Moon-Chasing Festival Gala: A Mishap That Never Happened and the Festival Lights

As the words were spoken, the hands of an old-fashioned digital watch moved one notch to the right. Just then, the nine rows of plum blossom stakes below the platform simultaneously revealed a light green outline visible only to Zhou Yu, indicating that the system interface had temporarily added a fall protection mechanism.

The one who stepped onto the platform was Lingyang, holding a cup of milk tea with only a few pearls left. He first stepped on two low stakes, the dull thuds echoing as his shoes landed. The wooden surface, which was already slippery from the night dew, had an unusually strong grip. Full of doubt, he tentatively moved his foot, his whole leg wobbling as it was pulled, but the sole of his shoe remained firmly in place.

"Manager Zhou, isn't this bug... a bit too much?"

Standing by the platform was Sigelica, still carrying the tattered bag she had fished out of the drain, her hair still covered in dust.

"If he gets stuck up there and can't get down, are we supposed to make the audience line up to watch a magic trick?"

Zhou Yu glanced down at the parameters, then calmly adjusted them back by half a notch.

Lingyang finally pulled his right foot out. The shoe was torn and deformed, and the sole almost came unglued. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly straightened the lion head. The beast ears under the brim of the hat peeked out and shook twice at the audience with lingering fear.

"Why does this thing seem a little reluctant to part with me today?"

"The Festival Department's new anti-slip treatment aims to create a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere."

Zhou Yu put away his digital watch.

"Your service period ends after the performance. This fall is not within the scope of the program's regulations, so you can jump without worry."

Tonight's rehearsal consisted of two rounds. Lingyang started by only daring to step on the low stakes, but gradually jumped up to the central three-zhang-high main stake. As he gradually adapted, his steps became more steady with each pressing drumbeat. However, when he landed for the last time, he subconsciously touched his chest.

All that my fingertips touched was the broken red string.

Lingyang's breathing faltered, and his body swayed in a very dangerous arc.

The scabbard of the Chisa Blade was already positioned at the edge of the platform, but when the bell suddenly rang, it was Zhou Yu who raised her hand to stop her.

His shoes dragged half an inch on the stake surface, and a light green light immediately flashed along the wood grain. The physical trajectory of his movement was forcibly stopped and reset. After calming down a bit, Lingyang, who had stepped firmly again, squatted on the high place while holding the lion head for a while before jumping back to the ground along the low stake.

"Tomorrow night... is it really going to work?"

Lingyang removed the lion's head and squeezed the empty milk tea cup, making a cracking sound. The beast's tail nervously brushed against his calves.

"My heart is beating way too fast, and it's all erratic."

Dania squatted on the steps, resting her chin on her hand, and thought seriously for a while. Then she looked down and counted the remaining length of the broken rope on his chest.

"You just jumped over twenty-seven stakes, and the lucky charm didn't step on them even once."

Lingyang opened his mouth, and his hand holding the cup froze in mid-air.

Dania's angle of approach is somewhat undeniable.

Zhou Yu brushed the sawdust off his shoulder.

"Did you hear that? The data department has already concluded that it was your own leg that made the jump, definitely not that lock. Now go back to eat and sleep, and be at work on time tomorrow. If anyone dares to let you fall off the pile... I'll weld the entire platform's collision volume completely shut."

Chisaki looked down and added a note to the tablet.

"Technically it's impossible to reproduce, but theoretically he truly did what he said he would do."

On the night of the Moon-Chasing Festival, the central square was illuminated from the street corner all the way to the high platform. Vendors' signs were crowded under the laurel trees, and the aroma of roasted meat mingled with the sweetness of osmanthus honey and syrup in the night breeze. Children chased each other through the crowd holding paper moon rabbits, and as soon as the drummer tried out the drumhead twice, cheers erupted from the outer circle of the square.

The first firework rose from behind the city gate, spreading out large golden dots across the night sky and illuminating the nine rows of plum blossom stakes neatly arranged on the high platform.

Standing at the backstage entrance was Lingyang, already wearing the lion head. His hands, hidden beneath the lion skin, were filled with tension, and the sweat on his palms had stained the wooden handles dark. He looked ahead through the lion's mouth, the beast's tail pressing tighter and tighter, wrapping itself around his calves.

Before he raised the drumsticks, he touched his chest once again.

What remained was the broken rope.

"Awu, it's time to get on stage!"

The one urging us from behind the curtain was the regimental commander.

"The people outside are all waiting!"

Lingyang took a deep breath, pressed the lion's head down, and after the fangs blocked most of his vision, he rushed out of the curtain to the first drumbeat. The first high stake was half a zhang off the ground, but when he jumped, his strength was slightly off, and his right foot only touched the edge of the stake, and his heel immediately slid outward.

