Wait, How Did My Digital Girlfriend Become a Sword Immortal? Chapter 595: Lanterns First Lit

Chapter 595: Lanterns First Lit

...

The ten-mile long street saw the first lighting of decorative lanterns.

In the Northern Continent, Youdu Kingdom, the imperial capital's main street was adorned with colorful decorations and hung full of ornamental lanterns.

Pedestrians streamed endlessly, filled with laughter and cheerful voices.

The festive atmosphere permeated everywhere.

Festivals in the Cangyun Realm differed greatly from those on Earth Star, yet shared some similarities.

Take this Prime Origin Festival for example—though its origins differed, the celebration methods somewhat resembled the Lantern Festival, such as the long street outside the imperial capital being hung with decorative lanterns and the lantern riddle activities.

On the river beside the street, a multi-storied boat hung with decorative lanterns drifted slowly past; even across the river surface, one could hear the sounds of talented scholars and beauties reciting poetry and composing verses.

His aura was too transcendent; only by wearing a mask could he conceal a fraction of it.

Otherwise, even changing to an ordinary or even ugly face would be useless.

Like a firefly in the dark night—even if mortals couldn't perceive it, the surrounding cultivators would still intentionally or unintentionally probe his identity.

Ahead, Li Qingran and Liu Cuie walked hand in hand. Li Qingran wore a veil covering her face, revealing only a pair of bright eyes. Though Liu Cuie was equally delicate and beautiful, she wasn't a cultivator yet and had no need to deliberately conceal herself.

With him as their guard, no one dared to bother the two girls.

On the long street, Li Qingran and Liu Cuie appeared like a young lady and her maid out for a stroll.

But compared to those actual noble daughters, their beauty was far superior, causing the young masters browsing the lanterns to frequently glance their way.

"Hisss, which family's young lady is this? So beautiful!"

"Brother Wang can tell her appearance just from her eyes?"

"What do you know? Even the maid is so beautiful, how could the young lady be any less?"

"Brother Wang speaks wisely! Within three breaths, I must learn these two young ladies' specific information!"

The group of young masters chattered among themselves, spreading from one to ten and ten to a hundred, gradually forming a crowd that followed distantly behind Li Qingran and Liu Cuie. ᚱἈꞐȯ𝐛Ę𝙎

What was this about?

Chasing stars?

Chen Huaian's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't intervene.

The love for beauty exists in every heart; appreciating beauty is everyone's right.

He couldn't exactly gouge out all the male disciples' eyeballs at Moon Shadow Sect, could he?

The same principle applied to these young masters.

As long as they didn't do anything inappropriate, it was fine.

...

"Come come come! Take a look, have a glance!

Guess lantern riddles to win tokens of love!"

The sound of brass gongs accompanied by loud shouts echoed through the long street.

Naturally, this attracted the attention of the two young girls.

"Drunk-en... Immor-tal... Pavilion?"

Li Qingran wore red attire, her right hand pulling Liu Cuie along while her left hand held a stick of candied hawthorn berries. Her large eyes gazed at the tavern's signboard, their reflection filled with the building's colorful lanterns.

Before the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, the crowd surged, more lively than elsewhere.

A high platform had been erected before the building, hung with hundreds of exquisite decorative lanterns, each with a colorful silk riddle attached beneath.

The shopkeeper's booming voice overpowered the surrounding clamor:

"Drunken Immortal Pavilion's Prime Origin grand event! Guess lantern riddles to win the top prize!

A pair of dragon-phoenix auspicious pure gold locks, gifted to destined couples!

Don't miss out if you're passing by!"

That pair of dragon-phoenix auspicious gold locks hung beneath the tavern's signboard.

The lock bodies shimmered with flowing colors under the decorative lanterns' glow, the intricate dragon-phoenix intertwining patterns exquisitely crafted. Though they couldn't compare to immortal cultivation world accessories, they were tokens of love.

At that time and place, they held extraordinary significance.

Li Qingran's gaze was immediately captivated; even through her veil, one could sense the light in her eyes.

If she could obtain these gold locks to gift to Master...

