The queue at the registration desk was not particularly long, but progress was slow.
Basic information such as name, Sect, and cultivation level needed to be recorded.
Occasionally, a few Scattered Cultivators would spend extra time arguing with the registration Cultivator due to obscure origins or questionable cultivation levels.
Gu Qingying gripped Gong Shangyu’s wrist tightly, fearing she might run away, and squeezed directly to the end of the line.
Gong Shangyu looked reluctant, her pink eyes glaring with anger at the back of Gu Qingying’s head, as if trying to burn two holes in her with her gaze.
“Can you let go now? Shixiong Gu!”
Gong Shangyu almost ground her back teeth as she squeezed the words out from between them, secretly using force to try and shake off Gu Qingying’s grip.
Gu Qingying finally seemed to react, releasing her hand sheepishly, but her body still intentionally or unintentionally blocked Gong Shangyu’s path to prevent her from escaping.
She brushed off non-existent dust from her hands, her Purple Eyes looking at Gong Shangyu with a bit of “what can you do about it” cunning:
“Oh, second Junior Brother, isn’t Shixiong doing this for your own good? Master said this is a great opportunity to test our cultivation. How can you be so passive and lazy?”
Gong Shangyu rubbed her reddened wrist and whispered irritably:
“Test our cultivation? Gu Qingying, besides acting cute and trying to please Master, can you fit anything else in your head? Can’t you see? Master is clearly using a tactic to lure the tiger away from the mountain!”
She stepped closer, lowering her voice even further with a hint of urgency and frustration:
“He just wants to send us away! That way he can investigate that trouble Zhou Ruolin mentioned to him last night by himself! That matter is definitely not simple. Even the Jin Royal Family is helpless against it. There must be great danger hidden behind it! If Master goes alone and something happens…”
However, at this moment, Gu Qingying’s head was filled with Lu Li’s words, “I will grant you one not-too-excessive small request,” as if her mind were stuck together by honey.
She imagined that after winning the competition, she could make various “small” wishes to Master.
Perhaps she could have Master guide her cultivation alone for a whole day, or have Master accompany her to the night market to see the lanterns, or perhaps… let Master transfer the ever-annoying Gong Shangyu to another peak for a few days?
Just thinking about it made her heart blossom with joy and filled her with motivation!
Therefore, far from listening to Gong Shangyu’s warning, she looked Gong Shangyu up and down with an extremely suspicious and scrutinizing gaze, her tone thick with doubt and provocation.
“Lure the tiger away? Danger? Gong Shangyu, you’re making it sound so grand, but could it be that you’re… afraid?”
She deliberately dragged out her tone, her Purple Eyes flashing with a light that said “I’ve seen through you”:
“Are you afraid that you’ll lose to me, your Shixiong, at the Dharma Assembly? Are you worried about losing face, so you’re making up these excuses to run away?”
“You!”
Gong Shangyu was so choked with anger by this twisted logic and false accusation that her chest felt tight, and her pink eyes instantly widened.
“Me, afraid of losing to you? Stop talking nonsense! With your mediocre skills…”
“Oh? Not afraid?”
Gu Qingying interrupted her, crossing her arms and raising her chin with a provocative expression that said “as I thought.”
“Then why are you making so many excuses? Master said this is to test our cultivation. As Master’s Disciple, shouldn’t you show some initiative and share Master’s burdens? Or do you simply not care about Master’s words at all?”
The more she spoke, the more she felt she was in the right, and she even began to “plan” the future for Gong Shangyu:
“If you’re really scared, just say it now! It’s fine, your Shixiong is magnanimous and won’t laugh at you. When I win the competition and make my request to Master… well, I’ll ask Master to take me alone to the lantern festival in the evening to walk around and look at the lights to relax. As for you, Junior Brother…”
Gu Qingying paused deliberately, showing a smile that seemed considerate but was actually malicious:
“Just stay obediently in the Inn and ‘reflect’ on why you are so cowardly that you don’t even have the courage to spar with others! And while you’re at it… help me and Master watch the house?”
“Ahhh… Gu! Qing! Ying!”
Gong Shangyu was completely ignited!
She was never someone with a good temper to begin with, and having achieved Rebirth, she carried the pride and obsession of her Former Life.
Originally, her only thought was to protect Master’s safety.
She didn’t care at all about some Dharma Assembly, thinking it was just a Game for children.
But Gu Qingying’s words were practically rubbing her face in the dirt.
Not only did she question her strength, she mocked her courage, and even used the highly tempting and stimulating image of “going to the lantern festival alone with Master” to provoke her!
If an uncle can bear this, an aunt cannot!
A nameless fire rushed straight to her head, instantly incinerating most of her logic.
Protecting Master was certainly important, but right now, maintaining her dignity and fiercely slapping the face of this arrogant, black-hearted Junior Sister seemed like a more pressing matter!
“Who’s afraid of who!”
Gong Shangyu stepped forward abruptly, nearly touching noses with Gu Qingying.
A fierce fighting spirit burned in her pink eyes, and her previous reluctance and worry were thrown to the ninth heaven.
“You think you can beat me? You want to go to the lantern festival alone with Master? Keep dreaming!”
