Snap.
Fang Yuan snapped his fingers once more.
Everything around them instantly shifted from stillness back to motion.
The pair of merfolk lovers, hand in hand, continued on their way.
The spittle that had been flying between two merchants haggling in a shop finally landed on the customer's face, but the customer noticed nothing.
The little dog's three paws touched down as it successfully left the blue-scaled merfolk at its side behind, continuing to weave through the forest of legs with incredible agility.
Xia Lin stared wide-eyed, watching all of this in amazement.
This was truly incredible!
"Master Chu's abilities are truly formidable! Could this be a Fifth Transformation killer move from the Time Path?"
Xia Lin guessed inwardly.
Thump.
The human Gu Master who had been knocked off course by Xia Lin tumbled to the ground, bumping into the person behind them and causing a small commotion.
"Someone so big, and that's how you walk?" someone complained.
"My apologies, my apologies." The burly human Gu Master was very polite and quickly offered his apologies. After all, this was the merfolk's holy city, and the baleful energy in this paradise was far lower than in the outside world of the Five Regions.
"I was walking just fine — how did I fall? How strange." The human Gu Master looked bewildered, quickly got to his feet, and followed the crowd away.
Xia Lin stuck out her tongue, watching the human Gu Master's retreating figure, and softly apologized.
Strangely, she felt a small thrill of mischievous joy. Just as she was about to reproach herself for it, her hand was grabbed by Fang Yuan.
"Follow me!" Fang Yuan pulled her along, quickening their pace to the front of the lion dance troupe.
The entire troupe faltered for a moment, then danced with even greater vigor, and the accompanying music rose an octave.
"We're all here now, haha!" someone in the troupe laughed loudly.
"You can dance, right?" Fang Yuan said with a smile, and was the first to swing his legs into motion. He played the role of the filial son lying on ice — his movements were both simple and elegant, possessing a unique beauty.
The people around immediately cheered in unison. Fang Yuan followed the crowd while dancing up to Xia Lin.
"Your turn." In the next moment, Fang Yuan's voice secretly reached Xia Lin's ears.
Xia Lin's heart pounded furiously; she was terrified. Even though she had practiced this opera dance extensively as a child, she had never performed it under such circumstances, in front of so many people.
She began to dance, her movements stiff.
Fang Yuan laughed and extended his hands, taking hold of hers to guide her through the movements.
He secretly deployed wisdom-path techniques, and Xia Lin suddenly felt herself growing more fluid. The dance moves from this opera surged up from her memory, clearer than they had ever been before.
The two of them sang and danced together, moving along with the crowd.
The lion dance troupe members all wore colorful costumes and bizarre masks, and several of them collaborated to portray a massive golden sea lion. Wherever they went, people's eyes were drawn first to them.
And as the central couple — the main characters of the troupe — they were the focal point of everyone's gaze.
Xia Lin was extremely nervous at first, but as she danced better and better, she grew more confident. She immersed herself in the joyful atmosphere, the sorrow and gloom of her false accusation long forgotten. People's cheers, shouts, and the whistles of rogues constantly filled her ears.
Even when Xia Lin made mistakes in some movements, it only drew warm, good-natured laughter.
The crowd surged around them, and as the procession moved forward, members of the lion dance troupe left while new ones joined.
Before she knew it, Xia Lin let out a laugh as clear as silver bells.
An unprecedented sense of happiness and joy filled her heart — something she had never felt since arriving in the Holy City.
She was immersed in this bliss, unable to pull herself free, while at the bottom of her heart she harbored a secret fear. She asked herself: was any of this real?