章節 123: Spectral Moon Festival I - Wandering.

Shu He walked alone down a dimly lit pathway, a cold chill drifting through the air and past his pale face, his eyes were only open a peep as he stared at the patterned rocks passing by beneath him; He had figured out what was wrong with him, but where did that leave him?

Absolutely nowhere.

If he really did have 2 souls, he had a mountain of things to think about, not just why he had them in the first place but what effects it will have on him in the future; Since he had lost some of his memories, one of his souls had a problem, yet he didn't know the extent or potential problems that may happen because of said problem.

He could do nothing, because he knew nothing.

"Really… nothing could just be straightforward for me, could it?" He sighed, a fine mist leaving his mouth as his breath condensed in the cold air, he glanced upwards towards the evening sky, the stars began to shine through, and the moon was full in shape like a ripe peach sitting in a black blanket.

'It's different?' The moon was a different colour than usual, it was a shade of ghostly blue almost making it seem like it didn't really exist.

Shu He pondered slightly as he walked and closed his eyes, cycling the two celestials method before he opened his eyes again with a hint of surprise in his expression.

'The amount of energy coming from the moon is almost tenfold… this is perfect for this method!'

A slight smile formed on his face, good news at last.

He looked off in the distance and saw his destination, lights were shining brightly and sounds of clattering from drums and more instruments could be heard and cheering bellowed out every few seconds.

"Huh? It's even more active that usual…" He stared in wonder at the increased activity and noise.

This place was, in fact, the entertainment district; Shu He had sworn not to come here often after his first experience, so he hadn't visited too much in his time in the sect, but he had become familiar with its usual atmosphere as he passed by it often.

Today, it was extra rowdy.

He had decided to come here to try to take his mind off everything, he needed it.

As he strolled into the streets of the district he immediately saw signs everywhere that mentioned the "Spectral Moon Festival" while talking up their goods for selling.

'That explains it, the moon being like that must be a semi-regular occurrence if they have a festival for it' He nodded to himself as he walked over to one of the stalls, there was a surprising amount of food stalls compared to before.

"Blue moon buns, freshly prepared! only 1 point! Do you want one lad'?!" The elderly stall owner called to him as he glanced at the stall, he was a little hungry, so he decided to go ahead and get one.

"Sure" He tapped his token to the plate as 1 point was taken from it "Thanks for the business!" The stall owner said as he picked up some dough, kneaded it and then dropped it in some oil.

The scent of frying sugar dough wafted through the air ticking Shu He's nose, it wasn't often he ate sweet stuff in this world, so he was quite looking forward to it.

"Does this festival take place often?" He asked, waiting for the bun to be ready.

"Hn? Ya' don't know lad? It's every couple a' years the old moon up there goes all spooky like that, it's great for us mortals because even cultivators get giddy over it, great for sales!" the old man replied, flipping the frying bun.

Yes, this old man was a mortal, in fact there seemed to be a lot of mortals in this district today, they usually reside elsewhere so Shu He was surprised.

"Oh, that often? Have you been to a lot of these festivals then?" Shu He was reminded of a fair ground as all the scents mixed into each-other making his stomach want to grumble.

"As many as your years in age most likely, maybe even double that".

"Quite a long tradition then…".

"Ay, even my grandparents used to run stalls like this here" He flipped the bun once more before he picked it out, stamping it with a metal instrument creating a blue crest with the moon on its front and cutting into it with a knife expertly, clearly he had done it thousands of times before.

"Is there anything you recommend?"

"Other than my buns? Too many things, ah, but you're a little cultivator so you'll definitely want to try the Solar Ice Draft" He said as he used a instrument to inject a blue paste into the bun before patting it shut, wrapping it with some brown paper and handing it to Shu He.

"Here ya' go, enjoy".

"Thanks" Shu He took it and walked away since there were others waiting in line before taking a bite of the bun, a sweet taste of baked goods combined with fresh fruit spread through his mouth.

'Good! These fruits taste similar to blueberries, a bit less sour though' he though as he began taking a few more bites, the bun was quite big, about the size of two of Shu He's hands so it would easily be enough to fill one person.

Though, cultivators can eat more than normal people, so Shu He wouldn't be filled with this, especially since he barely ate for a month.

Soon, the bun was gone, and Shu He licked his lips and fingers as he activated his sight, combining it with his scent as he saw paths directing him to all the wonderous stalls.

'This will be quite a distraction… now, where's that Solar Ice Draft he mentioned?'

…

"WOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The sound of the crowds cheering was loud as hundreds clapped, Shu He who was approaching wondered what the noise was as it seemed like it was all concentrated in this area.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

They yelled again, like they were cheering someone on.

