Chapter 10. coincident meeting

"Ekhm… Anyway…" Lan Bingyue cleared his throat and turned his gaze to Hua Baiyu with his cheeks still blushing because of Hong Mei, but he tried to stay calm.

"Do you realize the danger you guys will face if you choose to stay here?" He asked again to make sure it was clear.

Hua Baiyu looked at Hong Mei, and her gaze returned to Lan Bingyue.

"We know, but don't worry, we can deal with it. You guys don't need to worry," Hua Baiyu said sternly.

"Sorry to interrupt... We understand that you want to do something here and of course you might be able to deal with it, but we are actually worried about your safety because, if it wasn't for meeting us but instead meeting the others, Hong Mei might not be able to be free like this thus she would have been sold to an animal trader. You are very lucky, actually." Xiao Yang expressed his opinion after observing for a long time.

"Uhm, I know I owe you guys a favor, and I will repay you someday. But we still want to be here, and we know the consequences. I appreciate your concern, but our business here is not finished. If we have finished it, we will automatically return to Qing Qu." Hong Mei was clearly hesitant.

Lan Bingyue looked at Xiao Yang for a moment, and Xiao Yang gestured by shrugging his shoulders. They had tried to advise them but the other party didn't listen, so... well, what can we do? Just let it be, then.

Seeing Hua Baiyu and Hong Mei had eaten their noodles. Lan Bingyue then asked again.

"Then where are you going after this? Do you have a place to stay here?"

"We..., we want to fly the lanterns. Do you guys want to tag along?" Hong Mei asking them, Hua Baiyu glared at her. Hong Mei! Why did you invite them?

Xiao Yang who saw that, tried to calm her down. "It's okay if we don't come, we're just worried about your safety."

Hua Baiyu was silent then she felt bad, so she also agreed to Hong Mei's invitation. "Just come along, we can go together."

Xiao Yang looked at Lan Bing Yue who was also looking at him. As if asking ...how? and this time Lan Bingyue shrugged his shoulders and then looked at the two girls again, "Okay, let's buy lanterns first,"

Then the girl's stood up awkwardly from their seats, when they wanted to pay for their food Lan Bingyue stopped them and said. "Let me treat you guys." The man replied.

The girls stared at each other in silence, closed their mouths and nodded slowly. "Okay..."

After that Hua Baiyu and Hong Mei put their masks back on and walked side by side. Lan Bingyue walked beside Hong Mei and Xiao Yang walked beside Hua Baiyu. The four of them walked awkwardly while looking for a good lantern seller.

"We haven't introduce ourself yet, right?" Xiao Yang asked Hua Baiyu suddenly which made the girl who was walking with a blank look suddenly flinch.

"Uh ...Uhm? Ah yes." Then the girl fell silent. She had no intention of saying her name first to the young man. Xiao Yang came to his senses and tried to look calm.

"My name is Xiao Yang, what's your name?" He asked again.

"I'm Hua Baiyu," She replied softly.

"Hua Baiyu... your name is beuatiful. what does it mean?"

"I don't know either, I never asked my parent." The answer was short, Xiao Yang then fell silent.

"Ohh okay then." Then they fell silent along the way. Walking awkwardly.

On the other side, Lan Bingyue had bought a stick of tanghulu and gave it to Hong Mei which the girl accepted well and she ate it happily.

"Do you like it?"

"Yes... Thank you."

"You're welcome, have you had any difficulties so far?" Lan Bingyue asked again.

"Uhm... I don't think so, sis Baiyu and I have managed to resolve our problems well so far."

"Thank goodness then."

"Oh yeah, Lan Bingyue, you mentioned animal traders before. Do you know them?" asked the girl inquisitively.

"No," he answered casually.

"Then how come you know where to sell your catch?" asked Hong Mei again in disbelief.

"I plan to look for them, and if I don't find them I'll just meet the buyer directly."

"I wonder if you're a bad person or a good person, because you almost sold me before."

"Then what's your conclusion?"

"I don't know, I don't know you completely yet."

"Haha… so you want to know me completely?"

Hong Mei's cheeks suddenly turned red when Lan Bingyue said that. "Well, we met again by chance, I have no choice but to get to know you completely."

Lan Bingyue smiled lightly, he pinched Hong Mei's cheek which he thought was very adorable.

"Just try it then. Get to know me completely." He answered in a teasing tone.

Hong Mei just closed her mouth and looked ahead at the road, her cheeks to her ears were very red now. She didn't know what to answer.

The lantern sellers on the side of the road were shoutingk offering their wares. Many people crowded on the sides of the road to buy their lanterns. Hong Mei turned to Hua Baiyu who was beside her.

"Shall we buy a large lantern or a medium one?"

"Are we going to fly it together or four of us?" Hua Baiyu asked Hong Mei, Lan Bingyue and Xiao Yang.

"If it's four of us, that's fine," Xiao Yang replied.

"I agree too, I'll buy it." Lan Bingyue replied. Hua Baiyu and Hong Mei then nodded.

Because the queue was long, they stood on the other side of the road for a moment then Lan Bingyue bought the lantern alone after queuing.

After buying the lantern, they headed to the town square where everyone had gathered and at the appointed time the lanterns would be burned and flown together.

"Is it time yet?" Hong Mei asked.

They were currently holding the four sides of the large lantern together. "What about the fire?"

"Don't worry!" Xiao Yang replied.

"What are your requests? Write them here." Hua Baiyu pointed to each side of the lantern before flying it.

