Mingchao: The Survival Journey of a Comedian

Chapter 118 The Lantern Festival

Time flies, and before long it was time for the Lantern Festival.

Prior to this, Mo Wunian had already made his own schedule:

I spent the morning visiting Ji Yan in the border region, helping him with some simple tasks, and checking on the children's mental health.

In the afternoon, I accompanied the wanderer to stroll around the Moonlit Night Fair, and chatted with Chixia and the others, reminiscing about our warm and cozy daily life.

As for the evening... he still had to meet someone, but whether or not to meet that person in person was still under consideration.

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"Ji Yan! I'm here!"

"Beiwang and Nanchui? You're here too? That's quite a coincidence. I brought some things from Jinzhou, and it just so happens that you're here as well."

On the day of the Moonlit Gathering, he opened his communication channel early in the morning to inquire about Ji Yan's availability. After confirming that Ji Yan was free, he greeted Chao and immediately tore through space to rush over.

However, after only a short distance from the camp entrance, Ji Yan didn't see him. Instead, he saw Nan Chui and Bei Wang waiting for him there.

"Brother Wunian is here! I thought it would take you a while to get here."

"I didn't expect it to be so fast."

He strode over and, seeing Nan Chui looking at him excitedly from the doorway and Bei Wang grinning from ear to ear, Mo Wunian nodded in satisfaction.

They had only followed the two men inside a short while when they saw other soldiers also busy at work, but it seemed they weren't busy with military matters; instead, they were...

Arrange the entire military camp

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell Brother Wunian, because we drove away Mingshi this year, the army is preparing to hold a new party!"

"And because it coincides with the Moon Chasing Festival, this year's event is on a larger scale!"

Seeing Mo Wunian's puzzled look, Nan Chui quickly explained to the people around him, and Mo Wunian nodded in agreement, having no objection to this approach.

Their group gradually attracted the attention of others. Several people he knew relatively well, upon seeing him, looked so incredulous they were practically ready to rush up and grab him, demanding to know if he was the person in question.

I felt a little guilty for a moment, but I didn't show it and pretended to be no different from usual.

"Is this how it is? Should I help out?"

"Speaking of Ji Yan, where is he? I haven't seen him here."

After scanning the room, he realized that the key figure he was there for his main purpose was not there. He blinked in confusion and asked the person who had spoken.

"Ji Yan... I saw him waiting for you here not long ago."

"I really don't know where they've run off to."

Bei Wang pondered for a moment, then looked around, seemingly also a little puzzled.

"It's gone... I'll go look for it."

"You guys take your things, I'll be right back."

Upon hearing this, Mo Wunian didn't say anything more. After careful consideration, he decided to go find the other party in person.

After all, the other party is now a general, so it's normal for him to be delayed by something. The key point is that he had just contacted the other party not long ago, so his hasty departure now must mean something happened.

What else could possibly happen during this holiday?!

He casually tossed the items to Nan Chui and Bei Wang, then left the camp and silently began to sense the frequency fluctuations.

Using his spatial powers, his perception quickly extended to extremely distant places, eventually sensing that familiar frequency in Kitarono's direction.

"...Hiss, what happened that led you so far?"

"Let's get there first and see what happens; we can't worry about that now."

After locking onto the frequency of the Fiery Blaze, he drew his sword and swiftly slashed through the space in front of him, then leaped down—

Meanwhile, Ji Yan was cleaning up the surrounding debris all by himself.

With a swift and decisive strike, he instantly killed the monster that approached him. Then, he conjured his own spear and, with a casual flick, pinned the monster's attempt to ambush him to a nearby stone wall, ending the battle in an instant.

Just as Ji Yan was about to continue checking the surrounding area for any remaining traces, he turned around and saw a cold light rushing towards him, only to be instantly annihilated into ashes by an invisible force.

The afterimage that had ambushed him was also pierced through the chest and cut in two by a sword.

He turned around and saw Mo Wunian staring at him with a serious expression.

"teacher?"

"Who else could it be but me? I was wondering where you ran off to, and here you are, cleaning up the mess all by yourself, huh?"