'Is there some sort of performance going on here?' He wondered, he had run around quite a few different stalls following whatever scent seemed delicious enough as he drowned in a sea of fats and sugar, there really were many mortals here today as they sold normal good, nothing cultivator related.

When he reached the square that he had found out was the location that was selling the 'Solar Ice Draft' he saw hundreds of tables filled with cultivators drinking from wooden mugs like this was a common tavern as they spoke happily and guzzled down their drink.

"Wow" He couldn't help but murmur.

Then, he heard more cheering and noticed it was centred around a bunch of large kegs that were almost the size of a building, he was curious as to what people were excited about.

But what he saw, was definitely not what he was expecting.

"What the hell?!"

Gathered in a circle in the centre of the crowd, was a pile of empty wooden mugs, a few stall owners with money signs in their eyes, and a few males yelling and arguing between one another.

Half-naked, drinking themselves silly.

If that's all it was, Shu He wouldn't be surprised, but the fact was he knew a lot of these people!

"YAHAHAHAHAHA, YOU'RE ALL WEAKLINGS, LIGHTWEIGHTS, I'LL WIN!" Gang Bo yelled while downing another mug of beer like it was water, his face was red as was his bald head.

"DAMNIT, I'M NOT LOSING AGAIN!" Tai Hui yelled out standing up from being collapsed on his back, grabbing another beer from the server, and downing it before glancing hazily eyed at the man next to him and punching him "YOU SOW, DARE COME BACK TA' ME AFCHTER CHEATING!".

The one punched, Ming Shi who was the one that lost to Gang Bo in the tournament got up while red in the face and glared at Gang Bo "THAT'S UNFAIR, YOU CHEATED! CHEATER!".

And so on.

It was like watching a comedic sketch of drunks bar, Shu He who watched on felt embarrassed just looking at them.

"How do cultivators even get this drunk?!" He asked.

"Hehe, you new? This stuff isn't normal beer, it'll hit you fast if you're not careful" Someone standing next to him the crowd replied to him.

He just glanced back at the fools arguing and starting a brawl in front of him as the crowd cheered with his jaw dropped.

"Shu He! Is that you?!" A voice came from behind that cause him to jump in fright as he turned around with his fingers on his lips going "Shhhhhh!".

"Huh?" It was Wei Yu who had a questioning look on his face before he glanced behind Shu He and realised "Ah, don't want them to notice you?".

Shu He desperately nodded his head.

The last thing he wanted was to be dragged into that drunken scene.

"I heard you were discharged from the medical division a while back, but I couldn't find you" Wei Yu asked.

"I was stuck in the Alchemy Tower for a month".

"Oh… rough" Wei Yu said with an expression that said 'I feel sorry for you' plastered on his face.

"It wasn't that bad!... what have you been up to anyway?"

"I reached Meridian Awakening! But…" Wei Yu scratched his head, seemingly troubled by something.

"What's wrong?".

"Well… ever since she lost against Gang Bo in the tournament, Mei Ling has been a bit abrasive".

'Oh, that happened, right, I didn't see it' Shu He had lost conscious before any of the major fights, so he didn't know what happened.

"What's wrong?" Shu He frowned.

"She just seems upset, I try to say things to make her feel better, but nothing really works" He shook his head, lost.

Shu He frowned, then thought back to Wei Yu's origins and had an epiphany "Uh, what exactly are you saying?".

"Um" Wei Yu looked confused as to why he was asking but answered "I just try to praise her all the time, the girls from the city liked it when I did that".

Shu He winced slightly, imagining Wei Yu ceaselessly flattering her while she continually got annoyed.

"Wei Yu, I can't exactly say I have much experience with girls, but don't you think that might come off as insincere and a bit… patronising?"

Wei Yu's mouth hung open for a moment "You're right… but why did the city girls like it?" He tilted his head.

'I don't know whether to call him sharp or blunt…' Shu He thought as he glanced as Wei Yu's pondering face "Because you had money to use on them".

Wei Yu's expression went from surprise to disappointment "Right… I forgot".

Shu He did feel sorry for him, he had probably spent most of his life surrounded by yes men and people that wanted things from him, so his values are twisted; He seemed to be doing well correcting those values though.

"Do you want to see Mei Ling? I need to apologise to her…"

Shu He shook his head "I'm fine, it's better if you do it when it's just the two of you".

"Alright then, see you later!" Wei Yu ran off, slightly stumbling along the way.

'He's been drinking as well?' Shu He sighed.

It seems age restrictions didn't apply here.

He turned to the crowd, looking for a table to sit out.

'I wonder if anyone else I know is here?'