(Heartfelt thanks to 'tanzit', 'Die Xue Ao Shuang', 'Lei Xiang', 'Kaede no Chōrei', 'Panda Ah!', and 'Black Cat Liuli' for their rewards!)
Night gradually fell, yet the Hakurei Shrine showed no sign of becoming any less lively.
At this moment, picnic blankets had been spread across every corner of the open space before the Hakurei Shrine, nearly covering the entire area.
Each of those colorful blankets was filled with steaming dishes and bottles upon bottles of alcohol. Groups of two or three yokai sat together, laughing and chatting as they ate and drank to their hearts' content.
Perhaps no one realized that among those yokai gathered in little groups and laughing together, more than seventy percent were not even friends. They had merely met once before, or were complete strangers who had never even seen one another prior to this banquet.
Yet these yokai, strangers to one another, were now chatting and getting acquainted as though they had been friends and family for years, even throwing their arms around each other's shoulders.
Such a scene could only have happened in the unbelievable land of Gensokyo.
Whether human or yokai, everyone had forgotten their identities, their races, their relationships, and everything else in that moment, simply enjoying themselves for the sake of happiness.
Under such circumstances, all kinds of boisterous noise echoed above the Hakurei Shrine for nearly the entire day. Yet among those sounds, laughter was the most abundant. It did not feel like irritating noise at all.
Fortunately, before the banquet began, Wu Yan had thoroughly prepared all kinds of food and alcohol. Sakuya had also helped prepare quite a bit before the banquet started. Even with so many yokai attending, there was always plenty to eat, and no one's mood was spoiled.
Of course, no matter how abundant