"The Bacchus Festival" is probably the most beautiful memory in Yu Zhenren's life.
on this night.
Although the moonlight is not full, it must be extremely bright and pure.
The evening breeze is always gentle and the waves are clear and full of light.
The long street is lively, the crowds are jubilant, and the lanterns are colorful and bright like stars.
And the most luxurious part is undoubtedly gathered on the river, the tallest and most conspicuous building boat - the painting boat of Li'er Tower.
There are the most gorgeous lights, the most exciting juggling, the most wonderful singing and dancing, the most distinguished guests and the most beautiful beauties. Of course, the most delicious food is also indispensable.
Collecting delicacies from the north and south, everything is available for frying, cooking and cooking.
It can be said that shark's fins and bear's paws are just vulgar food, and delicacies from mountains and seas are also commonplace.
However.
The final delicacy of the banquet is actually the most ordinary thing to say.
Fish meat.
Fish dumplings cooked by Sanniangzi herself.
Needless to say, Sanniangzi's craftsmanship is as handsome as her talent.
Let's just say that this fish was specially raised in the living pool of Li'er Building and soaked in flower petals and wine for many years.
In order to keep fresh food, we have chosen the right time to catch it from the pond and transport it from Li'erlou.
…
It's a good fish.
Everyone will say this when they see it.
The scales are as lustrous as jade, and the eyes are bright and distinct in black and white. They flutter on the chopping board so powerfully that the two strong female workers can barely hold them down.
only.
"Huh? What's in the fish's mouth?"
While everyone was laughing and talking, changing cups and cups, waiting for the third lady to show off her skills.
A discordant voice came out.
The person who asked the question was sitting at the top of the banquet. This person was the magistrate of Xiaoshui and the esteemed person of the county. Therefore, even though the words were almost spoken to himself, the people at the table could still hear them.
So, for a moment, everyone, whether they were guests, maids or guards, all turned their attention.
They saw: the big flapping fish spit out a small round-handled object from its mouth.
what is that?
Under the spotlight, the answer was quickly revealed.
The female worker who was holding the big fish suddenly put her hand into the fish's mouth, and then pulled it out.
Immediately.
The cold light spreads out and seems to be able to cut people's eyes.
In that phantom pain, people can see clearly.
This is a sword.
A sword half as long as an arm, with an extremely thin and sharp edge, ready to kill!
"assassin!"
Someone screamed.
"Witch!"
Someone added.
The warm dining room suddenly started to boil.
Some were motionless, some were running away in confusion, some were yelling, some were screaming for help...it was a mess.
The assassin paid no attention to him, but with a sharp knife in his hand, he walked quickly and went straight to the magistrate at the table!
There are actually many guards in the boat, and the guards are quite strict, but who would have thought that there would be a scene of "specializing in assassinating the king's officials"?
There were guards nearby who tried to stop him.
But the assassination came too suddenly, and the sword edge came too quickly.
They didn't have time to arrive.
The sharp blade hidden in the belly of the fish, which had escaped repeated inspections, had penetrated into the county magistrate's chest in the blink of an eye.
Immediately.
Blood surges like a fountain.
The assassin's face showed confusion and even uneasiness.
What is puzzling is that the blade of the sword is obviously thin and has not been pulled out yet, so how can the blood spray?
The uneasy thing is.
From the moment the blood spattered, the room seemed to suddenly become quiet.
She looked around, and was shocked to find that time seemed to have stopped in the banquet. Everyone maintained their movements and expressions at the previous moment, frozen.
And just outside the banquet hall, on the deck just across the door, the juggling was still going on as usual, as if they didn't even notice what was happening in the banquet...
"Got you."
The assassin suddenly turned around, and the county magistrate, who had been killed by the sword, came to life again and smiled broadly at her.
"Got you."
She looked back in panic, and everyone at the table turned their necks and faced her with smiles.
Immediately afterwards.
"boom!"
The door suddenly closed.
The assassin shuddered and woke up from the panic. She wanted to pull away, but found that the blood sprayed on her body was like a living thing covering her, becoming tough and sticky, like a snare, killing her.
Hold on.
She could only watch as the doors and windows were locked one after another, and people with smiling faces swarmed towards her.
My ears were filled with their "hee hee" laughter.
"Got you."
…………
Outside Xiaoshui City.
The low mountain where Shuiyue Temple is located.
Li Changan hid alone in the wild forest, overlooking the bustling lights of the Dionysus Festival.
Although separated by many forest barriers and a long distance, with the Dionysian as a bridge and the synaesthesia between Li Changan and Yumei, everything that happened on the boat was like looking at the lines on the palm of his hand, and he could vividly remember it.
only.
At this time, Li Changan could see the endless crowds on both sides of the boat; he could see an acrobatic act called "Dai Pole" being performed on the deck; and even, through the window, he saw Sanniang cutting up the big fish into pieces and winning.
The whole house cheered.
But I couldn't see the scene of "specializing in assassinating King Liao" or the strange thing of "time freezes".
"These bug bastards are really powerful. They actually built another layer of illusion on top of the illusion." Li Changan clicked his tongue, "If we had encountered this move before, we would have been doomed long ago."
"Not really."
Dionysus retorted.
"If it hadn't swallowed the vine demon, the fantasy butterfly wouldn't be able to do this. Besides, its cannibalization of the illusion has not yet spread to Xiaoshui City. It must have cost a lot to build this illusion within the illusion."
