The nights in Yuehua City weren’t as quiet as those in other towns and cities. Even though it was already dark, there were still pedestrians holding lanterns and vendors selling small items. There were women holding children’s hands as they walked, as well as men carrying items with a pole on their shoulders. If it wasn’t because they were wearing ancient attire, Shi Shuiyue would have thought that they were people living in a modern city.
Although Shi Shuiyue no longer had any strong aversions to this world, there would be times when she couldn’t help but think:
Was this world real, or was it just a fictional world in the novel?
A small ball emitting green fluorescence slowly floated over the river. When it saw Shi Shuiyue standing idly by the river, it flew over curiously.
When a tiny firefly suddenly appeared in front of Shi Shuiyue, she was stunned for a moment before she reached out her hand.
The firefly flew to the side as if it was taking a good look at Shi Shuiyue. Upon seeing Shi Shuiyue reach out her hand, it briefly paused in the air before slowly landing on her hand.
It was quite a clever little fellow—Shi Shuiyue smiled softly when she saw its behavior.
As if it had suddenly thought of something, the firefly flapped its wings and flew towards the left side of Shi Shuiyue.
That side was…the direction that they had just flown over from. Shi Shuiyue glanced at the firefly, and then turned to look at the group of fireflies dancing in the air on the right.
“…” After a while, the firefly flew over again and circled around Shi Shuiyue, as if it wanted to take her somewhere.
“Little fellow, do you want me to go in?” Shi Shuiyue softly asked as she held down the fluttering firefly and looked at the forest on that side.
The firefly struggled out of her hand, and then hovered up and down as if it was nodding its head.
Shi Shuiyue followed the firefly and entered the forest.
As soon as she entered the forest, a sudden coldness spread from her feet to her entire body. Shi Shuiyue was shocked and quickly used internal force to push the coldness out. However, the coldness swiftly returned after a brief moment. Shi Shuiyue used internal force to suppress the cold again, but she felt that she couldn’t continue to move forward. At this rate, her internal strength would be exhausted and it was impossible for her to enter this forest.
“…?” The firefly leading the way saw that Shi Shuiyue had stopped, so it flew back to her. Seeing that Shi Shuiyue’s complexion didn’t look very good, it remembered that she was human, and that it would be difficult for her to withstand the coldness of the Sun Moon Forest.
But the fireflies were different. They were the only living creatures in the Sun Moon Forest, so they weren’t afraid of the cold.
“…” The firefly flapped its wings and flew onto Shi Shuiyue’s shoulder. Then a flow of green energy penetrated Shi Shuiyue’s clothes and entered her veins. Shi Shuiyue, who was enduring the torment of the coldness, suddenly felt a warm current flowing through her veins to all parts of her body, and her body gradually warmed up.
Shi Shuiyue touched the firefly’s small body, and then continued to walk inside the forest.
“Buzz—buzz—” The forest was eerily quiet, and the only sounds in Shi Shuiyue’s ears were the flapping of the firefly’s wings and the occasional rustling of the leaves blown by the wind.
After walking for a while, a dazzling light suddenly flashed in front of them. Shi Shuiyue followed the light and finally came out of the dense forest. A lake appeared in her line of vision, and the light was emitted from the surface of the lake.
Was it the light of the moon? Shi Shuiyue blocked her eyes slightly and looked at the particularly large full moon reflected on the lake. She couldn’t help but feel that it was odd.
“Oh right, the sun and moon will appear at the same time on the 15th.” Shi Shuiyue frowned as she suddenly thought of the boatman’s words. She had originally wanted to come here at a later time, but today, she was accidentally led here. It would be the 15th in a few days, so it seemed like she would have to come back again in a few days.
Afterall, it was quite dangerous to come alone. Shi Shuiyue looked around and saw that it was pitch dark all around her. She couldn’t see anything clearly other than the lake.
Of course, Shi Shuiyue, who was skilled in martial arts, could use her internal strength to sense the movements around her.
But since she had already arrived in the Sun Moon Forest, she couldn’t just return like this. With this thought in mind, Shi Shuiyue went around and inspected the forest. However, apart from the coldness of the entire forest, Shi Shuiyue didn’t find anything else that was strange.
Could it be that there really wasn’t anything at all? Was she overthinking?
Shi Shuiyue, whose mind was in a mess, reached out and massaged her temples.
Forget it—she should head back first. Shi Shuiyue thought about this and reckoned that there probably weren’t any other clues here. She should come back and take a look in the morning of the next day. It would be easier to find clues during the day.
“Thanks, little fellow.” Shi Shuiyue tapped the firefly’s small body and said with concern, “Your friends have all flown away. You should hurry up and catch up with them.”
The firefly lit up. Upon seeing this, Shi Shuiyue smiled and left the Sun Moon Forest.
The firefly watched as Shi Shuiyue left and didn’t follow her. Instead, it slowly flew to the other side and landed on a delicate hand.
“Little Ming, you worked hard.” A deep and charming voice sounded, and the firefly flapped its wings in response.
“Hey, do you think that Little Yue still remembers me?” The voice suddenly sounded a bit downcasted. The firefly flickered and didn’t make any other movements.
He suddenly chuckled, “Really? I hope so.”
It was also very quiet tonight in Yuehua City.
The next day—
“Mulan, what are you doing?!”
“Blowing up the kitchen.”
“Hey—hey—hey! Let’s talk nicely—please calm down! The breakfast that I made for you guys is still in the kitchen ah!”
