Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Maiden and the Palace Lantern

Lu Chenyuan’s eyes stirred at the words, and in his mind there rose, of its own accord, that fleeting glimpse from moments before: when the girl had fallen to the ground, a patch of snowy skin had shown at the edge of her black boot.

The shard was sharp; if it had truly cut her, the wound would be no trifling matter.

At the thought, he looked toward her ankle and said, “Your foot is injured. Let me take a look.”

No sooner had he spoken than the pale yellow glow within the glazed palace lantern in the girl’s arms trembled, as though startled fireflies had stirred it.

From that pool of light drifted a few delicate wisps, like dandelion seeds caught by a breeze, whirling softly within the lamp; it was plain that its mistress’s mind had already gone to pieces.

The girl’s pretty face flushed crimson at once. She waved her hands repeatedly, her voice tinged with panic. “N-no, it’s nothing serious!”

With that, she tried to struggle backward, avoiding the young man’s searing gaze.

Seeing her move, and noticing as well the broken shards of a wine jar scattered behind her on the ground, glinting coldly in the moonlight, how could Lu Chenyuan let her take even the slightest risk?

Quick as thought, he reached out and gently caught her wrist, saying, “Careful. There are shards there too.”

He had meant only kindness, yet the moment his hand landed, he felt how cool and supple her fair wrist was.

Lin Jianyan went rigid all at once. From the warm hand on her wrist there seemed to come an indescribable force, and in an instant she felt as though all the blood in her body had rushed to her head.

The palace lantern in her arms changed even more dramatically.

All at once, the light within it shrank toward the center, collapsing into a tiny, embarrassed pink point. The entire lantern dimmed, leaving only that pitiful speck of pink trembling faintly, casting the girl’s flustered,羞窘 expression in an even more enchanting glow.

Lin Jianyan’s heart pounded wildly, and even she could not tell whether it was because she felt her own state was too mortifying, or because of the young man’s sudden closeness.

As a demon suppression envoy, when had she ever been handled so by a stranger she had only just met?

Now she seemed to have lost her soul, her mind gone blank. Only a faint rising heat circled round and round above her head, leaving her unable to think of anything at all.

At first Lu Chenyuan had taken the palace lantern to be some unusual magical device. Only now did he realize that it seemed to be linked with the girl’s heart, reflecting her inner state with startling precision.

Watching the light in the lamp shift from pale yellow to pink, he too felt a subtle stirring in his chest, and thought to himself, “This treasure really is most interesting.”

While he was still lost in thought, he suddenly saw that the pink point, overfilled with shame, gave off the faintest sizzling whisper. From the top of the light point, wisps of the same pink, adorable vapor began to rise and curl upward, lovely beyond measure.

Before long, the footsteps and shouts of several people came from outside the courtyard, as if someone were in pursuit.

Lin Jianyan’s expression tightened. Knowing that her colleagues from the bureau were handling a case, she understood that this was no place to remain for long.

She cupped her hands to the others and said, “I will take my leave first.”

Before the words were even finished, her figure rose like a wisp of blue smoke and quietly leapt to the top of the wall.

At once, the tethering cord trembled, and the glazed palace lantern she had left on the ground flew up after her, landing securely in her hand. In the blink of an eye, she vanished into the night.

Lu Chenyuan gazed after her retreating figure, and for some reason a trace of worry rose in his heart. He said to Shangguan Chuci, “Young Master Chu, let’s go look as well.”

Shangguan Chuci had meant to do exactly that. Hearing him, she smiled brightly. “Very well!”

As her voice fell, the cries and footsteps on the long street grew ever more tangled and urgent, clearly showing that hands had already been laid on one another.

Lu Chenyuan and Shangguan Chuci exchanged a glance, neither delaying further, and rushed out after her from the rear courtyard.

The moment they stepped outside the inn, a salty, fishy sea wind swept down over their heads, stirring the blood in the chest and making it surge.

Just as Lu Chenyuan gathered his strength to give chase, a tearing pain suddenly shot through the newly healed wound on his chest, causing his figure to pause almost imperceptibly.

With a wry smile, he said, “Young Master Chu, your movement technique is superior. Go ahead and take a look first. I’ll be along shortly.”

Yet Shangguan Chuci did not move at once.

Her clear eyes remained fixed on the bend in the long street, and a faint smile instead curved her lips.

With a crisp snap, she shut the white jade folding fan in her hand, then pointed with it from afar and said with a smile, “No need to hurry, Brother Lu. The play over there has already begun, though it has not yet reached the most exciting part. If we go now, we’ll arrive just in time.”

Lu Chenyuan paused at her words and looked toward where she pointed, and even he could not help but marvel inwardly.

At the corner of the long street, where the lights were sparse, a girl with a palace lantern in her arms was already locked in combat with two cloaked cultivators.