"Ugh~, I didn't expect to feel full? What a surprise, huh?"
Looking at the empty iron pot in front of him, Ember let out a satisfied burp. He hadn't kept track of how much he'd eaten; if there was too little water, he added water, and if there were too few vegetables, he added more.
Eating like this, the taste surprisingly didn't change. Ember could only attribute this to Onion's cooking skills being so good that he didn't need seasoning.
"Take this."
After eating and drinking his fill, Ember pulled out another barrel of Jacques's wine. On top of the barrel were two yellowed parchments.
"What is this?" Morgott picked up the parchment and asked, puzzled.
"The recipes for those two things you just ate," Ember replied nonchalantly.
"It's mainly for Patches, that guy. As for you… I don't think you'll need it," Ember waved his hand. He had just remembered that Onion hadn't taught Patches how to make these two dishes.
If Patches ever missed his hometown, he could make these two things to ease his longing.
But Ember felt it was a long shot. To this day, he still didn't know Patches's background, and where his hometown was remained a mystery.
But who cared? He gave it to Patches, and what Patches did with it was his business.
"I will." Morgott accepted the two parchments, then with a wave of his hand, the wine barrel on the ground also disappeared.
"Hmm… Morgott, don't you think it's gotten a lot quieter?" After Morgott finished tidying up, he heard Ember ask.
"It does seem a lot quieter." Morgott also realized it. He had been so engrossed in chatting and joking with Ember that he hadn't noticed this point.
Ember looked up at the night Sky. The continuous fireworks had stopped, and starlight once again filled the Sky.
Opening the door and looking into the alley, the red lanterns hanging at various doorways had now dimmed, leaving only the two stone lions at Ember's door still diligently emitting a strange purple light.
Liyue, which had just been bustling, was now completely silent, as if waiting for something.
Soon, Ember knew what they were waiting for.
A single light appeared in the darkness, and this light, like a signal, awakened the silent city.
Countless re-lit lanterns converged into fiery red ribbons of light, weaving through Liyue Harbor.
They connected to each other until the entire city was completely illuminated.
After the light descended upon the earth, next came the Sky.
Points of light, even denser than the stars, appeared in his line of sight—those were the xiao lanterns released by the people of Liyue.
They illuminated each other, slowly flying towards the higher Sky. From a distance, they looked like a curtain of light rising from the ground, corroding the boundary of darkness.
Among the scattered xiao lantern lights, one light was particularly striking. It pulsed and shone in the ocean of light, attracting everyone's gaze.
That was the grand xiao lantern that all of Liyue had been preparing for a long time, and it was also the highlight of this year's Lantern Rite.
With the blessing of mechanisms and Plaustrite, the giant deer xiao lantern, built in the image of Skybracer, shimmered with jade-like cyan flowing light, dancing nimbly amidst the fiery red.
It looked as if an ancient immortal had truly descended into the world.
"This amazing? It seems it's time for us to make an appearance." Ember looked at the giant xiao lantern in the distance, feeling that it couldn't steal all the thunder.
So he pulled out the cargo basket from the corner, skillfully put on the covering, and then started the Burning.
"Whoosh—, Whoosh—"
Burning a fire was incredibly familiar to Ember. Flames surged fiercely within the Burning basket, and the rising heat quickly inflated the newly assembled balloon.
Seeing this, Ember no longer hesitated, excitedly jumping in. He also waved to Morgott, "Come on, Morgott!"
Morgott looked up at the Sky and sighed in his heart. With such a dense number of xiao lanterns, would there really be no collision accidents?
But he still walked in. Let them collide, he thought; didn't Liyue have an old saying, "Shattered means peace," which seemed quite fitting here.
With a slight tremor, the fully inflated hot air balloon slowly ascended.
Due to the fierce flames in the Burning grate, the orange-red firelight struck the balloon, making the entire hot air balloon glow red.
If one ignored the basket below and the two figures inside, it really looked like a xiao lantern, and a super-sized one at that.
"Heh, pretty bright." Ember stood on the edge of the basket, looking at the brightly lit Liyue below, and sighed slightly.
This was the first time he had seen such a prosperous scene.
"My King, now that we're flying, where to?" Morgott waved his hand, and an invisible gust of wind dispersed the xiao lanterns around the hot air balloon.
"Where to? Didn't I tell you before? Towards Inazuma, advance!" Ember heard this and pointed at the sea swallowed by darkness in the distance, saying excitedly.
There was a whole bunch of Crucible Knights waiting for him there! It was time to go and see them!
"Inazuma? Your subordinate understands." Morgott nodded, then watched the hot air balloon slowly ascend.
The hot air balloon was slowly climbing. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before it merged with the ocean of light that had just been released.
But the key was, didn't he say they were going to Inazuma? Why was the hot air balloon showing no signs of heading towards the sea?
"My King, why are you flying upwards instead of towards the sea?" Seeing that they were about to collide with the released xiao lanterns, Morgott asked Ember while blowing away the xiao lanterns.
"This…" Ember heard Morgott's words, also noticed the anomaly, scratched his head, and explained, "Because I don't know how to control a hot air balloon."
"…" Morgott looked around. Good, Ember hadn't left any controls for the hot air balloon either.
"I'll do it." Seeing this, Morgott stepped forward. Several golden ropes extended from his hand, tying down the hot air balloon.
By controlling these ropes, this rudimentary hot air balloon finally became mobile.
The hot air balloon, illuminated by the firelight, flew towards the dark sea. Among the ribbons of light formed by countless xiao lanterns, this hot air balloon might not have been conspicuous, but as soon as it left the light ribbons, it immediately became incredibly eye-catching.
"Hmm? Did the Ministry of Civil Affairs also build a second grand xiao lantern?"
"No way, grand xiao lanterns are very expensive. I heard this year's Plaustrite was even sent by an immortal!"
"Perhaps other merchant guilds funded its construction?"
The crowd on the ground, seeing the "xiao lantern" that had broken away, all discussed animatedly.
However, not many people focused on it; during the Lantern Rite, there were too many things to attract attention... On the pavilions of Feiyun Slope, Ningguang was casually chatting with Beidou.
"How was the trip to Inazuma?" Ningguang looked at Beidou, who had just returned from Inazuma, and couldn't help but ask.
Beidou heard this, took a gulp of wine, then laughed and said, "My Tianquan, have you forgotten what day it is today?"
"Today is the Lantern Rite, why are you still asking about these bothersome things?"
Ningguang heard this and also realized it. He lowered his head and smiled, pouring wine from the pot, and self-deprecatingly said, "I'm used to being busy, I'll fine myself a drink."
"I say, the Night Market is so powerful this year, you can build two grand xiao lanterns?"
"What? Impossible? There's only one large Plaustrite this year, there's no way to build two large xiao lanterns."
Following the direction Beidou pointed, Ningguang saw the two grand xiao lanterns slowly flying towards the sea.
One was cyan; this was the one they built, and to differentiate it, the light was adjusted to green.
The other was red. Ningguang felt very confused; why did this xiao lantern look so awkward?
Sobering up, Ningguang looked closely. That red one was not a xiao lantern, but a hot air balloon!
"Oh no, this year's xiao lanterns are still…"
"Boom!"
Just as Ningguang was about to say something, a violent explosion, accompanied by a Sky full of light, spread across all of Liyue.
Amidst the brilliant fireworks, Ningguang seemed to hear someone's exasperated shout:
"How can someone launch a sneak attack during the Lantern Rite?!"
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