The Silly Alchemist

“Are your lanterns all different-coloured? Made of bamboo sticks?” asked Ye Lang.

“Most of them. Some are made of wood,” replied Zhu Ye’er.

“We don’t want heavy ones, the lighter the better!”

And just like that, Zhu Ye’er produced almost a thousand lanterns. The colourful lanterns were a pretty sight.

Then, Ye Lang started to teach everyone present how to make Sky Lanterns. There were so many of them, he obviously had to let the attendees make their own.

Everyone grew excited after seeing his first lantern hence most of them agreed to participate. Even the people who were doubtful enrolled themselves too. Wasn’t them making their own a better proof of their point?

“Come, are you all ready?” asked Zhu Ye’er. Although Ye Lang was planning this, Zhu Ye’er was the spokesperson for the event. This was because one, Ye Lang was lazy, and two, Zhu Ye’er was better at controlling the crowd.

At the same time, there were also miscellaneous affairs that required her attention like the tools, lighters, candles…

“Yes!” shouted the audience.

“Light’em up!

Zhu Ye’er lighted a lantern she’d just made, then gently released it up into the air.

“Woah…”

There were squeals of joy ringing across the yard…

Very soon, the skies of the Imperial City lit up with a magnificent sight- a thousand lanterns rising up in the air. Every citizen of the city stopped what they were doing to watch the lanterns.

“What’s that?”

The same question popped up in every corner of the city. No one knew what they were, but they all agreed it was gorgeous.

Under the full moon, the slow rise of the Sky Lanterns all looked like starlight going back to the skies. It was like a dream.

After this day, Zhu’s Soup House would soon become the focal point of everyone’s attention, making it even more popular across the city!

However, what made Boss Zhu the happiest was this: she had new products to sell! Namely, teddy bears and Sky Lanterns.

Although it was too soon to see how well her teddy bears would sell, the Sky Lanterns sold like hotcakes. In the weeks that followed, the trend of releasing Sky Lanterns at night never stopped- not only at the imperial city but across the Soaring Sky Empire and then people across the mainland were doing it too.

This wasn’t what Ye Lang had expected, he’d only intended to have some fun.

The happiest person right now was obviously Zhu Ye’er. She was already very wealthy from selling weight loss medicine, that was how she came to own so many assets.

However, the business of selling lanterns had a customer base that extended to commoners. It was exhilarating.

After this festival, Zhu Ye’er was soon busy with work and stopped following Ye Lang. He was relieved too. Thank goodness for that or he’d have to avoid Zhu’s Soup House for a while.

…

The day before the group hunting event. Ye Lang was also at the field with Li Yue. As long as she was there, he would be too!

Whistle—

Ye Lang made the most powerful shot he could, mustering all his internal Qi. The target shattered with a huge boom.

The entire field fell silent. Everyone wondered how powerful that shot must have been. No human would be able to survive an arrow like that.

“…”

Li Yue stared at Ye Lang solemnly, growing increasingly confused about who Ye Lang was. Why was he always where she was? Yet they never talked.

If he wasn’t one of her admirers, were these all mere coincidences?

But what were the chances? And if he WAS one of her admirers, why hadn’t he made a move yet?

Li Yue decided to make the first move. She had to know what Ye Lang wanted.

She approached Ye Lang under the surprised gaze of everyone, then asked, “Mr Fox, will you be attending tomorrow’s group hunt?”

“Yep!” he nodded. His answer felt very distracted, for his attention was still on the arrow.

“Can we form a team?” asked Li Yue. Hmmph, I can’t believe I’m giving you a chance to get closer to me. If you’re planning on winning me over, you’ll have to say yes! 

“No, it’s alright. I want to hunt alone, I won’t be participating in any teams!” Ye Lang refused her invitation immediately. This was according to Athena’s plan too. Ye Lang must operate alone for his convenience if he wanted to get closer to Li Yue.

However, this was different. Li Yue herself had initiated the offer. If it were up to Athena, she would’ve advised to not agree immediately, but not refuse either.

That did not cross Ye Lang’s mind, therefore he rejected her offer as if she was some other random participant who invited him into their group.

“Oh, apologies then! Bye!” she made a small bow then left.

Hmmph, what was that?! I invited you into MY team, and you refused?!

Although this was what Li Yue had hoped- to prove that Ye Lang wasn’t one of her admirers-, it still didn’t feel good to be rejected by another person.

“Oh my goodness, what just happened? That fox kid REFUSED Miss Li Yue’s offer?!”

“I can’t believe it either! I saw it too, this is unexpected! Damn!”

“Right? Miss Li Yue extended the offer personally too… And he refused…”

…

“Are you dumb? Why did you say no?!” asked Coldblood Five.

“What?” Ye Lang obviously didn’t understand.

“You refused Li Yue’s invitation! She’d voluntarily initiated the offer, that means our plan worked! Are you trying to be a tease or something?!” cried Coldblood Five.

“Huh?! Li Yue initiated an offer? Why don’t I know about this? When was this?”

“What? Please don’t tell me you didn’t notice that was Li Yue talking just now!” Coldblood Five realised Ye Lang hadn’t rejected Li Yue- he wasn’t even aware of her existence!

“What do I do now? Athena’s going to nag me to death if she knew I rejected Li Yue! No, I must go talk to her…” he said frantically.

He was panicking not because of what he did but out of fear of Athena. This was Athena’s plan, and he’d single-handedly ruined it!