One person and one god spoke to each other. Although they were focused on Huan Die's increasing control over the illusion, they were not worried at all about Yu Mei's situation.
the reason is simple.
Because all of this was expected, or planned.
With the coming of the Dionysus Festival.
Several people had to admit that just killing the big monsters one by one was not enough to bring Huan Die out of Shuiyue Temple.
The cards in their hands were getting smaller and smaller, and they were about to lose everything. After discussion, the three decided to increase their chips and take a gamble.
And this bargaining chip is Yu Mei herself.
So last night.
Yu Mei committed a murder and had his face peeled off, but was hit by someone, and alerted the patrol and left in a hurry. The survivor happened to wake up when he was being killed, and managed to escape because he was an earthworm and turned into a demon, revealing the clue that Yu Mei intended to change his form and sneak into the boat to assassinate...
…Everything is just a play directed and acted by oneself.
For this reason, Li Changan also took a risk and eliminated several patrol teams with Yu Mei, so that Huan Die thought that its minions were unusable and that it would have to take action to deal with Yu Mei.
pity.
Li Changan looked back at the direction of the water and moon. There were few stars in the moon and no spots were visible.
The Hundred Fantasy Butterflies still haven’t left the nest.
It only allowed Chongzi to create an "illusion within an illusion".
but.
still have a chance.
…………
Fantasy.
Surrounded by monsters, the assassin's counterattack was weak and short-lived.
soon.
She was firmly nailed to the ground with long bone drills passing through her limbs and shoulder blades.
His face was covered in blood and his eyes were dull.
The demons gathered around her, laughing and pointing, as if they were dissatisfied with her weakness, and were particularly unhappy with this ambush.
Until a monster came forward and pulled a piece of human skin from her face.
The laughter stopped abruptly.
Probably because, beneath the human skin, there is actually a face covered with short hair and a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks.
Yu Mei’s true form is indeed a monster, but she is a locust tree, not an ape.
What's even weirder is that between the brows of this monkey face, there are a number of unhealed scratches faintly visible under the hair. If you look closely, these scratches combined together look like a... talisman?
When all the monsters looked at each other.
Many dark arcs of light suddenly jumped out of the "talisman".
then.
boom!
The thunder rang out!
…………
The painting boat in Li'er Tower is two stories high and floats on the water like a small tower, offering a view of all the boats.
The boat was tied to both banks with ropes. The ropes on the boat were covered with all kinds of colorful lanterns, which were reflected on the water. At first glance, one thought it was a fairy palace in the Milky Way.
The top floor is divided into two, and one half is used as a banquet venue. In previous years, it was simply surrounded by curtains or screens.
But this year is different.
Because demons have been causing trouble recently, a pavilion was specially built so that guards could be arranged.
But the tourists on both sides of the Taiwan Strait didn't care how the big figures on the boat spared their lives. They just focused their attention on the stage in the other half of the boat.
What is being performed at this moment is an acrobatic act called "Dai Guan".
A fat woman is holding up a large bamboo pole, which can be more than twenty feet high. There are some small branches on it, all carrying colorful ribbons and lanterns. Nine little girls are spinning and jumping on it, performing various thrilling shows. Look.
The onlookers below were dazzled.
And at the end of the high tide.
A little girl climbed to the top of the pole lightly and "transformed" into a plate of fruit.
then.
Take a step.
He jumped directly from a high altitude.
But he did not fall. Instead, with his clothes flying, he flew through the void and flew straight to the banquet on the other side of the boat.
"good!"
The cheers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait suddenly rang out a hundred times.
The juggling troupe above is very famous in the surrounding area, and everyone knows that their specialty is called "Fairy's Gift".
But the performance just now is wonderful, but the ones jumping around are just like a few monkeys, how can they be considered immortals?
Where is it now?
Oops.
It really flew by!
As a result, there was thunderous cheers and money was thrown like rain.
The spectators widened their eyes to see the wonderful performance that was about to follow.
boom!
suddenly.
A muffled thunder seemed to explode on the river.
The boat shuddered violently amidst the thunder, and when the colored lights swayed, the lights shattered like glass, falling to the river surface, and large swaths of thick fog rose up.
Blink.
It covered the entire boat.
Why don't you let me see it?
The audience below looked at each other in shock, and the one who had just invested money to reward was even more regretful and asked for a refund. More tourists were attracted by this news, thinking that there was some novel show.
I won't mention all of this for now, but it's already chaos in the boat.
Not only because of the sudden thunder and shaking, but also because many charred corpses appeared out of thin air at the banquet. Although they were in pieces and shapeless, at a glance, it was clear that they were not human.
All kinds of inexplicable changes took place in the classroom. No one even noticed that the "fairy" who flew from the bamboo pole to congratulate the guests had already entered the banquet.
What she held in her hand was not a celebratory gift, but a short sword as thin as a cicada's wings.
Until someone exclaimed:
"Beware of assassins!"
Only then did the panicked people wake up.
But she was already flying forward.
The sword light swayed.
For example, a white rainbow shoots through the sun and comes directly to the county magistrate sitting on his seat.
This moment.
The scene in the previous fantasy seemed to be happening again.
The maids who screamed for help, the guests who fled in panic, the magistrate who was waiting for death, the guards who struggled to stop him... and the "worm cubs" who were hiding in the crowd, but in their anxiety, their true colors were revealed.
She took it all in her eyes, but didn't take it to her heart at all.