"Although the number is small, it still poses a danger."

After confirming that no monsters had been left behind, Mo Wunian retrieved his sword from his spatial storage, walked towards the other person, and frowned as he looked up at the person in front of him who was clearly surprised.

"Put your hand out"

"Oh well"

He placed his hand on the other person, rewinding time to before the fight, and nodded in satisfaction only after confirming that the other person's wounds had healed.

Taking a few steps back, Ji Yan, who seemed a little embarrassed and unsure of what to do, simply lowered his head and sighed. He then raised his head again.

"Why didn't you tell anyone else? You came all this way by yourself; if I hadn't been able to sense you, I probably wouldn't have been able to find you."

"I've noticed that since you became a general, you've increasingly preferred to handle things on your own."

"Don't you even trust me, your teacher?"

Ji Yan looked at Mo Wunian, who was tilting his head back and lecturing him, and then at the height difference between them. He inexplicably found the other person kind of cute, but then he remembered that the other person seemed to be lecturing him, so he quickly suppressed his thoughts.

"Today is a military get-together. Apart from a few people keeping an eye on the remaining elephants, the rest are mostly busy arranging the event."

"I didn't want to bother them with this, so I thought I'd handle it by myself..."

"Sorry, I was in such a rush that I forgot to tell you."

Looking at Ji Yan and listening to his sincere words, Mo Wunian finally couldn't muster any anger. He lowered his head, shook it, and then smiled at him.

"I didn't say anything, I was just worried about you."

"After all, I came to keep you company this morning, but you went through all this trouble, and now it's only been a short while."

"I don't dare use my spatial ability to take you back, because you couldn't handle it."

"Shall we just stroll around here?"

Looking back at the desolate landscape, he didn't know what resolve had driven him to say those words, but now, going back would be too time-consuming, so they could only chat on the way.

Ji Yan looked up at the sky; it was indeed quite late. Somewhat dejected, he lowered his head, nodded, sheathed his weapon, and followed behind Mo Wunian.

"I thought you'd go back to Jinzhou this year, but you're still staying on the frontier."

"How has your mother been doing in recent years? I just visited her recently, I'll ask you later to find out."

"My mother has been doing well these past few years. Although she no longer goes to the front lines to treat soldiers, she still treats patients in private."

"Furthermore, since the Ming Shi style has just been eliminated, it's best to be cautious...and..."

"I have a teacher with me this year."

Walking along the road, silently accompanying Ji Yan, she was caught off guard by these words and almost choked on her own saliva. Looking up at Ji Yan beside her, whose expression was somewhat inscrutable, something flashed through her mind, but she quickly suppressed it.

"...Ha, indeed."

"You've been there for me these past few years; looking back, time really has flown by."

With a sigh, someone once again chose to ignore Ji Yan's performance, leaving Ji Yan only able to sigh helplessly.

Yes, time flies.

"I'm not the same child I was back then."

A silence fell over the scene; for a moment, no one spoke. Mo Wunian turned to look at Ji Yan, who was following behind him and watching him intently.

The other person's figure was no longer the same as the child who used to follow him around calling him "teacher." Thick, long hair swayed in the wind, and those golden eyes gazed at him with emotions that were completely absent in the child's youth.

"..."

It seems things are starting to develop in ways he didn't expect.

For a moment, I didn't know how to respond, and I struggled to find the right words.

Should I run away? But I've already run away so many times, it seems impolite to run away again.

Moreover, given the current situation, running anywhere doesn't seem like a good option.

So he's a male succubus?

"...Ji Yan, I..."

"...Teacher, I know."

"But more than that, I want to say something else—"

You're not alone anymore.

"..."

Seeing the troubled look on the person before him, Ji Yan finally withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and said these words.

This one sentence caused Mo Wunian's already sluggish brain to completely short-circuit. He stopped in his tracks, turned around, and stared at the person in front of him for a long time, speechless.

Ji Yan wasn't in a hurry either. He stopped and silently waited, watching Mo Wunian, who was deep in thought.

