luo Ling. His night vision allowed him to clearly see Luo Ling's focused expression and slightly red face. She focused on avoiding him. As his eyes got closer, her eyes kept wandering, until he completely annoyed her and she responded with a burning look. The two of them stared at each other, walking slower and slower, until someone bumped into them from behind.
"Hateful!" Luo Ling rubbed her shoulders.
Xiao Chen took the opportunity to put his hands on her and rubbed her a few times, but he held her in his arms and never let her go.
There was singing coming from the distance. The voice was very far away at first, but it soon echoed in all directions.
The people around them began to sing, too, first a few whispering, then a large chorus, and finally the singing became warm and cheerful, with almost everyone singing along.
When the procession reached the wide road near the market, it became less crowded and many people began to dance in circles inspired by the singing.
For a moment, it was like a golden river appeared on the blue earth, with surging tides and endless waves.
Seeing people around him dancing with laughter, even Xiao Chen, who had no interest in dancing, felt eager to try.
Luo Ling pushed her away and began to spin around like the others, holding the leather lamp in one hand and stretching out the other, like a flower spinning in the wind. The golden leather lamp drew spiraling rays of light in the air, like a circle of gold rimmed around a flower.
Every time she turned to Xiao Chen, she would look at him, their eyes would meet and then separate. The emotions in her eyes made Xiao Chen want to spin with her, like a pair of stars orbiting each other.
He couldn't help but remember the first time they passed through Phoenix Village and how she danced in front of the bonfire. That time he was just a spectator in the shadows, but this time he wished he could stand with her.
Xiao Chen mustered up his courage and took his own steps. Luo Ling reached out her hand and led him into her rhythm.
Spin, spin, dance, dance.
It turns out that it is so simple to take a step and dance. It is like returning to childhood, letting go of your emotions. The difference is that she is in front of him. At this moment, all his dance steps are moved by her, and all his emotions are tied to her.
He wandered in a world full of brilliance, as if everything around him had turned into a mottled background, and she was the only real person in the whole world.
…
After dancing for an unknown amount of time, he heard a voice.
"Xiao Chen, Xiao Chen!" He thought it was Luo Ling calling him, but found that Luo Ling was still dancing happily with him. The voice came from the depths of his mind.
"Xiao Chen, Xiao Chen! I am Tasia! Something is wrong with your world!" He finally realized that the voice came from his own meditation space.
He separated a trace of his consciousness and entered the meditation space, only to see that the outer world representing the subconscious was in violent turmoil. The dark clouds in the sky were rolling violently, as if there was some monster hidden in them. The huge waves on the sea were more than twice as high as usual, even crossing the boundary of the usually calm sea area and pushing Tasya's boat to a height of more than ten stories.