She pointed her finger, nearly poking Gu Qingying’s nose, her voice rising slightly due to anger and drawing the curious gazes of people in the queue:
“If you want to compete, let’s compete! I want to see how many rounds your small frame can last in that Dharma Assembly! When the time comes, don’t come crying to me for mercy!”
Seeing that the provocation had worked, Gu Qingying was secretly delighted, but she didn’t show any fear on her face.
Instead, she put on a calm expression as if everything was going according to plan, and gently patted away Gong Shangyu’s finger:
“Heh, Junior Brother, don’t count your chickens before they hatch. It’s not yet known who will come out on top. When the time comes, it’s not certain who will be the one crying for mercy.”
Gu Qingying then turned around, facing the front of the line as if victory were already in her grasp, and said in a light tone:
“Since that’s the case, it’s settled. Prepare yourself well, Junior Brother. Shixiong won’t show any mercy. After all, I won’t give up the chance to go to the lantern festival alone with Master!”
“Hmph! Wishful thinking! That chance is destined to be mine!”
Gong Shangyu snorted coldly and also turned back around, standing behind Gu Qingying with her arms crossed.
Cold light flickered in her pink eyes as she began to rapidly calculate in her mind how to make Gu Qingying look like a fool during the Dharma Assembly while steadily securing first place for herself.
The atmosphere between the two was tense.
The “fellow Disciple” bond they had a moment ago had long since vanished, replaced by a raging fighting spirit to decide the victor on the stage.
All of this was witnessed by a girl dressed in simple white clothes with a gentle temperament, who had just finished registering and was about to leave nearby.
The girl was about seventeen or eighteen years old with delicate features and a pair of apricot eyes as clear as water.
An inconspicuous wooden token was hanging from her waist, engraved with the character “Feng.”
She watched Gu Qingying and Gong Shangyu bickering.
Especially when she heard them mention “Master” and “lantern festival,” a very faint, hard-to-detect trace of complex emotion flashed through her clear eyes, appearing somewhat startled and dazed.
Then, she gently bit her lower lip.
She didn’t stay long, lowering her head and quietly disappearing into the bustling crowd like a drop of water merging into a river.
At this moment, Gu Qingying and Gong Shangyu, who were completely blinded by their competitive spirit, did not notice the girl’s brief pause or her strange behavior.
Their attention was entirely occupied by each other and the upcoming Dharma Assembly.
The line moved forward slowly, and it was finally their turn.
The registration Cultivator didn’t even look up, asking mechanically:
“Name, Sect, cultivation.”
Gu Qingying stepped forward, cleared her throat, and tried to make her voice sound more stable:
“Gu Qingkong, Xuling Sect Duanqing Peak, Foundation Establishment.”
The registration Cultivator’s pen didn’t stop.
After recording, he handed her a wooden token with a number engraved on it:
“Next.”
Gong Shangyu took a deep breath, suppressed the anger churning in her heart, stepped forward, and said in as calm a tone as possible:
“Shang Baiyu, Xuling Sect Duanqing Peak, Foundation Establishment.”
After receiving their competition tokens, the two girls glared at each other, snorted simultaneously, and turned away.
They then went their separate ways to prepare.
Since they had decided to compete, they naturally had to prepare properly.
At the very least, they had to adjust their state to the optimum level and absolutely could not show any weakness in front of the other!
***
While the two girls were starting their investigations, Lu Li, who had managed to pull himself away from them earlier, followed the source of the nursery rhyme he had just heard.
He found the children singing and prepared to ask them where they had heard the song.
Looking at the children humming the rhyme, Lu Li immediately grabbed a handful of sweets from a roadside candy stall and casually tossed a few pieces of broken silver to the vendor to settle the bill.
Then Lu Li walked up to the children, squatted down, and forced what he considered his most kind and amiable smile, handing the candy to the children who had just been humming the rhyme.
“Little ones,” his voice was gentle, fearing he might startle the little fellows, “tell big brother, where did you hear that rhyme about the ‘Red Moon’? Who taught it to you?”
When the children saw the tempting candy, their eyes lit up.
They scrambled to reach out their small hands to take the sweets and impatiently stuffed them into their mouths, their cheeks bulging immediately.
Savouring the sweetness, they answered all at once.
“In a dream! I heard it in a dream!”
“I heard it when I was sleeping last night, and I remembered it when I woke up!”
“Me too! Me too!”
The children’s answers were surprisingly consistent—the Dream Phenomenon.
Lu Li’s heart sank.
As expected, it was the Dream Phenomenon again!
This eerie nursery rhyme was actually spreading through that collective dream?
Even the specific content was so similar?
This was definitely not a natural occurrence!
He tried to ask for more details, but the children were young after all.
Their descriptions were jumbled and vague.
Aside from repeating “Red Moon” and being afraid, he couldn’t extract any more valuable clues.
Looking at the children’s innocent yet slightly bewildered and fearful eyes, Lu Li frowned deeply, a sense of powerlessness rising in his heart.
Faced with this invisible, eerie event spreading through dreams, even with his Jindan cultivation, he felt like he was punching cotton.
Where was the source?
What was the transmission mechanism?
What was the purpose?
He was at a dead end.
Just as Lu Li fell into deep thought, a timid, slightly raspy voice sounded beside him.
“That Master… Do you, do you want to know where they heard this rhyme?”