"Ding--"

The communication beeped, and Mo Wunian snapped out of his reverie. Somewhat embarrassed, he waved to Ji Yan before answering the call.

"Now... well, there shouldn't be anything else..."

"If that's the case, I'll come and help right away..."

"It won't be long, just give me a minute..."

After hanging up the call, Mo Wunian looked at Ji Yan. Just as he was about to explain the situation, he saw Ji Yan walk up to him, pat his head, close his eyes, and nod.

"It's okay, I'm already very grateful that my teacher stayed with me for so long."

"He's a wanderer, isn't he? He must have something more important to tell you."

"I can't leave my teacher with only me."

"……Thanks"

He nodded gratefully, looking at Ji Yan who was still reluctant to part with him but had ultimately let go, and didn't know what to say.

He has too many unresolved issues to unravel right now, and speaking rashly could hurt others; he doesn't want that to happen.

If one day he can still live in this world as an ordinary person...

Maybe

After confirming that there was no danger in the surrounding area, he waved goodbye to Ji Yan and tore through space to return to Jinzhou.

After pinpointing the location, he not only sensed the frequency of the wanderers, but also the presence of Xiangli Yao and Abu.

But none of these things were the most important to him; he could sense a restless frequency...

And another calm frequency, seemingly no longer existing in this world, yet still resonating with him.

He knew without even thinking who was behind it. After all, he had recently caused a ruckus that thwarted the world's consciousness, and the other party was still unconvinced, so a second attempt was only to be expected.

Moreover, he seemed to sense that the world's consciousness couldn't kill him, as if it was deliberately guiding him to know something.

But what that guy was trying so hard to let him know was definitely not good news for him, so he automatically chose to block it each time.

Furthermore, I don't know what the system has been doing lately; every time I open the panel, there's a huge maintenance notice posted on it.

Even the system has been turned upside down by this world... Anyway, this Mingchao is definitely not the Mingchao he knows anymore.

So what did he do before?! Even the wanderer before his amnesia started treating him that way!

He casually tore open space and arrived at the desired location in a single step. Seeing that Xiangli Yao was still somewhat unaccustomed to his sudden arrival, he didn't have time to explain his ability, but hurriedly stepped forward to ask what was going on.

"What's going on? Have all the wishes been deciphered?"

"...That's right, we've deciphered the fourth wish."

"But the result was a blank page, and Xiaopa kept saying that the file size was too large to be analyzed..."

"Then, while waiting for you, we suddenly discovered that the space inside Little Pa's body had transformed into Soris, and the person he was talking about..."

"...was a good friend of mine who died a long time ago due to marine erosion."

Xiangli briefly explained the situation, then shifted his gaze to Xiaopa, who was constantly emitting electric currents.

The wanderer walked over and patted Mo Wunian on the shoulder.

"Indeed, the frequency fluctuations inside are very strange."

"I just went to try it out myself, and it was rejecting me too. Last time I went there, I almost got swallowed up..."

"But there must be some special reason why they called me here, right? Like, for example..."

"Do you think the other frequency emanating from this is related to me?"

He walked over and touched Little Pa; in just a moment, he was able to confirm that the frequency inside was exactly the same as his own.

Simply put, someone deliberately lured him in.

"..."

Indeed, there's only open conspiracy he can't escape.

"It's okay. If he were really coming for me, I wouldn't be able to avoid it anyway."

"Besides, the reason you called me back was because you didn't want to disturb everyone's celebration of the Moon Chasing Festival, right?"

"The sooner I'm free, the sooner I can resolve this. I'm not someone who's afraid of trouble."

He sighed, looking up at the two people staring at him with concern, feeling somewhat helpless, but quickly made his decision.

The wanderer and Xiangli could only nod in agreement.

"In that case, I'll trouble you."

"But if there really is any danger..."

Don't worry, everything will be fine.

Seeing the worried look in Xiangli's eyes, Mo Wunian simply responded with a faint smile, then nodded to the wanderer and Abu.

"lets go!"

"Who cares about overt or covert schemes..."

"Don't even think about letting me leave you!"