Zhou Yu sat on the viewing platform with his slippers up, his left wrist quietly hidden under the edge of the table.

The device on Zhou Yu's wrist locked onto the high stake of the Moon-Chasing Ceremony as the target component, and he directly locked the surface friction parameters to the upper limit.

The thin green line instantly pierced through the entire platform.

The heel of Lingyang's right foot slid off, instantly generating an extremely strong physical suction force. His body spun around diagonally, and his lion tail swept out a complete arc in mid-air. What was originally a mistake that could have made it into the festival accident report was transformed into a beautiful turnaround.

A burst of cheers erupted from the audience.

Sigelica's clapping hand froze in mid-air, and her eyes twitched twice.

"Did he almost fall down just now?"

Chisaki stared at the parameter curve on the tablet that suddenly took a sharp turn.

"Judging from the normal physical trajectory, he definitely fell."

"So what exactly is this situation?"

"The current physical environment determination system has failed."

Sigelica remained silent for a moment.

"This stupid judgment can be forcibly invalidated?"

"Zhou Yu's cheat program will do."

With a completely calm expression, Zhou Yu picked up his plum drink and took a sip, as if he had just finished a routine office task.

Lingyang stood on the stake and looked down at his feet through the lion's head. When he tried to shift his weight outward, the soles of his shoes remained firmly pressed against the wooden surface. The feeling of support traveled up his feet, and his previously rapid heart rate gradually caught up with the drumbeat.

Accompanied by the second gong, Lingyang, with his lion head raised high, stepped over the three high stakes. His long white mane brushed against the afterglow of the fireworks. As his movements became more and more unrestrained, he flipped down from the highest point, stepped on a thin stake with one foot, and leaped to the other end with a twist of his waist. The lion's tail swept across the entire high platform with the sound of the drum.

This time, Lingyang did not touch the broken rope on his chest again.

Dania, holding a skewer of medium-rare grilled meat, had already stood up from her chair with the meat still near her mouth.

"Lingyang! Jump higher!"

Linnai tapped the edge of the table to accompany the drumbeats, Aimis led the audience in chanting the auspicious chants of the Liondance Troupe. Sigelica, who kept saying "be careful," clapped louder and louder each time. Chisa, who was sitting in the aisle seat, finally took her hand off the hilt of her sword, and the bell at her waist swayed gently with the drumbeats.

The final, heavy drumbeat crashed down.

Lingyang soared from the top of the main pile, his lion head opening its mouth to catch the laurel ball hanging high above, then flipped back to the top of the central pile. As the lion lowered its body to send blessings to the entire audience, fireworks happened to pass over the city tower, and golden flames filled the night sky behind him.

The cheers of the crowd surged from the center of the square all the way to the end of the long street.

When Lingyang returned backstage, he took off the lion head. His long braid and forehead hair were plastered to his face with sweat. He hugged the lion head and leaned against the wall, panting heavily. His beast ears stood up high, and the tip of his tail couldn't help but stick up.

"So... even without that thing, I can still finish the dance."

Zhou Yu handed over a skewer of freshly grilled meat.

"So, don't attribute all your professional skills to cheat codes. Quickly replenish your energy. Save your thoughts for after work; the Festival Department isn't going to pay you for overtime speeches."

Lingyang took the skewer and bit into a piece of meat, unable to suppress the smile on his face. With a satisfied chew, he walked to the locker to put away his performance costume. Just as he had tucked half of the costume in, his fingers suddenly touched a knotted red thread in the corner of the box.

His movements immediately froze on the spot.

Lying there quietly was a small amulet, with the safety lock peeking out from the edge of the old red cloth. Two strands of white fluff were still stuck to the lock. It looked as if it had been rolled up in the performance costume and left in the closet all day without being moved.

Lingyang slowly picked it up, his face full of astonishment.

The drummer, the band leader, and several actors backstage all turned their heads at once, and even Zhou Yu's hand, which was handing out skewers, stopped half an inch.

After a brief moment of deathly silence, Lingyang's beast-ear fur stood on end.

"Holy crap! I've been searching for a whole day and night, I practically turned the drain upside down, and you... you were hiding under my clothes the whole time?!"

Sigelica glanced at her dusty sleeves and then at the amulet; her expression slowly turned icy and stiff.

Through the backstage curtain and straight to the high platform came Lingyang's mournful cry. The audience, who had not yet dispersed, thought that the Liondance Troupe had added an encore performance and immediately burst into even more enthusiastic cheers.