Night lay deep as water, and the river of stars flowed across the heavenly curtain.
On a level bluestone platform, several people sat in a circle around a few unsealed jars of spirit wine. The wine's fragrance mingled with the night breeze and drifted far away.
Several waist-high puppets carried wine jugs as they moved among them.
Their joints made faint clicking sounds, their movements clumsy yet remarkably earnest.
Whenever they reached someone, they stopped and carefully refilled the empty wine bowl before them.
These wine-brewing puppets had been casually refined by Xu Changqing in his early years. The materials were nothing precious, but they were sturdy and durable.
He sat in the center of the crowd with his legs crossed, a wine bowl in hand. He occasionally took a sip, then looked up at the stars overhead.
Li Sancai sat to his left, already flushed red from face to neck.
This old companion, who had once worked the Spirit Fields alongside Xu Changqing, did not speak much tonight. He merely drank bowl after bowl in silence.
Chu Qiu and Pei Mo sat beside Li Sancai. Both were old friends who had known Xu Changqing from the very beginning.
Chu Qiu sighed with emotion. "Time has flown by so quickly!"
Pei Mo gulped down a mouthful of spirit wine and nodded. "Yeah!"
Qin Baili lay on his back, gazing at the dazzling river of stars, and murmured, "I want to see the starfields beyond the Heavenly Origin Realm too."
Xu Changqing chuckled. "You have the ability to do that."
Qin Baili gave two chuckles but did not respond.
Sitting beside him was Li Lingbi. This former genius of the Dongting Immortal Sect had grown much more mature.
Though he had lost the Central Region Imperial Dynasty, he had gained a