"You mentioning it just reminded me. Should we head home now?"
But Chirori shook her head. "There's no rush. Don't you have a clone? Send one home to take care of it. Let's keep walking a little longer, the three of us. We don't get festivals like this often."
"Sure, you're right. I'll send a clone home to make dinner."
Torifu quickly performed the technique and gave his clone its instructions, then sent it home.
"Okay, now we can walk around a bit longer. Want to go talk to your brother and the others? I just saw him."
With the Nian Beast driven away, the villagers no longer had to worry about it. They began enjoying the food and the sights.
They stopped for photos in every alley. The streets they knew so well had been transformed by the New Year decorations, looking more magnificent than ever.
Lanterns hung high overhead, like red suns.
Just then, Torifu spotted something that surprised him.
"Hey, Chirori, look."
Torifu tapped Chirori and pointed in a direction.
Chirori looked over and was stunned as well.
"Is that... Amado? And Anhua? What are they doing together?"
"No way..."
Chirori could hardly believe her guess. Had Amado actually found someone after Torifu told him to go out and look?
Then again, Anhua and Amado had met a few times. Maybe they were discussing work for tomorrow.
After all, they were officially starting work tomorrow, so it made sense for them to talk things over in advance.
They couldn't believe everything they saw.
"I'll ask Amado about it tomorrow. We still have dinner to get to, so let's not let this spoil the festive mood."
Chirori nodded. This kind of thing wasn't suitable to bring up at a big family gathering. It would make it seem as