When Lu Xingyao realized that the item in his hand wasn’t incense, he immediately understood that their ancestor didn’t mean for them to offer tribute with incense sticks.
He promptly asked his grandfather, “Since it was a misunderstanding, should we still go to Ji County in a couple of days to buy offerings?”
Lu Qing also realized that he had misinterpreted the ancestor’s intentions.
Meanwhile, Gu Xingzhao was internally screaming: “Even though I didn’t mean that, I can totally pretend I did!”
She had been checking the system panel daily, hoping for a sudden surge in points, but so far, there had been no such luck.
Gu Xingzhao couldn’t stop thinking about the Glazed Feather Set that the system had once tempted her with when it had persuaded her to sell the jade pendant, along with the various divine manifestation packages.
After all, a lightning strike alone didn’t exactly scream “divine presence.”
The manifestation package could be purchased with money, and when she had enough, she could unlock things like rain, ice, and fire effects for a few million yuan. Not too expensive, considering.
But the Glazed Feather Set was another story—it cost 80 million yuan or 13,000 tribute points.
Currently, her tribute points were increasing at a snail’s pace, barely moving by ten or twenty points per day. At this rate, it would take forever.
Sometimes, she regretted spending 199 tribute points on that body-purifying potion. At the time, she thought the potion, priced at 188,000 yuan, was expensive. Who could have guessed that tribute points would turn out to be even harder to come by? It was downright inhumane.
Now that the Lu family was talking about offering tribute to her, Gu Xingzhao was thrilled. If this could net her a few hundred points, that would be fantastic.
Lu Qing spoke seriously, “Of course, we should. If we have the opportunity to offer tribute, how can we miss it?”
Even though their ancestor probably didn’t care too much about material offerings, as descendants, it was their duty to show respect.
Hearing this, Gu Xingzhao was overjoyed. She twirled around in delight, her steps light and cheerful, even humming a little tune. This old man gets me!
That night, Lu Xingyao went out to find Du Hangwu to discuss going to Ji County to buy offerings for the Lu family ancestor.
He had expected to have to persuade him, but to his surprise, as soon as Du Hangwu heard it was for a divine offering, he immediately agreed and even offered to personally lead them to the county to make the purchases.
Lu Xingyao noticed that Du Hangwu had changed. Perhaps due to the influence of their ancestor, Du Hangwu seemed less arrogant than before and showed more respect to the Lu family, though he likely still treated other prisoners the same way.
Lu Xingyao handed out sparklers to the children, giving each of them two. Seeing that there were about ten left, he distributed the remaining ones to the other family members.
One of the family members noticed Lu Xingyao hadn’t kept any for himself. “Brother Yao, aren’t you going to take a couple?”
Lu Xingyao waved his hand dismissively, trying to act mature. “These are children’s toys. You all enjoy them.”
His tone implied that as an adult, he wouldn’t stoop to playing with children’s toys.
However, just as Lu Xingyan lit the first sparkler for his niece, the tip suddenly burst into dazzling sparks, twinkling like stars in the night sky. The warm glow illuminated the surrounding darkness.
“Wow!”
Lu Youtang’s little face was bathed in the flickering light, her eyes shining with curiosity and excitement.
She proudly waved the sparkler in front of her third uncle, Lu Xingyan, exclaiming, “Look, Uncle! Isn’t it pretty?”
Lu Xingyan, slightly surprised, glanced at the firework cylinder strapped to his side and chuckled. He hadn’t expected their ancestor to have such a delightful little toy. Perfect for entertaining children.
Seeing this, the other children rushed over, lining up to have their sparklers lit. Their clumsy attempts to light them paid off, and once the sparklers ignited, they danced with joy.
The once quiet night suddenly became lively.
Even the Liu family members nearby took notice. It was a different kind of spectacle compared to what they had witnessed during the Lantern Festival—back then, the sky was filled with dazzling fireworks. These handheld sparklers weren’t as grand, but they were still beautiful in their own way.
The other prisoners, having never seen anything like it before, watched in awe as the small sparks flickered in the darkness, their eyes filled with wonder and admiration.
“!!!” The crowd exchanged glances. Could this be another divine manifestation from the Lu family’s deity?
The family members who had received sparklers were so excited that they hurried over to borrow a lighter from Lu Xingyan. Though they were all around twenty years old, this was their first time seeing such a thing. After all, if it was sent by their ancestor, it had to be special.
Lu Xingyao, watching the scene, couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy. Gone were his earlier words of maturity. He eagerly ran over to the others, holding out his hand, saying, “Give me two.”
The family members looked at him, confused: “???”
“But Brother Yao, didn’t you say these were children’s toys?”
They vividly remembered his earlier declaration, so why was he back now asking for sparklers?
Lu Xingyao, not missing a beat, replied without a hint of embarrassment, “I’m still unmarried and the youngest in the family. Naturally, I’m still a child.”
In other words, as a “child,” he had every right to play with the sparklers.
Reluctantly, a cousin holding three sparklers handed one over.
Lu Xingyao: “?”
He held out his hand again, saying, “One isn’t enough, give me another.”
But the others clutched their sparklers tightly, unwilling to part with another. Giving him one was already a stretch.
Left with only one sparkler, Lu Xingyao had no choice but to light it. Under the amused gaze of his third uncle, he carefully lit the sparkler and watched as it burst into life.
As the sparkler illuminated his hand, his eyes lit up with it. He reached out to touch the glowing sparks, surprised to find that they didn’t burn.
Lu Xingyao squinted. He had underestimated this—anything sent by their ancestor was bound to be extraordinary. What did it matter whether it was a child’s toy or not?
Gu Xingzhao sometimes admired Lu Xingyao. Despite being repeatedly proven wrong, he never seemed to feel embarrassed. Instead, he happily went along with whatever was happening. That, in itself, was a kind of talent.
As time passed, the sparklers eventually burned out, their final sparks disappearing into the night, leaving only ashes scattered on the ground.
Lu Xingyao sighed. The fireworks were too short-lived, not nearly enough to enjoy.
He immediately ran over to his little sister, planning to coax her into giving him the one she had left. But no matter what he said, Lu Youtang refused. She insisted on saving it to share with Yuan’er later.
Lu Xingyao tried to reason with her, patting his chest. “Sigh, who knows where Yuan’er is. Big Brother will play with you!”
But Lu Youtang just stuck her tongue out at him. “No way!”
She quickly ran off to find Yuan’er.
Lu Xingyan’s eyes followed his niece as she ran toward the tents. Soon, she found Yuan’er and pulled her along, but not after the young princess emerged from the same tent. She didn’t come toward them, though.
Gu Xingzhao noticed that Lu Xingyan was staring in a particular direction and, curious, followed his gaze. She saw Lu Youtang leading a young girl named Yuan’er over, but the girl didn’t seem all that interested in the sparkler her cousin was holding. Instead, she kept glancing back as if something else was on her mind.
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