Moon Gazing

That night, Lu Ran was a little too happy.

The bedroom was too small to contain the joy in Lu Ran's heart, so he simply climbed out the window and darted back and forth along the walkways and lawns of the residential complex.

Amid the drizzling rain, sharp cī cī sounds rang out one after another!

Trails of Divine Mist outlined Lu Ran's path of movement.

Only after more than half the divine power in his body had been depleted did Lu Ran stop, watching as his pair of white-mist sheep legs gradually faded away.

"Awesome~!"

Lu Ran wiped his drenched face and vigorously shook his head.

It had been a long time since he had felt this wild.

Sighing to himself, he crossed the lawn and climbed back in through the small bedroom window.

"Heh." Soaked from head to toe, Lu Ran lay limply on the floor and let out a long breath.

With such a Divine Technique empowering him, he now had another card in hand for tomorrow's battle to defend the city!

As he thought about it, Lu Ran suddenly realized that Immortal Sheep had been incomparably indulgent toward him.

Immortal Sheep had created the Divine Technique: Immortal Hoof so that its believers could stay far from danger and flee conflict.

A god naturally allowed its believers to practice Divine Techniques, but just now, Lu Ran had gone far beyond practice. He had simply gotten carried away by joy.

With that thought, Lu Ran rose and went before the shrine. "Thank you, Immortal Sheep!"

The Xianyang Jade Sculpture was snowy white and silent.

After considering it, Lu Ran asked for permission. "Tomorrow, I will inevitably use this technique to fight the Demon Race head-on rather than avoid battle and flee. I hope you will approve."

"From now on."

Immortal Sheep, who had not manifested for a long time, finally sent down a Voice Transmission.

Lu Ran immediately perked up. "From now on?"

"Not only tomorrow. From now on."

Lu Ran clenched his fists. Sure enough, this was the answer!

From beginning to end, Immortal Sheep had encouraged Lu Ran to fight. Never once had it told him to avoid battle or bow his head!

This was clear enough from the special Divine Technique, Sound of Lamentation, that Immortal Sheep had taught him.

Lu Ran pressed his palms together and said solemnly, "This disciple will certainly strive to make the Immortal Sheep Sect shine brilliantly and will not disappoint your expectations!"

"Oh, right." Lu Ran remembered something else and hurriedly asked, "Does Divine Technique: Immortal Hoof have any special way of being used?"

If he could create something like the Sound of Lamentation from Divine Technique: Compassionate Sound, wouldn't that mean he had hit the jackpot?

The room was completely silent.

Lu Ran waited patiently, but no answer came after a long while.

There was no special version?

Lu Ran was a little disappointed, but he did not dare BB out loud.

It was all because the mysterious and domineering sheep boss had brought him too many surprises these past few days. It had truly spoiled someone rotten.

Lu Ran said no more. He sat cross-legged before the shrine, drawing in the divine power between heaven and earth and making thorough preparations for tomorrow's battle to defend the city.

The rain fell all night.

Lu Ran kept Little Rain company and did not sleep a wink through the night.

Until dawn the next day, the low and drawn-out alarm sound rang through the city once more:

"Woooooo~~~"

Lu Ran opened his eyes. His eyes were especially bright, with energy faintly flowing within them.

He stood, wisps of mist curling around him as he walked to the windowsill.

Dark clouds blanketed the sky, and the drizzle had not stopped.

At this rate, he probably would not see the full moon tonight.

Lu Ran sighed inwardly and reached for the Stream Grade Divine Power Bead hanging around his neck, sensing the abundant divine power stored within.

Whenever he cultivated before the shrine these past few days, he had poured divine power into the bead. Everything had been for this day, the lunar fifteenth.

"Woooooo~~~"

The alarm sound still echoed through the city, lingering without end.

Lu Ran did not delay any longer. He went to wash up, then headed to the master bedroom to retrieve his father's saber, the Xiaguang Saber.

More than ten minutes later, Lu Ran wore a black raincoat and held the cloth-wrapped Xiaguang Saber as he stepped onto the empty streets.

Inevitably, he became the center of attention along the way.

Especially when he passed residential complexes, curious citizens could always be seen watching him from balconies and behind windows.

Some even shouted at Lu Ran, urging him to hurry home and stop wandering around.

Yesterday, ordinary people could still go out shopping. Today, that was completely impossible!

Lu Ran did not respond to the well-meaning citizens urging him on. His heart was simply full of emotion.