Her pretty face flushed slightly as she suppressed the flutter in her heart, gently tugging Liu Cuie's sleeve and pointing at the gold locks: "Cuie, look at those, so beautiful."

"Indeed beautiful, Young Lady. Would you like to try?" Liu Cuie seemed to know Li Qingran's thoughts, smiling as she said: "If you take one of these gold locks to give to Young Master, he would surely be very happy."

"Hmph~╯^╰ Can't I keep them for myself?"

Li Qingran gave a light hum, pulling Liu Cuie as they squeezed toward the lantern riddles.

However, one lantern, two lanterns, three lanterns later...

Those riddles on the colorful silks—things like "Waning moon shines diagonally, shadows form pairs (guess one character)" or "Phoenixes roam on Phoenix Terrace (guess a place name)"—might as well have been heavenly texts to them.

Li Qingran's elegant brows slightly furrowed as she pondered painfully; Liu Cuie grew so anxious she scratched her ears and cheeks, muttering to herself, yet never reaching any solution.

One was a general's fierce daughter, the other a hunter's little girl who only recognized some characters—making them participate in such highly cultural activities was somewhat too demanding.

"Aiya, Young Lady, this is too difficult!" Liu Cuie complained dejectedly, "This 'waning moon' is the character for moon missing a dot? What's 'shadows form pairs' supposed to be?"

Li Qingran could only shake her head helplessly.

She had originally thought it would be relatively simple...

If you asked her to dance with a sword, she could do it.

Asking her to guess these literary things was practically torture.

Chen Huaian chuckled inwardly seeing the two girls' troubled expressions.

He was a science student, practically half-illiterate in literature.

But he had the Electronic Girlfriend system.

Those lantern riddle answers automatically appeared as soon as he glanced at them.

"Master, what are you laughing at?"

Li Qingran noticed Chen Huaian secretly snickering, puffing her cheeks as she said unhappily: "You clearly know your disciple wants those gold locks, yet Master won't help? So mean!"

Chen Huaian laughed involuntarily, "Alright, alright! Your master will help you now."

He deliberately pondered, lightly fanning himself, his lips beneath the silver mask moving slightly.

"'Waning moon' is the character 'bow', 'shadows form pairs' means 'double', combined becomes the character 'vast'. As for 'Phoenixes roam on Phoenix Terrace', Phoenix Terrace is in Jinling, the character 'roam' departs, leaving only 'Jinling'."

"Uh... I don't understand." Liu Cuie covered her head shaking it repeatedly.

She turned to look at Li Qingran, only to see Li Qingran gazing at Chen Huaian with shining eyes, seemingly comprehending something.

Indeed the Young Lady was different.

She immediately understood what Young Master meant just from listening casually.

Just as she thought this, she heard Li Qingran mutter softly.

"Master... so handsome..."

Liu Cuie: "..."

Well, turns out she didn't understand.

She was just being infatuated.

Chen Huaian continued, his eyes sweeping across each riddle, his voice steady: "'Boundless falling leaves rustle down'—guess a common character? The character 'gate'.

'One mouth eats the ox tail'—the character 'tell'.

'Round when drawn, square when written, short in winter, long in summer'—the character 'sun'..."

He barely hesitated, each riddle's answer rolling off his tongue as soon as his eyes passed over it.

Clear and accurate, without the slightest pause!

The surrounding clamor seemed to become background noise, leaving only his steady voice.

Li Qingran and Liu Cuie hopped and skipped along behind him like two little followers, simply taking the riddles he indicated and handing them to the waiter, as relaxed as strolling through their own garden.

The beautiful concubines around him cheered with delicate voices.

"Young Master Chen is so amazing!"

"Young Master's talent and quick thinking!"

"Ahhh, Young Master is so great~ I'm going to be captivated to death by Young Master~"

All kinds of decadent sounds filled the air without end.

Chen Huaian led Li Qingran and Liu Cuie guessing riddles on the left side. This similarly masked young master guessed riddles on the right side surrounded by his beauties.

The two groups gradually drew closer.

And finally noticed each other.

...