The Mid-Autumn Festival; Battling Lanterns on Moon Watch Eve 2

However, even if it'd look bad, it'd still be better if he went.

He wasn't like the Rain Master, who had been living a reclusive life for centuries; he wasn't like the Earth Master, who had a secret mission on hand; and he definitely wasn't like the Water Master, who could do whatever he wanted. If he wasn't anyone, but still insisted on standing out, refusing to attend just because he didn't feel like it, then after a while it'd create resentment and there'd be talk. Even if he wouldn't think anything of it, it'd make things difficult for Jun Wu. Thus, he accepted Shi Qingxuan's invite on the spot.

"Alright. I will definitely be there when the time comes."

In the following days, Xie Lian tried all sorts of ways, but still couldn't succeed in separating Qi Rong from that man's body, and Qi Rong was growing quite pleased with himself. Thank goodness for Guzi who didn't mind feeding his "dad", as Xie Lian really didn't feel like stuffing anything into his mouth. On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Xie Lian drew an array outside Puqi Shrine, locked the door from the outside, left Ruoye behind to keep Qi Rong bound, and reported to the Heavenly Court.

In verse¹ they say: "White jaded capital of the heavens, twelve towers five cities. The immortal strokes my head, hair bound to receive immortality²." The "white jaded capital" here was, of course, talking about the Heavenly Court. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, everything was renewed and refreshed at the Heavenly Court, and other than that, Xie Lian could see the streets, corridors, and terraces were filled with increased security guards; they were probably appointed after Hua Cheng's intrusion last time. The banquet was set under the moon, in open air, surrounded by elegant fragrances; an air of propitiousness, clouds of prosperity, and blossoms flurried in the air like snow, giving way to both the space for entertainment and moon-watching. For moon-watching from the mortal realm, if one were to create a circle by touching one's thumb to the index finger, the moon could fit right in that frame. However, for moon-watching in the heavens, that moon would be bright and immaculate like a giant jaded screen that stood but a close distance away, as if with only a few steps it could be caught; truly an ethereal sight that could not be seen in the mortal realm.

Seated at the head of the banquet, needless to say, was of course Jun Wu. However, there was a hidden, intricate machination to how the rest should be seated, a method to order and position; seated too up-front was naturally a no-no, but seated too far away, the heavenly officials themselves wouldn't want to. Xie Lian didn't really care for these etiquettes, however, one must be formally-dressed for the Mid-Autumn Banquet, meaning one better wear what one's divine statue looked like in the mortal realm. Xie Lian didn't have a single divine statue, so he still wore that white cultivation robe with a bamboo hat tied on his back; although a little shabby, he really didn't have anything better. Dressing this way was kind of conspicuous, so he felt it'd be better if he sat somewhere more hidden away.

Just as he had already found a random corner to sit, when he looked up, he saw Feng Xin walk his way. Both of them stopped for a moment, nodded slightly to each other, and considered it a greeting.

Feng Xin walked on for a few steps, but turned back around and asked, "What are you doing sitting here?"

Xie Lian thought he sat down in the wrong spot, and stood up. "I thought I could sit anywhere?"

Feng Xin was about to speak when Xie Lian saw, far in the distance, Shi Qingxuan waving at him from the front. Shi Qingxuan was in her female form at the moment, and when Feng Xin turned and saw, it was like he saw something foreboding. Looking aghast, he left Xie Lian to his own devices and hurried away.

Shi Qingxuan shouted, "YOUR HIGHNESS, OVER HERE!"

The Wind Master was someone prominently popular in the Heavenly Court, and her seat was naturally one of the best, close to Jun Wu. This wave and call made many of the heavenly officials look over, and Jun Wu who was at first sitting silently with his hand supporting his cheek, also noticed Xie Lian, and inclined his head towards him, so Xie Lian had no choice but to go over. On the way, there was expectedly no sight of Lang Qianqiu; it seemed he had long since declined his invitation to the Mid-Autumn Banquet in favor of searching for Qi Rong's whereabouts. Shi Qingxuan found Xie Lian a seat right next to her, a spot with the best fengshui. Xie Lian didn't think it appropriate, but since the Wind Master was so fervently gracious, she was already pushing him down to sit.

She said, "I'll take you to the kid later, after the banquet is over. He's a little ugly, but pretty obedient."

