The Chronicles of Emberstone Farm [Cozy Fantasy] [Farming LitRPG]-Chapter 262 – Profound Masters of the illusion arts
“Yes.” Arms still linked, we entered the darker path. “I can see how people could be led astray here.”
The moon was full, and there were small lanterns hung on the trees beside the path, so it was bright enough for us to see where we were going. As we walked, we found many interesting spots every few yards where the Fox clan members showed off their skills. Some were very flashy, like a display of multicolored wheels or curtains of light, or very subtle, like a patch of faintly glowing flowers that gave off an exquisite scent.
Beyond the walkway, in the darkness, one could hear, glimpse, and catch a whiff of intriguing illusions, as though they were trying to tempt us to stray from the path. There were will-o'-the-wisps, called foxlights here, the distant sound of children’s laughter, and even, one memorable time, a wedding procession of tiny people as big as my thumb.
“That is one amazing illusion,” I said as I stopped and peered into the darkness, trying to catch sight of the procession again. “They’re really going all out.”
“The Fox clan has two Profound Masters of the illusion arts,” said Prince Baiyu. “That one was extremely well done.”
We walked on and exclaimed in delight as more cute and funny illusions showed up. We could hardly believe our eyes when we saw three ghostly foxes prancing in a flower-filled meadow, but the best one was the beautiful fox-eared-and-tailed lady in red robes who played a zither under a blossoming plum tree. A red fox was at her feet, listening, and we marveled at the smoothness and intricacy of the illusion. The music was also flawless, and when she finished playing, she and the fox dissolved into a red light that flew up into the sky. Prince Baiyu and I bowed in her direction since we didn’t know where the illusion master was.
I wondered if everyone saw this or if the unseen masters were pulling out all the stops for their royal guest. I was almost disappointed when we reached the end of the path.
“That was absolutely delightful!” I said.
“Yes, it was.”
Next, we joined the crowd at the village market. Here, the Fox clan had decorated the village square with charming illusions of floating clouds, glowing flowers, and light displays. I wandered around looking at everything with my boyfriend and buying whatever I thought looked interesting. It was midnight by the time I called it quits. My feet were starting to hurt, and I was getting tired.
“Shall I fly us back?” he offered.
“Yes, but slowly and close to the ground, okay?”
“Of course.” He laughed and scooped me up into his arms.
As promised, he flew slowly and carefully up the mountain to the inn.
“I had a great time,” I said at the door to my room.
We exchanged a goodnight kiss, and I retired for a much-needed sleep.
***
The next day, a lot of my staff members had hangovers, so the inn served us hangover stew and freshly baked bread. Prince Baiyu, along with Shuye and his wife, had left earlier at the crack of dawn. The prince, because he had an early appointment, and the married couple, because they wanted to get back to their baby as early as possible.
I yawned. “Kids, do you want to go to the village this morning? Fengying told me there are bargains to be had since the merchants will be selling whatever they have left at a steep discount.”
“Yes!” said Mo. “I regret not buying those socks yesterday.”
“They were way too expensive,” said Kharli. “But if there’s a discount, they might be worth it.”
“I think I’ll look for a good bargain on some of those hats I saw,” said Lari.
I nodded my approval. “Good hats are a must for farmers, especially now that it’s summer.”
And so, we made our way down the mountain yet again. The morning market was much less lively than the one before, and I could see that many of the vendors had only a few items left. Fengying snapped up some good cotton cloth, and I was quite amused to see Scholar Wu haggling fiercely with a book seller.
I wandered around, but nothing looked worth buying. I was about to leave and go back to the inn when I accidentally bumped into a tall young man, causing him to drop the boxes he was holding.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed.
I helped him pick up his stuff and saw that the boxes contained wooden rings and balls.
“Please don’t apologize. It was my fault, miss,” he said. “Here, have some free tickets.”
He gave me a handful of tickets, which were bamboo slips painted with their stall sign, a fox ear inside a circle, and pointed to the stalls which I hadn’t noticed before, since they were on a side alley branching out from the village square.
Since there weren’t any other game stalls, I tried them out. There was a ring toss, archery gallery, and wheel of fortune. It was more fun than I thought, and I ended up spending quite a lot of money playing these simple games. I managed to win twenty-five tokens, which I exchanged for a really cheap-looking prize.
However, to my shock, the tuo luo I picked, an eight-sided wooden spinning top with numbers on each side, similar to a dice design, turned out to be very special indeed.
[Eight Faces Top:
This top will tell you what to expect today.
1 - It would be best to stay home.
2 - Today's challenges may test your patience.
3 - A minor setback could clear the path for future progress.
4 - Expect a neutral day, offering a chance for quiet reflection.
5 - A small, unexpected pleasure awaits you.
6 - Opportunities for growth are on the horizon.
7 - Your efforts today will lead to significant rewards.
8 - Embrace an extraordinary day filled with joy and success.]
This was not something I planned to ever use since I would hate it if I knew the day was unlucky for me. However, once I realized I might get something good, I hurriedly went back to the games stalls and bought more tickets and played until I could buy all the prizes. They were all duds except for the [Pet Whistle] and [Tales of the Lost Dragon].
The whistle functioned as one might expect. Blowing it would make a pet run, bounce, fly, etc., to the player. The card, on the other hand, was tremendously rewarding.
[Tales of the Lost Dragon:
It looks like a book, but it’s really a wooden box cleverly disguised as such. Open it to receive a small amount of Farming exp once.]
I opened it immediately, of course, and reveled in the chunk of exp I got. It wasn’t a lot, but it was always nice to get more exp.
Sadly, the prize tent only had one of them, and they claimed it was something that didn’t used to be there. It just appeared in the tent, no doubt placed there by a mischievous fox. It was the same story for the whistle and the spinning top.
“I can’t believe those tricksters are so nice! All they did was to give people a bunch of nice items?”
The person I had bumped into, who turned out to be the son of the stalls’ owner, frowned and said, “Miss, did no one tell you? The good luck you have at the festival is balanced out by the bad luck you get when you go home.”
“N-n-no, surely not!” I stammered.
“Well, it’s just a superstition,” he said. “Getting a blessing from a temple priestess should help.”
“Thank you.”
I ran off to ask Fengying about it, and she confirmed that it was a common superstition, but one that she didn’t believe since she always had good luck at the festival and bad luck never followed it. Just to be sure, though, we dropped by the temple to ask for a blessing before we returned home.
Alas, my precaution was all for naught since I got a horrible System pop-up message as soon as my feet touched the ground of Emberstone Farm.
[Hail has caused damage to your farm.]
Hail?! Nooooooo! Not my crops!
.
!
Chapter 262 – Profound Masters of the illusion arts
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