Once, he had been one of these citizens. He had possessed no ability to resist and could only pray for heaven's mercy as he suffered through the Night of the Fifteenth.

Lu Ran had not even been qualified to remain at home!

Because only if your home enshrined a Divine Idol could you stay there.

Whether you had personally made offerings to it or a relative had, you could kneel devoutly before the shrine and pray for one night of Anwen.

People like Lu Ran could only follow official arrangements to shelters and live in fear through the night.

Now, everything had changed.

Lu Ran had become a believer. He possessed Divine Techniques and, more importantly, the courage to raise his butcher's blade against the Demon Race.

This feeling...

"Whew." Lu Ran let out a deep breath, clutching the Xiaguang Saber tightly against his chest as he gazed at the streets and alleys beyond the Rain Curtain.

Seventeen years.

It was time for me to take the stage.

When Lu Ran arrived at the school, the Sports Field was already packed with people. Most of the students wore raincoats. Apparently, everyone had thought the same thing—no one could possibly fight while holding an umbrella.

"Brother Lu!" From afar, Deng Yutang waved.

The problem was, he was holding a Red Turban in his hand. The way he beckoned Lu Ran over while waving it made things look rather strange.

"Brother Lu, in a bad mood?" Deng Yutang looked at Lu Ran's face, dark as still water.

Tian Tian stood behind and to the side of Jiang Ruyi, showing half her small face as she curiously watched Lu Ran.

"It's nothing." Lu Ran shook his head.

On his way to school, he had gone to the Wulie Riverbank again, hoping to give himself—and the cat—one more chance.

But heaven did not grant his wish.

At this moment, Lu Ran still had only the blade in his arms, not the tabby cat.

He hoped it could survive this night.

"What happened to you?" Jiang Ruyi looked at Lu Ran, a trace of concern flashing through her eyes.

"It's really nothing!" Lu Ran answered casually, then turned to Deng Yutang with a look of disdain. "Next time you call me over, don't shake a handkerchief."

You made me look like some brothel customer~

Deng Yutang casually handed the Red Turban over. "Here!"

Lu Ran blinked. "Huh?"

"It's for you." Deng Yutang smiled. "Didn't you say last time that you wanted to try wearing one?"

"Hehe~" Lu Ran immediately stopped looking disgusted. "Oh, you really shouldn't have!"

Though he said that, Lu Ran moved smoothly, taking the Red Turban in one motion.

Jiang Ruyi was speechless at someone's shameless expression, while Tian Tian covered her mouth and snickered.

"Hahaha!" Deng Yutang laughed heartily and looked proudly at Jiang Ruyi. "A bet's a bet, Class Monitor Jiang!"

Jiang Ruyi nodded helplessly and accepted the two Red Turbans Deng Yutang handed her. "Thank you."

"What were you betting on?" Lu Ran asked in confusion.

Deng Yutang said, "I prepared one for everyone on our squad, but the class monitor said they were too valuable and she couldn't accept them.

"Then we made a bet. If you accepted yours, she would accept hers."

Lu Ran felt a little awkward and immediately changed the subject. "By the way, Young Master Deng, what does your sister do for work?"

Deng Yutang said, "She's with the Moon Gazing Squad, under the Gods Bureau. She works at the City Bureau in Cloud City."

Rain Alley City was a county town, while the prefecture-level city governing Rain Alley was Cloud City.

It had a population in the millions, and the Divine Idol of Wuya, a seventh-rank god, stood there.

"The Gods Bureau, the Moon Gazing Squad." Lu Ran understood.

Sister Deng was actually a cop!

That was why she had appeared by the Wulie Riverbank, and why she had been so meddlesome.

The Gods Bureau was Great Xia's law enforcement agency.

Unlike an ordinary police department, the Gods Bureau dealt with believers. Its main responsibility was cracking down on crimes committed by believers and the like.

The Moon Gazing Squad was an internal department of the Gods Bureau. Those belonging to it were collectively known as Moon Watchers.

Moon Gazing was a lunar phase, also called the full moon.

In Great Xia's lunar calendar, every day's moon phase had a corresponding name. "Moon Gazing" referred precisely to the lunar fifteenth.

Every Night of the Fifteenth,

Moon Watchers were the people citizens relied upon, and the most trustworthy Guardian Gods of the city.

"Why bring her up all of a sudden?" Deng Yutang did not understand.

Beside them, Jiang Ruyi let Tian Tian wrap a Red Turban around her arm, while her beautiful eyes glanced vaguely toward Lu Ran.

"Just asking because I'm bored." Lu Ran muttered softly, lamenting inwardly.