At this point, he could only say his thanks. Turning his head, the one seated near the two was Ming Yi, playing with a jade cup sullenly; the hand playing with that small vessel was actually whiter than the jade cup. The colour of his face was normal enough, so it seemed the injuries he received whilst at the Ghost City were healed.

Xie Lian greeted, "Lord Earth Master, you seem well."

Ming Yi nodded once, looking like he didn't want to talk. Shi Qingxuan, however, was the complete opposite. She knew everyone, and could say a few words to anyone sitting front, back, left, right, even those much further away. Xie Lian was quite in awe of how she could remember all the names of those heavenly officials, no matter their rank. Seated next to him was a young man of eighteen, nineteen; his nose tall, his brows deep, and his raven hair slightly curly. Xie Lian didn't know him, and he didn't know Xie Lian either. The two looked at each other for a bit, feeling a little lost, and ended the awkward stare after Xie Lian made up a random greeting. Looking around some more, Feng Xin and Mu Qing both sat as far from each other as they could, and the ones seated right in front of him, chatting with each other with familiarity, were three heavenly officials.

On the left was a black-clad civil official, his brows respectable, his appearance generous. Between words, five fingers gently tapped a regular rhythm on the table, his expression steady and calm, looking somehow familiar. The middle was, of course, the very-acquainted Pei Ming. On the right was a white-robed gentleman, a fan gently fanning in his hand; on the front side of that fan was the word "shui" for water, the backside drawn with three wavy lines. His brows and eyes looked quite similar to Shi Qingxuan's; seemingly kind, but his expression very clearly indicated he didn't care for anyone. Who else could it be but that "Water Tyrant"?

Xie Lian got it: they were the "Three Tumours".

That black-clad civil official must be Ling Wen's most powerful form, and it sure was impressively proper. The three of them greeted each other, and used all manner of ways, from all ends of the earth and heavens, to praise and compliment each other, to the point where Shi Qingxuan grumbled under her breath.

"Fake. SO fake."

Xie Lian found it rather amusing, however. Just then, he noticed at the front of the banquet tables was a small, beautiful pavilion with red stage curtains covering all four of its sides.

He asked, "What's that?"

Shi Qingxuan smiled. "Oh, you don't know? This is also a really popular game in the Upper Court. Come, come, just watch, it's starting now!"

She trailed off as a few rumbling sounds of thunder came rolling beyond the skies. Jun Wu glanced at the sky, poured a glass of wine, and passed it down. Then, in the midst of rumbling thunder, the seated heavenly officials started laughing and hollering as they passed around that glass of wine, shouting:

"Don't give it to me! Don't give it to me!"

"Pass it to him!"

Just watching others play, Xie Lian somewhat figured out the rules and thought, "so it's Drummed Flower Passing³". The crowd passed around the glass of wine passed down from Jun Wu to each other, without spilling it; the wine could be passed to anyone, but it must not be passed back to the same person. When the thunder stopped, whoever the wine cup ended up with would be picked upon for fun; only, he didn't know what kind of "fun" it would be. To Xie Lian, this game wasn't a friendly one. The one you passed the wine cup to would be the one who got ridiculed, so most would pass it to ones they're closer with. Yet, he wasn't close with most of the heavenly officials present, so how could he dare to so nonchalantly ridicule the others? At best, he could only pass it to the Wind Master, but what if the Wind Master happened to be the one who passed him the wine?

"Best if no one passes it to me," Xie Lian thought. "But, I might be thinking too highly of myself."

Before he even had the thought, the first round was over. Under the intense watch of everyone, that glass of wine stopped in Pei Ming's hand. It seemed Pei Ming was used to this, and downed that glass in one gulp amidst the roaring cheers. The officials clapped and hollered.

"RAISE IT! RAISE IT!"

In the thick of cheers, that glamourous pavilion slowly raised the curtains of its four sides. Upon that platform stood a tall general, head raised, steps wide, imposingly impressive. It didn't look like he noticed any of the heavenly officials from below, nor the strangely beautiful scenery of the heavens. He walked for a few steps and started singing verses, sonorous and enthusiastic.

Turns out, whoever the wine cup ended up with, that pavilion would bring forth the plays written about that particular heavenly official from the mortal realm and perform it for all to see. Due to humans' deep love for making things up, who knew just what kind of shocking play they would see, and one wouldn't know when they'd be picked, so this game was very much both thrilling and embarrassing.

