The streets were bustling with activity, as almost everyone had left their homes. However, each person wore a demon mask, making it difficult to recognize anyone unless they were familiar acquaintances.
If humans were hard to identify, non-human entities were even more so. Many yaoguai took advantage of this day to venture out, openly roaming the streets. Those who could fully transform into human form blended in with the ordinary crowd. Those whose transformations were less perfect could choose dimly lit, secluded areas and wear masks to conceal their faces without issue—provided they didn’t encounter Cat Lord and her associates.
“Excuse me, sir.”
Hearing the voice, a tall man turned his head, revealing a tiger mask. Upon recognizing the speaker, the tall man’s figure shrank, seemingly ready to flee. However, the person had already grabbed him, pulling him into a nearby secluded corner with feigned friendliness.
The tiger yaoguai, who had snuck into the city without a chance to cause any mischief, felt his luck had truly run out today, encountering the most unreasonable Cat Lord. Forcibly dragged and pushed into a corner, he couldn’t even resist before facing a massive fist.
A series of muffled grunts echoed from the corner. Moments later, Wu Zhen, wearing a blue-faced, fanged demon mask, strode out. She dusted off her robe, and the crimson pouch hanging at her waist seemed a bit fuller.
Mei Zhuyu, wearing a white ghost mask, waited for her nearby. Seeing Wu Zhen approach, he pointed to a slender, graceful figure in the crowd: “There’s another one.”
Wu Zhen looked and indeed saw another intruder, carrying the scent of blood, indicating they had harmed humans—this required intervention. She appeared behind the woman as if by magic, employing the same technique to drag her into a dark corner for a beating, then stuffing her into the brocade pouch at her waist, just like the tiger yaoguai earlier.
After today, if these yaoguai behaved, she would release them outside the city. Otherwise, they would have to bid farewell to this world.
Befitting the Zhongyuan Festival, Wu Zhen and Mei Zhuyu had encountered countless yaoguai mingling with the crowds along their way. Yaoguai bearing the Yaoguai Market seal was harmless, and Wu Zhen generally ignored them. When they recognized Wu Zhen, they would nod and smile. Two yaoguai in human form even set up stalls selling lotus flower river lanterns, enthusiastically giving Wu Zhen and Mei Zhuyu several lanterns for free.
If a yaoguai in the crowd lacked the Yaoguai Market seal, Wu Zhen would check for the scent of blood to determine if they had harmed humans, deciding whether to capture, kill, or turn a blind eye.
For instance, two youths wearing feathered robes and simple masks, curiously examining the surrounding shops, were disciples of some mountain hermit. Their aura revealed them to be transformed white cranes or red-crowned cranes, requiring no intervention.
Another example was a rugged-looking man, arm-in-arm with a stout woman, carrying a small calf. Ordinary people would find it odd that he was carrying a calf while out for a stroll, but Wu Zhen knew the man was an ox yaoguai, as was the woman beside him. The calf in his arms was their son, not yet able to transform, with round cow eyes curiously looking around. Though this family of three also lacked a seal and were outsiders, they were harmless, clearly just sightseeing in the city, so Wu Zhen left them be.
After touring two nearby wards, Wu Zhen stopped catching smuggled-in yaoguai. This task belonged to Huzhu and the other three deputies, each with their duties today. The four maintained order, preventing major incidents. Due to the weakened barrier tonight, the Yaoguai Market might overlap with the human world, potentially causing great calamity if unstable, so Liu Taizhen guarded the market.
As for Wu Zhen, her task was to guide and protect souls by sending off lanterns.
Chang’an had several waterways, with Qujiang Pool and Yudai Pool being the most popular for daily recreation. However, for lantern release, two specific canals were used every year: Yong’an Canal and Qingming Canal.
These two waterways nearly traversed the entire city. One passed through Jingyao Gate, connecting to Taiye Pool outside, while the other flowed from within the Imperial City. The canals flowed through over forty wards, forming two parallel long lines not far apart.
Wu Zhen led Mei Zhuyu to Fuming Temple in Yong’an Ward, a popular and expansive temple in Chang’an. Being far from the Imperial City, it had no taboos and boasted three extremely tall pagodas. Standing atop them, one could survey nearly half of Chang’an.
Looking left from this vantage point, one could see the Yong’an Canal flowing through the Western Market; looking right, the Qingming Canal emerging from the Imperial City. Usually, these two canals appeared as two shining lines connecting the houses on either side. Today, Wu Zhen and Mei Zhuyu could see countless points of light gradually converging on the two waterways, their red glow transforming the long canals into two veins of light.
In the night, with all household lights dimmed, the entire vast city’s hustle and bustle remained below. From this height, only points of light were visible, among which the two bands of light stood out prominently—a beautiful sight ordinary people would never witness in their lifetime.
Mei Zhuyu had never seen such a scene before. The bands of light formed by countless river lanterns slowly connected into a single line, with people continuously releasing lanterns into the canals. In the streets and alleys, streams of people carrying lanterns gradually gathered at the canal banks, appearing from afar like flowing water.
After marveling at the sight for a moment, Mei Zhuyu turned to look at Wu Zhen beside him, meeting her smiling face. She hadn’t been looking at the beautiful scene below but at him. Seeing him turn, she asked, “Well, is it beautiful?”
Mei Zhuyu: “It’s beautiful.”