The Great Nightmare was actually a public servant—and a law enforcer for believers!

Trying to spank her would naturally be harder than climbing to heaven.

If things went wrong,

I might even end up inside, working a sewing machine.

"What's your sister's name?" Lu Ran pressed. "The full name."

"Deng Yuxiang. Yu as in uncut jade, Xiang as in Xiaoxiang."

"Oh." Lu Ran scratched his head—and, unsurprisingly, scratched the hood of his raincoat.

He really had gotten her name wrong.

"Why do you keep asking about her?" The ever-brave son of the Deng family rarely felt flustered.

Lu Ran said, "Just asking. Why are you nervous?"

Deng Yutang's expression turned strange. "I know that in other people's eyes, my sister is beautiful, strong, and especially rich.

"But Brother Lu, take my advice. Never provoke her!"

"Me, provoke her?" Lu Ran grinned.

Your sister really was beautiful enough to make snot bubble from her nose, and she was the kind who would not even feel bad using money to wipe it.

But she specialized in dealing with god believers like me!

The match was far too perfect.

Why would I walk right into the tiger's mouth like a sheep?

"Brother Lu, I've always treated you like a brother!" Deng Yutang threw an arm around Lu Ran's shoulders.

Lu Ran fell silent.

I never said I wanted to be your brother-in-law.

Besides, with this small frame of mine, I couldn't withstand that huge saber of hers!

"All done, Sister Ruyi," Tian Tian said softly after tying the Red Turban.

"Mm." Jiang Ruyi responded quietly, absentmindedly looking at the bow tied from the Red Turban around her arm.

Tian Tian waited eagerly for Jiang Ruyi to tie her Red Turban for her.

However, Jiang Ruyi merely played with the bow and ignored the girl.

Tian Tian opened her mouth, but in the end, she did not dare say anything. She silently tucked her Red Turban into her pocket.

At the side, Deng Yutang was still earnestly persuading him. "Brother Lu, don't jump into a pit of fire!"

"You misunderstood." Lu Ran explained helplessly. "When I was training yesterday, your sister happened to be on patrol, and then..."

"And then what?"

"Then your sister gave me a beating!" Lu Ran looked miserable. "I didn't want to mention it. It makes me sound like I'm tattling."

"So that's what happened." Deng Yutang sighed in relief. "What's there not to say? Tattling to me is useless anyway.

"I wouldn't dare either—cough."

Lu Ran: ???

Weren't Red Turban Believers supposed to be peerlessly brave?

Beauty Jiang came back to her senses and looked down at the silent Tian Tian. "Where is your Red Turban?"

"In... in my pocket," Tian Tian said quietly.

"I'll tie it on for you."

"Oh, okay." The gloom in Tian Tian's heart immediately dispersed. A smile bloomed across her small face as she hurriedly took out the Red Turban.

"How did she beat you?" Deng Yutang continued digging to the root of the matter.

"Don't mention it. Your sister is actually a believer of the North Wind Blade, and you never told me!"

Lu Ran sighed, still muttering under his breath. "She beat me so badly I was searching all over the ground for my cat."

Deng Yutang said, "Huh?"

Lu Ran waved his hand, unwilling to say more.

"Hahaha!" Deng Yutang burst into laughter. "My sister really doesn't know her own strength when she hits people, but after beating someone, she always gives them some pointers.

"Brother Lu, didn't she teach you a move or two?"

Lu Ran's heart stirred as he looked at the Red Turban in his hand.

Yesterday, Great Nightmare had indeed opened the door to a New World for him:

She had repeatedly reminded Lu Ran to listen to the sound of the wind, rather than blindly relying on his eyes to see the world.

"So you really taught me something." Lu Ran took the Red Turban, folded it into a long strip, and tried covering his eyes with it.

Deng Yutang stared for quite a while, yet still could not figure it out. "What exactly did my Sister teach you?"

"Can't you tell?" With his eyes covered, Lu Ran listened intently to the noisy surroundings.

Deng Yutang looked at Lu Ran in confusion.

It had to be said, the look of him wearing a Red Turban over his eyes was indeed kind of cool!

"I get it!" Deng Yutang's eyes lit up. "She taught you to cosplay a Ninja Turtle?"

Lu Ran:???

You really had quite the eclectic taste, huh?

Thanks to everyone's dear old Da Meng for the hundred-thousand reward!

Long time no see, you're back~

May you find a wonderful match soon, and may all lovers finally become a couple. (`) Heart gesture