"Dare, why wouldn’t I dare, I can even go to a wolf’s den or a tiger’s lair."

Despite knowing they were joking around and unlikely to follow through, the atmosphere improved significantly, and the tense atmosphere from earlier in the day seemed a distant memory.

"But before that, could you call me ’husband’ just once?" Chu Xuan said casually.

Qingqing huffed angrily, "There you go again, I’m ignoring you."

Chu Xuan didn’t mind, he simply asked, "Have you seen flower lanterns?"

"No," Qingqing replied, having spent her life on the mountain, filled only with boring and painful memories.

Though she’d been out for only a few months, she’d already encountered countless new and fascinating things, but she’d only heard of the lantern festival and never seen it.

So Chu Xuan started describing the grand scene of the lantern festival, with lines like "tens of thousands of lanterns, pouring down like a river of stars" and "no mountain without lamps, no lamp without seats, no seat without people, and the people all singing and playing music."

Qingqing listened, utterly entranced.

"Speaking of which, there are many ghost stories about the lantern festival, such as one about a night after the festival, when the lanterns go out and the people are gone, the tavern owner was calculating the day’s wine sales when suddenly six or seven beautiful women arrived to buy wine."

"They picked up the wine cask, drank it with a glug-glug sound, but the seal of the cask remained unopened."

"Moreover, they didn’t pay with money; each emptied fruit from their sleeves, and in the blink of an eye, they disappeared with the wine cask."

Qingqing speculated, "Most likely they are some little demons from the mountains, disguising themselves as humans to buy wine."

Chu Xuan continued excitedly, "There’s another story about a scoundrel who, during the lantern festival, borrowed several empty buildings near the City God Temple, hiding beautiful youths inside, calling it ’Curtain Alley’."

"That night, a nobleman came to carouse with the youths. After extinguishing the candles and undressing his companion, he discovered that it was actually a woman."

Qingqing covered her mouth and laughed, "Didn’t he feel quite disappointed?"

"Not at all, you don’t know what kind of tastes those rich people have. Tsk-tsk, they go for beauties regardless of gender."

"And so, the two spent a joyful night together, but before dawn, the woman disappeared. People said she was a transformed fox spirit."

Qingqing doubted, "Why do you seem like you’re a bit envious? What if it was a ghost?"

Chu Xuan chuckled softly, "Where are there so many ghosts..."

He stopped speaking mid-sentence, because somehow, a chilling wind had come up, ghostly fog surged, something felt off.

...

In Langhuan Grotto Heaven, Ji Mingyu could no longer sit still; her expression was as cold as ice.

The little snow ferret couldn’t help but cover its eyes with its paws. Oh God, Chu Xuan, his sweet-talking to women is something else! Where did that pure and innocent young man from years ago go?

Just watching today made it tremble with fear for the other party.

Moreover, the master clearly started to get anxious, she couldn’t just stand by and watch her beloved disciple be taken by another woman.

After pacing back and forth a few times, Ji Mingyu suddenly extinguished the water mirror that had hung in the main hall for more than eight years, picked up the little ferret, and flew out.

In doing so, the cave closed, the Grotto Heaven sealed, clearly indicating Ji Mingyu wouldn’t return quickly.

The snow ferret felt a bit nervous, and it asked in a small voice, "Master, where are we going?"

"Wuyou Valley." The woman’s voice was even colder than the wind and snow of the Land of the Far North.

Ji Mingyu worried that if she went any later, Chu Xuan might be completely devoured by all those flirtatious fox spirits, or possibly the other way around.

This guy, will never change!