“Very beautiful.”
“I’ve never seen such a stunning sight before.”
Satisfied with his three responses, Wu Zhen sat contentedly atop the high tower, one leg dangling in midair. “I’ve seen this scene for many years now. It’s one of my favorite sights, which is why I specially brought you to see it today.”
Mei Zhuyu felt warmth in his heart at her words, but he was still somewhat worried that Wu Zhen might neglect her duties in her eagerness to show him this. His concern wasn’t unfounded; Wu Zhen was indeed capable of “setting fire to the beacon towers to trick the feudal lords” (an idiom meaning to play tricks for personal amusement).
Wu Zhen, having thoroughly grasped her husband’s personality, could easily discern his thoughts. He was sometimes overly serious and highly responsible. Since marrying her, she had become one of his responsibilities, and upon discovering she was the Cat Lord, her husband seemed intent on fully accepting all the responsibilities that came with her role, even more conscientiously than she did as the Cat Lord herself.
Wu Zhen, mischievous by nature, became even more relaxed upon noticing this, sitting steadily in place and chatting with Mei Zhuyu, showing no intention of moving.
Mei Zhuyu waited patiently for quite a while before finally being unable to contain himself, asking, “Don’t you have work to do?”
Wu Zhen: “Hahahahaha~”
Mei Zhuyu: “…” Although he didn’t know what had happened, her laughter like this surely meant she was up to some mischief again. Thus, understanding was mutual, and Master Mei had indeed made some progress.
Wu Zhen patted her husband’s shoulder: “Don’t rush, just wait. Those things haven’t arrived yet. Why don’t we go down and release the lanterns first?”
The two descended from the high tower and found a less crowded spot by the canal. They lit the lanterns they had received earlier and placed them in the water. It was just a simple lantern, spinning as it floated on the water. Wu Zhen reached out to guide the lantern towards the distance with her hand in the water.
Ordinary people couldn’t see, but Wu Zhen and Mei Zhuyu could both observe that the moment the lantern was lit and placed in the water, a white light from the shore fell onto the illuminated lantern. It was this slight weight that caused the lantern to spin as it entered the water. There were many such white lights along the shore—these were generally considered to be ghost spirits. However, not all were human souls; there were also animal spirits, and even plants and rocks. All things in the world had spirits, just in different forms.
These spirits were lingering in the human world due to various reasons, unable to find their way, only able to wander about. Over time, some would simply dissipate, while the unluckier ones might be captured by people or yaoguai for nefarious purposes. The more powerful ones might become earth-bound spirits, water ghosts, or evil entities. At that point, if Wu Zhen encountered them, she would simply wave her hand and destroy these harmful beings.
Their only chance was on this day of the Zhongyuan Festival, to use the river lanterns as guides to reach their rightful destinations.
Although there were many river lanterns, there were even more wandering spirits gathered at the riverbank, trying to find an empty lantern. Some were pushed into the water, floating lightly on the surface like rootless duckweed.
Observing this, Wu Zhen lit and tossed several remaining lanterns into the water at once. Those spirits pushed into the water, seeing the empty lanterns, hurriedly climbed aboard, not forgetting to timidly bow to Wu Zhen in gratitude.
After releasing these gifted lanterns, Wu Zhen dusted off her hands, only to turn and see her husband standing behind her, arms full of newly purchased river lanterns.
Wu Zhen stared at him for a moment, then clicked her tongue, taking the lanterns from his arms. She lit them one by one, sitting there and releasing a large number of river lanterns.
Nearby spirits on the shore, seeing this, gathered around, looking pitifully and expectantly at the lanterns in Wu Zhen’s hands. Although they desperately wanted a guiding lantern, they could sense the aura emanating from Wu Zhen and didn’t dare approach too closely. Mei Zhuyu’s presence was even more intimidating, so a large circle remained empty around the two.
After releasing the last river lantern, Wu Zhen, as if she had eyes in the back of her head, grabbed the hem of Mei Zhuyu’s robe. “Stop buying them. I won’t release any more even if you do.”
Most of the river lanterns were dyed red, and Wu Zhen had lit so many that her fingers were stained red. Mei Zhuyu watched as she leisurely wiped her fingers, then looked at his robe hem that she had used to clean her hands. Suddenly smiling, he reached out, slipping his arms under her armpits, and lifted her directly from the stone steps by the canal.
Wu Zhen giggled, naturally wrapping her arms around her husband’s neck, using her still-red fingers to tap his nose, leaving a faint crimson mark.
“Splash—”
“Hahaha!”
Mei Zhuyu and Wu Zhen’s movements froze simultaneously, the smiles fading from their faces and eyes. They turned their heads to see several children running nearby, laughing. Two of them held small stones, throwing them at the floating river lanterns, sinking the lit lanterns. As the lanterns sank, the spirits atop them lost their direction once again, floating aimlessly on the water’s surface, paddling futilely.
On the shore, two children continued to playfully throw stones at the river lanterns, laughing heartily, completely unaware of the mischief they were causing.
Wu Zhen raised an eyebrow, jumping down from Mei Zhuyu’s arms. She stepped forward, grabbing a child in each hand, tossing one to Mei Zhuyu while firmly holding the other against her, giving them a sound spanking.
“How dare you smash my lanterns? Looks like your bottom doesn’t want to stay attached!”