However, this was also how entertainment was derived. It must be said that each of General Pei's plays were all exhilarating, simply because the female counterpart was different every time. Sometimes it was a celestial being, sometimes a ghost, sometimes an unmarried lady; each female counterpart was more beautiful than the next, and the stories were each more shameless than the next. The heavenly officials watched with deep interest, waiting for the woman to enter the scene. Sure enough, it didn't take long before a black-clad lady entered the stage, her voice like a golden oriole. The two actors sang to each other, the lyrics brazenly flirtatious. The more the crowd watched, the more something didn't feel right, and they started asking around:

"What's the name of this play?"

"Who's the woman the general is seducing this time?"

Just then, the "General Pei" on the stage called out: "Noble Jie⁴—"

Below the stage, both Pei Ming and Ling Wen spat out their mouthfuls of wine.

Who else could that "Noble Jie" be? Ling Wen's full name was Nangong Jie. The heavenly officials were shocked: did the two actually have a past together?!

Ling Wen used a napkin and wiped the corners of his lips, then said flatly,

"There's no need to think on it. It's made up."

Although the two in question were both a little woeful, still, they were both thick-skinned enough. The play continued to "yeee aaahhh yeee aaaahhh" on stage, and the two below pretended not to see. Shi Wudu wouldn't let them off the hook so easily, however. He smiled, fanning his fan.

"What an exciting play. Any thoughts, you two?"

"Not really," Ling Wen replied. "This play is old. My divine statues back then weren't like the ones now. It's only a folktale. Think about it, in folktales, as long as they're women, who hasn't Ol' Pei tried to seduce?"

Everyone agreed wholeheartedly.

Pei Ming spoke up, "Hey, you can't say that. It's true that I've seduced pretty much everyone in folktales, but this one, I really haven't. Don't wrong the innocent."

"By your logic, since the mortals all say I've seduced even more male officials whilst I've done nothing, wouldn't I be sitting on pins and needles?" Ling Wen quipped.

Ever since Ling Wen was brought to the heavens via appointment, the folktales all told she did it through seducing another heavenly official; which was also why at the beginning, the Palace of Ling Wen was cold and quiet with very few worshippers. Apparently during a period of intense objection, she was cussed and cursed to the ends of the earth, and there were even those who'd throw menstrual linens and bralettes into her donation boxes. However, if male officials had similar rumours, they'd gain the title "charming" instead, and could take full pleasure in it. Clearly, although the situations were similar, a difference between male and female existed, and the consequences were different.

Just as Xie Lian was thinking this, the next round had begun. Shi Wudu was laughing earlier, but this round came to him. The two Tumours next to him raised and courted their hands in a congratulatory gesture in unison.

"Instant karma. Take it graciously."

Shi Wudu furrowed his brows for an instant, then drank the wine, and those curtains were raised once more. Before the curtains had even reached the very top, two long trills came from within:

"My wiiiiife—"

"Hubbyyyyy—"

Boundlessly affectionate, the tender voices twisted and turned, filled with lingering yearning.

Thus, from below, Xie Lian saw with his own eyes, goosebumps popping up on over half of Shi Wudu and Shi Qingxuan's bodies.

Shi Qingxuan jumped to her feet. "GE—!! HURRY AND CUT IT OFF!"

Shi Wudu immediately shouted, "DROP IT! DROP IT RIGHT NOW!"

Even without seeing, one could easily guess the play picked must be from the folklore of husband and wife between Lord Water Master and Lady Wind Master. Tales of love and hatred would always be fan-favourites when people told stories. If either was already there, good. If not, even better, because then anything could be made up. Technically, whatever the gods had actually done themselves were the conventional legends, but sometimes when they saw what the mortals came up with for them, they couldn't help but be amazed by what was truly legendary.

The moment Shi Wudu spoke up, the curtains really did drop down. The heavenly officials in the audience all wanted to laugh but didn't dare to, suffering from holding in their mirth.

Xie Lian however, smiled and asked, "Lord Wind Master, I didn't know you can call for the curtains to drop?"

Shi Qingxuan was still shaking and replied, "Yeah, it's no big deal. Just donate a hundred thousand merits!"

"..."

Xie Lian sat, speechless, and the third round began. This time, the thunder didn't rumble for very long, and that wine cup was passed to the young man sitting next to Xie Lian.

Seeing this, the reaction from the crowd of heavenly officials was odd. It wasn't fervent, but it wasn't cold; more like they were very interested in seeing the play, but didn't want to be so obvious about it. That young man didn't seem to be too interested in the game, but still drank the wine. He put down the cup and the curtains were raised once more.

