I became an immortal in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 302 A beautiful dream to cherish for a lifetime
The apprentice was immediately captivated by the allure.

The number of people in this market was nowhere near as large as in the East Market during the day. No matter how many demons and ghosts there were in Chang'an, they would never outnumber the people.

But the lights shone brightly, illuminating the scene even more clearly than during the day.

The sounds of vendors hawking their wares filled the air.

"Delicious malt candy—malt candy that makes you dream sweet dreams—"

Others looked at him.

"This young man isn't engaged yet, is he?"

"Let's take a look at this incense stick..."

The apprentice, wearing tattered shoes, crept closer to the street. He could even see the maltose being sold at the stall ahead, slowly simmering in a small pot. The air here seemed to be sweetened by the simmering process.

The apprentice swallowed hard.

"Gudong..."

The stall owner wore a dark Nuo mask, making her look like an old woman who was already quite frail.

He was carrying a very old, worn-out iron pot used for cooking soup. The blacksmith's apprentice could tell at a glance that the pot hadn't been forged with any care; it even had slag on it and had been used for who knows how many years.

If this apprentice were to get his hands dirty, he could make a better soup pot than this.

The thick broth simmering in the small pot bubbled and gurgled, being casually stirred by the stall owner.

The sweet, warm steam wafted over the apprentice's face.

He glanced at the stall owner furtively, wondering if he was a human or a ghost.

I looked up at the sky again, and it seemed like dawn was approaching. It must be almost 1-3 AM by now.
The apprentice mustered his courage, checked his purse for the few coins he still had, and asked, "How much is this candy? Can I buy it?"

The stall owner turned around and looked him up and down very carefully.

"Yes, I can afford it."

The apprentice scratched his head, his speech strange and unsettling. The winter night wind was chilly, and he didn't want to stay in one place any longer. He asked again:

"Why are you all wearing Nuo masks? Why are you all covering your faces?"

Two or three laughs reached my ears.

The nearby stall owners burst into laughter and all looked over. They started talking all at once:

"This person asked us why we were wearing masks!"

"This person smells really strange, like a foul odor, yet he looks human. He has the nerve to go out himself, but he asks us why we're wearing masks?"

"There were people who weren't wearing masks just now, why didn't you say anything about them?"

The other person started arguing.

"I've wanted to say for a long time that they're ugly; they don't have a single hair on their faces!"

"It was just a polite way of putting it; I just didn't say it directly at the time."

"That's it."

Another burst of laughter erupted, with many "passersby" laughing so hard they almost cried. The donkey stall owner in the distance didn't hold back, laughing loudly as he exposed the deception.

"You're clearly afraid of them!"

"Otherwise, why wouldn't you dare to snatch the drinks?"

Enraged, the stall owner glared at his apprentice and ripped off his dark Nuo mask.

It has a bird's face with black and white feathers.

The lights were bright, and the stall owner looked at him with a playful smile: "Sir, would you like to buy something?"

The apprentice felt a chill run down his spine.

……

……

"It's getting light."

Sanshui held the heavy piece of fabric and sighed.

She stretched out one hand, still clutching the candle. Overnight, the candle had burned quite a bit, but it looked like it could burn two or three more times.

Sanshui was still not satisfied.

"It's even more lively at night than during the day!"

After his initial shock, Wu Daozi witnessed the deaths of those "evil spirits," and his heart gradually calmed down. Looking at the bustling city and brightly lit streets, he felt only longing.

He regretted not bringing paper and pen to record these things himself.

Under the bright moonlight, he walked side by side with Li Bai, feeling the cold wind. The two had drunk quite a bit of wine at Hu Gong's house and were now reeking of alcohol, completely unfazed by the cold.

He could only lament that the night was too short and the days of being an official were too long.

Wu Daozi shielded the candle flame, his mind filled with countless thoughts, and in the end, he could only sigh:
"Isn't this exactly what the ancient books describe as the dream of Huaxu?"

Li Bai also laughed.