Then each of them wrote their respective wishes on the edge of the lantern with a brush that had been bought earlier.

TANGGG ...

The sound of the gong rang, indicating that the right time to fly the lantern had begun. Xiao Yang released fire magic from his index finger, heating the inside of the lantern. When the lantern was fully standing and ready to be flown, everyone shouted together as time went backwards.

"3! 2! 1!"

Then thousands of lanterns were released together, which made the lantern rise slowly into the dark night sky but now looked very beautiful with small lights rising to fill the sky.

"Wow ... very beautiful." Hong Mei and Hua Baiyu's voices were heard in unison.

"Right." Lan Bingyue answered while following their gaze.

"Very beautiful ..." Xiao Yang said this too, but his gaze was not directed to the sky, but towards Hua Baiyu, he looked at the girl who looked very beautiful with the background of the lantern in the sky.

The lanterns flew higher and stayed in the sky for a while until they finally fell slowly to the ground as the fire slowly went out. The night was getting late.

"Where are you going after this?" Lan Bingyue asked the two girls.

"We seem to be going home... Why?" Hong Mei asked again.

"Can we take you home?" Xiao Yang asked. Hua Baiyu looked at Hong Mei with a disapproving look. Hong Mei was silent for a moment.

"It's okay, we can go home by ourselves, thank you for accompanying us tonight." Hong Mei replied with a smile.

"We will take you. No refusal." This time Lan Bingyue insisted. Hua Baiyu wanted to reply but finally gave up. This man was the same as Hong Mei, both of them are stubborn but his stuborness is on the next level.

"Okay... But because it's already night, we won't invite you in." Hua Baiyu answered.

"No problem!" Xiao Yang smiled happily.

They then walked home side by side, this time neither of them started a conversation first. This journey felt long and the night sky with stars was increasingly visible. From a distance, a building surrounded by a high fence was visible. They approached the building and stopped in front of the gate.

"We've arrived, thank you for escorting us." Hong Mei said with a smile.

"You're welcome, we also feel calm now seeing you arrive safely."

Then the two girls nodded their heads to the two young men as a sign of farewell before opening the gate.

"Wait!"

Lan Bingyue called suddenly, he took the jade hanging from his waist and put it in Hong Mei's palm who turned to see Lan Bingyue approaching her. "I know you don't need this, but call me if you need help. I'll come."

"How do I do it?" Hong Mei asked looking at the green jade in the shape of a kirin with red thread and beads underneath.

"Flow your qi energy into it and call my name. That way I will know where you are."

"Uhm... Okay, thank you for this." Hong Mei replied again. She held it tightly without knowing the meaning behind it. "We will going in then." said the girl quickly.

Oddly enough Hong Mei felt comfortable with them and did not feel threatened like before. Maybe because the impression of them helping her before was still etched in her memory.

"Then we will go." Lan Bingyue said then.

Then with that they parted. Hua Baiyu just nodded her head to Xiao Yang and Lan Bingyue as a sign of gratitude and farewell then the two girls went into the house and closed the door.

"Wow..." Xiao Yang raised one eyebrow. He had been so nervous since earlier that he did not make any sound.seeing the beautiful girl disappear behind the big door.

"Is this what is called falling in love?" Naruto asked himself and he muttered to himself...Hua Baiyu oh Hua Baiyu, finally there is also a girl who attracts the attention of a man like him. And the girl is very quiet and graceful, making his desire to protect her awaken.

"Even though there was an opportunity for you to approach her, but you just kept quiet. What a loser hahaha" said Lan Bingyue laughing a little.

"I'm nervous! Besides, I don't know what I should say earlier. I hope I can see her again" Xiao Yang avoided. But his gaze wanted him to direct it to the big red door that was already closed. He wondered what the two girls were doing now.

"Haha, you bastard, let's go back to the sect." Lan Bingyue just laughed lightly and mocked Xiao Yang for his attitude earlier. Then not long after the two young men had flown and disappeared from in front of the two girls' house.

Inside the house.

Hong Mei and Hua Baiyu decided to soak in the hot spring pool behind the house, accompanied by moonlight and hundreds of peach blossom petals scattered from around the pool to inside it.

The bright moonlight made their recovery fast and their strength stabilized, and the warm pool water made their bodies relax.

"Hua Baiyu, I sense that Xiao Yang seems to be very interested in you. What do you think about him?" Hong Mei asked, breaking the silence. Her nine tails waved in the water and came out of the pool water wet.

Hua Baiyu was silent for a moment, her eyes that had been closed before she open it slowly, when she felt the moonlight penetrate her bones, her white tail moved happily with the sensation.

"He is a handsome and kind young man."

"So you like him?"

"Pftt, of course not, we can't." She answered again, while playing with the flower petals that fell into the pool.

"Why? Do you hate him? He is very kind." Hong Mei asked again, she was very curious.

"Of course he is kind, I don't hate him, but us being a couple is very impossible." She answered again. Hua Baiyu felt the moonlight at night wanting to be very strong and her body gradually recovered because of it.

"Why?" Hong Mei tilted her head.

"I am a spirit and he is a human, it takes extreme measures for us to be together."

"For example?"

"Moreover, he is a cultivator. have you ever heard the story of Shuilian?"

The leaves once again fell in the wind and in the air peach blossom petals flew here and there.

"Never. Who is that?"

"He is a fish spirit." she answered with a mysterious face, making Hong Mei even more curious to hear the story.