Two stood upon that stage. One was a young general with curly hair like that of a stone lion's mane, and although exceedingly exaggerated, he still looked heroically sprightly; so he must be portraying that young heavenly official. The other one had pointy lips and monkey cheeks; the very portrayal of a wretched clown, jumping all over the stage. When the young man faced him, he'd act serious, but greasy and loathsome; when that young man turned around, he'd make faces and take a sword to backstab; no doubt the role of a two-faced, cunning villain.

That clown performed with vigour and over-embellishment, like it was a silly, comedic play, but the reactions from the heavenly officials in the audience were vastly different. Xie Lian noticed that the officials in the lower ranks all laughed uproariously, while the higher-ranking officials like Shi Qingxuan and Shi Wudu all frowned wordlessly, not thinking it amusing whatsoever. At the same time, he also noticed veins popping suddenly on the fists of that young man beside him, and Xie Lian became alarmed. Although he couldn't understand what was going on onstage, he could still guess it was ridiculing another. Besides, even if he didn't know who was who, just the way the play was enacted made one feel extremely uncomfortable. That young man seemed ready to throw a fit, so Xie Lian took a chopstick from the table and hurled it towards the rope controlling the curtains.

The not-so- sharp chopstick brushed by the rope and actually snapped it. The curtains dropped noisily, and the officials all cried in shock.

"How can this be?!"

"What's going on!"

They all looked to Xie Lian, some even rising to their feet. Xie Lian was about to open his mouth when the next second, something exploded next to his ear. It seemed that the young man had shattered that white jaded wine cup in his fist.

It appeared that play had provoked his outrage, and he threw away the shards of that jaded cup in a fit. He jumped to his feet, sprang onto the table, pushed off with his feet and leapt onto that pavilion, barging through the curtains. A number of heavenly officials rushed to lift the curtains, but there was already no one inside. The crowd was in an uproar.

"OH NO OH NO, HIS HIGHNESS QI YING WENT DOWN TO BEAT PEOPLE UP AGAIN!"

Xie Lian wondered, "Qi Ying? The Palace of Qi Ying? The Martial God of the West Quan Yizhen?"

He hurriedly asked Shi Qingxuan, "Lord Wind Master, what's going on? What's with His Highness Qi Ying going down to beat people up again?"

Shi Qingxuan snapped out of it and replied, "Beating people up is just...beating people up. Ahem. You might not believe it, but, Qi Ying frequently beats up his own worshippers."

"..."

That really was the first time he'd ever heard of a heavenly official who dared assault their own followers, since that was something that could destroy their image in a believer's mind. He wanted to inquire some more, but heard a lower heavenly official further away speak up in displeasure:

"Lord Quan really is too immature. Everyone was just having fun, doesn't he know to cooperate a little? Who hasn't been picked on? Did General Pei and Ling Wen Zhen Jun not get laughed at? Besides, it wasn't even him who was being made fun of, so why so angry?"

"Yeah, he really thinks too much of himself. Even if he's mad, there's no need to throw a fit right this second? The banquet is a fun occasion, no one's here to watch his temper! Really..."

"Alright, alright, a kid is a kid. He's not even here anymore, and it'll be more fun without him anyway."

Xie Lian mused while listening to them talk. The feast was only temporarily disrupted, and Ling Wen seemed to have already sent someone to take care of Quan Yizhen's affair. After some officials came out and assuaged the others, the banquet and games continued. Thus, the thunder rumbled and the fourth round of Drummed Flower Passing began.

At first, Xie Lian was only watching other people play; he couldn't blend in and was happy others didn't bother him. He was just about to chat with Shi Qingxuan when unexpectedly, just then, a hand was suddenly extended to him, and passed him that white jaded wine cup.

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Translator Notes:

¹The verses are from the longest autobiographical poem by the renown Tang poet Li Bai, lamenting his life and political aspirations while in exile. Li Bai was known to be obsessed with becoming an immortal.

²Point of Interest: "Hair bound to receive immortality"—in ancient China, for the Han, binding hair and tying it up symbolized coming of age. Boys tie their hair up into a bun at fifteen and are crowned at twenty. Girls are given a hairpin for their bun at fifteen, and once married, hair must all be tied up into a bun.

³"Drummed Flower Passing" is just hot potato

⁴"Noble Jie": the "noble" here doesn't refer to Ling Wen's status, but is rather an expression of endearment.