He listened to the distant sounds of a pipa and singing, the candlelight flickering in the cold wind, and the long night stretching into the distance, a vast expanse of brilliant lights. "Wonderful."

"We should be drinking to our hearts' content at this moment, but unfortunately we've already had quite a bit of wine at the Hu family's house, so there's no more wine to drink now."

Li Bai lamented this.

He thought of Yuan Danqiu; it should be past the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), soon turning to the hour of Mao (5-7 AM). That Daoist Danqiu should still be fast asleep, snoring loudly.

I wonder what kind of elixir formula he obtained from visiting fellow practitioners.

It's probably hard to compare to tonight's trip to Chang'an, walking with demons and ghosts at night.

They witnessed the trade of demons and ghosts, sang as they walked, ate at a fox's wedding feast, and saw thunder rumble in the sky, slaying evil spirits...

Li Bai decided to talk to the Taoist priest when he turned back.

He and Sanshui were thinking the same thing. Sanshui had already prepared her thoughts in her mind and was ready to go back and tell her junior brother.

They walked from the southernmost point of the East Market, their ears filled with the constant hawking of vendors, until the sounds gradually faded away, and in the distance stood a light, floating figure.

Jiang She stopped in his tracks.

At first glance, I saw a boy, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a blank expression.

Everyone else was dressed in fine clothes, but he alone wore tattered rags and worn-out cloth shoes. His winter clothes were insufficient to ward off the cold winter night wind. In his hand, he clutched a piece of candy wrapped in oil paper.

Jiang She gradually approached the past.

The shouts and playful laughter around them subsided.

Jiang She sized up the boy.

His voice held no blame; he simply asked calmly, "How did you get here?"

Suddenly, a spark appeared in the other person's bewildered eyes.

The apprentice was at a loss and stammered.

"I...I bought a piece of maltose candy."

Jiang She asked, "What was exchanged?"

The apprentice said he couldn't remember clearly. He only remembered that the stall owner said he could afford it and that it wasn't the few coins he wanted. The money was still safely tucked in his pocket. When the apprentice came to his senses, he counted it immediately and found that not a single coin was missing.

Jiang She then took him to find the stall owner.

The bird vendor sat in his stall, a small pot in front of him, cooking fragrant sugar.

Several people were standing in front of me.

The cat stared at the stall owner, and gradually, its eyes became fixed on him, and its mouth couldn't help but open, making a soft "click-click" sound.

Jiang She held down the kitten's head.

You're too kind.

"Did the stall owner sell a piece of candy?"

The stall owner looked up at him and recognized him after a while.

The stall owner nodded, his voice stammering slightly, "Yes, yes."

"What was changed?"

"It is... all the dreams he has ever had in his life."

Jiang She picked up the small piece of maltose candy. He had heard the vendor's hawking before; this maltose candy could make one have a sweet dream.

"A beautiful dream, traded for a lifetime of dreams?"

The stall owner hurriedly explained:

"Immortal Master, you may not know this, but most people suffer in this life. They either float in a sea of ​​bitterness or are entangled in love and hate. There are few times when they are truly happy, and even dreams are like this."

"This piece of candy I have was obtained from someone else twenty years ago. I picked and chose it carefully."

"Only such a small pot of sugar has been boiled down, and only one piece has been produced."

"Just this little bit of sweetness is enough to savor for a lifetime."

The stall owner bowed tremblingly.

“This is a legitimate business… Besides, I’ve already told him everything before, it’s all been explained, he’s just being silly and got so scared that he forgot everything.”

She glared at the silly boy.

He was surprised that he wasn't frightened at all; he was almost scared out of his wits. Luckily, nothing serious happened, otherwise the immortal master probably wouldn't have let him off the hook.

The stall owner shuddered as he recalled hearing the thunder from the south not long ago.

Jiang She nodded.

He looked at the young apprentice and asked him:

"In that case, would you like to buy it?"

【Ask for monthly ticket】

(End of this chapter)