“…” Mulan didn’t say anything, but the movement of her hands was even faster.
“Muqing ahhhhh!”
When Shi Shuiyue, who had just finished combing her hair in her room, looked out the window and saw smoke coming out of the kitchen, she quietly took out and ate the steamed bun that she had saved last night.
She should go try the wonton shop next door this afternoon—Shi Shuiyue thought about this as she chewed on the steamed bun.
“Come and take a look!
“Fresh steamed buns!
“Sweet and fragrant apples are cheaper!”
Shi Shuiyue strolled leisurely on the street with two meat steamed buns in her hands.
“Miss Xu, look over here!”
“Miss Xu, I’m your destined one!”
“Miss Xu…”
Xu Yunming, who was dressed in a red wedding dress, stood on a high platform with a gorgeous embroidered ball in her hands as she looked at the excited men below. She couldn’t help but slightly furrow her willow-shaped eyebrows on her delicate face.
She seriously couldn’t believe her father. He insisted that she was too old and needed to get married. He even organized this throwing embroidered ball matchmaking event… Xu Yunming felt even more troubled as she thought about this.
“Miss Xu! Miss Xu!”
Bang!
When Shi Shuiyue passed by this area, someone bumped into her and caused her half-eaten buns to fall out of her hands.
Shi Shuiyue: “…”
Waahhh—
Forget it—she should go buy some osmanthus cakes at the pastry shop.
Xu Yunming anxiously clenched the embroidered ball as she looked at the unattractive men below with a hint of disdain in her eyes. How could such a beautiful person like herself possibly marry an ordinary man?!
Suddenly, Xu Yunming saw Shi Shuiyue at the end of the crowd and couldn’t help but feel her heart skip a beat.
That man was so beautiful… Xu Yunming was mesmerized.
As if she had sensed Xu Yunming’s gaze, Shi Shuiyue turned her head to look at her on the platform.
Shi Shuiyue looked exceptionally charming in her cyan male attire, so it was no wonder that Xu Yunming was stunned by her.
What was going on here? Shi Shuiyue looked at the group of excited men around her and shook her head in puzzlement. Forget it—she should leave first in case she accidentally gets injured again.
Seeing that Shi Shuiyue was leaving, Xu Yunming got anxious and used her internal strength to throw the embroidered ball in her hands. The embroidered ball flew in a straight line towards Shi Shuiyue.
The other men scrambled to catch the embroidered ball, but as if it had eyes, the ball flew directly towards Shi Shuiyue.
It was getting close! Xu Yunming looked at the ball, and then took another look at Shi Shuiyue’s handsome face. She could already imagine their happy life after marriage.
“Huh?” Shi Shuiyue felt something heading towards her. She turned around and saw that it was an embroidered ball, so she casually took a wooden stick from one of the doors on the street.
“Swoosh—” The embroidered ball pierced through the wooden stick. Shi Shuiyue looked at the embroidered ball, and then looked at the group of dumbstruck men.
Did she just cause trouble… Shi Shuiyue felt somewhat confused as she held the wooden stick.
“Uh…do you want it back?” Shi Shuiyue handed the wooden stick to the man closest to her, and that man’s furious expression immediately brightened up.
“Wait!” Just as the man was about to take the embroidered ball, a clear female voice called out. Shi Shuiyue looked up and saw that it was the woman in red clothes who just made eye contact with her.
The woman snatched the wooden stick and took the embroidered ball off. With a slightly blushing face, she looked at Shi Shuiyue affectionately and said, “This gentleman caught my embroidered ball, so you must marry me!”
Shi Shuiyue: “…”
In fact, she didn’t really mind…but would she mind that she was a woman?
Just when the atmosphere became awkward, someone suddenly spoke, and that person was right next to Shi Shuiyue.
Shi Shuiyue saw that the expression of the woman across from her suddenly became dazed, as if she was mesmerized by a peerless beauty.
“Little Yue’er, even if you’re mad at me, you can’t just take another maiden’s embroidered ball ah~”
Shi Shuiyue turned her head to look at the men in red clothes next to her, and then blinked her eyes.
Who the heck was this guy?
The man in red clothes saw that Shi Shuiyue was staring at him, so he winked at her in a flirty manner. Then he looked at Xu Yunming, who looked as if she had been paused, and asked, “This maiden, what do you want to do with my fiancee?”
Fian…fiancee?! Xu Yunming came back to her senses and looked at Shi Shuiyue in disbelief—she was a woman?!
——
“Ranran, what’s going to happen next in your novel?! Tell me—please tell me.” A young girl with pigtails acted like a spoiled child as she hugged Yu Ranran’s arm and said.
“About that…” Yu Ranran appeared very hesitant, but she actually just wanted to tease her.
“Ranran!” The young girl with pigtails pouted and exclaimed, “I’m your loyal fan! Can’t you give me some spoilers?”
“Alright, alright.” Yu Ranran chuckled and said, “I want to write more about the Sun Moon Forest later.”
“The Sun Moon Forest? Is that the place with the Sun Moon Lake?”
“Mhm, the sun and the moon will only appear at the same time on the 15th of each month in the Sun Moon Forest. Moreover, the temperature inside the forest drops sharply at night—to the point that people might die from the coldness.”
“Is there some kind of purpose for this?”
“Mhm… The Token of Connected Hearts will appear in the Sun Moon Forest on August 15th of this year.”
“Oh! The Token of Connected Hearts! Hey, isn’t August 15th your birthday…”
“Hehe.”
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152